(Pic from akademisilatkuntompusaka.blogspot.com)
Instead of addressing the issue of youth involvement in politics, DAP says, Khairy is trying to ‘silat’ (divert the issue) about Lim Kit Siang heading the DAP since 1969.
The ‘silat’ was in reference to evading the topic on youth politics in the speech by Khairy, where he repeated the name “Lim Kit Siang” six times at the UMNO General Assembly to say that he has been the sole leader of the party since 1969.
For the record, Lim Kit Siang was DAP’s Chairman from 1999 to 2004.
Khairy was reacting to Dyana Sofya (Political Secretary of Lim Kit Siang) who said that UMNO had not fielded anyone under the age of 35, unlike during the era of former Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman.
In response to this, Khairy said that since 1969, Umno has had six presidents Tunku Abdul Rahman, Abdul Razak Hussein, Hussein Onn, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and now Najib Abdul Razak.
“Whereas DAP since 1969, only has Lim Kit Siang, Lim Kit Siang, Lim Kit Siang, Lim Kit Siang, Lim Kit Siang, Lim Kit Siang,” Khairy said.
This claim by Khairy was refuted by Pasir Pinji rep Howard Lee, who said that it was an attempt to “silat the issue” of UMNO not being as effective as DAP in providing a political platform for youth.
“The whole world knows it is not true,” said Lee reminding him that DAP has had many Secretary General’s apart from Lim Kit Siang.
On her Facebook post, Dyana had commented: “Err.. Saudara Lim Kit Siang was only Chairman of DAP from 1999-2004. KJ what you smokin’?”
Based on DAP’s history, the Secretary General post is another key position besides the Chairman.
Devan Nair was the party’s first Secretary General (1965-1968), followed by Goh Hock Guan (1968 to 13 May 1969), then Lim Kit Siang (October 1969 to December 1999), Kerk Kim Hock (December 1999 – May 2004), and the incumbent Lim Guan Eng, who has held the position since May 2004 and is currently serving his final term.
In 2003, DAP had become the first political party in the history of the nation to limit the term of its highest leader in the party, when Kerk Kim Hock (the Secretary General then) announced that Secretary General’s term cannot exceed three terms.
DAP welcomes diversity within its ranks, unlike UMNO
Howard added that unlike UMNO, the DAP has a pool of diverse leaders within its Central Executive Committee (CEC); the party’s highest leadership committee where the 20 of its members are voted in by DAP delegates.
In the last CEC elections held in 2013, Liew Chin Tong then age 36, topped the list voted in by delegates, beating Lim Kit Siang, the late Karpal Singh, and even Lim Guan Eng. Others voted into the CEC who were 40 and below included, Anthony Loke, Zairil Khir Johari and Teo Nie Ching.
“What DAP has is a pool of leaders including many young talents,” said Lee.
On the other hand, none of the 25 elected members of UMNO’s Majlis Tertinggi in 2013 were below the age of 40. Khairy Jamaluddin, who is the youngest member of the party’s leadership council at 38 years old, is co-opted into the council by virtue of being the Youth Chief.
“What Khairy says clearly shows that UMNO is a party of power play,” he said, explaining that the views of the youth are not represented in UMNO’s voice. DAP, he said, as opposed to UMNO, is not run by a presidential system.
In his earlier address to UMNO, Khairy had asked if the delegates there felt like the youth in the Malay party were not competent enough.
“Are there not enough intellectuals, gifted orators or fiery debators among the young in UMNO to be elevated?” he asked.
Khairy had also praised his party youth saying that they had been on “the forefront risking arrest and prosecution” when defending UMNO from DAP’s Seri Delima rep R.S.N. Rayer’s “UMNO celaka” remark.
Earlier this year, a mob of UMNO youth led by Federal Territory Youth Chief Razlan Rafii had protested in front of the DAP headquarters while ‘orating’ their threat to torch the building if ever the party was insulted again. The group had also vandalized the DAP signboard during the fiery protest to Rayer’s remarks.
Giving a platform to the youth
DAP has consistently given opportunities to candidates with high calibre to stand as candidates, since the party’s inception. In comparison to any other political party, DAP has one of the highest number of elected representatives who won their seats at a relatively young age.
A third of DAP’s candidates in the 2013 election were aged below 30, this trend was already apparent during the 2011 Sarawak State Election which saw many young DAP candidates run for office and win. Among those who were elected in 2013, more than a third of those holding office under the DAP banner are under the age of 40.
Youth representation matters in Malaysian politics because 80 per cent of Malaysia’s 13 million voters are aged below 45, three million were new voters during the 13th General Election. The battle for the hearts and minds of the youth is constant, with political parties from both sides of the divide scrambling to make an impact on the young cohort. -The Rocket
