DAP should stop giving ammo to its political rivals

S Thayaparan


“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.”

- HL Mencken

COMMENT | Nobody should be surprised that the state security apparatus is investigating DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang for his Sri Lanka comments.

As reported in the press, Lim said “I had no objection to changing the heading as my intention was not to incite any unrest but to warn of the dangers of allowing the political and socio-economic conditions to deteriorate, like what happened in Sri Lanka for over half a century”, after his political secretary advised him to change the heading.

Why did his political secretary ask him to change the headline? The answer is obvious. The political secretary knew that the cretins would be crawling out of the woodworks to vilify Lim.

Alternatively: KHAT's pol sec realised the seditious nature of KHAT's reckless provocation

The big question is why didn’t Lim understand this?

For decades Lim was used as the convenient bogeyman of Malay political insecurities. He had to fend off lies that he was somehow involved in the May 13th riots.

Lim also had to fend off lies that he was an agent of foreign powers sent to disrupt the racial and religious harmony of this country.

Even the old maverick took his shots at Lim and everyone knew that this was all part of the political sandiwara to concoct an enemy for the Malay masses so they would seek shelter under the banner of Umno/BN.

And what does Lim do? Well, he raises violent imagery of political operatives having their houses burnt by mobs.

In the age of social media and political partisanship, nobody is interested in nuance.

Nobody is going to look rationally at what the elder statesman of Malaysian politics said but rather at the symbolism and imagery of what he said.

Lim is making it so easy for his and the DAP's political opponents.

This is not about willingness to go to jail. I doubt the state security apparatus and the political establishment are going to jail Lim and in the process give the opposition more political oxygen when it comes to the non-Malay vote.

This is about creating a toxic environment that makes it easier for Umno to further narratives of political stability by painting oppositional figures as wanting to see this country fail.

The Malay uber alles political establishment is waiting to paint oppositional Chinese leaderships as violent and waiting to see this country fail.

Attacks have become cruder

And here is the thing. They know that the vast majority of Malaysians, regardless of ethnicity, have moved on since May 13.

What they are hoping to do is flame the dying embers of that historical incident to detract from the real class conflict in the Malay community.

Why? Because they know, the state security apparatus know, the Malay political establishment knows and the various operators who operate in the shadows know that, eventually, when houses of political operatives go up in flames, the mobs will not comprise non-Malays but, rather, a radicalised polity who awaken to the fact that the political elites have been bamboozling them for decades.

This should be a powder keg that nobody should want to light.

Desperados need a convenient target

This is a fight between Malay power brokers while the average Malay on the street is discovering how little use Malay privilege and rights are when the chips are down.

So what desperados need is a convenient target to symbolise every wrong with this country.

They need people to focus on personalities instead of policy.

If anything, the attacks against DAP have become cruder, wallowing in the kind of easy racism and bigotry that should invite some sort of institutional response. But this, so far, has been met with shrugs from the mainstream power brokers in this country.

Some DAP political operatives have no problem putting their feet in their mouths. This aids Malay uber alles proxies in their efforts to demonise the DAP.

The reason why the establishment gets so riled up about DAP is that sometimes the words and actions of the party resonate with Malay voters. Not many, but enough to cause instability.

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak


This is why Umno shuns working with DAP in a bipartisan way. Their propaganda diminishes when ordinary folk realise that DAP is not some sort of a monster which would take away their special rights.

This brings me to Steven Sim, who is attempting to pick up the gauntlet former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak threw down at the feet of Lim.

Look, anyone who has read my columns over the years understands that I think Sim is one of the better political operatives out there.

In other words, Malaysia needs more politicians like Sim and even when he has misstepped, he has remained a flawed if committed aspirant for a better Malaysia in his work in and out of politics.

Having said that, why get in the ring with Najib? Why do you think that the former prime minister challenged Lim to a debate in English?

What do you think the former prime minister gets out of this debate? Does Sim really think that this debate is a win or lose proposition for someone like Najib?

As I've pointed out before, propaganda organs of the state turn the words of DAP political operatives back on them.

My rule of thumb is, don't make it easier for propagandists by doing their work for them.

Pakatan Harapan needs to demonstrate that its policies are going to benefit more people, rather than indulge in grandstanding which does not get more votes but only riles up the base.

The DAP should stop providing ammo to their political rivals merely to feed the base red meat.



S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”