By Masterwordsmith
According to Malaysiakini, Gerakan has refuted allegations that the party is irrelevant, revealing that since 2008, 27,000 news members have joined the party nationwide.
A few facts were listed in the report:
Number of new members in the following states:
According to Gerakan President, Tan Sri Koh Tsu Khoon, Penang currently has about 50,000Gerakan members.
If that is the case, why was it that only TWO HUNDRED (200) of 50 000 registered members attended the dinner?
That means only 0.4% of Gerakan members from Penang attended that dinner!!!
Now, what does that tell us about how relevant is Gerakan to its own registered members?
At the recent fund-raising Suaram Scorpene dinner, about 600 people attended the dinner!
The argument he gave that they are gaining support does not hold water.
The rationale given that the four independent YBs from Sabah - Raymond Tan Shu Kiah (Tanjung Papat), Au Kam Wah (Elopura) and Peter Pang En Yin (Karamunting ) - and from Pahang - Ho Yip Kap (Tanah Rata) chose to join Gerakan does not mean Gerakan is relevant!!!
There are 222 parliamentary seats and NONE are from Gerakan!
In Pahang, there are only 14 state seats and Ho Yip Kap was formerly from MCA, contested as an independent candidate and only joined Gerakan on 2nd January 2010. A Bernama statementrevealed that Ho, 56, an MCA life member, was sacked from MCA for contesting the Tanah Rata seat as an independent.He rejoined MCA on 15th of March 2008.
At the dinner, Gerakan President said: "So, don't say we are not relevant. How come these YBs chose us and not others?"
Feeling curious, I did a search on those four reps. Guess what I found?
According to The Malaysian Mirror, Gerakan Deputy President Chang Ko Youn said:
It is not a question of relevance but a question of powerful 'wooing' overtures!
If indeed Gerakan is relevant, why did Koh, who is also a federal minister, spend the rest of his speech defending his past leadership?
Many opine that the 43-year old Gerakan has been written off as an irrelevant ever since it lost all its seats in Penang.
To exacerbate matters, Koh has been fighting attacks from within and without Gerakan to oust him as Gerakan President. That itself speaks a lot about how much Gerakan members look up to him as a leader.
Unbelievably, even my senior at USM, Joceline Tan of The Star wrote a stinging article about Koh in her column and called him The Superman who cannot fly!! She said, "The upright and clean-cut Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon has always had this Clark Kent image about him but party members want their Superman to start flying and take the party on the road to recovery."
Excerpt from her column:
Perhaps the time has come for Koh to take a step back and assess the situation and to listen to his party members. Passing on the baton is also useless at this time.
The party has run its course by its association with BN. The cup of milk that has a drop of bacteria will turn sour.
Despite being a Pakatan supporter, I know some promising Gerakan leaders have the potential of moving the party forward. Perhaps they are in the wrong party? Those who have the potential to lead and to contribute should really rethink their membership and consider moving to greener pastures.
Time to 'tutup kedai' and realign themselves to a MUCH MORE RELEVANT party!
A few facts were listed in the report:
Number of new members in the following states:
- Sabah - about 10,000
- Pahang - about 4,000.
- Penang - recorded a lower number of new members, around 1,000 (many of the party's branches have full membership)
According to Gerakan President, Tan Sri Koh Tsu Khoon, Penang currently has about 50,000Gerakan members.
If that is the case, why was it that only TWO HUNDRED (200) of 50 000 registered members attended the dinner?
That means only 0.4% of Gerakan members from Penang attended that dinner!!!
Now, what does that tell us about how relevant is Gerakan to its own registered members?
At the recent fund-raising Suaram Scorpene dinner, about 600 people attended the dinner!
The argument he gave that they are gaining support does not hold water.
The rationale given that the four independent YBs from Sabah - Raymond Tan Shu Kiah (Tanjung Papat), Au Kam Wah (Elopura) and Peter Pang En Yin (Karamunting ) - and from Pahang - Ho Yip Kap (Tanah Rata) chose to join Gerakan does not mean Gerakan is relevant!!!
There are 222 parliamentary seats and NONE are from Gerakan!
In Pahang, there are only 14 state seats and Ho Yip Kap was formerly from MCA, contested as an independent candidate and only joined Gerakan on 2nd January 2010. A Bernama statementrevealed that Ho, 56, an MCA life member, was sacked from MCA for contesting the Tanah Rata seat as an independent.He rejoined MCA on 15th of March 2008.
At the dinner, Gerakan President said: "So, don't say we are not relevant. How come these YBs chose us and not others?"
Feeling curious, I did a search on those four reps. Guess what I found?
According to The Malaysian Mirror, Gerakan Deputy President Chang Ko Youn said:
In fact, he said, under Dr Koh's leadership, the party had been able to form more branches and recruit new members across the country.So there you are - the answer to his own question!!!
He said Gerakan had managed, for example, to woo four independent assemblymen - three in Sabah and one in Pahang - into the party.
The four are Peter Pang En Yin (Karamunting), Raymond Tan Shu Kiah (Tanjung Papat) and Au Kam Wah (Elopura) - all from Sabah, while the state assemblyman from Pahang is Ho Yip Kap (Tanah Rata) who won as an independent candidate in the 2008 general election.
It is not a question of relevance but a question of powerful 'wooing' overtures!
If indeed Gerakan is relevant, why did Koh, who is also a federal minister, spend the rest of his speech defending his past leadership?
Many opine that the 43-year old Gerakan has been written off as an irrelevant ever since it lost all its seats in Penang.
To exacerbate matters, Koh has been fighting attacks from within and without Gerakan to oust him as Gerakan President. That itself speaks a lot about how much Gerakan members look up to him as a leader.
Unbelievably, even my senior at USM, Joceline Tan of The Star wrote a stinging article about Koh in her column and called him The Superman who cannot fly!! She said, "The upright and clean-cut Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon has always had this Clark Kent image about him but party members want their Superman to start flying and take the party on the road to recovery."
Excerpt from her column:
Gerakan has had a tough time after being knocked out in Penang but this is the first time Dr Koh’s leadership has been so openly questioned.
It could not have happened at a worse time, with the party’s state delegates conference just starting and the national delegates conference scheduled for October. Some thought he had it coming, others that they smelled a conspiracy to bring him down and the circle around him blamed the media for playing up the issue.
Tan’s take on the Koh years has been exaggerated to say the least but he has encapsulated the way Penang people feel about Dr Koh. The Gerakan president has become a liability especially to his own party members who have to endure bad jokes and dismissive comments.
Perhaps the time has come for Koh to take a step back and assess the situation and to listen to his party members. Passing on the baton is also useless at this time.
The party has run its course by its association with BN. The cup of milk that has a drop of bacteria will turn sour.
Despite being a Pakatan supporter, I know some promising Gerakan leaders have the potential of moving the party forward. Perhaps they are in the wrong party? Those who have the potential to lead and to contribute should really rethink their membership and consider moving to greener pastures.
Time to 'tutup kedai' and realign themselves to a MUCH MORE RELEVANT party!
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