Former Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan thanks national laureate A Samad Said's invitation for her to join DAP but said this was not a path that she would like to take.

 

"I am afraid I am not as courageous as him to go into politics in this country.

 

"I will have to say thank you to Pak Samad and to DAP but I still feel that I am more suited to NGO work," she told Malaysiakini when contacted.

 

Both Ambiga and Pak Samad were formerly co-chairpersons of Bersih that spearheaded the country's largest protest in recent history to demand for free and fair elections.

 

Pak Samad last month joined DAP, which largely comprises of ethnic Chinese, as part of the party's move to become more multiracial.

 

The national laureate had said he joined because he wanted to break racial barriers .

 

Ambiga praised Pak Samad for his courage and commitment.

 

"I think he has already made a difference. He has broken down barriers with that one move.

 

"I always knew that Pak Samad was special in that he always saw beyond race. This just proves it," she said.

Many ways to contribute

 

However, Ambiga said there were also many ways to contribute to the country and she will take the path of NGOs.

 

"There are many ways to contribute to the nation. One is to be part of civil society.

 

"Another is to join a political party for the right reasons," she said.

 

Pak Samad in an interview with Malaysiakini last week had praised Ambiga for her knowledge and said he hoped the senior lawyer would follow in his footsteps to join DAP.

 

Even though a multiracial party, DAP's majority ethnic Chinese membership had led the party to be accused of being ‘Chinese chauvinists’ by the ruling coalition.

 

In recent years, it had sought to increase its Malay membership to be able to reach out to the wider electorate.