DAP, a mirror version of MCA + MIC?

No doubt, our solidarity should be with Raja Petra Kamaruddin now that the man has become the first victim of BN’s attempt to strike back. The ruling coalition is again showing its (broken) fangs. But could it be a perfect plot between some at the highest echelons of the federal government and RPK to ensure Najib Razak remains in the spotlight?

Some two weeks before he chose to go to jail rather than posting bail, RPK ran an article on ‘Malaysia Today’, entitled Is DAP showing its true colours? which I guess has gone unnoticed by many of MT’s diehard fans who are usually more enticed by RPK’s incessant conspiracy theories about Umno.

But the piece is highly recommended, especially if one is deeply concerned as to whether Pakatan Rakyat (PR) would serve as a viable alternative to the shambolic BN.

RPK is from a rare breed of royalty whose writings consistently strike a chord of common feelings, which makes him a thorn in BN’s side, more so in the case of Najib and Rosmah recently.

Just last week, I met a Chinese Malaysian by chance here in Bangkok, who turned out to be an online forum organiser. He talked profusely about the need for DAP to transform itself to make the party relevant in the long run, referring to PKR’s article every now and again.

I cannot agree with him more.

Just look at Karpal Singh. I had wanted to include him as one of the political dinosaurs that I made fun of a few weeks ago, but chose to delete the paragraphs just to give myself more time to observe the DAP stalwart. Well, Karpal did not disappoint me.

At a time when everyone is looking forward to a more vibrant, intelligent and informative culture of debate in the Dewan Rakyat, Karpal in his usual stuntman-style raised trivial issues on the very first day of the parliamentary session. To me, his performance was only reminiscent of the previous parliament, which was everything about stealing the show but nothing about substance.

With dozens of newly-elected lawmakers on the opposition bench, a good number of them professionals from various fields, Karpal seems to be suffering from some identity crisis, fearing that the presence of the young and smart newbies might eclipse him.

Poking a beehive

Like some MCA leaders who are bereft of new ideas, Karpal continues to harp on the Islamic state issue, apparently still very used to the old mentality, and finding it hard to come to terms with the new political realities.

True, Pas has its bigots like Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, the Kelantan Menteri Besar who often sees the need to ‘protect’ women through a strict religious code. But if the DAP really hopes to go far in Malaysian politics, tit-for-tat over Islam will only hasten its irrelevance.

Meanwhile, Karpal’s relish in tackling the issue of constitutional monarchy head-on only gives more ammunition to the BN and alienates the Malay constituency further.

Leave it to whatever mechanism there is within the PR to iron out the ideological differences. If Karpal cannot see the paramount importance of maintaining a coherent coalition while in opposition, don’t expect him to hold his tongue if he is ever made a cabinet minister one fine day. His egoistic self and confrontational rhetoric would only ensure a short-lived DAP presence in an alternative government.

Very often in politics, it is sensibility, rather than seniority, that earns one respect.

Karpal’s lack of generosity is also seen in his objection to the appointment of Lee Kah Choon, a former Gerakan leader, as director of Penang Development Corporation. Does he not realise the DAP needs all the talent it can get to make its rule in Penang sustainable?

In government, personal stunts are a luxury. It is high time PR learns how to put the Tiger of Jelutong on a leash.

Karpal is not the only DAP leader who is caught in this post-election dilemma. Lim Guan Eng, in his first week as chief minister of Penang, also stirred up unnecessary controversy over the so-called bumiputera privileges.

Instead of poking a beehive, Lim could have avoided the messy aftermath by reiterating the importance of transparency and fairness in administering the state. Obviously, the new chief minister felt that he owed his job to the Chinese voters but forgot that he is now the leader of a state in which close to half of the population is Malay.

Lim’s teething pains can be witnessed from his difficulties in adjusting himself. Last week, he ticked off the Coalition for Good Governance (CGG), an umbrella group of NGOs that came out with a report that was not too favourableof the DAP-led government in Penang.

Lim complained like a child throwing a tantrum that the CGG, as like the BN, was purposely targeting his administration!

But the rakyat clearly did not elect Lim only to be told to adhere to discredited benchmarks set by the BN. Would Lim rid himself of the persecution mentality to make us happy, even for just a while?

But the DAP’s biggest problem lies in the fact that many of its leaders seem to believe they are indebted predominantly to the Chinese, and then the Indians. Hence their habit of doing things that reek of ethnic populism.

‘Ethnic dignity’?

Teng Chang Khim is an able politician that I respect. And my sympathies were with him when he was overlooked in the recent Selangor state exco lineup, most probably a victim of factionalism.

But I was most disappointed when Teng vowed never to put on a songkok , and challenged the MCA legislators who did so to apologise to the Chinese community.

Why pick on the songkok ? Why should a Chinese be regarded as well-educated and civilised when he is in a Western suit but compromising on ‘ethnic dignity’ when he puts on a baju Melayu ?

Which Chinese Malaysian nowadays, really, is not a traitor to Chinese culture except for the few days of Lunar New Year celebration when everyone loves to be seen in a ‘traditional’ costume just to satisfy everyone else’s exotic curiosity?

How ironic that while Khir Toyo finds himself the opposition leader having ambitiously announced his desire to see ‘zero opposition’ in the state assembly, Teng now looks somewhat uncomfortable wearing a songkok as the newly appointed Dewan Speaker. In politics, one must always be prepared to eat humble pie.

Liew Chin Tong ( pix ) is among the most promising of DAP’s talents. He also has all the potential to move the party beyond the ethnic limitations. Before being elected as the MP for Bukit Bendera, Liew reminded us that 80% of the 4.9 million young Malaysians yet to register as voters were Malay . I concur with him that the BN government is reluctant to introduce automatic voter registration knowing full well that many of the young Malays may not necessarily vote Umno.

But my question is: with Indian and Chinese populations dwindling proportionately, would the DAP be able to capture a significant segment of the young Malay vote to really move away from the fringe of Malaysia politics to the center?

Liew certainly looks best suited for the job given his broadmindedness and macro worldview. He is also unencumbered by unnecessary ethnic sentiments. Provided, of course, he does not end up another victim of factionalism within the party. The DAP’s undisputed contribution to Malaysian democracy should be rightly acknowledged; so should its chequered history of internal power struggles which now deserves a sizeable space in the National Archives also.

The longest-serving opposition party has been given a new lease of life, albeit unexpectedly. Yet the litmus test of its longevity depends on how the party can transform itself into a truly multiracial force to rival Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR). It is also contingent on the party’s ability to rein in factionalism.

Any failure to rise to these two challenges will only make the DAP a mirror version of the MCA + MIC in a PR government, and we all know how these two race-based parties and their leaders fared in the last election.