My Uncle was so sad after reading a leaked WikiLeaks’s cable, where US diplomats in Malaysia submitted a report to Foggy Bottom on the Perak political situation. In the report Power struggles in Perak, he saw with great dismay:
Perak had been a bastion of the ruling BN coalition since Malaysia's independence in 1957 until the March 2008 general election, when the opposition PR coalition stunned the BN and took control of the state government by winning 31 of 59 state assembly seats.
Within the PR, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) won 18 seats; the People's Justice Party (PKR) won 7 seats; and the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) won 5 seats. Although the DAP earned more seats than their coalition partners combined, the position of Chief Minister went to PAS assemblyman Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin, because the Perak state constitution stipulates that only a Muslim can hold the position of Chief Minister (CM).
On the BN side, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) won 27 of their 28 seats while the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) took the remaining seat. Two other BN partners, the Malaysian Peoples Movement Party (Gerakan) and Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), were all but rendered obsolete as neither won a single contested seat.
So, prior to the frog season, out of the 59 State seats, DAP won 18 seats, PKR 7, PAS actually 6 (not 5 as per the US report), UMNO 27, and MCA 1.
Forget about Gerakan and MIC wakakaka, but considering we are talking about Perak, who was missing?
PPP!
Yes, the People’s Progressive Party – none other than the Seenivasagam brothers’ PPP.
This is what Wikipedia has to say about the People’s Progressive Party:
In 1969, as a strong opposition party, PPP was nearly able to form the Perak State Government, but fell short of just 2 seats in combination with the opposition to form the state assembly when 2 of its members crossed over. The success of PPP was mainly due to the Chinese vote, though many of the top leaders then were Indians.
My Uncle was sad because he was an ardent admirer of DR Seenivasagam, a man he described as the political King of Ipoh. He lamented that after DR passed away, SP, the elder but less astute brother fell for Tun Razak’s invitation to be part of the Barisan Nasional. PPP joining the ruling coalition spelt its death knell.
Today the PPP is virtually non-existent, apart from a backdoor Senator-pretender (who frog-ied to MIC but, I believe, did not have his senatorial term extended). The 2008 general and state elections brought out that reality very clearly, and personally for my Uncle, poignantly.
Note the last line of the Wikipedia article, namely “The success of PPP was mainly due to the Chinese vote, though many of the top leaders then were Indians.”
Yes, DR & SP Seenivasagam ruled Ipoh principally on overwhelming Chinese support. Hinraf, eat your bloody hearts out wakakaka.
No MCA or DAP bloke could have touched the Seenivasagam’s, and that said something for the brother's popularity with Ipoh/Perak Chinese - it's not unlike Penang Chinese devotion for Karpal Singh.
The only reason DAP made some headway in Perak in 1969 was because of the loose pact between DAP, PPP and Gerakan, where obviously DAP was seen as an ally of PPP; even PAS agreed not to split the votes in an anti-Perikatan (Alliance) campaign in 1969.
And people say the Chinese are racists. But why did those Ipoh/Perak Chinese proved them wrong by supporting the PPP's Indian leaders in those days?
The secret lies in the Wikipedia article on PPP, where it states of the party then “It was hugely popular party upon inception, particularly due to the popularity of the brothers who spoke up for justice, equality and the common man.”
Read this again: “… the brothers ..... spoke up for justice, equality and the common man.”
That’s the f* secret.
Today the PPP is nothing more than an Indian-based party, with very little or even zero support from the Perak Chinese. Its power base in Perak has been taken over by the DAP, a party alleged by many in PKR wakakaka to be a sino-centric party.
But alas for those jealous detractors, DAP so happens to be a party which has the most number of Indian MPs and ADUNs, more than MIC and all Indian-based party combined could put together (if you wish, you can add PKR Indian members as well, including Gobala wakakaka).
Despite losing one Indian (Punjabi) ADUN some months ago due to the seasonal tadpole season, the DAP still has:
MPs
Karpal Singh, Professor Rama, Kula, Manogaran, Charles Santiago, Gobind Deo, John Fernandez, and
ADUNs
(in NS) S Veerapan, K Arumugum, P Gunasekaren, (in Penang) Professor Rama again, Jagdeep Singh, Tanasekharan, R Sanisvara Rayer, (in Perak) A Sivaesan, V Sivakumar. A Sivasubramaniam, (in Selangor) M Manoharan, and
Senator S Ramakrishnan - (DAP’s other senator being Senator Tunku Aziz).
But all the above haven't ameliorated my Uncle’s sadness at the lost glory of the Seenivasagam’s party.
How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished! – 2 Samuel 1:27 (KJV)
Related: PPP = Pathetic Pitiful Party
Dear Kaytee,Yes,I still remember about PPP and the Seenivasagam brothers.At that time anti alliance sentiment was high.The Chinese communjty although not the majority,is always the leader of the pack in the voting trend.I would say that they are more matured in evaluating the balance of governance.I wouldn't say that about the MCA though.The Chinese strongly supported the PPP because the Seenivasagam brothers were really outspoken for all communities.But later on the PPP just fade away.
ReplyDeleteThe Chinese always mostly are the ones who tilted the balance of power.They know when to go the extra inch like in 2008.But during the 1988 elections during Dr.M versus Ku Li they voted for peace and stability rather than change.The Malays were filled with emotions and the majority were anti establishment.When you go to the ballot boxes and vote with emotions rather than with your head,a lot of unpredictable thjngs can happen.That is why the Chinese backed Dr. M.They were right at that time.But looking back at history(the mess Dr. M left behind,out right corruption, manipulating the judiciary,using ISA against the opposition etc)maybe the Chinese should have gone that extra inch.But who knows.Maybe a repeat of May 13th could have happen.That we could only speculate.
Now that the PPP has fade away into the sunset,their replacements are the DAP and PAS.Why I said DAP and PAS.Tha DAP and PAS have had their share of good times and bad.They have taken hard blows and fallen flat on their faces.But everytime they fall flat on their faces they always come back stronger.The leaders of these parties are leadernecks and fighting tigers.DAP and PAS are here to stay for the long haul.PKR if they get thrashed this coming GE13,instead of getting up on their own power,they will eventually self destruct.
These coming GE the Barisan lapdogs MCA and MIC will know their faith when they meet their maker.Most probably they will join their counterpart Gerakan and be irrelevant.Eventually they will fade away from the radar and be history.
DAP will eventually be a major multi racial party.Hopefully soon after the 13GE.The remnants of Gerakan,MCA,and MIC cannot be accepted into Umno.Some from PKR will eventually go back to Umno if it will accept them.The rest will either joined DAP or PAS.Anwar will retire after GE13.Azmin will return to Umno,maybe they might appoint him a senator like Ezam,because both there guys are too tainted and unalectable as Umno candidates.DAP and PAS will not accept him.So Anwar and Azmin, "ADOIS AMIGOS".
PKR is just a bunch of Ex-UMNOites trying to get back into UMNO for the right price.
ReplyDeleteDAP is racist as far as Malays are concerned. Oh, the talk is couched in non-race terms, but if you look a bit deeper, the agenda is in reality highly prejudicial to Malays.
PAS just a bunch of Taliban-lite now trying to Photoshop themselves as Erdogans.
That's why, for all its pong, I still intend to vote BN in GE13.
"And people say the Chinese are racists. But why did those Ipoh/Perak Chinese proved them wrong by supporting the PPP's Indian leaders in those days?"
ReplyDeleteKT,the chinese knew even then that it does not matter whether the cat is black or white, as long as it catches the mice ?
But our malay kawan2 are still in the 'Orang Kita' mode. And now further entrenched after being driven into a seige hell-hole with the almost daily warning of the imminent take-over of their 'malay' country by these yellow hordes, the orang asing, the pendatangs.
The real question is : do these 'majority' malays truly believe that drivel of the minority taking over the mighty government ?......or is it pure posturing as it is the most convenient way to 'eliminate' a race who happened to be their fellow citizens for generations; and then putting the blame on the extremists for making them to continue supporting and voting the extreme right.