Lee Lam Thye, a Malaysian
The Malaysian Insider – Prioritise welfare of PDRM personnel, says Lee Lam Thye
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Lee Lam Thye – indisputably a legend in KL and among older Chinese Malaysians as a quiet, soft spoken but redoubtably effective DAP politician. Borrowing and paraphrasing the popular title of the film ‘Singh is Kinng’*, I have no hesitation in declaring ‘Lee Lam Thye was Kinng’ in Kuala Lumpur, where his electoral constituency was Bukit Bintang.
* the word ‘king’ was deliberately (mis)spelt ‘Kinng’ on advice from an Indian numerologist . Not unlike Hong Kong film makers, Bollywood is fussy about good feng shui when starting or launching a film.
The sad part of ‘Lee Lam Thye was Kinng’ lies in its grammatical tense, namely ‘was’. Today, the younger ones, even DAP members (with no clue as to their party’s history) hate him for no other reason than he chooses, since his publicly declared retirement from politics, to be a non-political non-partisan Malaysian.
Whoooaa, that won’t do in today’s Malaysia for current politics has gone ‘George Bush II’, as per that low-brow Dubya-ish ‘you’re either with us or against us’.
This (extract on Lee only) was what I wrote in an earlier post Gentlemen in ungentlemanly Malaysian politics in March 2010:
… when I read readers’ comments at various places – Malaysiakini, The Malaysian Insider, my matey Susan Loone’s blog, etc – I seldom see a reasonable and balanced or civil comment. The comments would in general be feral, ferocious, and frightening, not unlike rabid salivating attack dogs unleashed ;-). It seems these are worse at RPK’s Malaysia-Today wakakaka. […]
They adopted George W Bush’s doctrine of “either you’re with us or against us”, just black or white with no grey in between.
Likewise the attacks against Lee Lam Thye were scurrilous, sleazy, sickening and by some scumbags whose pubic hair weren’t yet in sight when Lee LT was already performing sterling services in KL.
Lee was virtually a demigod in the eyes of his constituency and woe betide any political challenger for his seat – my uncle told me in each general election he actually felt sorry for those MCA pollies who were ‘nominated’ by MCA leaders to stand against Lee. They were probably unpopular members, good only as cannon fodders wakakaka.
Maybe the following poem by kamikaze pilot, the late Matomi Ugaki, should be dedicated to those foolish or ‘pushed forward’ to stand against Lee Lam Thye:
Flowers of the special attack are falling
When the spring is leaving.
Gone with the spring
Are young boys like cherry blossoms.
Gone are the blossoms,
Leaving cherry trees only with leaves.
MCA cherry blossoms? Totally crushed by Lee Lam Thye! Wakakaka!
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Poppy, MCA’s Bukit Bintang cherry blossom |
Of course Lee retired from politics but these young punks couldn’t, wouldn’t respect his decision and let him be as he went about his Malaysian way. He was only ‘acceptable’ if he was like them, feral, ferocious and frighteningly moronic in blind hatred against anything and everything UMNO and BN.
Same stuff happened to my matey Hsu Dar Ren in my post Gerakan hopes to snatch a new breath of life. Just because I refer to him as my matey, a commentator called him a ‘running dog’, just as some others had so termed Lee Lam Thye.
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Hsu Dar Ren |
Though I dislike the BN for its terrible governance and divisive antics, I do have friends in Gerakan, MCA, UMNO and wakakaka even MIC. I don’t see the need to maul them as well though of course I would certainly challenge their political policies if these are not supportive of fairness, transparency, accountability, or just wasteful.
In fact I was delighted to see that Hsu had written a letter to Malaysiakini titled The ascendancy of right wing politics. Read it if you think he is a ‘running dog’.
Some people like Lee Lam Thye and Hsu Dar Ren are gentlemen through and through, civil, soft spoken, well-mannered and treat even their political enemies as fellow Malaysians. In politics one doesn’t have to assume one of the extreme positions like the general UMNO apparatchiks or anwaristas.
And I am glad Lee and Hsu aren’t.
Also, in another much earlier post (October 2007) titled The necessary demonization of Lee Lam Thye I wrote (extracts only):
Here is an outstanding former DAP stalwart who was the best performing opposition politician bar none. Neither my political hero Lim Kit Siang nor the late Tan Sri Dr Tan Chee Khoon could match his popularity and the respect the people of KL of an earlier generation have for him.
Yet to today’s political Johnnies & Ginny’s-come-lately, he is a “hypocrite, a spineless turncoat who goes with the flow. His past actions have clearly shown he is a ‘yes-man’ and ‘brown nose’ and he is certainly not independent nor trustworthy” – see comments on the post.
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So, on the above pseudo-logic, for Lee to be trustworthy in the amoebic minds of these J’s-come-lately, he must, according to their tadpole worldviews, be a ‘no-man’. Oh yes, he must buck the ‘flow’ in accordance with their wondrous views of which way the ‘flow’ has been going. Yes, Lee should bloody well conform to their dictates or ‘de facto’ assessments.
What about the critics themselves? Certainly they would say ‘no’ to the establishment! But what would they say to the man who can walk on water.
No, I wasn’t referring to Yeshua ben Yusuf, but the bloke whom visitor {zzz} informed me “Didn’t you know the guy practically walks on water?” in an earlier post Guess who’ve been singing that old tune “I’d have been sacked …”?
Read the above post and see whether Lee Lam Thye or He who walks on water has been a ‘spineless hypocrite’.
