Now, we have the reverse. Dato' Lee Kah Choon, a high ranking Gerakan leader who resigned all his positions except his membership and then later took up directorship of the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) and chairman of the executive committee of InvestPenang, a PDC subsidiary.
It is a matter of what values you uphold.
Without doubt, these positions are not political appointments. But, for Lim Guan Eng these are political appointments, it's the old trick of "divide and rule". He will try to cloak this action by saying that this is for the benefit of the people, etc. DAP knows that their greatest threat comes from Gerakan, what better way to create splits in Gerakan by doing this. There will be more to come.
Without any intention to discredit Dato' Lee capability, I believe there are many suitable candidates available in Penang. Dato' Lee is a lawyer by training and his previous position was as a parliamentary secretary for the Health Ministry - these have nothing to do with development. Lim Guan Eng is just making use of him.
My view is to suspend Dato' Lee Kah Choon membership indefinitely whereas Dr. Hsu's view in his blog is that Dato' Lee should be free to accept these posts because it is for the benefits of the people. I have also received SMS suggesting that he be expel. What is the best decision, lets our top leaders decide. We do not need to be "split" by this matter.
Anyway, the reason I prefer suspension rather than expulsion because Gerakan should not made Dato' Lee into a hero. If he proves loyal to the party in the future, then at the right time, lift his suspension.
Gerakan’s Kah Choon appointed to PDC Board, Investpenang
PENANG, SUN:
The Penang government today announced the appointment of former Gerakan deputy secretary-general Datuk Lee Kah Choon as a director of the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) and chairman of the executive committee of InvestPenang, a PDC subsidiary.....
“The state government has appointed him (Lee) because it feels he can make a positive contribution to the economic development of Penang for the benefit of the people in the state,” Lim said.
He said the DAP-PKR state government welcomed those who wanted to serve the people with sincerity in the public interest and it did not consider race, religion or political background as factors in the selection of any candidate.
“The new state government wants to chart a new course by appointing those who, going by tradition, would not get appointed. We want to pool all capacities to develop Penang, and to make Penang dynamic we need the contribution of all the people,” he said.
Lee, who had resigned from all his party posts last month, thanked the state government for the trust placed in him and said he would help step up domestic and foreign investment in Penang and strengthen the state’s economy so that Penang became the choice for not only investors but also tourists and skilled workers.
“I considered all options and decided that my role in the two institutions will not be any different from my original objective of serving the people of Penang when I entered politics 11 years ago,” he said.
He said he would give his full attention to efforts to develop Penang but would remain a member of the Gerakan although he would not be active in politics....
30 comments:
Lee Kah Choon is a great man to accept the job. Some more, this can provide check and balance.
I wonder how he is going to provide "the check and balance" when Kah Choon himself is part of the organisation that is doing the job.
Please agree to disagree.
Certainly, it is not an easy decision to be made for KC Lee, as I believe.
Let him have the benefits of the doubt. Fair?
I will give him a little more time for him to perform his task. If he can't deliver what he has promised, trust me, the citizens will know his character by them.
Do what ever you think is neccessary & be responsible for what you did !
He may be seen having several contradictions with Gerakan, if not, the leaders... Otherwise he needs NOT to make such move of going away from the organization.
He's a trained lawyer and is definitely not a dependant of Gerakan. So, even after a great defeat recently, he can still survive and should not extend across to the other side...
From the practice, top leaders in Gerakan are always in supportive of those professionals, especially medical doctors and lawyers, so he always stands a good chance in various developments in the organization, if he does not make such move...
But, anyway the top leaders in Gerakan should not always in favour directly or indirectly, of those medical doctors and lawyers.
Others, whether professionals or non-professionals or graduates or non-graduates, as long as they're dedicated and committed to Gerakan, should be given an equal treatment.
See... like this lawyer, a so-called professional, never thought of the long relationship with the members and leaders in Gerakan, jumped over to the other camp and gave all kind of excuses or reasons in the press!
Already jumped means already jumped, just have to keep NO NOISE and do his BEST to so-called carry-out his responsibilty to "help" the Penangites...
Let's see...
Let's see more of these non-partisan meritocracy based appointments.
For the sake of Penangites, we should see beyond race, religion and political leanings.
I applaud both LGE and LKC for making these bold steps.
One must be guided by one's conscience, not just be a party yes-man.
Ironically, as us outsiders understood it, Gerakan's ideology is also Malaysian's Malaysia.
So, it is in every sense compatible with the DAP-led PR government.
Look where the "yes-man" attitude have taken Gerakan in GE-12 ? More kow-tow-ing to UMNO going to get you closer to the garbage can. Be sure of that.
I salute you Datuk KC Lee. Do what is best for rakyat Pulau Pinang.
And for people questioning the state government of divide and rule against Parti Gerakan, well, there is not any leftover after GE12 of this party to have a meaningful takeover.
Please hold your tongue until GE 13and that also with a big IF.
Let's read some of the interesting comment. Sdr Ching resigned and HKL salute him. I also salute him for his guts and believed but I also believed that he has missed understood the whole structure that is being setup. Very, very sad... indeed. The PDC is an independent body that should function irregardless of whether who runs the government but should remain accountable to the party in power.
Why question Kah Choon's acceptance ? Most of us will do this and continue to do this if we are in the state of denial.
Have you understood what Kah Choon have gone through with the Party ? If we have not, then we need to understand what and why.
After all, with him accepting the position, I believed it will make some other people more happy as he can't possibly go for the State Chairmanship nor the Central Committee.
Now, I wonder why we are not rejoicing but feel the pain for him ? If we feel the pain for him, then shouldn't we joined him ?
Funny right... in politics. You don't allow a person to contribute but yet you dont want to let the person go.
Think deeper a bit and perhaps, this is where the answers are.
The way Kah Choon has been questioned as a lawyer and Parliamentary Secretary to run InvestPenang and PDC, here is my inputs -
a) Don't you remember that both Lim Keng Yaik is a medical doctor as profession and how can he run the multimedia, water and communication ministry ? But he did quite well right ? He was as a primary industry minister before he moved to the water, multimedia and communication ministry ? Why wasn't the same question being raised ? Don't know leh.
What about a genuine desire to serve the people and state of Penang?
It need not involve politics if Lee Kah Choon just gets on with the job and not get involved in the politics of it. And if his appointment is politicized, he can always leave.
Mr H’ng, you wonder how Lee Kah Choon is going to provide "the check and balance" when Kah Choon himself is part of the organisation that is doing the job.
Let me ask you a question in return. How is Gerakan going to be the conscience of BN and be a check and balance of UMNO by being in the same coalition?
You advocate suspension rather than expulsion because, in your words “Gerakan should not made Dato' Lee into a hero.” But then why even suspend? What has he done wrong? Is it so wrong to serve the people and state of Penang?
If you suspend him because he has done something wrong, then why stop at suspension? If Lee Kah Choon had violated a sacred rule of the party and in turn betrayed the party, then by all means he should be expelled!
Why the half measure?
You further said, “If he proves loyal to the party in the future, then at the right time, lift his suspension.” What does this mean? That he is already guilty of being disloyal to the party by taking up a non-political appointment to serve the people of Penang?
I thought the fundamental rule of law is that one is innocent until proven guilty in this country and the rest of the world!
Mr H’ng, let me tell you what I witnessed on the night of 8 March.
I was at the election centre of Dato’ Teng Hock Nan when the results started trickling in. By 7.00pm, it was clear that Dato’ Teng had lost and people started to wonder how the other Gerakan candidates were faring. I overhead one senior party member ask another how Teng Chang Yeow was doing. The answer was he was losing as well. The one who asked the question then commented “Good, at least we’re not the only one.”
It sickened me when I heard this and I’m not even a party member. I was just a friend of a party member who helped out wherever I could.
It got me thinking what had this party called Gerakan become? A battleground for personal glory? What about the people? Those of us who have voted for Gerakan all these years and expected them to protect and fight for our rights against the hegemony of UMNO.
Finally we have a state government who is prepared to move away from the politics of old and try something different and new for the betterment of Penang and its people, and what do we hear? Conspiracy theories and chastisement of those who answer the call.
You have a bigger problem looming. Najib is now asking Gerakan what its going to do? I want to know too.
Punish Lee Kah Choon to satisfy big brother even if it’s morally wrong or do nothing and incur the wrath of big brother? Or the usual half-measures you are advocating here which people are so sick of?
If only you guys can see the desperate state you are in without alienating ‘fair-minded’ Penangites any further.
Allow me to let you into a little secret, in case you haven’t realized already.
The people are simply FED-UP of politicking for the sake of politicking. When it mattered most, you guys kept silent. Now someone from within your own ranks wants to step forward and do something good for the people, you want to punish him.
Be thankful that you even have 2 MPs and 4 ADUNs now. Carry on like this and there will probably be NONE left come the 13GE.
Well said, romerz...
I guess Gerakan still not realise why they are just a rubbish-can party now after Penangites sent the strongest message ever.
At the rate they are going, will be another trashing comes GE-13.
At least some like Lee Kah Choon have some senses to contribute in whichever way they can and not politicise the appointment.
Thank you petestop.
For your information and for the others readers here, I have marked an X beside the name of a Gerakan candidate in 3 elections now and I'm not a member of any political party, just a citizen, who wants to be a good Malaysian.
For most of my adult life, I was too frightened and selfish to vote anything else different for fear of altering the status quo too much.
The brave younger generation have given me this opportunity to make a difference to the future of my home state Penang and I intend not to let their bravery be wasted anymore.
In some strange ways, I'm still loyal to Gerakan, the party that ruled my home state for all of my adult life.
I'm now asking questions of the party how it wants to utilize my willingness to step forward to do something for Penang.
Tell me something 'fair-minded' Penangites wants to hear and be seen to mean it.
The silent majority were not silent because they are stupid or ignorant of what is going on. They were silent because they had to go find a better future for their off-springs given the gloomy outlook for minorities in this country.
We delegated our trust to those who sought to represent us and speak on our behalf but they too were silent when it mattered most!
Now when when someone is deemed by the silent majority to do something right, we hear political rhetoric.
Wake up to the fact that most of the silent majority only want a better Malaysia.
Don't push us so far as to oppose you!
It seems a number of people are very interested expressing their views in relation to Datuk Lee Kah Choon (LKC)'s recent move.
Well, we can talk whatever under the sun or even the moon. Bottom-line, this is his decision. Let's see what can he contribute to the growth of Penang. The final result tells the truth.
Yes, many people are protecting LKC from many virtual-inroads, but the ones must understand the feeling of the members in Gerakan. LKC just run away without a proper handover of assignments... He did enjoy what he had in Gerakan those days. So, it's the time for him to pay back and he should not just leave when the party is in rebuilding... Even the leaders of DAP, PKR & PAS would agree to the level of frustration, should the same treatment from members is experienced. Don't you?
Hello LKC, to serve the Penangites, it's not neccessary for you to accept the respective appointments given by the DAP-PKR formed government. If UMNO or BN is so bad? You can fine-tune the necessities in BN via Gerakan. Don't you agree?
It applies to all other organizations...
Yes, Pro-Club.
I fully agree and support your comments.
Whether you like it or not, "Kam-Cheng" is always very important to all Penangites!
He has NO "Kam Cheng".
All Gerakan friends, please let him go with NO blessing. Opsss... he might not need your blessing too.
Good night to all!
Dear pro-club,
Yes I agree with you that only time will tell Lee Kah Choon's sincerity so please tell me why are daggers already being drawn?
Please tell me how you fine-tuned the BN when the party had representations in the cabinet and was the government of Penang?
What can we apolitical voters expect now when it has no representatives in the cabinet nor in opposition in Penang?
Let me expand further on the events of 8 March.
A senior Wanita member even lamented, "We shot ourselves in the foot. When Khairy and gang came to Penang to scold the CM and took away all the contracts, he kept quiet and we did nothing!"
Unless you are deluding yourself, it would seem that the public at large knows more of what Gerakan didn't do than those within the party.
Like I said, don't take our silence for granted!
Dear anonymous,
It is only because of 'kam-cheng' that I'm even here debating with you guys.
If not for 'kam-cheng' I would have told Gerakan to get lost and throw my weight behind the new Government of Penang.
For God's sake, the people no longer want to hear about 'reform from within, back to basics, kam-cheng, etc.'
They want a leader to lead them forward, a leader who only wants the best for the people. They are looking to Gerakan to provide that leadership.
Do the right thing and forget about partisan politics.
Do the 'wrong' things and you only write your own obituary!
UMNO got "kam cheng" or not ?
Sending newbies like Nazi-wannabe Khairy to shout down your leaders.
Penangites don't want weak leaders from Gerakan who can only kow-tow to UMNO the king.
We want Gerakan to have leaders like Lim Chong Eu who stood up for what is right for Penangites in the glory days of Gerakan history.
Gerakan have lost its way and got "reinvented" to be a race-based party by UMNO.
Judging from UMNO lack of "kam cheng", it is best Gerakan ponder upon what to do right for Penangites. Maybe even join the PR.
The new DAP lead PR government is full of idealism, don't let it go to waste when they reach out with an olive branch to Gerakan.
Koh Tsu Koon promised smooth transition and for that many respected him, please help make it smoother and better for the new Penang government.
Don't behave like UMNO cry-babies,
I believe Gerakan is much better than them.
http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2008&dt=0422&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Politik&pg=po_02.htm
So, it is true, UMNO say you jump, Gerakan say how high.
UMNO say you eat shit, Gerakan say, eat how much shit.
It is good to read different views in the comment. Sincerely appreciate you comments esp romerz and petestop.
Romerz, I hope Teng Hock Nan read your comment. Better still, I will sms him to read it.
Its sickening to hear such remarks. I have heard personally even worst remarks/statements by Gerakan leaders - I criticize them on the spot. It is not easy, there is a price to pay.
Happy commenting.
We have read and saw the news on mainstream media yesterday on our Saudara Lee Kah Choon accepting the offer to helm PDC and Invest Penang and yet remain a party member.
He came into the political spotlight in 1999 when he defeated Karpal Singh . He was subsequently made Parliament Secretary for the Ministry of Health . Prior to 1999 he was a Division Chief of Gerakan from Bagan and a lawyer by profession.
9 years down the road after a humiliating defeat in the March 8 General Elections where we was one of the 3 candidates earmarked for the CMship, he chose to work with the Pakatan Government citing serving the ‘interests’ of the people. If he really wanted to server the people he should work with our Gerakan leadership and consolidate our state Gerakan leadership as a formidable opposition to check the Pakatan government.
He may be dissatisfied with Tsu Koon when he resigned from all posts despite the sentiment against his action by party members. What he has done in accepting the offer from Lim Guan Eng is to leave us with some ‘shit’ to clean up besides delivering a blow or morale of party members who have been supporting him all these years.
We hope the party leadership will not be forced to sack him but to suspend him indefinitely thereby forcing him to resign. Let us not make him a hero when he is being paid to head PDC and Investpenang .
We hope all those with similar principals like Lee Kah Choon and follow suit and leave the party now. We need room for new leaders who will take over and lead our party into the future
Please comment especially all the former YBs whom we count on to rebuild the party
Ban Choon
It's really fun when having read all those sincere comments from our Penang friends around the corner, he or she might be just sitting beside each another in a cafe?! It happens on occasions.
Yes, we must not forget or delete the "credits" or "contributions" rendered by Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu.
So, do not simply hammer any party or organization, please. It's the mistake by a human. So, please hammer them, if you want!
No political party, talks about "Kam-Cheng". Based on the record or history, do you think DAP, PKR, MCA, PAS, PPP etc. can explain about "Kam-Cheng" laughingly???
Friend, do you think Sdra Lim Kit Siang (Robot-Cop campaign years ago), Sdra Anwar or even Sdra Lim Guan Eng talk to you about "Kam-Cheng"??? Can, you need to wait!
Almost all political parties apply the same method. Let's see the future of Sdra Jeff Ooi... Who, in DAP, will be assigned to "settle" him... since he's so popular and powerful, even greater than Sdra Lim Guan Eng or Sdra Lim Kit Siang, not in the whole of Penang but at least Jelutong. So, this is "Kam-Cheng"???
Trust me, all political parties are the same! The most important is to get a good and capable leader. If not, please change the leader(s) as soon as possible.
Regards.
Dear Mr H'ng,
I also wish for Dato' Teng to read what I wrote and then speak out where it will matter most.
To lend credence to what I said that its not a 'fairy-tale' amongst those who are skeptical about people who write behind the 'veil' of blogging.
Tell him that it was written by the person who gave him a list of possible billboard sites in Penang for him to choose to place a billboard before 8 March.
He may not know me but he will know that he didn't take up the offer because none of the billboard sites were within his constituency.
I hope you will understand I can't say more without revealing who I am.
I'm not ready to do this yet at the present moment but I'm real!
Romerz, I did sms Dr Teng. I got his h/p number from a friend.
I believe he will read the comment sooner or later. Let him cleaned up his team, we can't do it for him.
In retrospect, Lee Kah Choon is not a problem. That the party is 'torn between right and wrong' is the bigger problem.
I mean we can all see that Gerakan hitched its wagon to BN for the sake of stability and it was done for practical reasons. In return, we had hoped that the dominant party would give us back fairness.
Even in 1969, when this narrative was challenged, we went along the lines that some rights had to be sacrificed for stability.
Well today, 39 years onwards, we are still being asked to sacrifice, not so much for stability, but for a few within the dominant party.
When is it going to be enough? I don’t mind tolerating the sacrifices asked of me if I can see an end to it one day.
The biggest problem Gerakan has today is its continued participation in the BN where its role is no more as to give ‘legitimacy’ to the ruling hegemonists! (The same goes for MCA and MIC.)
The rakyat has realised this and said so in no uncertain terms on 8 March. Whilst we may not know what the best way forward is, we definitely don’t want to go back to the same ‘doctrine’ of more sacrifices just because we’re not, dare I say it, Malay?
We are after all citizens too, and loyal ones at that, so why the discrimination and the tolerance of those who supposedly represent us as well?
No, Lee Kah Choon is not the problem but Gerakan’s only first test.
Frankly, Gerakan is in an untenable position. Damn if they do, damn if they don’t!
I’m sorry to say but there’s just no saving it. And I’m saying this with a very heavy heart.
If it can even repulse me, I can only imagine what it is doing to the others who do not have the same sentiments I do!
This is what I wrote in Dr Hsu's forum on the same issue.
Gerakan is in an untenable position and frankly speaking whatever it does now will not in anyway salvage its relevance on the Malaysian political scene.
I will not go into how it got itself into this untenable position in the first place but rather concentrate on how it could get itself out of the present mess it’s in and move forward, if at all possible.
It’s ironic that it now finds itself in the same ‘between a rock and a hard place’ position that its past and present members/supporters/voters find themselves in now.
So far we know that the party leadership has sent a ‘show-cause’ letter to Lee Kah Choon. So we can assume that the party thinks LKC has done wrong in accepting the appointments. Whether this sending of the show-cause letter was prompted by Badawi/Najib and hence UMNO’s prompting or its original intention anyway, we’ll never know.
This much we know, LKC will now have to give a good and valid reason why disciplinary action should not be taken against him.
I’d like to add here that whilst previously I thought LKC’s appointments are not political moves by Lim Guan Eng, I must add that Koh Tsu Koon’s comments about the motives behind the appointments does have its validity too. After all LKC has no previous experience in this field.
On further reflection, I believe this move by LGE may be to test whether Gerakan has heard the voice of the rakyat on 8 March and at the same time to advertise DAP’s ideals of working for the rakyat irrespective of race, religion and political affiliations.
That no appointments from those affiliated to PAS, a partner of the PR, is very glaring to me indeed.
Having said that, is Gerakan wrong for snubbing this move by suspecting it’s a political gimmick? Or should it ignore whatever suspicions it has of the motives and accept it with an ‘open-mind’ and see where it takes us and only then act appropriately?
For those of us who are not involved and only watching from the sidelines, frankly we don’t really care what the motives are except that we are tired of politics per se and only want ‘good’ people who care about Penang and its people to step forward and do their part. Under which banner they stand means very little to us.
We are tired of being pawns in a chess game!
For 50 years, the same tried and tested methods may have worked but that is no longer enough since over the same 50 years, the minorities have been forced to accept sacrifices in order for the ‘system’ to work.
Malaysians of all races are a patient lot and for them to react the way they did on 8 March simply means they were pushed over the edge.
The present dilemma Gerakan is in is but many to come. If I can presently think of many other ways to put Gerakan in a pickle come the convening of parliament, I’m sure the PR boys can too.
I may be wrong but I see here a main part of the body that wants to get away from the ‘evil’ in UMNO but the head that governs the body does not even know what its body wants. Perhaps they know but don’t know how to react, never been out of the ‘protection’ of ‘big brother’ before.
In summary, I think LKC’s problem facing Gerakan is only the first of many to come. Each time, we see in the papers the next day of smiling leaders of BN shaking hands and declaring all has been solved, it’s nothing more than sweeping under the carpet, the UMNO woven carpet!
As I said earlier, Gerakan is in an untenable position because by remaining in the BN, it’s a damn if I do and damn if I don’t situation.
If Gerakan wants to play a continued role in Malaysian politics, the FIRST and MOST IMPORATNT thing it has to worry about is its continued participation in BN.
Everything about the BN is rotten to the core and not in moving with the times. My ass to being the conscience of the BN, the rottenness of BN has already permeated to Gerakan itself!
Gerakan is doomed as a party, what’s left of 400,000+ members is insignificant if you no longer have the support of the public at large.
Lee Kah Choon is only but a small issue. The big issue for Gerakan is to determine its own future NOW and be seen to do something, right or wrong, but with BALLS!
As a party, you have no moral grounds to act against Lee Kah Choon, when you gave up your moral high-ground by letting the UMNOputras encroach on what is rightfully given to you by the people of Penang.
Better to close shop now and save those of us from further anguish!
Gerakan is in an untenable position and will remain so and it’s not because of Lee Kah Choon. In a way thank Lee Kah Choon for pushing the party leadership to act NOW if it will listen to those who matter most.
As a Penangite, I supported LKC move to take up the job.
But as a Gerakan member, I hope LKC to resign as a party member.
His appointment no doubt will be for the benefit of Penang people as i trust his ability, but it brings threats and disharmony within the party.
When you choose to join a party, you need to be loyal to the party and continue its struggle, especially if you were one of the top leaders in the party. There are many ways you can contribute to the people thru Gerakan, to provide check and balance to the present government.
Some of you may not agree with me,let me quote you an example.
If you are selling brand A handphones for company A,but at the same time selling brand B handphones due to popular demand by customers, you serve the customers well and you are actually acting against the company policy. You cant have a win-win situation of selling brand B and giving ideas how to increase sale of brand A. This just shows that your action actually bring more good to yourself than to your company.You are being selfish in a way.
Coming back to our topic, asking LKC to resign is not kow-tow to UMNO but to protect the dignity of the party.
As a Gerakan member, I am really disappointed with the reaction of the Gerakan leadership. I believe that Lee took the job because he knows that he can do a good job. Credit should also be give to Guan Eng (even though I dont really like him)for looking past Lee's political background and appointing him as a PDC chairman.
It really saddens me to see the current state of Gerakan (which is in a mess). I am starting to forget why I even joined Gerakan in the first place.
Well done to the leaders of Gerakan.
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/81812
You are already bleeding members and supporters daily now you have just lost a potential leader.
Whatever you may say of him, the public sees him as genuinely interested to serve us.
With his loss, PGRM may have well lost its last remaining support of the public.
Dream on if Gerakan thinks its going to get back Penang!
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