We can’t separate the wheat from the chaff. We look at the speck of sawdust in someone’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in other’s eye? We criticise relentlessly when the target is easy meat. We deliberately and even hypocritically missed the forest for the trees. I guess this is who we are. We can’t appreciate transparency and democracy in spirit and in essence. We could only be cowed into submission.

We are baying for the blood now. Suddenly, NGOs, independent analysts, city councillors and even ambassadors are jumping on the bandwagon to condemn Lim Guan Eng and DAP. Suddenly, even distinguished and well-respected bodies and institutions are blindly asking for Guan Eng’s resignation or leave of absence presumably just to appear impartial, transparent and democratic.

Even DAP members and ordinary supporters are not spared; they are now being accused of embracing political feudalism, i.e. supporting their leaders blindly and with absolute loyalty. There is now every fear that DAP will mutate into another monster quite similar to the party the country is trying to replace all this while. We can’t see the problems we face right here and right now, but we are concerned of the damage DAP may cause in the future.

If you are a politician opposing DAP and Guan Eng, I would have perfectly understood your position. It is the job of the politicians to oppose and destabilise your opponents for power and partisan reasons.

But if you are an NGO, an analyst, or an ordinary citizen longing for more equitable power distribution, better governance, democracy and fair play, I can’t see how you could so vehemently condemning DAP, Guan Eng and his bungalow or a few tow-trucks in the Penang City Council. Please don’t get me wrong; I am not condoning wrongdoings. It is just that we can’t see the damage done to ourselves in this journey.

We can’t see the fundamental problems. We missed the forest for the trees. We criticise because it is an easy target. We are hypocritically impartial and democratic.