Sunday, November 20, 2011

Dr Syed Husin, the Socialist who lost his way

Tell me why I’m not at all surprised by the relevation of Ezam Mohd Noor that former PKR Deputy Chairman Dr Syed Husin had condemned Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin Ali in a private conversation with Ezam (when the latter was still in PKR).

Malaysiakini reported in its
Syed Husin: Ezam's throwing up a smokescreen that (BN-appointed) Senator Ezam Mohd Noor, once the right hand man of Anwar Ibrahim (Azmin Ali being the left hand man wakakaka) claimed that … Dr Syed Husin had in frequent chats with him (Ezam) at a favourite restaurant in Petaling Jaya criticized Anwar and Azmin for what he (Syed) perceived as their lavish lifestyles.

Dr Syed defended his snide comments about The Great One and Blue-eyed Boy to MKIN as:
“In general, I criticize any and everybody who offends against the unspoken rule against ostentation in their lifestyles. We are fighting for the have-nots in Malaysian society; it requires we be modest in our lifestyles.”

Dr Syed Husin explained that Ezam’s tattling was an attempt to distract from the motive behind Ezam’s departure from PKR, namely good old fashion ‘money’, by positing that he (Ezam) did so because of his dim view of the leadership of Anwar Ibrahim.

MKINI stated that Syed Husin expanded:
“I know this is coming down to a ‘I said, he said’ sort of thing but if you look at page 157 of my book, you will find that Hishamuddin Rais says in a letter that he wouldn’t be surprised if Ezam leaves PKR. That letter was written in 2002.”

Whether Hishamuddin Rais was proven to be prophetic is besides the point, because it’s interesting to note Dr Syed hasn’t denied that he had criticized Anwar and Azmin for their lavish lifestyles.

Indeed, Dr Syed has been wise not to as it’s an open secret about the lifestyles of Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin Ali. As they say, “Once UMNO, always UMNO”.

In fact I would say Dr Syed rather than Ezam in attacking the latter for deserting PKR for money would be the one attempting to distract from the fact he held (maybe still does) a very dim view of the lifestyle and leadership of Anwar Ibrahim and his darling boy. Mind, this is not to say Ezam is an angel, but he is no better or worse than Azmin Ali, both being at one time or still, political praetorian guards of The Great One.

Dr Syed Husin was the leader of PRM, once a wonderful socialist like Dr Jeya of PSM until he (Dr Syed) wandered into a wrong camp, a camp with people used to opulent lifestyles totally in contrast to his socialist ways.

I used to respect Dr Syed, even after he led the PRM foolishly into PKR (when fellow socialist DAP would have been the natural choice). Maybe he was like Zaid Ibrahim, believing he could ‘save’ PKR? Who knows?

I admired Dr Syed even more when he graciously declined to accept the PKR’s candidature for the Kota Bahru parliamentary seat, following strong objections from PAS in the person of Pak Haji Nik Aziz. Probably Pak Haji objected to what he saw as a syaitan-ish pinko standing as Pakatan candidate in KB.

But alas, I shed a tear and lost my respect for Dr Syed immediately after his racially-oriented remarks/demands about the composition of the Perak exco following the Pakatan victory in March 2008.

That’s what mixing with the wrong crowd could do to a former socialist.

11 comments:

  1. DAP is in reality not a socialist party.
    Its just a Chinese Party, with a few Bayi and Neh-Neh lamp-posts who can only get elected in overwhelming Chinese majority seats.
    That's why DAP was a very unattractive proposition for Syed Husin.

    His concern about the ramifications of the Racial composition of the post March 8 2008 Exco unfortunately actually became reality.
    UMNO successfully used racist propaganda to paint the PR coalition in Perak as backdoor Chinese rule.

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  2. DAP a Chinese party?

    Hmmm, considering the DAP 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) ...

    I wonder ...

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  3. Knew you would trundle out those names whenever anyone points out the painful reality of DAP's largely mono-ethnic internals.

    I stand by my remark...

    DAP..."with a few Bayi and Neh-Neh lamp-posts who can only get elected in overwhelming Chinese majority seats."
    ...all you did was just to name those lamp-posts...

    They are a lot like those Republican Party Negroes in the US.
    Colin Powell, Condeleeza Rice...

    If you ever chat off-line with those DAP Bayis and Neh-Nehs, which I have, you will realise how frustrated many of them are with the Party and its mono-ethnic priorities. Unlike UMNO, DAP has largely submerged its "talk" in racial terms, but it definitely still "walks" that road ...

    A Chinese Malasian blogger sitting in Sydney, Australia probably doesn't get how it looks like to a non-Chinese Malaysian outside of committed DAP cadres, but that's how a lot of people see the DAP, including lots of ordinary folks, not-UMNO, not-PKR people.

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  4. I trundle those names out because they're not Utsuan-type fabrications wakakaka. Isn't it strange for DAP to be constantly accused of being a Chinese party (UMNO's old line) when it has more Indian MPs and ADUNs than MIC (another wakakaka). We must be careful not to subscribe blindly to UMNO's accusation.

    Incidentally, DAP was started by an Indian, the late Devan Nair. Today, its chair is Karpal Singh.

    Thus, if we want to pedal the tired (no pun intended, wakakaka) racial characteristic of a party, then we should accuse DAP of being a political party with heavy Indian influence and character.

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  5. What is wrong even if DAP is a chinese party? If non-chinese did not want to join the party, is it their fault. The party is opened to all races. MCA is a chinese party, MIC an Indian party and UMNO a malay party, why no one complain about this? The important thing is whatever party, if they can serve the people and manage the country well, I don't care whether it is a malay party, chinese party or indian party. What is the point of having your own race party, but the party is not interested in serving the rakyat but their own interest only or only thinking about their own pockets, how to fill them.

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  6. I first met Syed Husin many years ago, and I last spoke to him just after he stepped down from his PKR position.

    I'm not into day-to-day politics, my main public concerns are on governance and rule of law, though that is impossble to separate from politics in Malaysia.

    Syed Husin is a real gentleman - and truly a gentle man.
    I'm sorry , I think your article does him a disservice.

    I think he knew well the flaws in PKR , especially its defacto leader, and those around him, but it was not for him to go head to head with them or bring the house down. Having lived through the worst that the Ruling regime had thrown at him, I guess he considered the struggle against UMNO and BN the greater good or the maneuvers within PKR the lesser evil.

    I don't have a good opinion of Azmin, but between Azmin and Ezam Rev.2, I'm pretty clear who is the genuine execrable one.

    I don't think we'll ever see any proof one way or another whether Ezam took any money to jump, but the Quid Pro Quo between his actions leaving PKR onwards, and rewards that he has received from the Ruling Party are as clear as daylight.

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  7. In politics
    The dreams and realities
    It has to change with the wind
    Or else how to survive?

    The chameleon arises
    All politicians dig in
    It is only the power craze
    It brings the worst in politicians

    They play the game
    “It's the dirty work
    No stomach don't go in”
    The righteous souls stay away

    The game of leaders for the people
    The adulation and power cables
    Who doesn't want to be in?
    The wealth in merry making

    It's the devil game
    The lies and cheats
    The back doors and straight faces
    Ah the game of politics!

    21/11/11 3.25pm

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  8. Aliran 1:24pm Nov 21,2011

    You should have seen the very very big house of Ezam after he rejoined Umno.The picture of the mansion was published in Malaysia Today a couple of years ago.Go check on the archives in MT.The mansion was rumoured to be in the range 10-15 million ringgit.

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  9. Apparently, Ezam quit PKR because he was broke, and shameful of living off his wife !
    Aiyoyo....

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  10. 'Dr Syed Husin, the Socialist who lost his way' is not interesting.

    Why don't you write on 'Shahrizoot, the umnoist who lost her cows'?

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  11. I'm far, far more worried about Lembu mega "loans" and $ 500 M commissions for submarines that cannot dive.

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