I am with DAP and proud to be one

Hmm..... maybe those who reads only English paper like The Star and have yet to attend any of the last two DAP fundraising dinners in USJ are not aware of the fact that I has been involved with  DAP for more than a year now. I am a DAP member and proud to be one too.

Since there is free publicity for my branch now, if anyone wanna join our new branch - the DAP USJ East branch, you are welcome to contact me.

And as usual, being a Buddhist activist for more than 20 years now,  if the Buddhist temples/centres you are attached to have any issues to raise especially with the Selangor state government, do continue to contact me too.- Loka SK Ng

From the Star
Saturday June 25, 2011



‘We’re PKR and DAP members’


By EDWARD R. HENRY


edward@thestar.com.my



PETALING JAYA: Two Subang Jaya municipal councillors have admitted that they were appointed under the non-governmental organisation (NGO) quota although they were members of PKR and DAP.



Jaberi Ami, the Kota Raja PKR member and Angkatan Muda Keadilan treasurer and Loka Ng Sai Kai, a USJ DAP branch member also admitted that their political affiliation helped them to get things done.

 Jaberi said it was important to be in a political party to fully understand policies of the state. He added that being in a political party could help in his public service.



“I have been a PKR member since 2008. I have also been with the Muslim Factory Workers Welfare Association, an NGO, for more than five years.


“I see no problem with my political membership. I have an unwavering spirit to fight for the workers' welfare. So, I put forward to the state views on workers' welfare,” he said.

 Ng felt it was important to be committed with the state's policies and “there is nothing wrong in being a party member.”

He has been active in Buddhist organisations for close to 20 years. He has also been Malaysian Youth Council vice-president.



Ng said he joined DAP about 18 months ago and found his membership beneficial in resolving many issues.



“I am committed to the state government's policies, but at the same time I am very firm and independent of state government control, I have no problem voicing out issues affecting the rakyat,” he said.



Both councillors were commenting on The Star's front-page story yesterday which highlighted that only 10 municipal councillors in Selangor were Independents and represented NGOs, compared to the state government's claim of 71.

Coalition of Non-Governmental Organi-sations and Professional Appointed Councillors (Conpac) chairman Tan Jo Hann said he was thankful for grassroots leaders such as Ng and Jabri. “But I am questioning what the Pakatan government had agreed to do. It is a matter of principle.

“Conpac wants 25% of municipal councillors to be full-fledged NGO representatives.”



Tan added that he was not undermining the skills or commitment of the councillors but just wanted state executive councillor Ronnie Liu to honour the 25% quota agreement for NGO representatives.

DAP Selangor- USJ East Dinner

For those who attended or even misses the breakthru DAP dinner held at Summit Subang Jaya last year, this is the time again the local USJ East DAP branch brings to you another event not to be missed this year. The dinner will be on Saturday, 7.00pm, 5 March 2011 at the SJK (C ) Chee Wen, USJ 1, Subang Jaya.

The speakers for the dinner this year comprises representatives from all Pakatan Rakyat components and also DAP representatives from different states.

Come and listen in person the indomitable V. Sivakumar, DAP Perak deputy Chairman and ADUN for Tronoh who stood his ground to defend democracy and the people's power.

Khalid Samad , the PAS Shah Alam MP who gained the respect of many for his inclusive perspective and respect the right of everyone to practise his or her own religion.

The young and vocal ADUN of Seri Setia who is also PKR's director of communication, Nik Nazmi will be sharing his views to his friendly neighbors.

All the way from Negri Sembilan will be the head of the DAP Socialist Youth and MP for Rasah Anthony Loke Siew Fook.

Teresa Kok , Selangor Senior Exco, who came last year will be addressing the diners this time as the recently appointed DAP Selangor chairperson.

The person who puts more meaning to the role of a State Assembly Speaker Teng Chang Khim will be coming to share his wits in addressing political issues.

As the local ADUN, Hannah Yeoh is still working as hard as ever, even during her pregnancy. She will be providing her report on her work for Subang Jayans for the past one year.

Come and join us in this exciting and informative event. Call 016-916 1535 now for more details.

Managing an expanding Rocket

nThe growth in membership and branches of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) since the breakthru 12th general election in 2008 creates a new challenge to the party especially for its leaders in Pakatan Rakyat ruled states particularly in Selangor and Penang.

For a party whose membership some 30 years ago was just more than two thousand, the current monumental growth in membership is surely a situation which many veteran  DAP leaders can never imagined. Previously with small membership it is easier to manage the party in terms of secretariat affairs and branches coordination. Fast forward to year 2010 when the membership and branches had rocketed to such numbers which is unseen in DAP's history. The party HQ  and some state secretariats workload must have increased tremendously in processing and managing the new membership and branches applications. While DAP works towards a progressive and people friendly policy development in the state and federal governments, the party is now faced with the challenge to further enhanced its office management and coordination at all levels of party hierarchy.

In Selangor itself, the branches had mutiplied from 40 branches before the March 2008 general election to the 145 branches which are sending delegates to the DAP Selangor State Convention this weekend. On top of that, at least 50 new branches are still awaiting registration by the Registrar of Societies. Assuming averagely there are at least 60 members in each branch, there are now at least 12,000 members just in Selangor. Just like any other organisations, managing an expanded membership list requires more manpower,  financial resources, better office management system and organisational skills.

Lau Weng San, Selangor DAP Secretary and Kg Tunku ADUN shoulders huge challenge 

in preparing for the 1k plus delegates attending the Selangor state convention.

With the setting up of new branches, more delegates will also be attending state conventions as each branch are entitled to send seven delegates. As such, this means larger venues are required to accommodate the enlarged delegates attending state conventions. Larger venues and more delegates translated to higher cost to organise the conventions. Sooner or later DAP will need to review its constitution in relation to the number of delegates entitlement for each branches to attend the state and national conventions as overwhelming delegates will be too heavy a task for the state secretary and a costly affair too.

For instance, what will be the scenario if in the future there are 500 branches in Selangor? That will be translated to 3,500 voting delegates! If each member took 10 seconds to select 15 out of 50 candidates and finally drop it into the ballot box, that will consumed slightly more than nine hours just to cast the votes! For the Selangor state convention this weekend, will 2.5 hours be enough for the whole election process to be over? That's assuming every delegates already decided and know who and where to mark the 15 candidates of their choice from the list of 50 names in multiple pages. If Lau Weng San is still the state secretary by then he will really need more assistants and full time secretariat members to manage the secretariat and organised the state conventions.

Assumed in the near future DAP as part of Pakatan Rakyat already takes over the Federal government  and its membership surged to 2,000 branches with at least 60 members in every branch. During the DAP triennial congress which elects 20 national leaders, every branch will be entitled to send 4 delegates and the total delegates will be 8,000! DAP by then will need to convene its congress at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil and a whole day for all to cast the votes! If that's the case, PKR might need to book all the available stadiums in the country just for their divisions direct election!

On another note, while it is indeed a good thing for DAP to be able to attract more people to sign up as members, it need to ensure these new members understands and accept the party's ideology and direction for the nation. It will be detrimental not only to the party but also the prospect of managing the country with a greater hope if newly enlisted members brings in certain political culture and approaches which the rakyat has been detesting all these years. It will be such a pity if any branches, new or old, existed all in name but only for the purpose of sending delegates to cast votes during state or national elections. For a political party to be relevant to the man in the street, local branch leaders are the frontline agents of change and need to engage the grassroots and the constituents continuously. This can be achieved by having community programs with the residents and to increase the citizens political awareness and participation especially in the democratic electoral process.

For all the candidates who offered themselves for the thousand plus delegates to elect them as state committee members, they need to think deeper than just a political position and government appointments but how to manage a growing party in terms of memberships, branches and also possibly larger financial resources. As state government leaders, there are many salaried civil servants providing the backbone and administrative support. But for a political party these resources are limited and may be too costly to even think about it.

For a party which is consolidating its power based in the state and strengthening its machinery, it will need more than mere slogans and fiery speeches but the capability to provide examplary leadership and good organisational and administrative skills for the party.  Not just the know how to lead but to manage the party well too. - Loka

Note: The blogger had organised many conventions and annual general meetings for NGOs, locally and internationally for the past 20 years and are aware of the needs and challenges faced to ensure the respective events proceed smoothly, especially during election year. Anyway, the blogger might have attended the opening ceremonies but had never organised any conventions for any political parties so far.

Winners and Losers in Hulu Selangor

After eight straight days of an all out campaign for the control of Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat the official results shows that BN candidate P. Kamalanathan upstage PKR's Zaid Ibrahim with a 1,725 majority to be elected the new MP for the large constituency.

Even though the by-election was a direct contest between the two candidates, there are many other victors and losers as well.

The Bosses

As expected the voters of Hulu Selangor were showered with goodies in the form of cash, development projects, land titles and PROMISES. For sure these are on top of the usual 10 KG pack of rice, Milo, cooking oil, drinking water, cheap T-shirts and caps and whatever that will make the day of the makciks and pakciks and the innocent kids.

The Towkays

From the popular kaya puff shop owner to the makcik who manned the roadside stall selling air sirap, these group will be hoping that by-elections will happen more often. Of course they are not cursing the newly elected MP to drop dead any soon but they can't be blamed if that aspiration is hiding behind their smiling face thinking of the flowing ringgits for the last two weeks.

The Candidates

P. Kamalanathan might have won the seat and will be greeted as YB but in the eyes of many including the community that he claims to represent he has lost his dignity and pride when he stoop so low to appease his political masters.

Zaid Ibrahim lost in this full fledge battle and having his personal matter stripped bare for the public view but his personal conviction for the interest of the people was given a strong endorsement. The people of HS will not be seeing the last of him yet.

The Commanders

Those in HS and outsiders who visited the place during the by-election has been wondering who is really the BN candidate? People noticed the large quantity of posters, billboards  and banners of his face in town might assumed Najib Razak is the candidate.

Najib Razak is actually the real winner here. He can now claim that the BN victory is an endorsement of his leadership and policies that he rolled out since appointed as Prime Minister a year ago. But then he need to reflect deeply on the 80% of Chinese votes that went to PKR, when translated meaning the Chinese actually still has doubts over his sincerity and policies.

Anwar Ibrahim has been in the forefront campaigning for his comrade since day one. Basing on the result, his popularity and support within the Malay community is not stable and if left unchecked it will be his Archilles heel in the next general election. On the other hand he  now knows he can count on the votes from the Chinese community and the support of DAP in mobilising election machinery within the community.

Muhyiddin Yassin is one big loser in this by-election. The usual Umno practice is for the party deputy president to lead the campaign in any by-election. Initially Muhyiddin was in charge but when the tide was favoring PR, his boss Najib decided to fly straight from Japan to HS to lead the campaign. This gives the impression that Najib has no confidence on Muhyiddin leadership and a slap on the face of his deputy.

Khalid Ibrahim as the Selangor Menteri Besar learn the trade to pull all the plugs as the state government to utilised all state facilities support this by-election from his predecessors but too bad that Felda is not under the control of the state government. Maybe he should be more a shrewd politician rather than a businessman when handling people from Umno.

Tok Guru Nik Aziz influence and endearment amongst the Chinese community is now gone beyond Kelantan. If he is still able to keep his momentum by the next election and campaign in BN stronghold like Johore, the Chinese voters there might shake some of the seats occupied by MCA/BN.

Lim Kit Siang is already a household name amongst the HS electorates, Malays included. Thanks to Utusan Malaysia for giving him the "coverage" from time to time. As for the Chinese voters, his presence in every political stops wstill accords him a star speaker status. With an increased of support from the Chinese, efforts need to be taken for him to penetrate the Malay electorates for the next election.

Chua Soi Lek the recently elected MCA president was not around in HS most of the time as he was said to be overseas visiting his daughter. He was only seen when Najib is in HS. His presence was nothing more than an extra in a show with Najib in the leading role. He must now dig out whatever reasons he can to explain to Najib the Chinese rejection of MCA, or is it more on Umno or he himself personally?

The Political Parties

MIC is the party of P.Kamalanathan but the party that really campaigned with whatever tricks of the trade is Umno. From the onset of this by-election it can be noticed and proven that it is Umno that called all the shots and decision making process, from the selection of candidates to whether MIC president Samy Vellu should show his face in HS. People are reminded that MIC is now Muhyiddin-In-Charge.

UMNO can now claim that the Malays are truly backing them and they have contained PKR and PAS especially PR supremo Anwar Ibrahim. But they will be barking at Chua Soi Lek asking for explanation why MCA failed to secure the Chinese votes. With millions of taxpayers money pumped into the pockets of the voters, the platform is now set for the mother of all battles - the 13th general election.

PKR losing another parliamentary seat is a big blow not just to the party but also the Pakatan Rakyat as this has increased the BN potential to reclaim 2/3 majority in Parliament. The result also shows that PKR is losing grip on whatever balance of support they have since March 2008. This party really need to revamp their election machinery if they are serious of winning seats and capturing Putrajaya.

DAP rocketing growth in terms of membership and branches since March 2008 has been a boost to the PR by-election machinery. Even though PKR lost the seat but support for the DAP is on the rise. This can be observed from the numbers of self paying volunteers from all over the country helping out in the campaign and also the huge attendance in DAP organised events during the by-election.

MCA provided token support to the BN election machinery. This is not surprising since they just went through more than one year of internal strife. Their machinery are moving half heartedly and other than some cameo appearances by some of their ministers and deputy ministers, their presence are hardly noticeable. From the result, it is not surprising if many of the 8,000 MCA members in HS voted for Zaid Ibrahim.

PAS was initially slow in mobilising their party machinery in doing real campaign work to solicite for votes even though their presence during nomination day was huge. After few days of snail paced movement which cause the Malay heartland in Felda further entrenched with Umno, PAS began to push into the Felda areas. The arrival of Tok Guru Nik Aziz provided the confidence booster but just not enough to draw out the votes.

GERAKAN which once upon time a party to be reckoned with do not even make its' presence felt in HS. Maybe only during nomination when its' president Koh Tsu Koon was a given a cameo appearance.

IPF, campaign even in death?

PPP, who is the president?

The power-play and battle of wits in HS is now over. It is time for the locals to re-claim their life in this outback district. But life would not be the same anymore. The people there now must look through their checklist on all the promises and commitments by both side of the political divide.

First thing in the morning, the people of Rasa will be waiting in front of Najib's PM office door for their RM3 million as promised. A promise is a promise even if the people of Rasa did not vote for BN. But wonders if MACC will be there too? - Loka

P#94 Hulu Selangor Snippets 3

Snippets 3 - Kerling hotter then the hot springs

Before the North South Expressway was built to connect Johore to the north, travellers who is driving up north to Penang or Kedah will need to take the Federal trunk road. This trunk roads are narrow, winding and passes by many towns and villages, which means many stops due to local vehicles, pedestrian and animals crossings, traffic lights and etc.

The good point is travellers will have the chance to savour local delicacies and fruits from stalls set up at the road side. On top of that there are many local attractions which tired travellers can take a rest and enjoy the nature offerings.

Kerling hot springs is one of them but I did not visit to the place until now. During the campaign trail, one of the stop is the Kerling Chinese new village which I was informed the local DAP branch has been surviving there thru thick and thin for so many years.

Basing on the banners and posters strewn all over, this must be a hot spot to be fought over, just like the hot springs further deeper inside the village.

Maybe will take a dip in the Kerling hot springs after all settled down. - Loka

P#94 Hulu Selangor Snippets 2

Snippets 2 - From 80 to 20

The Asam Kumbang new village in Kuala Kubu Baru has been MCA's stronghold for many years. The previous KKB assemblyman C'hng Toh Eng served there for many terms. The current assemblyman MCA's Wong Koon Mun won the seat with 448 majority against DAP's S. Ramu in the 2008 general election.

MCA is so strong in this village that 80% of the adult villagers are known to be members of the party. That's truly a remarkable feat until the 2008 Political Tsunami when the Selangor state government changes from BN to PR. This means the right to appoint the village chief are in the hands of the new government and a new village chief was duly appointed to replace the previous one.

The new village chief, Mr. Goh Tian Lai

Interestingly the new village chief, Goh Tian Lai, is also a life-long member of MCA! He divulged that after the PR government took over and provide the necessary support and assistance to the village, the support for MCA dropped from 80% to the current 20%! On the day I met him, he and some other villagers were busy making preparation in the village multipurpose community hall for the night's DAP event to campaign for PR candidate.

DAP dinner at the Asam Kumbang new village multipurpose hall

The pride of the village i.e. the multipurpose hall is managed by the village security and welfare committee headed by the village chief. The hall has been fully used for PR events during the by-election period. The MCA ends up have to set up tents at the road side and other open space for their events. Now they know how it feels to be in the opposition! - Loka

DAP strengthened grip on Subang Jaya

Two years following the grand entry of a new assemblyman for Subang Jaya, the DAP finally had a major function to meet up with the local residents. March 12 was a special night for those residing and voting in Subang Jaya because a breakthrough event took place that night.

Ean Yong Hian Wah, Selangor State Chairman and Tunku Abdul Aziz, National Vice Chairman

Teresa Kok, DAP National Organising Secretary and Senior Selangor State Exco brief the audience on the historical background of the Taman Subang Ria controversy.

  

   

Part of the dinner crowd, listening to updates from DAP elected representatives while enjoying a good meal.

 People who are unable to get a seat in the hall listens to Gobind Singh via a link-up telecast.

 About 1200 supporters gathered at a local shopping mall to witness and support a historic occasion which happens due to the decision made two years ago i.e. March 8, 2008. The people of Subang Jaya then voted for change and changed they did. The people of Subang Jaya had then elected a very dedicated and courageous young lady to serve the people.

Hannah Yeoh, the Subang Jaya assemblywoman was the toast of the crowd for her speech and two years report card. Her "report card" touches on many issues of concerned to the people of Subang Jaya, including education,  unity, infrastructure, environmental, healthy lifestyle and so on.

For the first time in Subang Jaya history the Democratic Action Party had a memorable Chinese New Year gathering which were graced by leaders of the DAP including its icon Lim Kit Siang, Tunku Abdul Aziz, Teresa Kok, Gobind Singh, Ean Yong Hian Wah and Adun for Subang Jaya Hannah Yeoh.

Kit Siang who was the final speaker of the night, spoke on many issues affecting Malaysians including the GST, NEM, GTP and Malaysian Malaysia.

The speakers lineup for the night.

After winning the state constituency of Subang Jaya for the first time in 2008, DAP are expected to further strengthen its grip on the state seat with the recent registration of a new branch and establishment of another pro-tem committee for another branch in USJ. While the first branch mostly managed by members below 35, the less than three months old branch pro-tem committee in USJ East are led by a group of grass-root supporters who are mostly in the 40s and above.

  

The team from the DAP USJ East branch with YB Hannah and YB Gobind Singh

The on-the-street experience and networking of these new branch members can be noticed when they managed to organised a major fundraising event within two months which surprises many, even those in the party's state leadership. The team that form the pro-tem committee and organizes the dinner are just ordinary guys next door who had the courage  to be directly involved in a political party for the first time in their life and to fly the flag of democracy through the DAP. - Loka

DAP breakthru dinner in Subang Jaya

At last, the assemblyman in my area Hannah Yeoh, managed to secure a venue to hold a DAP dinner in Subang Jaya after all. The latest from her blog reveals that a number of DAP big guns including Lim Kit Siang, Tunku Abdul Aziz, Teresa Kok etc. will be converging to Subang Jaya on 12 March 2010 to attend the dinner to be held at the Summit Shopping Mall.

As far as I know, this will be the first time DAP having a major dinner function with the people in Subang Jaya. The dinner which is organised by a new DAP branch in USJ was initially planned to be held at the SJK (C) Chee Wen school hall. The application to rent the hall was withdrawn few days later even after a deposit been paid. Seige mentality and deluded mind cause the school to loose out some much needed income to pay back close to RM2 million debt still owed to the contractor.

What will be the implication to the school image and Chinese education if the contractor obtained a court order to seal the school hall if the debt still unpaid after many letters of demand?

So, SJK (C)  Chee Wen Board of Governors especially those responsible for the school hall management, what say you? - Loka

PAS supports DAP?

It looks like the DAP are going all out for the Chinese voters in the Kuala Terengganu by-election by giving MCA a head-on fight. Even though DAP is not fielding any candidate for the by-election, they are fighting nail and tooth for the 11% Chinese voters to throw their support to the PAS candidate. If PAS wins this round with the Chinese support then DAP can claim that the Chinese already deserted MCA and the real Chinese champion now is no more MCA but DAP.

Is DAP putting in too much effort for the sake of reducing MCA's influence amongst the Chinese community? What will be the price that DAP have to pay later when PAS gets stronger and more accessible to the Chinese community? As the Nik Aziz had said about Umno on the derailed plan to enhance PAS-Umno cooperation, " one does not get bitten twice by the same snake from the same hole twice"?

Has DAP forgotten the the thrashing they suffered in the 1999 general election after the Chinese voters deserted them due to their close cooperation with PAS? PAS won more seats than they can ever imagine while DAP experience one of the worst general election results. Lim Kit Siang even lost in Ipoh Timur and with that also the Opposition Leader position in Parliament to PAS president Hadi Awang.

On the other way around, if there is a by-election now which is contested by DAP against BN in a mixed seat, will PAS gives the similiar support if not more to ensure victory for DAP? Based on precedents and the insistence of PAS on the Islamic State and Hudud issue, it will be very slim chance for this to happen. Maybe PAS wil provide a gesture of "goodwill" is by not contesting the seat themselves!

DAP Chairman Karpal Singh has been very clear in his stand that there shall be no Hudud law or Islamic state for this country. Karpal has been very consistent in his stand but it seems some DAP leaders are still playing buddy-buddy to PAS for whatever reasons they know better. If DAP leaders are not careful, this external issue will be the catalyst of leadership split and downfall of DAP. - Loka