After being accused of jumping from one lie to another, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Wee Ka Siong has the title “Master of trickery” specifically for Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

He said the title was most suitable for Lim who was “now caught lying to the Penang state assembly”.

“He labelled me as a ‘political serial liar’, when in fact he seems to be suffering from multiple personality disorder. His ‘tricks’ are so well made up that he has deluded himself into deceiving the public and build up a false reputation.

“Initially, I could not fathom why Lim Guan Eng can be so shameless in lying through his teeth. He justifies his claims confidently without the backing of concrete proof, and attempts to shift the public’s attention without skipping a beat. His skills are indeed unprecedented,” said Wee in a statement today.

Lim yesterday said the undersea tunnel issue will not be resolved until next year if Wee continues to “jump from one lie to another”.

He added that Wee's claims about the 7.2 km tunnel project, which includes three major highways, have been rubbished by the Penang government, with proof.

Wee today, however, said he had discovered further evidence that Lim had tried to blur the role of China Railway Construction Corporation Limited - the tunnel’s main contractor.

“(This has) led me to accept the fact that Lim would even lie to the august Penang state assembly, let alone members of the public who have trusted him and yet, (been) misled by him all this while.”

Wee cited the Chinese version of the Penang state budget which was presented on Nov 29, 2013 by Lim.

It stated that the Penang state government had signed a preliminary agreement with Consortium Zenith BUCG Sdn Bhd, which included CRCC and Beijing Urban Construction Group (BUCG) in its set-up.

The Malay version of the speech also had the same point, said Wee. Page seven of the budget read that the Penang state government has signed a preliminary agreement with Consortium Zenith BUCG Sdn Bhd, together with CRCC and BUCG.

‘Lim misleading state assembly’

Lim, in his press conference on Feb 6, had challenged his critics to prove that he had said CRCC was a shareholder of the project’s special purpose vehicle.

"He blamed MCA for harping on this point and even said that he would admit his mistake if he had indeed said it.

"On the same day, I proved that he had published an open letter in the 16 to 31 March 2013 edition of Buletin Mutiara that the state government had awarded the tender to Consortium Zenith BUCG, an SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) set up by a joint venture between Construction Zenith and CRCC along with BUCG, Sri Tinggi Sdn Bhd and Juteras Sdn Bhd," said Wee.

“The open letter also included a breakdown of the SPV’s structure. With CRCC in the picture, the SPV had a paid-up capital of RM4.5 billion. Lim had repeated four times in March and April 2013 that the paid-up capital of the SPV was RM4.5 billion.

“This budget speech has proven that Lim was not only lying to the public, but had also lied, misled and confused the state assembly because ‘disertai oleh’ (together with) means CRCC is a shareholder and part of the SPV,” he added.

‘A consummate trickster’

Wee insisted that he did not say that CRCC is a shareholder in the SPV and had merely said that Lim had misled the people into thinking that CRCC is a shareholder through the information he shared.

“Lim, as the ‘consummate trickster’, has been dishing out different explanations on the role of CRCC. He is a conman through and through.

“He plays the roles of different tricksters and even plays the then and now of Lim. His skills are indeed brilliant!”

MCA, added Wee, was “not as smooth as Lim”.

“We do not know how to charm people with sweet words like he has done. As the saying goes, sound advice is usually not pleasant to the ears, and getting to the bottom of the truth is far less attractive than flowery nothings.

“This is why Lim is bold enough to cover the truths and deceive the people. As for MCA, we can only focus on unearthing more evidence in order to show people the true colours of a trickster.”