Gerakan deputy president Oh Tong Keong said the darnedest thing about PAS recently.
Oh said relations with PAS remained strong and PN’s focus was on the Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional government.
“We may have one or two differing views but that does not affect our cooperation in facing our common enemy, which is the PH-BN government.
“What’s more important is that taking over Putrajaya is our shared goal in PN. So we must focus all our energy and efforts towards this instead of squabbling,” he told FMT.
This is such a humiliating thing for the Gerakan number 2 to say to PAS, because PAS has insulted Gerakan, not once, not twice, but again and again – the most recent occasion where it insulted Gerakan was PAS's Muktamar just a few weeks ago – where it engineered an insult to Gerakan’s president Dominic Lau in the most public and humiliating way possible – and in response to its insults, Oh is entreating PAS like PAS is its best friend forever.
If Oh is is a Bodhisattva, then sure, what it is doing is admirable. But considering that he is just a politician, that should rightfully aim for such worldly things like power, position and authority, what he is is doing is pathetic. How in the world is going to be able to convince anybody to see him and his party as an authority or an entity that is capable of wielding power, when it is this limp and embarassing?
What is Gerakan doing with PAS in the first place?
Gerakan being with PAS is like a goat standing together with a python because it is angry that a lamb is grazing in its field.
Whatever problem the goat has with the lamb, at most, it will just lose a little grass.
On the other hand, if it stands together with the python, not only is it pathetic – it will look like it doesn't know who it is – it is also only a matter of time before it becomes the python's meal.
MCA looks like it is going to leave the unity government soon and perhaps join PAS.
This is a most fortunate turn of events for Gerakan, because it gives Gerakan the perfect excuse to leave PAS and join the unity government.
Since Gerakan is confused about who it is, let me tell it who it is.
One, Gerakan is a Chinese party, or more specifically, a multiracial party with Chinese characteristics.
Two , as a category, Gerakan belongs with MCA and DAP.
Three, in terms of position, Gerakan is the lowest-ranking Chinese or Chinese-inspired Malaysian party, behind MCA and DAP.
Being who it i, what Gerakan should be doing is try to join a multiracial coalition like PH, and try to move up from being the third or lowest-ranking Chinese-inspired party in Malaysia to become the second-ranking Chinese party in Malaysia.
It can do that if it stops being a lackey of PAS, join and PH and attack MCA once MCA decides to to join PN and become the lackey of PAS.
DAP is currently in a very high position, so it can't continue to attack MCA or PAS – lest it looks undignified – so DAP will probably be interested to subcontract that role to G.
If Gerakan takes the role that DAP subcontracts to it, DAP might even grudgingly accept Gerakan’s position in PH, and even give a couple of Gerakan leaders some positions in the government, to platform it better so that it will be able to attack MCA and PAS more effectively.
If Gerakan has one or two deputy ministers, and it does well in attacking MCA and PAS, it will win the hearts and minds of the Chinese, and perhaps even the Indian and PH-inclined Malays, and then it might even be able to eat into DAP's market, and challenge DAP as the top Chinese or Chinese-inspired multiracial party in the country.
I don't think Gerakan is in any position to challenge DAP’s dominance amongst the Chinese anytime soon – if Lim Guan Eng does not end up in jail because of “tunnelgate”, maybe Gerakan can try to court Lim Guan Eng to its side, so that it will be better able to challenge DAP in the future, but even if it courts people like Lim Guan Eng and Ronnie Liu once it joins PH, I don't think it will be anytime soon that Gerakan will be able to challenge DAP – but challenging and triumphing over MCA is certainly doable.
PH has a problem – DAP is seen to be too dominant and thus Anwar will keep being weakened by the perception that he is dependent on DAP, which makes it difficult for him to court Malay support.
If Gerakan joins PH and provides an alternative to DAP, then it will give Anwar some breathing space and not be seen as too dependent on DAP for the support of the Chinese electorate.
There are a lot of tangible and practical reasons as to why Gerakan should leave PN and join PH.
But forgetting the tangible and practical reasons, Gerakan should probably just do it as a matter of self-respect.
How many times are you going to allow PAS to spit on your face and wipe it off like it is rainwater?
Gerakan is actually one of the grandfathers of multiracial parties in Malaysia – it is arguably the oldest multiracial party in the country - it was a multiracial party even before PKR was born – what the heck is it doing in PN?
At some point, Gerakan needs to stop acting like it is a desperate loser, and pick what falls off the table in order not to starve.
At some point, Gerakan needs to remember who it is – it is the party of Lim Chong Eu and Syed Hussein Alatas – it belongs to lions, and lions should rather starve than eat grass.
Gerakan's salvation will only come when it remembers who it is, and resolves to be who it is even if it has to die because of it, rather than reduce itself into becoming something that it is not, by kowtowing to parties that champion racial and religious politics, even if it has to betray its multiracial and egalitarian roots, just to survive.
What is the point of living if you are stripped of any dignity and self-respect like this?
Isn't it better to die than to live in such humiliating terms?
And the irony is, there is a good chance that Gerakan might not even have to die when it leaves PN and joins PH. It might actually thrive.
It is not only the height of humiliation, but stupidity, for Gerakan to continue to affirm its loyalty and friendship to PAS, that only shows contempt and derision for it every chance it gets, and call PH an enemy, instead of trying to find a way to court PH, and dump PAS at the earliest possible convince.
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