Tunku Aziz’s parting shots

I take great interest in what Tunku Aziz had to say in The Star today.

I think there are many pertinent points raised by Tunku Aziz in that interview which had confirmed or validated whatever some bloggers, including yours truly about Lim Guan Eng’s administration of DAP politics as well as Pakatan Rakyat in general.

Some of the points are as follows:

No one called you saying Tunku, please don’t go on air?

I wanted it to be a dignified exit, and to be fair. Because I am not against the party, I am not against the party at all. I am just against the attitude adopted by the secretary-general. Particularly when he first got in touch with me, it was to accuse me of going against the party position. Which was to support Bersih.

I at no time had withdrawn my support for Bersih. I have always supported Bersih for what Bersih stands for. I’ve spoken for free and fair elections on several occasions. Not as vice-chairman of DAP but in my other capacities. So to say that Tunku is opposed to Bersih is something that the party and Pakatan Rakyat had been working hard to promote, is a little disingenuous.

And somehow it smacks of a reluctance or inability to see the difference between supporting free and fair election activity, and not supporting these activities if they were illegal. There is that distinction which I think they purposely ignored, because Lim Guan Eng, in his rebuke, was rebuking me for something I hadn’t done.

Are you bitter about it, four years later having to resign from the party?

I think I was a little naive in thinking that the ideals that I had would be in fact the ideals that DAP actually practised. I don’t know about the other political parties but I expect they would be much the same.

As a man who has always been fighting against things that are unethical, would you say DAP as a party was ethical after four years of being inside?

I wouldn’t say so. Well, for example… one of the key party members set up the Rocket Cafe in Petaling Jaya, and this was done without Council approval being obtained. And when other members of the party raised this, it was just pushed under the rug and no action was taken. To me, this is not on.

Because Pakatan Rakyat is the government of Selangor and DAP controls in terms of its numbers the local councils within Selangor, PJ, and what have you.

Although people say “oh, it is a small matter”, to me, it is an important fundamental issue because you have broken your own by-laws. And if you are cavalier in your attitude to the law that you have made then, to me, it shows very sad state of affairs and bad judgment.

(Typical of Pakatan Rakyat that flouts the law even their own. There are many instances that this has happened) 

Did you raise the issue?

I raised the issue, but you could see that it was not something they were comfortable with. And if you see recently Dr Cheah’s reports in The Star (Damansara Utama assemblyman Dr Cheah Wing Yin), this is the same kind of issue.

There are good people within DAP who want to see that we do things in an ethical manner, but there are others who you know will just go ahead in breaking their own rules. If you do this, sooner or later people are going to ask, can these people really be trusted with a bigger job?

(The story of Dr Cheah lambasting DAP’s leadership in Selangor can be read HERE. Those that will go ahead breaking rules are so happened to be in DAP’s top leadership themselves. Within Pakatan Rakyat leadership however, this is already the norm)

There is no glass half-full for integrity.

You either have it or you don’t have it. For example, when the council decides to take action against illegal hawkers, one of our key figures would intervene to say don’t touch these people; don’t take any action because they are party supporters. To me, this is an act that is tantamount to interfering, serious interference in the operating system and the administration of local government.

Many of our people forget that local government is where the public first experiences dealing with the government. Many of them will never have to deal with Putrajaya or any of the ministries, but for the average person like you or me living in particular district or area, it’s all local government.

Here’s a very unfair question. Is Guan Eng disappointment as a leader? You obviously have great admiration for his father.

The son is a different kettle of fish. I don’t want to get personal. He is a good leader, apart from other qualities. Leaders must be good listeners, this is from my observation.

So is he a good listener?

By my reckoning, he should learn to listen more and give everybody a chance to be heard.

You have to first learn to be, I think, a little modest because it’s not for you to say how well you’re doing or how well you’ve done for Penang. Let the people of Penang decide. That is really the true measure of your achievement. When people say “well done Guan Eng”. But for you to scream your head off about CAT (a DAP slogan standing for “competency, accountability, and transparency”)? What is CAT? Cat is a slogan. But to him no. But when it comes to 1Malaysia, 1Malaysia is just a slogan. But CAT is not.

(This is very telling. For further reading on Lim Guan Eng’s self grandeur and lies, the articles can be read HERE).

Is this your last venture into politics?

Absolutely, no question there. But what really made me finally decide to leave although I was thinking very seriously about what I should do was last Sunday at about 8.43AM, I had a phone call from Guan Eng. I don’t know whether to describe it as an act of contrition or whether he felt that I needed to be compensated for the loss of the Senate seat.

He offered me – now this really staggered my imagination offered me a senior fellowship at the Penang Institute, dangling travel as one of the attractions… And I said I’d have to think about it. This was followed up yesterday, after I had made up my mind.

His aide rang me at lunchtime yesterday to repeat his boss’s offer, but added that this time there would be a stipend of RM50,000 a year, along with other things. I regard this offer as totally insulting.

Totally totally insulting, and I could only conclude that it had come from someone who had no sense and not even a modicum of respect. Did he think I was that kind of person? What an insult. You rebuked me for the wrong reason, you removed my senate position, and then you offered a fellowship at Penang Institute. This man has gone out of his senses.

This was the clincher as far as I was concerned. This man has no sense of decency, in other words.

He ignored your emails, he insulted you… And I guess as a man of ethics and integrity, this Penang Institute sounded like a bribe.

It’s a bribe, it’s a salve for my hurt pride. To me, as a senior person… I’m trying to find an English word for this behaviour, and I cant. The only word is a Malay word, and it’s “biadap”. I mean, that’s what really made me decide I will not work with this man. I am prepared to be rebuked, but the reason for the rebuke must be made very clear, you know.

Is Guan Eng under pressure from Anwar because they are close to winning Putrajaya?

I can’t really be 100% certain, but one never knows. For them, it’s political expediency. It doesn’t matter because I don’t think they’d give two hoots about anything or anybody who stands in their way. Asking too (many) questions, raising issues, and so on.

(Dictatorial tendencies are really the epitome of Pakatan Rakyat politics).

So how do you feel?

I feel liberated from the tyranny of demagogy. It’s a blessed relief, I received so many wonderful messages of encouragement from people like Koh Tsu Koon, the president of the Senate, many others.

Nine people came to see me, we sat down and had a drink together. These people they have tried to, well, transform DAP at their level. They find there is so much cronyism, so many cliques. You don’t belong to the leadership clique, you’re out, You make an unfavourable comment, you’re out. I suppose no party is free from all this.

Chow (Chow Kon Yeow), head of DAP Penang, sent message saying I respect your decision. He should have been Chief Minister yet they parachuted Guan Eng in. He’s CM, Sec-Gen, MP.

(Who said in Pakatan Rakyat there is no cronyism, nepotism, corruption etc?)

So were the coalition in support of Bersih? Had they made it known?

I think they had, all the top boys. All the three parties, it was generally accepted that we were behind it. Sending out messages on Twitter and this and that, getting people to come.

I support Bersih objectives, as long as they don’t cross the police line. My instinct told me that this was not going to end peacefully, from experience, stories, reports you have read from other parts of the world. All demonstrations particularly street demos start off peacefully but the average rate of success where they end peacefully is very small.

 (Tunku Aziz just revealed that Pakatan Rakyat is behind BERSIH. What excuses will BERSIH supporters use now? The rally on 28th Apriul 2012 wasn’t hijacked during that afternoon. In fact it was masterminded by Pakatan Rakyat. Ambiga is just a mere puppet).

This interview came about because Tunku Aziz did not favour the illegal activities which are being promoted and administered by Pakatan Rakyat and its vehicle – BERSIH 3.0. I believe Tunku Aziz has valid reasons and those reasons are similar to those who oppose unruly type behaviours, anarchy, blatant disregard of the laws and gangsterism which are the characteristics of Bersih and other Pakatan Rakyat sponsored activities such as the Occupy Dataran and Mansuhkan PTPTN movements.

To understand how most of us perceive all these illegal activities, here is a video to be shared with all Malaysians.

Malaysia, a peaceful country where its citizens have always abide by its laws are currently being run down by mindless and hateful people who have no qualms in tarnishing this nation’s image and breaking its law just to justify their sick agenda.

An agenda so sick that even a professional body like the Bar council is being hijacked by political wannabes or lawyers who are trying to bypass some ground rules in the law profession by advertising their names so that they can be famous and gain more clients in return.

No wonder, one of its members – Ranjit Singh Dillon was peeved and gave Bar Council the spanking it deserved –

It is also time Bar Council change its name to Legal Department of Pakatan Rakyat.

Thank you.