Loh Gwo Burne a frog? I disagree with RPK

I have to admit that in this post I'm working on logic and recall of past incidents rather than the most recent of political information or intelligence that RPK seems to have in abundance. Nonetheless I have to disagree with his take in his post Frog hunting season that Loh Gwo Burne is a tadpole unable to metamorphose into a slimy frog only because of the lack of 'incentive' a la the Jelapang model.

If we were to stroll back in time, we would easily recall Loh was Anwar Ibrahim's personal, yes, very personal 'last minute' choice as a PKR candidate for the federal constituency of Kelana Jaya in the 2008 general election.

On 01 March 2008, just 7 days before the general election, sweetie Helen Ang wrote Kelana Jaya: Compromise and keeping to convictions in the People's Parliament blog (headed by Brother Haris Ibrahim) on Loh's nomination for Kelana Jaya by Anwar Ibrahim:

Elections and electoral politics are about expediency, and politics is the art of compromise? We grant that Opposition politicians may have to compromise somewhere along the line. The People’s Parliament, on the other hand, was born of idealism and built on the same. Principles matter. 

Some of you may not see the point of why I’m talking in the abstract when the rest of you are intent on denying BN its two-thirds. You’d rather all these considerations be put on the backburner until after March 8. 

Well, compromise is a slippery slope and this is very early in the game to be already backsliding. From the discussions in the Kelana Jaya threads, I see that some commentators have come to believe what is convenient is also what is acceptable. 

On Loh Gwo-Burne’s shortcomings as a speaker and deficient in Bahasa Malaysia, there are excuses made: Not all MPs speak in Parliament; for the hot-button issues, BN could create a ‘no quorum’ precluding any chance for the Opposition even to speak; or this — MPs don’t need really to speak well lah (c.f. the BN ones). Will you allow this much leeway for lack of professional competence if you’re talking about your doctor? [...] 

To return to Gwo-Burne, this unproven chap is not winnable. His candidacy is premised on too many structural weaknesses, and depriving Kelana Jayans of viable choice. There are certainly more qualified people in PKR. Or the seat could have been yielded to DAP to contest or an independent who can give Lee a run for his money. 

The duty of People’s Parliament to me is to take a broader perspective on this issue. I cannot agree that we must go to the extent of doing ‘anything’ to deprive BN of votes. This forum was not established to canvass for the Opposition. We have our own rhyme and reason.

Though sweetie Helen Ang has since changed (political) horses, her words then were spot on. Anyway, she discovered to her surprise, and indeed to everyone's surprise as well, that she was so wrong in her belief the unproven Loh Gwo Burne was not winnable wakakaka.

As the post tsunamic March 2008 fave saying went, even a monkey would have won. But then, it was a piece of wisdom only with the advantage of hindsight.

The reality was that prior to the election, no one, not even Anwar, expected Loh to emerge as a giant killer wakakaka, which might possibly explain why the Great Leader had so generously nominated young Loh to the Kelana Jaya federal seat.

Even so, why then did Anwar select Loh to be PKR's candidate for a federal seat, and at that, just a mere two weeks before the election? Loh wasn't even a PKR member when Anwar invited him to stand in Kelana Jaya.

I suspect that the answer must surely be Loh's father rather than Loh's famous video clip. Could it be that Loh Senior made a very very handsome contribution to the PKR's election campaign fund? It's not illegal to make a political contribution you know, so possibly explaining Anwar's most strange last minute choice for Kelana Jaya which led to excoriations from Brother Haris Ibrahim in his post PKR, why, why, why?

Incidentally I had actually preceded sweetie Helen Ang in questioning Anwar's personal choice of Loh in my February post 2008 titled PKR's Kelana Jaya sweetheart deal? where I wrote:

Here’s a person, who until the Lingam tape, was a PKR nobody but now suddenly being rewarded with the party's nomination for a parliamentary seat while hardworking, dedicated PKR member and a human rights lawyer, Elizabeth Wong, gets a state seat.

Anyway, Loh won wakakaka, and I cheekily penned another post dedicated solely to him titled Bahasa Mělayu - a letter to Yang Běrhormat wakakaka.

Okay, I have in fact in passing already provided (above) the reason for my disagreement with RPK's assertion that Loh Gwo Burne was a tadpole who didn't become a frog only because of inadequate 'incentives', and that is my belief Loh's father, Loh Mui Fah, had probably contributed generously to PKR election funds to the extent Anwar had personally invited young Loh to stand as a PKR candidate in a federal seat, where we may then assume Loh Gwo Burne isn't exactly a person in need of money.

Born in UK, Loh Gwo Burne holds a British law degree and also a Masters in law from China, but doesn't intend to practice law - a typical picture of a scion of a rich family who wasn't exactly driven to earn money a.s.a.p like poor kaytee was wakakaka. However, we may safely assume he likes video-photography wakakaka. 

wakakaka

Incidentally Loh Mui Fah's family had or still has a multi-million ringgit business empire which landed in court some years back because of internal family disputed claims to that business empire.

Loh Mui Fah

And guess who acted for Loh Mui Fah in court? None other than Mr Americk Sidhu, the lawyer for Malaysia's most famous private investigator, Balasubramaniam who together with Anwar Ibrahim (all three of them) were at the press conference when the world was told by Bala that he was told by Razak Baginda who was told by Najib who was told by Altantuuyaa that she 'liked it in the back'.

Back to topic - If Loh is not, IMHO, a potential frog (for reasons he is unlikely to be attracted by mere financial rewards like someone in Perak wakakaka) then why is there sounding from PKR that he will be discarded in the coming election?

Well, in the brouhaha connected with the messy PKR party presidential polls, Loh made the mistake of writing a personal letter to PKR party president Dr Wan Azizah to complain about what he believed to be dodgy party polling process, and worse, criticizing the most scared cow in PKR, namely Azmin Ali, Anwar Ibrahim's blue-eyed boy - see my post The Poison Within PKR.

Then Loh burned his final bridges when he wrote a very public letter to Malaysiakini to lambaste Azmin Ali. Loh was a supporter of Zaid Ibrahim and probably must have been so nauseated by the injustice done to Zaid in PKR where he saw nothing (including his complaint to Dr Wan) would be dealt with, for him to write such a public letter in angry frustration to condemn the party's deputy president. From that moment, Loh sealed his fate as a member of PKR.

I invite you to read my post of 19 November 2010 titled Loh Gwo Burne & Gobala - one-term MPs?

Even though Loh had supported Zaid Ibrahim, when Zaid criticised Anwar Ibrahim on exiting from PKR, Loh attempted to make a distinction between his earlier condemnation of Azmin Ali and his extant support for Anwar by voicing his regrets over Zaid's actions - see Malaysiakini's Gwo Burne, Gobi not following Zaid.

But alas for Loh, I wonder whether that would be enough to save his skin in PKR, for as I had previously written, in PKR there's virtually little separation of identities between the symbiotic Anwar-Azmin. 

Because of this or rather, his offending Azmin Ali, I have forecast that it'll be most unlikely Loh would be re-nominated by PKR ...

... unless, IMHO and the most remote of possibilities, his father Loh Mui Fah makes such a substantial contribution to PKR's election fund that even Anwar Ibrahim will find it hard to refuse, Azmin Ali's objection not withstanding. But it won't be easy.