YOURSAY | ‘We need leaders who can change with time, and lead with the changing time...’

Sim: DAP needs body check-up as ‘cancer’ grows from inside

Clever Voter: The ex-DAP leaders in Malacca ought to leave quietly instead of sulking publicly. DAP had its fair share of defections, no doubt attracted by personal rewards.

It would do no good to individuals to blame party leadership, especially on policy directions. Change is always difficult, but pragmatism is probably the better way forward.

DAP is not a failed organisation. The party, despite its lack of rich resources, has governed Penang for two terms now.

The party is now at a crossroad where it has a better chance to form the national government only if it collaborates successfully with others which share common goals but not necessarily values.

Kota Melaka MP Sim Tong Him and the others who quit sadly missed the big picture. For whatever reasons known to them, every MP of the opposition will always be tempted by “greener pastures”.

Their credibility no doubt will be tested by their constituents should they stand under a different party logo.

Ace: There is no need to talk big and say how good you are and how bad DAP is and justify your exit.

Just stand as an independent or under the banner of one of the BN parties in your existing constituency in the next GE, and the people of Malacca will tell you whether they believe you or not.

Anonymous_1431954960: Sim probably thinks Malacca DAP should be soundly and safely put under his control and no one else should touch it, or he may have the vision to build a Sim dynasty there.

DAP joined hands with Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Bersatu to achieve bigger and greater ambitions and visions should be encouraged and this should be the party's direction.

Anonymous #70881335: Sim, DAP is working with Mahathir to save Malaysia. Period. DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang said he will even work with PM Najib Abdul Razak to save Malaysia.

Malaysia is more important than anything else. But yes, I agree with you that leaders should not be treated like "Gods" and expect loyalty. It has to be earned.

Wira: If the whole country is run like Penang, it's already a big, big bonus. Don't just dwell in political principles.

(Then Gerakan leader) Dr Lim Chong Eu changed direction, cooperated with Najib's father and revived Penang.

His previous principle when he resigned the presidency of MCA because Tunku Abdul Rahman did not accede to his demand of seats was long forgotten.

Anonymous_1371550919: Why resign only after you lost party elections? If you are so principled, you shouldn't have even stand for election on DAP ticket. Learn to let go.

NNFC: There is no such thing as perfection. But see how far the opposition has come over the last eight years or so.

The chosen parties must put their self-interests and pride aside and work as a team to defeat their greatest enemy. Otherwise, we will be back to where we were before - a place without hope.

Anonymous: Sim, you refuse to see the bigger picture (to destroy a supremacist racist and corrupt regime) but now called a press conference in your futile attempt to justify your attempts to destroy DAP from within.

Yes, cancer breeds from within and you are the rotten cancer that is now visible and erupting, motivated by vengeance and your hidden agenda to destroy DAP.

Yes, you knew you will be dropped for the coming election caused by your open defiance and questionable conduct and loyalty with your constant attack against your comrades in the party and your action is just a pre-emptive strike against your party.

You not only betray the party and your comrades in this tedious battle to eliminate the cancer and corruption plaguing the country, most essentially you betray the people who supported you and destroy the hopes and aspiration of 14 million Malaysians who want change and to eliminate the corrupt regime destroying the country.

You talk about the evils of PAS, but your very action only makes Umno and PAS celebrate and rejoice as now you have aligned yourself with the parties you claimed you were fighting against.

Your "enemies" - Umno and PAS - are happy with your actions and you will be well "rewarded" for your attempts to destroy DAP, which is a real threat to this corrupt regime. You are the cancer that must be destroyed.

Malacca: Sim, your disappointment with having to work with Mahathir is understandable. There are many more like you not only in the party but also among supporters, but unfortunately Mahathir is needed at this stage to catch the mice.

Few can distinguish the difference between loyalty to the party and blind loyalty to the leadership… It is within your right to disagree with the leadership and leave the party.

Anonymous 535441435506261: I think Sim does not understand the seriousness of MO1 (Malaysian Official 1) kleptocracy as compared to the much-known wrongdoings of Dr M in the past.

And politics like many other things, is dynamic in nature. DAP cannot be in the opposition forever and must move with the time and circumstances.

Perhaps Sim is not as naive as we thought and his resignation together with the other three are just personal differences and frustrations with the Lims.

Ferdtan: Sim is hypocritical when he said that he was leaving because of DAP’s opportunistic stance of joining hands with Mahathir to take on BN. He thinks that we have short memory; we know what he did at the 2013 GE.

He went rogue after nomination day. He was chosen to stand as a parliamentary candidate; but at the same time he also put his name to stand as an independent in a state seat. Kit Siang and the party had to swallow their pride by negotiating with him as the stake then was high to forgo two seats.

His protégé, ex-Malacca DAP chair Goh Leong San (who subsequently lost at the 2015 branch level election), even threatened to close down the election operations centre. Sim and Goh, who had angered many DAP members by holding the party to ransom, paid dearly in the subsequent party election.

That is the real reason why Sim and his followers are resigning. It has nothing to do with party policies or principles.

Burong Merah: Can we accept a leader with an old mindset? Definitely no.

We need leaders who can change with time, and lead with changing time. With new technology and the changing situation, a new direction is required. Sorry Sim, you are not the leader we expected.

Prudent: In Myanmar, even Aung San Suu Kyi had the wisdom to side line some of her party's most brilliant but independent-minded members.

When questioned, she simply replied: "We are a party and we have rules." No one had credibly accused her of being dictatorial or intolerant of differences of opinion.

As a result, she rallied her party behind her and won the Nov 5, 2015 general election with a landslide, bagging 77% of the seats despite the elections being stacked against her by the military-backed incumbent government and a military-imposed constitution that gave the military a "fixed deposit" of an unelected 25 percent of the parliamentary seats.

DAP should now do the same with its recalcitrant members in the name of party discipline, no matter how “brilliant” they are and regardless of the largely subjective charges of being “dictatorial” and intolerant of differences of opinion.

Only then, would the party regain the confidence of the electorate, especially voters like me.

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