Koh’s ‘softie’ image work of Kit Siang

DAP supremo largely responsible for the widely held perception that the former chief minister is too mild a leader, says Gerakan.

GEORGE TOWN: Penang Gerakan blamed DAP supremo leader Lim Kit Siang for the widely held perception that former chief minister Koh Tsu Koon is too mild or a soft leader.

Its chairman Teng Hock Nan singled out Kit Siang for unfairly protraying Koh, who is the current Gerakan president as “being too soft” a political leader.

It began after the 1990 general election, when after defeating Gerakan founder Lim Chong Eu in the Pengkalan Kota state seat, Kit Siang launched a broadside against Koh, Chong Eu’s protege and the incoming chief minister.

Kit Siang branded Koh as a “chief minister with no power” because Gerakan was forced to appoint a deputy chief minister from Umno after the party almost lost the state to DAP.

“We should remember such things. I recollect that whenever we held the state assembly sitting then, Kit Siang would not allow Koh to clarify issues.

“He would ask him to sit down by shouting that he was a chief minister with no power,” Teng said.

Kit Siang, to carve a name for himself, would pit Koh against the Umno deputy chief minister Ibrahim Saad by portraying Koh as too weak to handle Umno’s demands, Teng said.

Over the past decade, the taint took hold on Koh and Gerakan, which is unfair, as Koh is a learned and dedicated leader who has contributed to the state and nation building, he said.

It didn’t quiet help that Koh who hails from a typically close-knit Chinese family was taught to respect his elders, to be pious, tolerant, accommodating and to be humble.

Despite his high level of intelligence, academic background and a sensible style of leadership, Teng said he was worried when his boss had refused to counter-attack Kit Siang.

‘Turth will surface’

“I told him that his humble demeanour may come back to haunt him. Now Kit Siang’s son (chief minister) Lim Guan Eng is also applying the same tactic to bury Koh’s career,” Teng said.

Teng who declined to elaborate much on Koh’s future political plans, said Penang BN, which is headed by the latter, is solidly united against the Pakatan Rakyat government.

Teng, who heads the state Barisan working committee, said Penang is the only state where Barisan representatives embark on weekly walkabouts to reach out to the people.

“I dare say we are working the hardest in Malaysia. We have also groomed a new generation of leaders to take over our struggle,” Teng said.

On his rival Guan Eng, he said: “I know who he is. We see through his tactics. Guan Eng is bucking a dangerous trend, sowing hatred so people would detest Koh or Gerakan. He is blaming us for things which we did not do in the first place.

“He is attacking the previous administraton for the incompetencies of his own government. He is trying to control Penang through political strategies instead of on the strength of his state government’s performance.

“One can spin all the time, one can implore on people to write half-truths but one day the truth about Guan Eng’s administration would surface and the people would know.”

Gerakan, said Teng, plans to ensure that the “truth” be relayed to the people by continuing to struggle for the state through the role of a constructive opposition.