KUALA LUMPUR: DAP and Pakatan Rakyat members want to attend the funeral of former Sibu MP Wong Ho Leng but they are not sure whether they can clear immigration.
Wong of DAP died at the Rejang Medical Centre in Sibu late last night, leaving his Bukit Assek state seat vacant. He was 55 years old and had been suffering from brain cancer for one and a half years.
Seputeh MP Teresa Kok is appealing to the Sarawak Chief Minister to lift the ban on Pakatan Rakyat MPs.
“Wong Ho Leng was not just my party comrade, but was also a close friend of mine,” she said. “I always admired his principles for justice and fairness in politics, his wit and wisdom, and his good command of the English and Chinese languages.
“He will be missed by DAP comrades. And he will also be remembered for being the first Pakatan Rakyat MP in Sarawak when he won in the Sibu parliamentary by-election in 2010.
“The Sarawak Chief Minister has said on many occasions that his government would practise immigration autonomy and ban religious and racial bigots from entry, but I am baffled why my Pakatan Rakyat colleagues and I have been banned as we are certainly no religious or racial bigots.
“I have today faxed a letter to the office of the Sarawak Chief Minister to appeal to him to lift the ban on Pakatan Rakyat MPs so that we can fly to Sarawak and attend Wong Ho Leng’s funeral on Tuesday.”
