Lim Guan Eng taking office as the fourth chief minister of Penang last Tuesday. The challenge for Guan Eng is to demonstrate that DAP is a party for all Malaysians.
IT had to come sooner or later.
The fact that many have waited some 50 years, patiently in hope and faith, to witness and welcome the orderly change in the political landscape brought about by the "neutral power" of the ballot box and not, mercifully, the barrel of a gun (as happens so regularly in many so-called democratic republics around the world) has made the waiting game all the more rewarding.
Fifty years of political domination, although legitimised and sanctified by the electoral process, has led inevitably to the development of decidedly unhealthy, careless attitudes on the part of the government as well as society at large.
It was only months before that fateful day of March 8 that Malaysians decided that they had it within their power to decide the future direction of their country in social, economic and political terms by the simple expedient of using democracy's most potent gift -- the vote.
Overnight, we have transformed ourselves from being a nation of whingers and whiners into mature, responsible citizens exercising our rights and responsibilities, to decide what is good for us and our country.
From being a people brought up to respect authority unquestioningly, and, therefore, naturally prone to being overawed by the trappings of political office, we have come to realise that there ought to be reciprocity for our consent, through the electoral process, to be governed by our parliamentary representatives.
Of fundamental importance is an unwritten and unspoken contract, that while not possessing the force of legal sanctions behind it, is morally binding as this relationship has mutual trust as its core value.
I will not be drawn, on a Sunday morning, into inflicting a blow by blow account on my readers of what went wrong with Barisan Nasional (BN) at all levels in the run-up to the mother of elections.
Suffice it to say that 50 years in the comfort zone of unadulterated power could turn the best of us into political zombies, believing quite sincerely, though mistakenly, that the silence of the herd grazing in the field was a sign of contentment, and it would be best to let it be while we concentrate on other more important matters of government. There is no need to put them in the picture; they are happy as they are.
Silence in this instance, unfortunately for the ruling party, translated itself into a deafening roar of disapproval at polling stations up and down the country.
I have no doubt that all concerned have learned some useful lessons from this unhappy episode, and BN, with its many records of achievements, to be fair, will rise from the ashes wiser, I hope, to occupy their rightful place as may be determined by a politically more aware and, therefore, by definition, a more demanding and difficult country.
The transition for parties such as the Democratic Action Party (DAP), fed on a diet of street skirmishes and boycotts at the drop of a hat, to running a state government cannot be easy.
We should not judge the father-and-son double act too hastily and harshly. Given time they will learn a hard fact that after the giddy first flush and taste of power, reality sets in, and, what at first seems like a winning formula is often, upon further, more mature consideration, not such a clever idea after all. I write this as a friend of both Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng in a spirit of helpfulness.
I have shared the platform with them on many occasions over the years to promote issues of shared concerns such as corruption, the need for good governance, an open public procurement process, national integration, equal opportunity and the New Development Policy, that we would like to see driven by the highest ethical standards and values.
Guan Eng has made it clear where he is coming from on good governance, for which he will get my support and assistance at any time because he represents values I have worked for these many years.
My advice, always gratuitous, is that the DAP leadership must now demonstrate that it is a party for all Malaysians and not a narrow-minded, unashamedly chauvinistic Chinese party in spirit, notwithstanding its protestations to the contrary.
Your role now as chief minister of Penang is to convince the Malays and Indians, in particular, that your own ethnicity is purely an accident of birth, but your heart is in the right place.
You are indeed there to protect the legitimate interests of all the people for whom you carry a responsibility. It is a heavy responsibility that you have chosen to carry.
No one had forced you into this situation. The only ideology that you need to carry with you to the 26th floor of Komtar is service in the public interest.
Your party has in the past argued for fairness and fair play. The present state of political play, requiring you to work with other parties out of necessity, is being closely watched and monitored.
Your party's attempt to ride roughshod over your partners in the matter of the composition of the Perak executive council a few days ago, demanding eight places for DAP, has exposed your true colours.
Surely the idea of developing a coalition is to seek a convergence of interests in support of a larger, longer-term sustainable objective.
The political landscape you and other former opposition parties have created needs to be nurtured by your complete sincerity, ability to give and take, and a desire to develop and implement sound, non-partisan, people- and race-friendly policies based on equality of opportunity for all.
Fighting corruption and poverty must be the main item on your action plan because corruption distorts your decision-making processes and denies the poor the benefits that should accrue to them. All this applies to all parties running state administrations as well as the central government.
The pressure is now on to see how well or badly you are going to perform. We will all be watching, with great interest, whether the new state governments will honour their pledges that they so loudly proclaimed during their campaigns for votes.
To use a cliche, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. I hope there will not be too unpleasant a taste in too many mouths in the process.
I wish all politicians well in their work in the public interest.
The writer is a former special adviser to the United Nations secretary-general on ethics.
Fifty years of political domination, although legitimised and sanctified by the electoral process, has led inevitably to the development of decidedly unhealthy, careless attitudes on the part of the government as well as society at large.
It was only months before that fateful day of March 8 that Malaysians decided that they had it within their power to decide the future direction of their country in social, economic and political terms by the simple expedient of using democracy's most potent gift -- the vote.
Overnight, we have transformed ourselves from being a nation of whingers and whiners into mature, responsible citizens exercising our rights and responsibilities, to decide what is good for us and our country.
Of fundamental importance is an unwritten and unspoken contract, that while not possessing the force of legal sanctions behind it, is morally binding as this relationship has mutual trust as its core value.
I will not be drawn, on a Sunday morning, into inflicting a blow by blow account on my readers of what went wrong with Barisan Nasional (BN) at all levels in the run-up to the mother of elections.
Suffice it to say that 50 years in the comfort zone of unadulterated power could turn the best of us into political zombies, believing quite sincerely, though mistakenly, that the silence of the herd grazing in the field was a sign of contentment, and it would be best to let it be while we concentrate on other more important matters of government. There is no need to put them in the picture; they are happy as they are.
Silence in this instance, unfortunately for the ruling party, translated itself into a deafening roar of disapproval at polling stations up and down the country.
I have no doubt that all concerned have learned some useful lessons from this unhappy episode, and BN, with its many records of achievements, to be fair, will rise from the ashes wiser, I hope, to occupy their rightful place as may be determined by a politically more aware and, therefore, by definition, a more demanding and difficult country.
The transition for parties such as the Democratic Action Party (DAP), fed on a diet of street skirmishes and boycotts at the drop of a hat, to running a state government cannot be easy.
We should not judge the father-and-son double act too hastily and harshly. Given time they will learn a hard fact that after the giddy first flush and taste of power, reality sets in, and, what at first seems like a winning formula is often, upon further, more mature consideration, not such a clever idea after all. I write this as a friend of both Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng in a spirit of helpfulness.
I have shared the platform with them on many occasions over the years to promote issues of shared concerns such as corruption, the need for good governance, an open public procurement process, national integration, equal opportunity and the New Development Policy, that we would like to see driven by the highest ethical standards and values.
Guan Eng has made it clear where he is coming from on good governance, for which he will get my support and assistance at any time because he represents values I have worked for these many years.
My advice, always gratuitous, is that the DAP leadership must now demonstrate that it is a party for all Malaysians and not a narrow-minded, unashamedly chauvinistic Chinese party in spirit, notwithstanding its protestations to the contrary.
Your role now as chief minister of Penang is to convince the Malays and Indians, in particular, that your own ethnicity is purely an accident of birth, but your heart is in the right place.
You are indeed there to protect the legitimate interests of all the people for whom you carry a responsibility. It is a heavy responsibility that you have chosen to carry.
No one had forced you into this situation. The only ideology that you need to carry with you to the 26th floor of Komtar is service in the public interest.
Your party has in the past argued for fairness and fair play. The present state of political play, requiring you to work with other parties out of necessity, is being closely watched and monitored.
Your party's attempt to ride roughshod over your partners in the matter of the composition of the Perak executive council a few days ago, demanding eight places for DAP, has exposed your true colours.
Surely the idea of developing a coalition is to seek a convergence of interests in support of a larger, longer-term sustainable objective.
The political landscape you and other former opposition parties have created needs to be nurtured by your complete sincerity, ability to give and take, and a desire to develop and implement sound, non-partisan, people- and race-friendly policies based on equality of opportunity for all.
Fighting corruption and poverty must be the main item on your action plan because corruption distorts your decision-making processes and denies the poor the benefits that should accrue to them. All this applies to all parties running state administrations as well as the central government.
The pressure is now on to see how well or badly you are going to perform. We will all be watching, with great interest, whether the new state governments will honour their pledges that they so loudly proclaimed during their campaigns for votes.
To use a cliche, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. I hope there will not be too unpleasant a taste in too many mouths in the process.
I wish all politicians well in their work in the public interest.
The writer is a former special adviser to the United Nations secretary-general on ethics.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/Columns/2187631/Article/index_html
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