Don`t judge a book by its cover

By: Oh Tong Keong

Kwong Wah Daily, July 26^th 2016.

The recent hot news about the snap election in Penang was well disseminated. There is a possibility that the state assembly of Penang will be dissolved in a few days. Chief Minister Lim might announce it before my article was out.

I always objected to the move from the very beginning. As it is a personal legal battle, it should not involve the public by calling for a fresh state election. It was a joke to announce a snap election in style by assuming it was an act of returning the power to the people. Such a ridiculous rationale calling for a snap election is quite difficult to convince the public. The term of office for the state government has two more years to go. Why does the state government want the power to return to the people now? This argument is quite difficult to digest.

Let’s put aside the issue of Penang and delve into national or international issues. Lately the US Department of Justice announced and confirmed by their Attorney-General Loretta Lynch had applied to the court to confiscate the assets of 1MDB. The US investigation report also intentionally insinuated the involvement of our Prime Minister Najib.

In fact from appearance it looked only like a legal case but in reality it involved the tussle of international politics. Many of our international issues are more favourable towards China. Our country is very cooperative to China`s planning and leading along the way in development. This may agitate US plans to cast its influence in the South China Sea again.

Let us ponder whether we can believe the words of US?  Are their findings reliable?

Let us look back at past history when US attacked Iraq. During that time former US President George W. Bush and the British Prime Minister Tony Blair jointly attacked Iraq to rob the oil fields. They made the greatest lie to the world by saying Iraq possessed strong destructive chemical weapons. Finally Iraq was defeated and there was no proof whatsoever of chemical weapons. This showed that US conspired with Britain to make a big lie.

After the Iraqi government was overthrown, a new but incompetent government was established. The weak government encouraged a terrorist organization (Daesh) to grow, expanding its influence and threatening all nations around the world. Our Prime Minister was also targeted by the terrorists and this scourge was born by US.

Hence we should not judge a book by its cover. When we study the issue more deeply, we will discover the truth is far from what we have seen or heard earlier.

Let us return to the issue in Penang. DAP created many beautiful and grand rationales such as returning the power to the people to stabilize the political situation in Penang and other excuses. Do all these hold water? Can they be accepted? We should venture into other perspectives and not to see only the surface.

Is the snap election for the sake of an individual? Or is it to save the political life of an individual? If the answers are in the affirmative, then calling for a snap election by dissolving the state government has no good sense or excuse.

Whether Lim Guan Eng is guilty or not, let the court but not a snap election to decide. Even though DAP may have a landslide victory; it will not affect the verdict of the court. This is because our judicial system is independent, impartial and not controlled by any faction.