It was more ‘The UPP-Merger of Minds Conundrum’ – Part I

suppadmin | November 11, 2015

ANALYSIS: thesundaypost calls it ‘The UPP-SUPP Conundrum’, but after reading the article, I would prefer to call it ‘The UPP-Merger of Minds Conundrum’.

Why ‘The UPP-Merger of Minds Conundrum’ is obvious – the article takes a dig at Party Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP)’s allies in the ‘merger of minds’ alliance.

James Masing

Why ‘merger of minds’ for PRS chief Dr James Masing?

The article says the ‘merger of minds’ will keep UPP and Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (Teras) out of BN.

It says UPP and Teras are strong parties, but if they are kept out of the ruling coalition, they will not be in the way of Masing’s ambition to become deputy chief minister.

It says SUPP and SPDP are parties with little chance to survive in the next state election, thus leaving Masing with a clear route to the No. 2 post.

Quite a logic, I must say, but the premise it is built on is suspect – that SUPP and SPDP are weak and Wong Soon Koh and William Mawan are heading parties that will win any number of seats they contest.

Outright, I say SUPP is not weak; it is just that it lost its assemblymen who betrayed the party and the people who voted them into office.

We all know that party betrayers tend to lose the respect of voters who call them names – unkind names like frogs, toads, chameleons and vermin. You name it.

Which is weaker, SUPP, with its list of energetic young people ready to carry the party’s torch first lighted way back in the 50s? Or UPP with its train of old horses that don’t seem to know we are already 15 years into the new millennium?

If UPP never realised that, Adenan always did and still does.

It surely does not escape Adenan’s eyes that UPP is trying too hard to be a carbon copy of SUPP. It badly wants to be another SUPP so much so that even its name is all too familiar. All someone did was drop ‘Sarawak’. As if Sarawak is not important!

And here we are fighting for Sarawak for Sarawakians!

Adenan probably smiles each time UPP creeps into his mind, at the shallowness of the name, not quite unlike the Ibans who are tickled to the bones because UPP stands for Ukai Parti Perintah, meaning not a government party or a non-BN party. Or simply, an opposition party.

Now you can laugh like they do in the villages and longhouses. UPP cannot have it any other way – it is Ukai Parti Perintah. It is an opposition party. So, who is stronger SUPP or UPP?

Tell that to the Dayak incumbents in UPP, Dr Jerip Susil (Bengoh), Dr Johnical Rayong (Engkilili) and Ranum Mina (Opar).

If these jumping jacks think they are as strong and undefeatable as ‘The UPP-SUPP Conundrum’ article has made them out to be, just don’t even think of joining BN. Forget the ‘dacing’ symbol; just contest as candidates of Ukai Parti Perintah.

Adenan knows too well BN is strong because Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), the backbone party, is strong.

And, the ruling coalition is made stronger because ‘the merger of minds’ means the other three component members are joining forces to give each other added strength.

Adenan knows only true oppositions stand their grounds; others will whine and whimper to be on his side of the fence because they know without the ‘dacing’ political life is as good as politically dead.

William Mawan

For Soon Koh and Mawan, without the ‘dacing’ they will be looking at their political demise in the face and their own ghosts looking back at them in the mirror.

Of course, UPP and Teras can still prove this wrong. All they need to do is fight it to the finish. If they win they come into the BN to replace the losers. That easy.

In the case of Soon Koh, no point trying to defend all those moves he made in his attempt to get himself installed as SUPP president.

‘The UPP-SUPP Conundrum’ is about a man who badly wanted to be party president and did everything he could to get himself there.

But it was never meant to be because the rule said so and he was swimming against the current.

Then party president Dr George Chan was under pressure to make reforms after the 2006 state election when SUPP lost eight seats.

Pressure for reforms turned pressure for him to quit when SUPP lost 13 out of the 19 seats it contested in the 2011 state election. Coincidentally, Chan also lost that year, making his presidency the more untenable.

In his rather darkest moment (of defeat), he offered to step down and said he had Soon Koh in mind as his successor and Lee Kim Shin as secretary-general.

Why Soon Koh and Lee? Because they were SUPP’s only winning Chinese candidates. SUPP after all is a Chinese-based party, it is in the party’s interest that it be led by these two gentlemen.

Besides, then Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud was looking to revamp his Cabinet, Chan was hoping Soon Koh and Lee should lead SUPP’s representation in Taib’s new government.

A Borneo Post Online report of May 23, 2011 went like this:

KUCHING: Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh finally broke his silence on the aftermath of Sarawak United People’s Party’s (SUPP) dismal performance in the last two state elections by calling on all top leaders of the party, including himself, to resign from their positions to take responsibility for the party’s defeat.

“I’m not one of the ‘four kings’ in SUPP, but was fortunate to have survived and get re-elected.

“Nevertheless, I must also shoulder the responsibility for the party’s loss by giving up my post in the party. Likewise, other top leaders must also relinquish all their posts in the party,” he said.

The Bawang Assan assemblyman is one of the only two Chinese candidates from Barisan Nasional (BN) who won in the just concluded 10th state election. The other assemblyman is Datuk Lee Kim Shin of Senadin.

Wong has been reappointed as a full minister taking the portfolios of Environment and Public Health Minister and Second Minister of Finance.

He said that now that he is in the state cabinet he would endeavour his best to discharge his duties and responsibilities as entrusted by the voters, as well as faithfully work for the party.

“My other important task in the next five years is to work closely with the party to nurture and guide the new leadership of the party,” said Wong, who is SUPP deputy secretary general.

He is also determined and confident that he would fight for the interest of the Chinese community and the people of Sarawak in an effort to change the image of the party to regain the confidence of the people in SUPP.

Clearly Soon Koh was already picturing himself as the president of SUPP. He had become bolder because he was the only senior member of the party who survived the just concluded state polls; because Chan had fingered him out as his likely successor; because he was now a full minister; and because, except for Lee, the rest of the SUPP assemblymen looked to be his willing followers.

Earlier on April 16, in his victory speech, Taib said all ministers who won the state election would be retained in their posts before he appointed new assistant ministers or re-appointed others.

He said he would be revamping his Cabinet, and Chan saw this as his opportunity to give SUPP and its supporters some measure of respect if he could convince Taib to make Soon Koh DCM – before he bade politics goodbye.

Besides, it stood to reason that an incoming SUPP president should be the right person to be appointed as DCM.

However, as it turned out, Soon Koh didn’t get to be DCM, and that was good enough ground for SUPP grassroots to demand a reassessment of the issue of who should lead SUPP.

The post of DCM that was made vacant by Chan’s defeat in the April 16 polls remained unfilled. Chan must have felt disappointed; Soon Koh more so.

Soon Koh said he felt sad SUPP was not given back the DCM post.

“Yes, I feel sad — not for myself but the party and the community as a whole,” he was quoted as saying.

It was unfortunate that Taib didn’t make him DCM because being DCM would have given him added clout.

On the other hand, the perception now was if Soon Koh was not good enough DCM material, then he was equally not good enough as SUPP president. That was when Peter Chin came into the picture.

On Sept 24, Chan told pressmen he wanted to see “some new faces in the team” so that SUPP could portray a new image to move forward.

The Borneo Post wrote: “If possible, I would like to see 50 per cent of new blood, which should give a new image to the party. I would also want more Bumiputeras in the hierarchy of the party.”

Asked whether having Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh as his successor and Datuk Lee Kim Shin as the new secretary-general would enable the party to present a new image, he said: “Well, we will see what the delegates think.”

Dr Chan said he had a few potential successors in mind, but he did not disclose names.

Chan had heard the groundswell and was not limiting his choice of successor to just Soon Koh.

The SUPP ground had earlier refused to let Chan go and they also insisted that secretary-general Sim Kheng Hui remain.

Soon Koh had different ideas, especially after he was made Senior Minister four days later on Sept 28 when Taib announced his reshuffled Cabinet. It angered Soon Koh to no end when Chan and the rest of those defeated in the recent state polls did not hold by their words to just leave.

Soon Koh knew then that the road to the SUPP presidency was not going to be as smooth as he was first made to understand.

On Oct 16 2011, Peter Chin flew down to Kuching from Kuala Lumpur to announce that he was contesting the president post with the support of 32 out of 42 branches (later revised to 33 out of 43).

Soon Koh, who confirmed his readiness to contest on Oct 9, claiming to command the support of branches in northern, southern and central Sarawak, was humbled. Chin taking 32 out of 42 branches left him with just 10. It meant that if the presidency was decided via the party’s triennial delegates’ conference he would not get to be president of SUPP.

On Oct 31, 2011 Borneo Post Online reported:

But on paper, it looks like Chin now holds the upper hand, with the estimated support of 250 delegates from the southern zone, dwarfing the 100 Soon Koh supporters from the central zone and majority support from Miri, in the northern region.

Apart from that, Chin claims he has the support of 306 grassroots leaders of 33 out of 43 branches across the state.

Thus began the allegations and counter-allegations, and claims and counterclaims.

It was the start of Soon Koh’s bitter struggle for control of SUPP that continued to elude him at every turn and corner for close to four years until he finally threw in the towel Friday, May 15 2014 when he announced he was quitting SUPP to join Teras.

Source by Jimmy Adit

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