The Launching of Lee Hwa Beng's book -"PKFZ - A Nation's Trust Betrayed"

On 17^th April 2012, I attended the launching of Dato’ Lee Hwa Beng book's called “PKFZ: A Nation’s Trust Betrayed” at 1Utama, Bandar Utama. The book was co-authored by Ms Lee Siew Lian who is a former journalist. The book is published by The Malaysian Insider.

The book launch was an intimate affair held in one of the cafes at 1Utama and was classified as a “Private Function”. As expected in all “Private Functions”, the attendees were all invited guests. Initially, there was a bit of concern that the book launch may not go on due to “interference” from outside and the rumor of a Court injunction that would have prevented the launch from happening. Luckily, the book launch went on smoothly without any hindrance.

As the title says, the book is about the Port Klang Free Zone scandal that costs taxpayers up to RM12.5 billion. When Lee Hwa Beng was the chairman of the Port Klang Authority (PKA), he suggested independent investigations be carried out which ruffled the feathers of certain personalities. In his book, Lee Hwa Beng chronicles the story of PKFZ and shared his insights when he was the Chairman of PKA.

There were quite a number of personalities who attended the book launch which include, R. Nadeswaran (Citizen Nades from The Sun), Datuk M Rajasingam (formerly General Manager of LPK who served with distinction and later on became a Board Member of LPK when Lee Hwa Beng was Chairman), our very own Senior Member of the Bar, Haji Sulaiman Abdullah and not forgetting the avid reader and Most Active Borrower of Books for 2011, National Library, David Tan Tai Kim.

The book was launched by Dato’ Seri Ong Tee Keat and Saudara Lim Kit Siang who are both Members of Parliament. Lee Hwa Beng told the guests that he wanted someone from Barisan Nasional (ruling party) and someone from the Opposition (Pakatan Rakyat) to launch the book as the book is above politics and PKFZ is a national interest and concern. Lee Hwa Beng then turned to Ong Tee Keat and asked him in jest, “You are still in BN, right?” Ong Tee Keat gave a big smile without giving a definite answer. Everyone is left guessing……….

I thought Lee Hwa Beng gave a nice informal speech – brief, simple and sweet just like the man. Saudara Lim Kit Siang gave a speech with hints of political remarks here and there. He ended his speech by saying that if Pakatan takes over the Government, they would form a Royal Commission to investigate the scandal. As for Ong Tee Keat, he is an eloquent speaker but I found his speech was a bit too long and after a while it gets a bit tiring. We have to remember we are in a book launch and not a seminar. Overall, the speeches were okay.

After the launch, the organizers had 100 “special commemorative” books for sale. Each of the“special commemorative” book is autographed by the author Lee Hwa Beng, Ong Tee Keat and Lim Kit Siang. For some reason, I find it rather strange why they did not invite Siew Lian who is the co-author to autograph the book as well. The "special commemorative" book was selling at RM100.00 a copy. As for the normal book, it is retailing at RM28.90. If you go to the KL International Book (which will end on 6th May 2012), you can get it at 20% less. It is a good book and worth checking it out.

I had a chat with my fellow author, Lee Hwa Beng and invited him to my book launch on 14th May 2012. Unfortunately, he would be in overseas at that time otherwise, it would be nice if he could come and see for himself how Mediation can work effectively in bridging communication and getting matters resolved. Can the PKFZ fiasco benefit from Mediation? Sure, it can. Mediation can certainly get things moving quicker and the best place to vent and find closure.