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Long Live LKS!

By Martin Jalleh

You have dared to continue to differ in spite of your double ISA detentions and the “dangers” that come with voicing and doing what is right and just.

You have made a difference whilst others dance to the tune of the status quo and become self-serving servile lap dogs to the dominant powers that be.

You were discouraged, down but not out when the DAP faced a near-death in its dismal 1995 general election performance. You bounced back defying all political odds.

You were determined to soldier on in spite of a debilitating spate of defections in 1996 and disturbing frequent internal conflicts, divisions and factional disputes.

You desired to quit and to assume full responsibility for the DAP’s election debacle in 1999. Yet, you went on to prove that you were no political dinosaur and to disappoint those hoping for DAP’s demise!

You have been the DAP’s driving force and strong disciplinarian for several decades, thereby giving your enemies within and without the DAP the excuse to label you a “dictator”.

You have never despaired in spite of the many downs and dark and depressing moments in your political career, whilst others grew disillusioned and eventually disappeared from the political scene. Continue reading “Long Live LKS!”

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Dear Kit — Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah

Breaking Views
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 19, 2011

FEB 19 — After a long journey in your political career, weathering the often rough and tumble of Malaysian politics, you somehow managed to survive and carve a popular name, an icon among your admirers and a ‘political bug’, so to speak, among your opponents.

So, you are now 70 years of age — not too young but not too old either — to go on treading the political journey.

You have consistently upheld and stood your ground on matters relating to the fundamental rights of all the rakyat, irrespective of race, to free and responsible speech, the rights to enjoy a just and fair distribution of the economic and social wealth of the nation, and to political, judicial and legal justice.

You have consistently and courageously spoken up against the corruption and the various misdeeds and defaults of the government and demanded actions, both in Parliament as well as outside it, despite the possible reprisals, the threats and even possible punitive actions that might be taken against you, which in fact you have suffered in the past.

But you have not kept your silence; you continue to grow bigger and speak even louder.

In the end, it seems to me you are the winner because, despite what your opponents say about you, as long as you know and believe what you stand for is good for the poeple and the country, you are on the right path. Continue reading “Dear Kit — Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah”

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TQ to you all for the 70th birthday well-wishes

Rummaging through some old boxes, I came across this editorial which I wrote in the Form III class magazine “Light” (Vol. 2 – Nov. 1957) in Batu Pahat High School:

“During the past few years, the spirit of Malayan nationalism was aroused to such an extent that Malaya was granted Independence and a new nation was born.

“This grand and memorable achievement of Independence was only made possible through the united efforts of the various communities in the country.

“Now Malaya has become a young nation and she is taking her rightful place and her part of responsibility in this strifefuld world. She must accept and overcome all challenges and, one day, be counted among the greatest of the great. However, the great men of today who hold the steering-wheel of the country cannot be with us always.

“We, the youths of today, are the leaders of tgomorrow, who will take the helm and navigate the Ship of State to Utopia or Doom. We must now prepare ourselves to ‘serve to lead’. Let us not while away our time in meaningless pastimes and waste away precious moments. Say not that time is abundant, for,

‘Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though strong and brave,
Still, like muffled drums are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.’

Continue reading “TQ to you all for the 70th birthday well-wishes”

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Nomination Night Ceramah at Chin Woo Hall, Ipoh

I will be defending the Ipoh Timur parliamentary constituency in the 12th general election.

Tomorrow is Nomination Day and Polling is Saturday, March 8, 2008.

On Nomination Night (i.e. Sunday 24th February), the first ceramah will be held at Chin Woo Hall, Jalan C.M. Yusuf, Ipoh starting at 7.30 p.m.

The DAP candidates for the 12th general election in the Kinta Valley will be introduced to the public for the first time.

Other major speakers at the Nomination Night ceramah include two incumbent parliamentary candidates M. Kulasegaran (Ipoh Barat) and Fong Po Kuan (Batu Gajah).

All are welcome to the Nomination Night ceramah, which starts at 7.30 pm.

Inquiries can be made to DAP Ipoh Timur Election Operations Centre, Jalan Kampar, tel: 05 – 2533096. Continue reading “Nomination Night Ceramah at Chin Woo Hall, Ipoh”

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Attacked and immoblised by acute low-back pain

I succumbed to acute low-back pain this morning. After about an hour of reading, I felt an acute ache at the small of my back. Feeling that something was amiss, I gave a few minutes for the ache to go away. When it didn’t. I tried to stand up but I could not.

I knew I was in trouble. Imagine – to be immobilized just before the “mother” of all general elections! In my mind, I was wondering whether two DAP leaders will have to go to the hustings in wheel-chairs!

I was bedridden and had to miss the annual family lunch on New Year’s Day at the Penang Swimming Club where Dr. Lim Guan Choon and Dr. Khoo Siew Swan are members.

The whole Lim family was there except me – my wife Neo Yok Tee, children Guan Eng and wife Betty Chew, Hui Ming, Hui Ying and Guan Choon with wife Siew Swan.

The third Lim generation are Guan Eng’s four children, Rachel Lim Shay Wan 17, Clint Lim Whay Chau 16 , Marcus Lim Whay Khai 13 and Ethan Lim Whay Zen 14 months; and Guan Choon’s three kids, Charlotte Lim Shay Ryu 11, Matthew Lim Wei Shen 9 and Serena Lim Shay Ann 8. Continue reading “Attacked and immoblised by acute low-back pain”

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Beloved Sister lost

I appreciate the messages of condolence from party comrades, supporters, sympathizers, friends and fellow Malaysians on my family’s bereavement over the loss of my sister, Kit Hwa, 82, through this blog, facebook, sms, phone or direct communication.

I felt very keenly the loss of my sister, who passed away peacefully in her home in Batu Pahat, Johore on Saturday, 29th December 2007 at about 1.30 pm after over six years of battle with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), She was the eldest and I the youngest in the family with a 15-year age difference, which explains why we were especially close.

I was in Kota Kinabalu with Teresa Kok, DAP MP for Seputeh on that day in response to a government invitation to attend the Christmas Open House and we were waiting for a very late lunch on 29th December 2007 to be served after several programmes, including a media conference and visiting the Sabah leader of Parti Keadilan Rakyat Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan at the VIP ward of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kota Kinabalu who had had a nasty automobile accident.

My daughter, Hui Ming, who was in Penang with the family for the end-of-the-year holidays, phoned to tell me the bad news about my sister. A very distraught and crying Evelyn, my sis’ second daughter, had phoned about her mother’s death and asked her to inform the rest of the Lim family – my other children Guan Eng, Hui Ying and Guan Choon, my brother in Singapore and my elder brother’s family in Batu Pahat.

I immediately phoned Ho Lai Chee, 83, my brother-in-law at home in Batu Pahat, who like other members of the family were crying. In the grief, there was also thankfulness that Kit Hwa passed away when all her five children, Eva, Wyman, William, Evelyn and Ee Yong, and six grandchildren have returned to the hometown for a family reunion from as far as Australia and United Kingdom. Continue reading “Beloved Sister lost”