TR EMERITUS

By Lee Wei Lian from The Malaysian Insider PETALING JAYA, Aug 27 — After months of speculation, the campaign to call for an EGM to remove MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and reinstate his deputy Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek was formally launched this afternoon by Datuk Theng Book, pro-tem chairman of the Save MCA campaign. Chua was sacked yesterday for tarnishing the party image via his sex DVD scandal. The “Save MCA” campaign had last year pressured former president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting to resign. To convene an EGM, Theng will have to collect one-third, or 800 MCA central delegate signatures. “It should be no problem,” Theng told reporters this afternoon, adding that it would take about two to three weeks to go on a nationwide campaign to collect the signatures. “Tee Keat is causing disunity in the party, please come forward to save MCA,” said Theng. The EGM will have two motions on its agenda — to reverse the decision of the presidential council and reinstate Chua and a vote of no confidence in Ong as president. MCA, an original member of a the three party Alliance that won Malaysia its independence and later became the Barisan Nasional, has been blighted by power struggles for more than 2 decades. The MCA presidential council’s sacking of Chua has set the party on a collision course with its coalition partner Umno, who is understood to be dismayed at the widening split in MCA. Leaders from four MCA divisions - Puchong, Petaling Jaya Utara, Petaling Jaya Selatan and Ampang, showed up today in their personal capacity to lend their support to the campaign. The supporters said that they were tired of the party infighting, especially when MCA is fighting for its survival in the face of record gains made by the opposition at the ballot box last year. They also echoed Theng’s denial that the Save MCA campaign was linked to Chua. Nevertheless, Theng blasted Ong, saying that it was the MCA president  who had tarnished the party image. “Tee Keat is suing someone (Tiong King Sing) for claiming that he received RM10 million in donations but he himself is claiming that people are raising RM100 million to topple him. I say show proof, or else apologise,” said Theng. “Two weeks ago in Johor, he called some MCA members gangsters. If that is so, then he is the head of gangsters.” Theng also took the transport minister to task for making himself a “hero” over his ministry’s probe of the scandal hit Port Klang Free Zone. “Just appoint professionals to investigate and submit the findings to the relevant authorities. He said he will be sacked (for investigating). But only the prime minister can sack him. Since he is showing disrespect, he should resign.” Tee Keat’s past history as MCA youth chief was also dredged up. “He caused the 803 crisis,” said Theng, referring to a chair throwing fiasco at the Flamingo Hotel in August 2001 that embarrassed the party. One of the MCA grassroots leader present, Datuk Dr Wong Sai Hou, Petaling Jaya Utara division secretary and former Selangor state assemblyman, said that the party cannot afford another crisis. “As the Bob Dylan song goes, when will we ever learn?” he said. He also quoted Chinese sayings to chide Ong for his actions. “Don’t smear blood on other people’s faces. When the water in the river subsides, the stones will be revealed,” said Wong. “The truth will prevail.” Other supporters expressed indignation over the relatively youthful Ong sacking the older Chua. “Never before has this happened,” fumed one man. “It’s like the son sacking the father.” Chua today said that he would take a short family vacation but kept mum on whether he will appeal presidential council’s decision at the central committee level before the deadline to do so expires in 14 days. Source: The Malaysian Insider  Read More →

From our Correspondent Veteran opposition leader Mr Chiam See Tong has sounded the Secretary-General of the Reform Party, Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam out for forming a joint GRC team to compete in the next general election due by early 2012. (read article here) Mr Chiam had made his intention of competing in a GRC known last year. The next election may be his last chance of winning a GRC. The opposition has never won a GRC since the scheme was introduced in 1988. The closest they came to winning was in 1988 when the Workers' Party team led by Francis Seow, Lee Siew Choh and Jufrie Mahmood won 49.1% of the valid votes in Eunos GRC which was subsequently broken up and absorbed into East Coast and Aljunied GRCs in the 1997 elections. Mr Jeyaretnam said that meetings had been held to explore possible areas of cooperation, but emphasized that things are still at an early stage. At least two meetings have been held so far to discuss options for closer collaboration, one of which is for the Reform Party to join the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) led by Mr Chiam. The SDA is a grouping of three political parties: Mr Chiam's Singapore People's Party, PKMS and the Singapore Justice Party. The first public hint of Mr Chiam's support for the Reform Party was his presence at Speakers' Corner in Hong Lim Park on Aug 10 when Mr Jeyaretnam delivered the party's National Day message. Mr Jeyaretnam is armed with both an impressive CV and political pedigree. A graduate from the prestigious Cambridge University with a double first-class degree in economics, he is the elder son of the highly regarded opposition leader Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam. JBJ, as he was fondly known to Singaporeans, founded the Reform Party in July 2008 to push for reforms in Singapore's political system. When he passed away in October last year from heart failure, thousands of Singaporeans turned up to pay their respect to him. Over two hundred Singaporeans, many of them in their 20s and 30s, held a candle-light vigil in commemoration of him at Hong Lim Park a week later. Many opposition supporters have placed high hopes the younger Jeyaretnam to fulfill his father's unfinished legacy. JBJ had consistently fought for the democratic rights of Singaporeans throughout his tumultuous political career which saw him bankrupted twice, barred from elections, disbarred from his profession and jailed for a month. He managed to regain his law licence and discharged himself from bankruptcy only in 2008. Despite his tribulations, JBJ had never flinched from taking on the entire formidable PAP machinery on his own. He last stood in the 1997 elections in Cheng San GRC as a candidate of the Workers' Party which he left in 2001 citing "differences" in opinions with its Secretary-General Low Thia Kiang. Winning a GRC remains a tall order for the opposition with its present strength. Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam may stand a higher chance of winning a single ward seat in a one-to-one fight with the PAP.   Related articles: >> The day JBJ made me cry by Fang Zhi Yuan >> A national day of mourning for JBJ by Singaporeans by Fang Zhi Yuan >> Waiting for Singapore's Pakatan Rakyat by Fang Zhi Yuan  Read More →

From our Correspondent Three Straits Times journalists, Sonny Yap, Richard Lim and Leong Weng Kam have published a book on the ruling PAP. Entitled "Men in White: The Untold Story of Singapore's Ruling Political Party", it describes the early conflicts and power struggles in the early years of the PAP. The trio had interviewed 300 party members, opponents and observers among whom are "leftists" banished from Singapore. The book will be launched by SPH at The Arts House on Sept 8. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew will be the guest of honour and some 150 past and present PAP and non-PAP politicans will be present. Given the fact that the MM Lee will be gracing the event and the book is written by ST journalists, its content is unlikely to deviate from the official version of events which have been recounted by MM Lee himself in his memoirs. According to Lee's interpretation, the PAP then was controlled by the leftists like Lim Chin Siong who enabled it to win the 1959 legislative council elections. The leftists subsequently split from the PAP to form the opposition Barisan Socialis which almost caused the government to collapse. Many of them were arrested and detained under the Internal Security Act between the years 1961 and 1968. One of Barisan's MP, Chia Thye Poh, was detained without trial for 32 years, making him the longest political prisoner of conscience in the world. Barisan Socialist boycotted the 1968 elections which led to the PAP winning all seats in Parliament. There would not be another opposition MP for another 13 years till Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam won a seat in Anson. The book's release may be planned to counter new releases from the London archives which gave a radically different account of what exactly transpired. The PAP has been in power uninterrupted for 50 years, a record matched only by the Chinese Communist Party. Japan's ruling Democratic Party, which ruled Japan for 54 years, is expected to be ousted from power in the coming elections.  Read More →