Twice cheated but still wanting more

Writer: Zhang Long Yan
Nanyang Siang Pau, Sept 12, 2015

At a seminar on electoral reforms held on January 29, 2008 at the Chinese assembly Hall in Kuala Lumpur, Lim Guan Eng said DAP was cheated when it forged a partnership with PAS to form Barisan Alternatif. He added DAP would not be cheated for a second time.

He also said DAP would not co-operate with PAS again just to strengthen anti-Barisan forces. He said DAP had more important principle, adding that its opposition to PAS’ theocratic agenda was more important than countering Barisan.

However, in the 2008 general election, DAP and PAS struck a private arrangement. Wherever DAP contested, PAS stayed away, and vice-versa. The outcome was remarkable. After the election, Rocket, Moon and Blue-Eye formed the Pakatan coalition. They co-operated openly in the general election five years later.

The new situation then was co-operating with PAS to counter Barisan had become more important than opposing PAS’ theocratic principle. It is said that one would learn after being cheated once. The Chinese do not seem to have learned. Even when DAP betrayed its principle, the party won unprecedented support by Chinese voters.

We all know that PAS has been most steadfast in upholding its principle. It has never said it would give up its theocratic principle or that it would not establish an Islamic state. DAP was well aware of the stand taken by PAS but it betrayed its principles because it believed that countering Barisan was more important and thus, it strived to hard-sell PAS to the Chinese community.

Now DAP and PAS are in a face-off. In the past, DAP has been serenading PAS with love songs and now it accused Hadi Awang as a betrayer. PAS election losers (liberal faction in to DAP) are now forming a new party called Parti Amanah Negara. Keadilan said the former Pakatan had ceased to exist and they are now forming Pakatan 2.0 which will accept not only Parti Amanah but also PAS.

DAP which has been cheated twice and has also hook-winked twice the Chinese community, said it would not accept PAS. The party has now found its principle which was lost once, and certain community is clapping their hands. They forget that DAP has not asked Amanah Negara to tell its members whether to continue the struggle for theocracy and the establishment of an Islamic state.

Rocket also did not say that Mat Sabu failed to secure a parliament seat and also failed to retain his party deputy presidency. How much influence such a loser would have in the Malay community? Compared with Mat Sabu, Anwar commands much better reputation and stronger influence. Can Mat Sabu complete Anwar’s unfinished mission?

A senior politician once said that if a woman was cheated once, she could blame the other partner. But if she was cheated twice, she only had herself to blame. That politician was Lim Guan Eng himself.

Therefore, if we the Chinese had not learned anything from the two cheating incidents, they could take the bait. To support a political party which does not have a principle seems to be the Chinese thinking at the highest order. Of course, their followers are also of higher and nobler quality than the men-in-the street.

Original Source:
上两次当太少