My childhood memory: Lim Kit Siang is a "bad guy"!
I grew up in a small town called Batu Anam and studied in
chinese schools, where the core values were to be obedient and hardworking.
Throughout my primary and secondary schools, I always thought that what
teachers, textbooks, RTM news and newspaper said were always right. I memorized the whole history textbooks (yes, that's what a nerd do!) believing that what I
read was the real history. I rarely read newspaper, but when I did, I would read
only the headlines. I also didn’t bother much
about watching TV news, but when I did, it would just be part of it as the news was before or after the TVB evening shows (I used to like to watch TVB drama during childhood days.)
However, from the little things I knew from the mainstream newspapers and TV news, I did know about Lim Kit Siang and had an
opinion on him. I guess that’s the amazing thing about human being, we always have an opinion on just about anything based on the information we gather, no matter how little it is.
To me, at that period of time, Lim Kit Siang was a “bad guy”,
just like Anwar Ibrahim. The “rocket” was a trouble-maker. I couldn’t even
remember the full name of “that rocket party”. I always wondered why the
parents of my childhood best friend voted for DAP - those “bad people”. (Mainstream media brain-washing really worked on me during my childhood and teenage days.)
As the years went by, I went to the university, then worked and studied overseas,
my view began to change – history text books were not necessarily correct, the
newspaper and TV news were not telling me the full truth and the government
surely was not saint and did not know it all! But even then, I wasn’t that into
Malaysian politics although I would vote for the opposition; I had a neutral view on DAP and the leaders including Lim Kit Siang.
Unlike many
people, Lim Kit Siang had never been my "childhood hero”.
With LKS at one of the DAP fund-raising dinners
First “Encounter” of
Lim Kit Siang and the DAP
I first met, or to put it more correctly, saw Lim Kit Siang, was
when I first visited DAP headquarter for
a meeting. Before I went to the HQ, I had in my mind painted many
pictures of what I expected the DAP HQ to be, but to my surprise, it was
completely out of my imagination. I had been to Wisma MCA before to do my UK
student visa, so I expected the DAP HQ to be similar to that of Wisma MCA. But
it wasn’t the case. It was much smaller and humbler. And the most surprising
thing for me was the place we had our meeting was just next door to Lim Kit
Siang’s office! I had always imagined political leader of his statue would have
many layers of secretary. But no, I saw him, through the transparent glass of
his office door. So humble and simple.
Everything in the DAP HQ including Lim Kit Siang was much simpler
and humbler than I had ever imagine. It was this first experience in HQ that
first attracted me to the party and it dawned on me that there was perhaps, still
a political party in Malaysia that worth joining.
I believe such spirit is still the same to this date. We have
spent so much on Impian Malaysia projects since its launch in 2013 to help people in the rural areas and started many other new initiatives while our HQ building remains largely unchanged. This is impossible if we
have leaders that value superficial achievement more than real works that will
benefit the people and change the future of
Malaysia.
Lim Kiang Siang as the Magnet
to the DAP
As I was considering if I should enter into politics to make
change and whether DAP was the right party to join, just like many young people,
I went to the website to check DAP out. I was struck with the struggle of the party,
succintly stated on the website:
“The DAP is committed to the
struggle for a free, democratic socialist Malaysian Malaysia, based on the
principles of human rights, equality, social and economic justice, and founded
on the institution of parliamentary democracy.”
I believe with my whole heart that this is the Malaysia that I
want to see. And ideologically, I had been a social democrat. So all fit
well. But still, I was in doubt, people can say they stand for one thing but do
another.
So I continued to search for information on the internet and
stumbled into this YouTube video series “A Malaysian Dream – Life and Times of
Lim Kit Siang” (you should watch it if you haven't). I watched the videos and was truly touched by how Lim
Kit Siang stood for the right principles even that meant insult, jail and
repeated intimidation and persecution. Along with the story of Karpal Singh, I was convinced that the DAP leaders will do what they say. Many
people think that it was another leader that brought me to the DAP, perhaps
introduction yes, but it was Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh walk-the-talk stories that
“sealed the deal”.
Continued Inspiration
Even now that I am an elected representative of the DAP, Lim
Kit Siang as the top leader of the party has never been a personal friend of
mine. At times I even worried that he doesn’t remember my name. But he has not
stopped to inspire me in this political journey.
Right after the general election in 2013, he launched “Impian Malaysia” the
Malaysian Dream movement and envisioned it to be a movement that will bridge
the gaps between different communities in Malaysia to realize the principle of
DAP of a Malaysian Malaysia, equality and social and economic justice. When I
first heard that, I thought to myself, “how could a person of Lim Kit Siang’s age
still have so much idealism?” Sometimes young politician like me get “real”
very fast and doesn’t dare to dream and speak about our ideals anymore. But it
is exactly because of idealism and people who dared to dream the impossilibity that
the history of the world changed.
Lim Kit Siang has inspired me to continue to hold on to
idealism in this journey and not only holding on to it, but to keep speaking about it unashamedly. And of course idealism cannot become reality without
actions. Lim Kit Siang himself has
traveled high and low in the country, including to the rural place that could
only be reached by sampan, to continue to speak about things that matter to the country. Over the last 50 years, he has written more than 10 million words to talk about policies that will make Malaysia a better place. In the Sarawak State Election in 2016, he traveled more than 4,000km to campaign for the DAP candidates and despite DAP put so much efforts and resources in our rural outreach, we still couldn't get a breakthrough even in one rural seat in Sarawak. I remember vividly how our campaign team broke down in the operation centre and how the whole world seem crashing down on us after the results were announced. But Lim Kit Siang, the 75 year-old man who has traveled the most during the entire campaign, picked us all up by issuing a new direction for the party the next day after our lost.
Journey in pursuing our idealism is not easy. Sometimes I am disillusioned and discouraged with the seemingly unchangeable future of Malaysia but I am always
reminded of the short conversation I had with a colleague. I was complaining to
him that I was sick and tired of all that were happening and asked why in the world were we doing this, he just gave me a short reply “if you think you are tired, think of Lim Kit
Siang, he has been fighting this for fifty years.”
Are you sick and tired of the mess that's going around in this country? Do you think that it is impossible for us to change anything and just want to give up, pack and leave? Think of Lim Kit Siang.
We must fight on, just like Lim Kit Siang.
This article is modified from an article I contributed as part of the collection in Lim Kit Siang 75th Birthday Book last year.
