Seize the day
Jan 12th, 2008 by Tian
Today the front page of The Sun (11 Jan) reported that Parti Gerakan ex-Supremo Lim Keng Yaik said that Koh Tsu Koon should stay as Penang Chief Minister even after the general election.
Earlier, it was expected that Koh being the party national president would/should move to the Federal level. His CM post has been hotly contested by two contenders: Teng Hock Lam and Chia Kwang Chye.
Keng Yaik probably fears that Tsu Koon’s departure might worsen the infighting within Gerakan. His fear is not without basis.
Gerakan is now even more anxious when KeADILan and DAP announced an agreement on seat allocation in Penang. The pact shows that the opposition parties are making serious attempt to unseat the state government.
Contrast to the unity of the opposition, the BN is in disarray. Umno-Gerakan relationship reaches all time tense. Behind its back, MCA is sinisterly undermining Gerakan’s power base.
Prior to the announcement on 9 January, there had been some negative comments on the dispute between KeADIlan and DAP. It is a good thing that people are concerned with the opposition unity. The reason I joined a political party was precisely for the creation of a united alternative front to overthrow the Umno-led BN.
In actual fact, there is no issue between Guan Eng and me. However we are in parties which have adopted very different approaches in the struggle for change. We both have no choice but to act on behalf of our parties and to articulate or defend our respective positions.
Our debates and arguments are part of the process of democratization. They should not affect private friendship of individual leaders.
Guan Eng and I were both from the same hometown Melaka. We were also from the ’80s generation of student activists in Australia. Our contemporaries include many activists in Malaysian NGOs and political scene today.
We studied in different cities: he was in Melbourne and me in Sydney. We had never met while in Australia although I heard of his activities in the Malaysian students association. He was a few years senior and was elected MP upon returned to Malaysia. I came back in 1990 and got involved with NGOs.
In this period, Guan Eng had undergone a series of ordeals in his political career. He emerged as one of the most prominent political leaders of my generation. Despite our differences in philosophy and strategy, I believe that Guan Eng is the most suitable person to be the CM of Penang if the opposition were to capture Penang in the next general election.
Hi Tian,
I am glad that PKR is playing its role as an effective middleman in bridging the gap between DAP & PAS. Only if you guys unite, BN can be easily overthrown.
How about a proper emblem/logo of BA in the next EC combining/remodel all emblem of PKR, DAP, PAS & PSM into a combined logo using yellow as the official color? Since all you guys are infact backbone of BERSIH plus yellow wasn’t used as any official colour in any of those parties I bet it would be the most suitable colour.
All the best.
[...] there are some pretty interesting comments below, i do recommend having a look
also see Tian’s political analysis on the main issue LKY was commenting on, plus his compliments for Guan Eng 
[...]
dear Tian…Its about time you people team up and show BN idiots thats its time to change. My mistake for voting them the past years…thats why they are so so arrogant. teach those bastards the lesson….those police think who they are doing as they like maybe next time gang up ans teach them what britality is all about…..anjing kerajaan
I hope DAP-Keadilan will do what PAS-Semangat 46 did in Kelantan. Give BN-Gerakan-MCA-MIC-UMNO the most humiliating defeat of the century. If a BN candidate loses his deposit, that would be the first in history.
Penangites, please do it for the country. Teach them a lesson.
More LKY spittle I would say - he has admitted to that in the past.
Let’s topple 2/3 majority of Be End (BN) starts from Penang!
Ah Guan,
We should take over Penang state govt. The opposition should prove to the people that we are capable to governing.
Cheers, Tian
Talking about a united front, we should drop Barisan Alternatif, but adopt Barisan Rakyat, for the following reasons:
(1) “alternative” to BN sounds like we will be another BN, when BN is rot to the core. In fact, the united front should be a self-confident, unique grouping with its own conviction and principles.
(2) if you examine closely, this battle is increasingly between the rakyat and the non-rakyat - the arrogant bunch of UMNO-dominated BN politicians who are in power to suppress the rakyat.
Dear Tian Chua,
I am quite sure Penangite might be worried that the post of CM will no longer belongs to Chinese after over-turing BN.
Basically, most of opposition supporters would like to see the unity of DAP and PKR not only in Penang but also states all over Malaysia. Nevertheless, it was a good start for alternative party to conpete with BN under the same umbrella!
Salam Reformasi!