Stop making a cartoon of yourself and work harder, Ngeh ticks off Zambry

Perak DAP chairman Ngeh Koo Ham flayed Umno Mentri Besar Zambry Kadir for trying to stir up trouble for Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming by raking up a comment made at a ceramah (political lecture) three months ago in September.

"Instead of making himself and the state more of a cartoon, Zambry should concentrate on solving the woes of the people and getting the communication lines at the state government building including the office of the director of lands and mines up again," Ngeh told Malaysia Chronicle.

Indeed, the phone lines at the entire state administrative complex plus the state land office have been 'out' for the past 3 weeks, with Zambry unable to solve the issue.

Yet, the UMNO MP for Pangkor found the time to attack his nemesis, Kor Ming, accusing the latter of insulting the state and the Palace by referring to Perak as 'Darul Kartun', in reference to surreal situation that followed Prime Minister Najib Razak's power grab in 2009 that toppled the Pakatan Rakyat state government led by PAS Mentri Besar Nizar Jamaluddin.

A power grab that will haunt Najib for a long time

It was indeed a coup d'etat that Najib will rue for a long time. Although, he had been warned right at the start that such a move would not be acceptable to the Perak people, who wanted to give Pakatan a chance to govern, Najib refused to listen, blinded by the wish to impress his Umno party.

At that time, he was prime minister-designate and due to take over from former premier Abdullah Badawi. More than 2 years have passed, but Zambry has not been able to gel with everyday Perakians nor with his own Umno colleagues, who dislike his arrogant ways.

Speculation is now red-hot that he will be dropped in the coming general election, and replaced by either Tajol Rosli, another ex-Perak MB, Defense minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi or Second Finance Minister Ahmad Husni Hanadziah.

Not surprising then, that Zambry chose to pick on Kor Ming again.

“He not only insulted me when he called me a black metallic person but also offended the palace and the state when he called the state ‘Darul Kartun'," " Zambry told the media.

“The state’s name is Perak Darul Ridzuan, which means keredhaan (acceptance) but he changed it to Perak Darul Kartun during the ceramah. Let the people judge what type of politician he is."

Churlish over metallic black

Zambry was referring to a recent ceramah where Nor Ming had referred to him a metallic black MB, in reference to the One Black Malaysia days when the Perak was still in an uproar over the coup d'etat and Nizar's black Toyota Camry with the registration number AGS 10 was an icon of the Pakatan struggle in Perak.

However, many people including the Malaysian Indians mistook it as referring to their skin color and slammed Kor Ming for being racist. One of DAP's most promising young leaders, Kor Ming has apologised to all Malaysians including Zambry.

Yet, the churlish MB was not satisfied. According to Zambry, Kor Ming never apologized "in the first place".

“Instead of apologising, he continued to hit out at the state to say that we are illegals and that he does not recognize me as the mentri besar,” Zambry said.

Pakatan leaders slammed Zambry for trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.

"An apology is an apology and Kor Ming has made in a written statement for all to see. He apologized to Zambry for the metallic black remark, but since when must an apology include accepting Zambry as MB. That is pure nonsense and shows Zambry's lack of class," PKR vice president Chua Jui Meng toldMalaysia Chronicle.

"As far as Pakatan is concerned, he is an illegal MB but that doesn't mean we won't accord him his human rights. Instead of asking people to judge Kor Ming, the Perak people will judge him and kick him out at GE-13, mark my words."

Malaysia Chronicle