By Azmi Anshar
Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor) is so vexingly itchy in taking on just about anyone from the governing side of the political aisle for a boisterous public debate on TV that its about time that he grasp the understanding that NO ONE from the Government has any enthusiasm or propensity to accept his brassy challenges. It’s been Kit’s enduring tactic for as many years as he is an MP to goad his rivals, even if they were a notch down his intellectual range, for a public debate. Can anyone recall whether Kit has succeeded in getting one with any BN leader on live TV? He’s equitable in his challenges, throwing them around like confetti to a hodge-podge of politicians from Umno, MCA, Gerakan, MIC, et al. He’s done it so many times that a challenge to a public debate from Kit is regarded as an irritable cliché that should be ignored like you nonchalantly ignore someone’s burp in public.
Kit’s latest heckled lure was laid out today to Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Syed Albar (BN-Kota Tinggi) but like all BN leaders intimately wary of Kit’s bait-and-switch, reel-them-in-once-they-are-hooked ways, the Home Minister shrewdly didn’t take the bait, not even a nibble.
It’s bad enough that they have to contend with his loud, in-your-face, no quarter given style inside the House day after day on just about any conceivable issue – a Lim Kit Siang hallmark, the range of his microscopic gaze scans without missing a bug – but to tango with him toe-to-toe to the crunching beat of thrash metal? Thank goodness for weekend breaks.
Kit’s challenge to the Home Minister to a public debate was on the ostensibly worsening crime rate but it was more of being raked in the coals by Syed Hamid, which Kit characterised as a campaign to demonise him as enemy of the police, on the account of three unflattering newspaper headlines attributed to Syed Hamid that made Kit look as if “I was crucifying the police force and belittling their credibility.”
“In my 42 years in politics as a MP and DAP leader,” Kit asserted in his blog ‘Lim Kit Siang for Malaysia’, “I have never treated or regarded the police as an enemy…the police officers and personnel perform an unenviable but important and critical function to keep the country safe and secure for socio-economic and political progress and to be able to attract tourists and investors to maintain Malaysia’s competitiveness.”
Kit admitted to criticising the faults or failures of the police, which he also applied to the Cabinet and the entire public service, but he made it known that he never, ever begrudged giving full support to the police force for proper and adequate recognition in pay increases, equitable remuneration and improvements in working conditions.
Kit also took issue with Deputy Home Minister Datuk Chor Chee Heung’s declaration that the worsening crime was a “misperception” of the people, which the DAP leader found to be a “contemptuous dismissal” of the daily nightmare of Malaysians about their personal safety.
On that remark alone, Kit demanded that Syed Hamid seek the sacking of Chor for such insensitive and irresponsible talk, to which Chor insisted on being correct, backed by what he claimed are facts and figures. “If he (Lim Kit Siang) doesn’t want to accept it, it has nothing to do with me,” Chor shrugged off Kit’s lambast.
Back to Kit’s taunt for a public debate, Syed Hamid simply scorned Kit’s pestering, which he described as a “publicity stunt”.
“I’m not going into a debate with him when he has made up his mind, Syed Hamid declared. “There is no problem if he wants to discuss about the police or to talk to us.”
Wary of Kit’s badgering homilies; Syed Hamid expressed no interest in indulging the MP for Ipoh Timor. “The challenge is politically motivated. He is trying to get political gains.”
That should be grating to Kit though he is not the type to get easily shook up. But Kit may still wonder what is it that he must do or sacrifice to get a shot on prime time TV, seeing that his erstwhile enemy turn ally, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, was given a crack for a tit-for-tat with Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Chik on what is now a dated issue, the Government’s abrupt petrol price hike to RM2.70 a litre when oil prices were hitting stratospheric heights hovering at US$120 a barrel. That seemed like ancient history now, petrol prices having contracted o RM2 a litre after oil prices slumped below US$50 a barrel.
But Kit won’t likely be disheartened by the lack of TV debating appearances, not that he has ever been invited by the mainstream TV stations to be a guest talking head. Short of the Pakatan Rakyat making good its radioactive leader’s luminously dubious promises for a power grab early next month where Kit can consequently make his national tube debut, there will be no let off for the Government when it comes to needling them on the compelling issues of the day – on the floor of the House where Kit still reigns.
Kit will also be heartened to know that his famed debating methods, flourishing oratorical style and histrionics of hyperbole has been uploaded and downloaded on numerous occasions, and stored for posterity from inside YouTube, web news aggregators and all forms of non-Government linked websites. His political debating legacy is intact even if no one ever engages him in a mainstream public TV debate. There are simply no takers.
we should imitate US and other 1st world countries to have an open debate so that the people can judge by themselves..i dont see any wrong by having an open debate..i believe open debate can improve the quality of the outcome of the topics debated..no matter what…under BN/UMNO govt..we never be a first world parliament/countries…forget about it…
This smart ass…Azmi Anshar…forgot to say…no one dares to accept a debate with Lim Kit Siang.
This real idiot thinks LKS needs to expose himself in TVs…for publicity….after more than 45 years in the limelight???
This half past six..pro UMNO member…does not realized LKS is larger than life..larger than ALL UMNO individuals.
This nickumpoo…write with no sense of history…except talk cock with his shallow brain.
This obvious pro UMNO fanatic…is making a fool of himself..even to millions of Muslims…respecting LKS.
This son of a gun….do not have the decency to appreciate how much LKS have contributed to keep alive…a democratic country…Malaysians yearn for….all their lives.
This is a typical UMNO active member….out to belittle LKS..who has..majority Malaysians supporting him..from all races.
Talk to him..is waste of time……but talk we must… till we all drop dead…so as..not to let this kind of UMNO guys..think how great he is.
This nobody days are numbered!!
But he should get a useless datukship title.. from UMNO…for writing…what they love to read.
Even the real corrupted crook..Mahathir is shameful to use all his titles in his blog.
Strange….only on titles…M….knows they are useless…and yet.. UMNO under him…he gave out more titles….encouraging Dollah to continue. So he did!
M sure knows how to play every dirty political move….trying so hard….to fool Malaysians.
“The challenge is politically motivated. He is trying to get political gains.” Syed Hamid
Precisely, idiot! By saying this, even without having to debate, Lim Kit Siang won.
“The challenge is politically motivated. He is trying to get political gains.” Said Humid Al-Barred
Intepretation: “I am no match for Kit intellectually or otherwise. Sure get whacked all round. So this is my excuse for having no bolas to debate. Phew!! “.
What sought of grey matter would one expect a man to have when he can can give the reason that Tan Hoon Cheng was detained under ISA for her safety as the police believed that her life was under threat?So what better reason could he give when he wants to back off from accepting Kit Siang’s challenge for a debate other than saying that Kit Siang has thrown that to seek political mileage and gains.Typical of UMNOPUTRA’s tested method of side-tracking an issue.
this bloke azmi is a disgrace to journalism. what he writes is gutter journalism, another spin doctor for his political masters.
Azmi does not realize that Kit has already won the debate even before it has come to pass. As for the other party, I think it is a case of ‘dare not’ rather than ‘don’t want’. Ha ha ha.
Imitation is just copying and pasting. It is better to be original. Speak your mind. Have the freedom of choice. Genuine freedom. Not freedom as dictated by humans and brainwashed into another. Freedom of the mind or soul. Freedom of the spirit. Freedom of the body. This freedom is not about the freedom to do as you please for example drawing graffiti on every government constructed projects. But freedom whereby there is no threat when something “sensitive” is spoken or written. If people are continuously conditioned to think that some issues are “sensitive”, then these issues will forever be “sensitive”. When will there come a right time for the issues to not be sensitive ? When an issue is discussed, there should be some ground rules. For example, no threat of ISA hovering above your head. No obscenities spoken. No interruptions. Questions must be allowed. Answers must be given. No display of uncontrolled emotions. And so on and so forth. Malaysia has not broken through yet. If Datuk Chua Jui Ming can appear on the television solo without Datuk Ong Tee Kiat around, why can’t Mr Lim Kit Kiang do the same thing ? But it is not talking to the empty space. It is telling the people out there. Use the YouTube which you have been using. Use the video features. Use whatever to get your message across. Some people have awakened to the real facts but they keep it in their hearts. Others who act out think that the rest does not know. Know that Mr. Lim Kit Siang is doing his actual work of bringing people’s problems to the parliament. That is the work of your elected political representative. Is your elected political representative doing his work or just keeping quiet ? Make sure they are doing their job because they have been paid by you all to do their job. The government’s money comes from you all.
I’m all for open debates as it is the best way to freeing the minds of the people. The fact that the Americans are so advanced and lead the world in so many areas for so long is because they always free their minds and try new ways of doing things and solving problems.
YB LKS is a very well-read person. Hence he always wins in any argument in Parliament.
YB may have no peers when it comes to debates, but can he be equally good when it comes to administering the country? We shall have the answer when PR is 4 or 5 years into power when he is a Minister. But excuse me, YB LKS sometimes behave in an arrogant manner. He has to correct his character flaws in public if he and the DAP want to win over more followers to his cause.
After the PR victory in the 308 12GE in Perak, I was surprised that YB didn’t immediately explain to the DAP supporters why a Chinese ADUN can’t be appointed to the post of Perak MB despite the fact that DAP made up of more than half the PR Assemblymen in the state, or the issue of a Chinese Deputy MB in Selangor. The inaction by YB allowed some DAP supporters to clamour for unreasonable demands. Remember, Malay voters may want change but not that drastic a change. This shows that the YB Lim was either insensitive or hesitant to deal with an important situation. Excuse me, YB.
Half a century of virtual monopoly of every institution and the effects of crony-corruption have dulled batch after batch of government ministers and MPs to know the meaning of ‘Accountability’. To expect any of the ministers or MPs to engage in a responsible and sensible debate would be akin to expecting blood from squeezing a stone.
Until they see the light , it would be hard to distinguish the crap that oozes out of the upper and lower orifices of sycophant-in-chief Hamid Al-BURP and his ilk like Chor and Azmi.
Imagine malaysia without DAP. Malaysia without Lim Kit Siang. We would have spent tens of billions of the country’s money to buy some several hundred trully advanved fighter helicopters in malaysia. And submarines too. And we have even have ICBMs and all the rest of them.
Wow singapore could then be ours anytime. Easy. Just reach out and pluck.
We could have a five hundred-storey building and a bridge (partly on land and partly across the sea) connecting KL to Jakarta and the world’s largest manmade something surely, maybe flower. We could even have our own rocket and space station. And our scientist would be given privileged rights to be considered for nobel prizes and all world awards. I mean all cutting edge tecnhology would be here. And our universities ranking would be top 10. All of them top ten. No problem mate.
Lim Kit Siang you are in the way. Its all your fault. You talked too much in and outside parliament. You are a liability to the nation.
If I understood Azmi correctly, I think that is more or less what he is saying.
WTF man. Why dont you just GFY Azmi!
All they have left are some idiots and morons in the cabinet. How on earth will anyone take on Kit and make themselves look real stupid on prime time national TV?
Syed Hamid can’t even speak proper English and his IQ is no better than a Form Five drop out.
There is no one in the BN who has the ‘intellectual capacity’ of Kit or Anwar Ibrahim.
As far as debating is concern, Sdr. Lim can only be equaled by his DAP colleagues who has too much deference for him. So among party leaders, Sdr. Lim is unmatch as far as debating is concern. The right proper thing is that getting a chance to debate Sdr. Lim should be an honor for BN leaders. The fact is Sdr. Lim willingness to debase himself to offer BN leaders to debate him speaks volume his humility, sacrifice.
debate with open minded, this should be the way the Goment and Opposition works together for the Rakyat. Open debates is the best way to straighten things out with fact and figure.
Why avoid !!!!
HP6 umnoputras scared to take up the challenge. if you are of substance, whats the problem? Umnoputras r in cabinet because of money politics and connection not because of merits.
I fully agree with Anak Msia. The raykat can judge for themselves whether we have capable and competent people running the country.
What I am seeing, appointments are made without merit and you can only expect more mismanagement. Look at the Tourism Ministry.
Need I say more.
LKS must change his style and personlilty if he wants to gain support from the majority. He should learn from his ex-deputy, Lee Lum Tyle who has shown his meaningful contribution to the country. Calling for debate is only to gain popularity and won’t bring any significant value to the rakyat.
Lee Lum Thye is one of those who responsible for the death of young Malaysians at the national service camp, and he cried for it, meaningful indeed.
cintanegara may learn from the age old chinese proverb that says,” A good horse is proven by the distance it can cover and a person’s character is discernible through time.” YB LKS with his almost half a century old political career bespeaks the respect that he commands among the people.About that poor chap LLT,you have chosen a sycophant to compare with LKS.You must be a damn ignorant fool.
Why can’t this Azmi guy write in simple English? He would do himself a lot of favour and gain more readers for his articles if he avoids the convulated verbal diarrheoa common in all his writings. The writing style sounds a lot like those Nigerian multi million dollar inheritance scams.
But I do agree with one of Azmi’s observations when he said: “…to goad his rivals, even if they were a notch down his intellectual range..” in describing Kit’s opposite BN members. They are indeed not just a ” notch down” but several notches down and that is why they avoid debating with Kit. For those who has seen the BBC Hardtalk programme when Syed Hamid was interviewed when he was still Foreign Minister would know what I mean. He was stammering halfway through the interview when the interviewer asked him some difficult questions about Malaysia’s unfair policies and all he could muster was mumbling about ” we do it our way” by way of reply. One could clearly see he was stuck for an answer and I suspect his thought process was just not fast enough to respond. Imagine if the interviewer was Kit. Syed would be cut to ribbons.
‘About that poor chap LLT,you have chosen a sycophant to compare with LKS.You must be a damn ignorant fool.’ jus legitimum.
No I don’t think this cintanegara chap is a fool, just that he has been so well indoctrinated that he is incapable of separating the wheat from the chaff and is completely incapable of making an independant intelligible opinion.
Its obvious pro-umno guy la.This chat hai loh is only good at that:pleasing his bosses either to gain promotion or get a title.He does not bother about the truth or bother about the rakyat sentiments.We have seen his kind before and we will keep on seeing more of his kind in the future.Talk with bombastic english only the kwei loh can understand.I dont even read his article in the NST.Umno Trash!
“Its obvious pro-umno guy la”
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just becoz some ppl pro bn coz he thinks bn is good and best for the country doesn’t mean he’s a toady you know. this is a free society, and too bad for you that majority votes for bn….
Mr. Azmi Azhar is clearly a BN/UMNO suppoter. There’s no explanation as to why crime rate is going up & what action is taken to counter them.
Yb Saudara LKS is doing his duty as an elected person to expose the utter disrepute of the current Government (if u called them one) that has only contemps the average Malaysians. Saudara LKS is asking the same thing for rest of us whom are totall insignificant to the corrupted Government.
Syabas YB saudara LKS, a true patriotic Malaysia. For the People, To People & By the People.
Are we a “threat to national security” if we wear chicken outfits to every public event of this Hamid Albar?
cintaumno:
then may we question the frights and horrors among the umnoputra in accepting the debate challenges? is it due to the fact they have no knowledge, cognitive ability, no gut or whatsoever? Your posts have given 0 constructive opinions, other than bashing DAP and LKS. When issues are directed to the incompetencies of the current, you would try to change the issue and touch on racial topic.
blatantly a pro-UMNO fanatic, perhaps?
In America, they have debates BEFORE the elections. We are now PAST the elections here in Malaysia. Public debates are no longer very useful.
In America, once the elections are over, it is time to end the political debates and start working on the policies. So what is it Malaysia needs the most now? More debates?
Hey Azmi, requesting a debate with your opponents in TV,I think is a good proposal.Why are you so against LKS ? Don’t be judgemental ? Are you telling me all your UMNO/BN friends are afraid to debate against LKS/DAP ? In all demoncratic countries,public TV debate is normal.For instant,in the US,UK,South Korea, Japan,Taiwan,Australia,sometime even in communist country such as China. Malaysia is a demoncratic country,isn’t it AZMI ?