Erna Ling, wife of MCA president Ling Liong Sik, confirmed that her husband was at the Bersih 4 rally in Perth, Australia on Saturday.
This was despite MCA secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan imposing a ban on party members from joining the rally.
"He (Liong Sik) had gone through so much, there is nothing to be afraid of," she was quoted as saying by Nanyang Siang Pau.
Furthermore, Erna admitted that she too joined the Bersih 4 ral ly in Kuala Lumpur while her husband was in Perth.
Liong Sik's photograph was circulated on social media after he posed with other Bersih 4 participants at the Perth rally.
Explaining her husband's presence, Erna said her husband had many former school mates in Perth and some of them had invited him to join the rally at Langley Square.
Erna ( photo ) added that she did not follow her husband to Australia as she had matters to attend to.
However, she joined some of her lawyer friends to attend the Bersih 4 rally in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
"But no one noticed my presence," she was quoted as saying.
Sweeping re forms
Ling was the longest serving MCA president, serving for 17 years from 1986 to 2003 and was also transport minister in Dr Mahathir Mohamad's government.
He was a sta lwart of former premier Mahathir and briefly served as caretaker prime minister when Umno was declared illegal in 1988.
Mahathir, too, had surprised Umno members when he turned up at the Bersih 4 rally in Kuala Lumpur for two consecutive days last weekend.
The rally demanded for sweeping reforms in the country and also called for the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
Najib is plagued by several scandals including his handling of state-owned 1MDB and the deposits of RM2.6 billion into his personal bank accounts.
He had denied taking public funds for personal gain while his supporters claim the money was a political donation.
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