YOURSAY | ‘It seems DAP prefers the Chinese-educated group.’
DAP MP Ong will not contest in GE15
Anon25: Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming, yes, it looks like a slap in the face at the DAP elections. The Chinese-educated seem to have taken over. If so, it will be doom for DAP.
But do not walk away yet. My friends - Malays, Chinese and Indians - and I have contributed thousands of ringgit believing that DAP would be like Singapore’s PAP.
Unless DAP finds some way of keeping people like Ong and Damansara MP Tony Pua interested in politics, DAP is doomed.
There are lessons to be learned from Singapore. The late Lee Kuan Yew and PAP saw the danger of Chinese chauvinism early and acted decisively. They banned many Chinese-language newspapers and turned Nanyang University into an English-language university. That saved Singapore.
DAP must adapt and move with the times.
Anonymous_15897060865429524: With Ong not contesting GE15, it is a loss to DAP and the nation. Ong is one of the better MPs.
If he and Pua were in Singapore, they would have been somebody, if not in politics, then in business. They sacrificed their own careers and comfort for Malaysia and for DAP.
Sadly, Malaysia and DAP do not appreciate them. Pua and Ong represented a bright future for DAP and the nation. They represented our potential.
Sadly, it seems DAP prefers the Chinese-educated group with the ‘Ronnie Liu chauvinist’ type. DAP took one step forward and two steps back.
I am not so sure if I will be voting for DAP in the next election. Perhaps I will not vote at all.
TTSH: What an absolute waste of talent. Ronnie Liu and company, I hope you are happy now.
Bangi is a Malay-majority constituency. My friends speak of their MP (Ong) with pride. It is a tough constituency as the Malays there are more affluent and would more likely choose their candidate based on capability.
DAP can now field Ronnie Liu or one of his cohorts in Bangi come GE15 and kiss the constituency goodbye. Congratulations to all the Ah Bengs - you got what you wanted.
For Ong, if you had chosen Singapore over Malaysia, you would have been very successful. It is still not too late as Singapore and the MNCs (multinational corporations) there will welcome you with open arms.
Guglu: With the departure of Ong and perhaps Pua, DAP is left with mostly Chinese-educated chauvinistic members. It is sad that a party that is championing equal rights and multiculturalism has descended to a new low.
Ong and Pua are the voices of reason and moderation, and without them, DAP’s hope of becoming a mainstream party has gone asunder. It will remain an opposition party, shouting and barking but to no effect.
JazliSalleh: The English-educated Chinese and liberals are slowly stepping aside and moving away from DAP. They know that the chauvinistic elements within the party are only confident with the Chinese-educated politicians.
As we see the rise of extremists within the Malay parties, the same is also true for the DAP. It’s very sad indeed.
IndigoJaguar7545: Ong has always been a “give me a good ship, and I promise I won’t totally destroy it” person.
We need transformational leadership now. Ong is smart enough to know he has lost in all his strategies. His Dr Mahathir Mohamad strategy failed, his Muhyiddin Yassin strategy failed, and his MOU (memorandum of understanding) strategy failed.
He has nothing left to offer DAP, and DAP should not welcome him as a politician.
Fair Play: I suppose Ong has earned my respect and perhaps as well as the rakyat because of this.
He now disclosed that when he accepted the offer to stand for election as a federal lawmaker, he agreed to serve two terms as part of an agreement with his wife.
Now his priority is on his wife. The jury is out on its verdict about Ong’s performance or the lack of it.
My view is that he believed he had accomplished what he set out to do as a federal lawmaker. And I suppose that is more important to him than what we think of him.
Anonymous9483: Look at all the clueless commenters here speculating and pointing fingers at the “Chinese faction” or Ronnie Liu as the reason for Ong’s decision to call it quits.
If you bother to dig deeper, you will know for a fact that most of DAP MPs acknowledge the fact that they will never be the government. I give it to them for being rational.
That is why most of them will at least have the feeling of wanting to quit to make a more sustainable career while they are in their prime. At least, they are realistic enough to admit that being an opposition MP for life is not fun.
Dr Raman Letchumanan: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."
It's not the time to quit. Especially being slighted by the decision of your own comrades having differences of opinion. Now the party is being split into two.
Nobody owes anybody anything. Hero-worshipping only makes everyone a follower, not a leader.
But the fight has to go on, with or without our so-called leaders. Continue the fight based on your own conviction, not what others tell you to do. Learn from activist Haris Ibrahim.
3289031217: Unlike MCA, those who joined DAP before GE12 already accepted the “fact” that the party is not likely to be part of any state government, let alone, the federal government.
It was only after 2008, when DAP won Penang, that people only began to notice the party.
It is difficult to have politicians who did not easily give up their fighting spirit, like Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh and many of those who continue to give their best to the people when DAP suffered defeat and became an insignificant party in Parliament.
These are the people who dedicated their entire life to the betterment of the nation, regardless of how severe the personal attacks they suffered from the bullies in the notorious Umno party.
They are the politicians who accepted success and failure yet endured to persevere. They deserve much respect and trust from people on the ground.
Appum: All of us have to call it quits at some time or other. And the most respectable will be the time of your own choosing.
Ong, you had carried out your duty to the country well. I will always remember you as a politician with facts and figures. I hope you will still contribute your expertise to make Malaysia a better place for all of us.
Thank you for your service to the nation.
