Is Taib’s boy Larry Sng planning his move?

Partyless Barisan Nasional loyalist Larry Sng's Facebook posting on Sarawak United Peoples Party's (SUPP) relevance to the Chinese has caught the attention of Bintulu SUPP.

KUCHING: Former Pelagus assemblyman Larry Sng is back in action, and this time he’s sussing out the relevance of ailing Sarawak United People Party (SUPP) to the Chinese in the state.

Sng, who triggered a discussion over social media Facebook, drew rants and raves from commentators.

Currently partyless, Sng’s posting according to a political observer could well be his way of gathering information before his next move.

Sng has been in political limbo since Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president James Masing booted him out for insubordination in 2009.

Since then he’s not been able to ‘get’ into any Barisan Nasional party because Masing has been flagging the BN-code of ethics with the coalition allies.

As a result Sng, known to be Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s ‘blue-eyed boy’ was dropped from the BN’s list of candidates going into the state elections on April 16.

In the run-up to naming its candidates, Sng had repeatedly said that BN would lose Pelagus if it fielded any other candidate.

His ‘prophecy’ came true, when PRS lost Pelagus to independent George Lagos. Many blamed Masing’s arrogance for the loss.

Pelagus was the only seat PRS lost in the April 16 election.

SUPP on the other hand was literally wiped out, save for six seats, four of which were won by the party’s Dayak representatives.

Bintulu invitation

Sng’s posting on SUPP’s relevance in Sarawak’s changing political landscape drew 60 respondents, among them scathing attacks from a wounded Kuching SUPP.

All seats contested by SUPP in Kuching were lost to opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

But amongst these attacks came an invitation from Bintulu SUPP for Sng to join the party.

Bintulu SUPP which has been at the forefront calling for change within SUPP and for its leaders to step down has invited Sng to continue his work in BN through SUPP.

Its chairman Henry Ling said despite its curent embattled state, SUPP was ‘still relevant’ to the Chinese in Sarawak.

“SUPP is still relevant to all Sarawakians, and not only to the Chinese even though it had performed badly in the last state election.

“Current SUPP leaders may not be popular or no longer relevant but the party is still good.

“If a vessel has a bad captain and crews on board, it does not mean that the vessel is prima facie useless. Presently, SUPP is a vessel short of a good captain and crews,” he wrote in his postings.

Ling had recently said that SUPP was badly in need of positive thinkers and had argued that poor leadership was not a reflection of the party and its members.

Using the analogy of contaminated products, he said a manufacturer immediate reaction would be to take the goods off the shelves, pay compensation to those who suffered losses in order to regain confidence of the consumers.

“When the SUPP leaders were slammed with various allegations, they did nothing. This gave rise to wrong perceptions by the people,” he said.

‘Heroes do appear’

Meanwhile Sng, in his response to the comments, said that some parties were successful because their leaders are deemed to be “credible, transparent and true to their cause”.

“As time goes by, new leaders emerge. Their vision and direction is modified to adapt to new challenges.

“They are able to communicate effectively to a new voter base and retain their support.

“Only time will tell (if this will be so in SUPP) but I am confident that in the worst of times heroes do appear and if they are acceptable to the people, the party is reborn.” Sng said.