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Sunday, August 11, 2013

Teresa Kok: A one-woman Malaysian Book of Records

A depiction of Teresa Kok in various martial arts stance from a calendar printed by a DAP supporter. August 11, 2013.A depiction of Teresa Kok in various martial arts stance from a calendar printed by a DAP supporter. August 11, 2013.The 49-year-old in the gold blouse and brown slacks leans forward, pushes her gold-rimmed glasses up her nose and quotes an old Chinese saying by way of response to her many, many critics in the crushing bloodsport that is Malaysian politics.
It’s like “refrying fried rice", says Seputeh member of parliament Teresa Kok. "It's like they have a script and once they're done, they start at the beginning again.”
What she has had to live through for her political beliefs all of Malaysia knows, from detention without trial to Molotov cocktails thrown into her family home (her parents and siblings were there, but thankfully no one was hurt).
Not at all what a younger Teresa expected when the eldest of four children was in her mid-20s. She really had no interest in politics then and so, yes, no enemies either.
She learnt of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) only when she helped out in the 1990 general election as political secretary to Lim Kit Siang. But nearly a quarter of a century later, here she is with the biggest majority in votes in the 13th general election in May this year.
In fact, the way her majority climbed with every election itself tells a story. Starting in 1999, her majority in Seputeh was first 5,200, then 12,895 – the largest winning margin among any of the MPs from her party in 2004.
Four years later, it was 36,492, becoming the largest majority for any MP.
This year, it was a whopping 51,552. If your salary climbed the way Teresa Kok’s popularity climbs, your company could go bust.
Yet, she shrugs off those poster numbers with a smile. So go to her service centre in Kuchai Lama to get a snapshot of how she wins hearts and votes. It is brimming with constituents who have come to lodge complaints, drowning the voice of the receptionist as several staff dart about attending to them.
One of her constituents surveys the walls covered in newspaper cuttings of the politician and remarks loudly how she has earned his respect.
Most of her constituents are Chinese, about nine out of 10, and this may be partly why the Roman Catholic Teresa is an easy target for Malay extremists.
In September 2008, she was arrested and held under the ISA for seven days for allegedly inciting racial and religious tension.
This was following allegations that she had told a mosque in Puchong not to use loudspeakers during the Azan, proposed that 30 percent of the Selangor Islamic Department allocation be given to non-Muslim religious bodies and opposed Jawi wording on road signs in Kuala Lumpur.
All not true, of course. (Kok has filed a suit against the Malaysian government and the police for wrongful detention and this is still ongoing.)
A week later, on September 28, two Molotov cocktails were thrown into her family home in Jalan Ipoh. She has told The Malaysian Insider that police have not come back to her about that incident five years ago and as far as she knows, no one has been arrested for the attack so far.
Even recently, during a hearing of the suit against Utusan Malaysia, Kok was accused of denying that Islam was the official religion of the country.
“My words have been twisted and turned. I am just thankful that my voters have grown up with me,” she says. “They don't simply believe everything they read about me. These days they take the time to ask me and clarify with me, which I find so comforting.”
A few strokes at the keyboard and Kok brings up her Facebook page on the computer. More specifically, her message inbox where she shows the messages received from several supporters, including Malays, asking her to clarify the zakat issue.
“When I was arrested in 2008, people accepted it easily,” she said, referring to allegations of being anti-Islam. She adds, “Nowadays, they are smarter.”
By the way, so is she. Her Facebook page prominently features Malay families in the banner.
Kok was born into a Hakka family, like another famous Malaysian politician featured in The Malaysian Insider recently, vice-president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat Tian Chua.
Her parents – a former businessman father and a mother who was a teacher – still live in Jalan Ipoh, where the whole Hakka family gathers once a week for dinner.
She has one sister, a business analyst, and two brothers, one of whom works with her, while the other is a businessman. Kok is especially close to her four young nieces and nephews.
She attended boarding school at the Chung Hwa High School in Seremban, after Standard Six in Kuen Cheng Primary School in Kuala Lumpur.
She graduated from Universiti Sains Malaysia with a degree in Communications with dreams of becoming a journalist. But her life changed its course after her internship at Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) and Nanyang Siang Pau left her disillusioned about the job.
“I was sent to cover celebrities and everyday I had to do another meaningless assignment. I wanted to do something more,” she said.
But her studies never really ended. Only two years ago, she received her Masters scroll after battling 16 years with her study and thesis, "Factionalism in Umno During Dr Mahathir's Era”.
Her supervisor at Universiti Malaya had advised her to perform a study on Umno when she enrolled in 1995 to broaden her knowledge on Malay politics.
“Then I found I could not finish it after Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who was then-deputy prime minister was arrested, as the conclusion of my thesis was to be that he would succeed Tun Dr Mahathir as the PM.”
But, the experience provided her with a much-needed opportunity to devour the political history of Umno, she points out, adding, “It polished me in so many ways.”
The once Kinrara assemblywoman is glad that she is now just a parliamentarian as the burdens of being a state representative had her “bogged down emotionally and physically”.
“The burden is lighter as a parliamentarian than an assemblywoman. I now have more time to think about other issues. I can now whack anyone who whacks the DAP,” she laughs.
On a more serious note, she says that she has plans to work with the party in the interiors of East Malaysia and execute more inter-faith programmes.
But she is also more careful now with her words and actions.
“Since my detention, I have realised that everything I say and do will be scrutinised. So, I have decided to mellow down because it affects the DAP and the Pakatan Rakyat.
“When I keep quiet now, it's not that I don't have a stand. I do, but I must protect the coalition of PR, my party DAP and also myself.”

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