Gerakan co-opts Chia, Asharuddin

By Shannon Teoh

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 - Gerakan has co-opted former secretary-general Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye as vice-president as well as Dr Asharuddin Ahmad as a central working committee member.

Elected committee members Teng Chang Yeow and Datuk Ng Chiang Chin were appointed secretary-general and treasurer respectively with Ng being returned to the post he held in the last term.

The Malaysian Insider understands that these decisions were reached in a CWC meeting today at the party headquarters, the first since last weekend's elections.

Chia's appointment was expected as after losing to vice-president Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan in the contest for Perak chairmanship, he decided not to run at national level.

There has also been calls, even by Huan Cheng Guan, the former Youth vice-chief who narrowly beat Asharuddin to the third and final vice-president slot, for the Kuala Selangor division secretary to be co-opted.

Election Results-Click to Enlarge

Koh: No quota system in gerakan leadership

by Giam Say Khoon

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 12, 2008) : Although there are three Indians in Gerakan's central working committee (CWC), the party will not practise a quota system in its top leadership to reflect its multi-racial image, said newly-elected party president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon.

Koh said the new line-up in the top leadership was a step forward in terms of greater multi-racial representation than the previous leadership.

“We are very committed to getting a more multi-racial representation and reflection within our leadership, (but) we do not practise a quota system because we want to encourage people to come out and be recognised on their merit and commitment to party ideology.

"So rather than look it in terms of quota, we would like to make it a process to encourage more participation from members of all ethnic backgrounds and they will be voted in because they are Malaysians with commitment rather than because of their ethnicity," he told a press conference after closing the National Delegates Conference here today.

The three Indian leaders are vice-president Senator Datuk Dr S. Vijayaratnam, CWC members Senator A. Kohilan Pillay, who is Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodity, and lawyer B. Jayanthi.

However, some delegates felt efforts to make the party true multi-racial have been unsuccessful.
A Penang senior delegate told theSun that the results proved that the party was not ready for change.

"The delegates failed to make Asharuddin a vice-president and this caused the party to lose its shine in becoming truly multi-racial.

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"Even if Asharuddin is to be appointed a vice-president by the party president, the impact on Gerakan's efforts to reach this goal would be different and not as strong as being elected," he said.

The participation of Dr Asharuddin Ahmad as the only Malay candidate in the vice-presidents race was seen to have nearly achieved the multi-racial image that the party desired.

Asharuddin, who is chief operating officer of the International College of Health Sciences, polled the fourth highest votes of 537 in the vice-presidents race after newly elected vice-president Huan Cheng Guan (568 votes).

Newly-elected CWC member Dr Hsu Dar Ren admitted that Gerakan is still very much a Chinese-based political party; however, he said the composition of the members was not so important if the members believed in the non-racial cause.

"Although Asharuddin did not win, the majority between Huan and him was just 31 votes. This showed that even with only 10% of Malay members in the party, the Chinese delegates have begun to accept non-Chinese leaders and chose them based on meritocracy.

"He (Asharuddin) was relatively unknown, if he was more well-known to the delegates, he would have won," he said.

Koh, when asked if would accept senatorship and become a minister to have a say in the Cabinet, he said: "Even without being a senator or in the government, I have been and will continue to voice out.

"Whether there is a government post or not, I will play my role, otherwise people will think I am doing this (to become party president) for the sake of a government post, (the answer is) no. And if there is a meaningful and an effective role for me to play, I am willing to play any role including not having a government post."

The new and old Central Working Committee led by Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon.

To a question, Koh said the party has yet to have a plan to serve in Sarawak as there are many Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties, which maintain close relationships with the party, serving in the state.

Asked if the delegates had again raised the issue of leaving BN, Koh said it was not included in the debate on the five resolutions.


"There were only one or two delegates who said the party has to re-invent and rebrand as well as be more open-minded," he said.

On the relationship between Gerakan and Penang Umno, which had severed ties with each other because of the incident involving Bukit Bendera Umno chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail, Koh said the party will decide on this matter in at some point in the future.

Asked if incumbent secretary-general Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye will be appointed as a vice-president, Koh said the appointment will be discussed by the CWC members when they meet.

It is believed that Asharuddin will also be appointed as one of the five appointed veeps and former Penang executive councillor Teng Chang Yeow, who is Koh's apprentice, will be appointed as Chia's successor to be the next secretary-general.

Koh also said the party had passed five resolutions to:
> Promote democracy and human rights;
> Promote religious and ethnic harmony;
> Rebuilding the party through reforms;
> Prepare the country's economy to face global challenges; and
> Enhance the education system.

To further enhance the democracy in the country, Koh said the party proposed that the BN set up a committee or taskforce to review legislation such as the Universities and University Colleges Act and the Printing Presses and Publications Act.

He reiterated the need for the government to implement a weekly review mechanism on petrol prices so that the people can enjoy cheaper fuel faster when the world crude oil price is lowered.

Si Pin ketua Pemuda Gerakan

Oct 10, 08 4:23pm

Lim Si Pin, anak bekas presiden Gerakan Tun Dr Lim Keng Yaik, dipilih sebagai ketua pemuda parti itu. Lim memperoleh 242 undi menewaskan pencabarnya Chai Tek Loong yang mendapat 105 undi dan Tan Keng Liang yang memperoleh 115 undi. Keputusan pemilihan Pemuda Gerakan itu diumum di persidangan perwakilan Pemuda, yang berlangsung di ibu pejabat parti di Menara PGRM di ibunegara hari ini. Untuk jawatan timbalan ketua pemuda, gandingan Lim, Paul Yong Yoon Kong tewas kepada Oh Tong Keong. Yong memperoleh 188 undi berbanding Oh yang mendapat 274 undi, demikian dilaporkan Bernama. Bagi tiga jawatan naib ketua pemuda pula, Liang Teck Meng mendapat undi paling tinggi iaitu 408 undi diikuti Vincent Hooi Wy-Hon (371 undi) dan David Ang Chin Tat (226 undi). Dua lagi calon yang tewas ialah S. Vijaya Kumar, yang menerima 201 undi dan Stephen Doss yang mendapat 141 undi. Sebanyak 28 calon bertanding bagi mengisi 18 tempat dalam jawatankuasa pusat pemuda Gerakan. Mereka yang dipilih ialah Tan Kok Seng, Hng Chee Wey, Alex Ong Yeok Leng, Jack Cheow Woon San, Khor Hock Peng, A.Kuhan, Lau Hoi Keong, Chong Chee Yen, Cheah Chee Kuan dan Ou Kwee Hua. Yang lain termasuk Khoo Kha Shin, Ong Teng Boon, Dr Dominic Lau Hoe Chai, Ong Boon Hong, Tan Keit Hock, Chia Gim Tiong, Chang Shui Kiong dan Yap Chen Heng. Sementara itu, Lim, 39, ketika ditemui pemberita berkata beliau bersedia untuk bekerjasama dengan semua pihak bagi menguatkan parti dan melakukan perubahan dalam tempoh tiga tahun ini. "Saya mahu Pemuda Gerakan menjadi organisasi pemuda pertama di negara ini yang mendapat ISO 9001. Itu adalah cara untuk menguatkan parti kita," kata Lim yang merupakan seorang ahli perniagaan. Beliau juga bercadang menubuhkan Persatuan Anak Malaysia untuk menarik minat golongan muda menyertai persatuan itu. "Ini boleh menjadi platform kepada mereka untuk duduk, berdialog dan berbincang mengenai isu politik dan semasa," katanya. Sementara itu Oh, 40, yang tidak menyangka memperoleh kemenangan itu berjanji akan berusaha menarik lebih ramai anggota baru ke dalam parti. "Saya akan bekerja bersama-sama sebagai satu pasukan dengan semangat satu hati untuk mendapatkan ahli baru," katanya yang juga seorang pengurus jualan.

GERAKAN ELECTIONS: Odds in favour of non-Chinese for Veep posts

Dr Teng Hock Nan

PETALING JAYA (Oct 9, 2008) :The odds are in favour of the non-Chinese candidates in the nine-horse race for the Gerakan vice-president posts after incumbent Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan pulled out of the contest, China Press reported today.

Party insiders said Teng's pullout, which is aimed at strengthening the multi-racial approach of the party, has caused some interesting shift in support for the candidates.

Last week, 10 candidates filed their nominations to contest the three vice-president's posts, i.e. six Chinese, three Indians and one bumiputra.

Teng's withdraw from the race on Tuesday changed the ratio of the candidates' racial make-up to 5:3:1.

In announcing his withdrawal from the contest, Teng, who is now the Penang Gerakan chief, said he was doing it "in order to further promote and project the party's multi-racialism for all Malaysians, which can be best represented by three vice-presidents".

Dr Asharuddin Ahmad

"It is my sincere hope that all national delegates can vote for a more multi-racial Gerakan for all Malaysians in the coming party elections."

Party insiders said Teng's "advice" is likely to be well taken by the delegates, thus raising the odds in favour of the non-Chinese candidates, especially the lone Malay candidate Dr Asharuddin Ahmad, the first bumiputra to contest such a high post in the Chinese-dominated party.

"Asharuddin is expected to be elected with the highest number of votes. After all, the party has not seen a Malay at its top leadership before," said a party insider.

Asharuddin,, the 49-year-old chief operating officer of International College of Health Sciences, is

G. Parameswaran

a committee member from Selangor Gerakan.

Of the three Indian candidates, incumbent Datuk Dr. S. Vijaya Ratnam is expected to be re-elected. The others -- Ampang and Bukit Indah Gerakan division chairman G. Parameswaran and party Youth vice-chief S. Paranjothy — are not likely to put up a credible fight at the party elections on Sunday.

"Given this scenario, there will only be one seat left for the five Chinese candidates, making it extremely tough fight for them," added the insider.

The five are out-going Youth chief Datuk Mah Siew Keong; Youth vice-chairman Huan Cheng Guan, former Sabah chief Datuk Robin Loh, Selangor vice-chairman Datuk Dr Lim Thuang Seng and former Selangor chief Datuk Lum Weng Keong.

Mah to again propose dissolution of BN component parties to form a single party

PETALING JAYA (Oct 9, 2008) : Out-going Gerakan Youth chief Datuk Mah Siew Keong discloses that when he chairs the Youth delegates conference for the last time on Saturday, he will again propose the dissolution of all Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties for the formation of a BN party.

According to a report in Sin Chew Daily

today, he said although the leaders of several BN component parties criticised it as being unpractical when he first made the proposal at the Youth delegates conference last year, he still believed that this is the new course BN should chart, especially so after the March 8 general election.

"Post-March 8 surveys and studies showed that the majority of the people want to see BN becoming a single, multi-racial party.

"I feel that BN (component parties') leaders should have the courage to heed the wishes of the people, otherwise there will be an even bigger (political) tsunami in the next general election."

In an interview with the daily, Mah admitted that the BN operation module has indeed worked well in the last 50 years, but it is no longer suitable and if BN remains adamant and refuses to change, it will not be easy for the coalition to win the support of the voters inthe next general election.

Gerakan must have more non-Chinese delegates to become a multi-racial party

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 9, 2008) : Gerakan should increase the number of non-Chinese delegates to its party polls by at least 30% to reflect the political party's multi-racial image, said Kuala Lumpur Gerakan division assistant secretary, K.K. Supramaniam.

"The representation of the non-Chinese delegates in the party does not project Gerakan as a multi-racial party. We have to organise programmes to attract non-Chinese members," he told reporters after the launch of a Gerakan booklet titled 'Road Map to Political Recovery' here today.

Supramaniam, one of the 40 candidates vying for a seat on the the party's Central Committee. said out of 2,085 delegates, there were only 98 non-Chinese delegates which was hardly 4.8%.

"We can only call Gerakan as a truly multi-racial party when there are more non-Chinese delegates," he said.

Earlier this month, Dr Asharuddin Ahmad, 49, the Kuala Selangor Gerakan division secretary, became the first Malay candidate to contest a high post, that of a vice-president, in the Chinese-dominated party, after Gerakan founder and first party president Dr Syed Husin Al-Alatas. -- BERNAMA