Penang the Political Pearl

From yesterday’s news in Malaysiakini we read of Opposition plans one-on-ones for Penang.

This is reminiscent of 1969. Then the DAP, Gerakan, PPP and even PAS had a pact to (1) avoid three-corner fights in any electoral seats and (2) encourage their supporters to vote for the political party opposing the Tunku Abdul Rahman’s Perikatan (Alliance Party, the forerunner of the Barisan Nasional).

There was no fancy name like Barisan Alternatif, etc. The pact was openly publicised and caught the imagination of Malaysians who were tired of the inefficiency of the government. The Chinese and Indians were pissed off with what they saw as racial discrimination, not realising the future would be even worse. I was told that a significant number of Malays deserted UMNO for PAS in disgust at UMNOputra-ism.

In the election Dr Mahathir, then a young turk, lost his parliamentary seat in (I believe) Kota Selatan in Kedah, whereafter he gave Tunku some rather caustic tongue lashing which led to his expulsion from UMNO. He was brought back by Tun Razak after the 2nd PM ousted Tunku in a quiet coup d’etat.

The most exciting party at that time was Gerakan, headed (not ‘helmed’, hahaha) by a group of intellectuals and high profile politicians, giants like:

... Professor Syed Hussain Alatas
... the late Tan Sri Dr Tan Chee Khoon, a former leader of the Labour Party who was respected even by UMNO as Malaysia’s Mr Opposition
... Dr. J.B.A. Peter
... internationally renowned academician Professor Wang Gungwu
... lawyer V. Veerapan, also another former leader of the Labour Party, and
... Dr Lim Chong Eu, former MCA President who, it was said, was manoeuvred by Tunku out of the MCA and Perikatan because the PM wanted a more compliant MCA leader whom he found in Tan Siew Sin. Dr Lim eventually took Gerakan into the BN in 1972 at the urging of Tun Razak.

If not for May 13, this multiracial party would most likely have become the ruling party by the late ‘70s or early ‘80s. But see how the party has since metamorphosed into its current sycophant status as UMNO’s sweetheart (or bum boy). Hmmm, a case of past midnight and Penang’s Cinderella turning back into a ........ (I better not say it lest I be accused of insulting the ladies of the night).

Like Gerakan, PAS was persuaded to return to its birth nest, UMNO-BN, before it left for a second time.

And do I need to describe the decline, decline and decline of the party of the late D.R Seenivasegam, a man respectfully addressed as the King of Ipoh? Read my previous posts PPP = Pathetic Pitiful Party and The total humiliation of PPP - a lesson for BN parties to understand why the late D.R Seenivasegam has lately been rolling over in his grave.

Only DAP remains of the original group of 1969 opposition parties which had virtually obliterated the MCA and shook UMNO to its core, and led to what has lately been described by a historian as a top-UMNO deliberately instigated May 13 riot.

Lim Kit Siang was elected in 1969 but will postal voters of a phantom army and the suspicious gerryman..... re-aligned electoral boundaries of the Ipoh Timor consitituency see his political demise?

DAP hopes its current pact with PKR will set it on a déjà vu course for victory, but it’s unlikely that it will grab power in Penang as Dr Lim Chong Eu's opposition party did in 1969.

For a start, PKR is not the 1969-Gerakan which had already built a solid base in Penang through Dr Lim Chong Eu’s United Democratic Party and the (Dr Tan and V Veerapan's) old Labour Party.

PKR is basically a group of ex but eternally hopeful UMNO apparatchiks. This is not to say there aren’t sincere non-ex-UMNO people in PKR but they belong to the ‘minority’ in the party.

I reckon that, other than some young people, most Penangites especially the Chinese and Indians will not vote for PKR. The DAP may gain a few parliamentary seats at the expense of the MCA and even Gerakan.

However, the Penangites’ formula of “sending DAP to KL make noise while keeping the BN in the State for development” may yet see a BN ruled Island.

Thus the other question is: will Raja Bodek go for federal parliament (very dangerous given the Penangites’ formula) or does he see safety in a State seat?

Related:
(1) Koh TK willing captive of UMNO?
(2) Penangites want to trade off Koh Tsu Koon!
(3) Giving away Penang's family jewels