Steven Sim no more darling after ‘kuil haram’ fallout; detractors troll him at slightest opportunity

 

SUCH seems to be the fate of Penang DAP chairman – and potentially a Chief Minister material – Steven Sim Chee Keong ever since the temple-in-front of Bukit Mertajam Hospital fallout with the Gerakan Anti Rumah Anutan Haram (GARAH) co-founder and controversial Muslim convert preacher Zamri Vinoth.

Since then, the Bukit Mertajam MP who was previously hailed for being soft spoken, friendly, fluent in Bahasa Malaysia and above all else, having close rapport with the Malay electorate has been targetted at the slightest opportunity by the rightist fraternity who are mostly opposition-slant.

The latest brickbats hurled at the Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Minister came about after the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that he had failed to take a neutral position when he intervened in a trade dispute between the Malayan Commercial Banks’ Association (MCBA) and the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) when he was the human resources minister.

Coincidentally, the ruling by Justice Aliza Sulaiman over the Hari Raya festive aid payments about two years ago would inevitably touch on the raw nerve of many rightists given these paints the impression that someone deemed trustworthy by their community has somehow betrayed them.s

As per Aliza’s judgment, Sim had broken the trust placed in his office by getting involved in the dispute and supporting the association.

“The minister subverted the statutory process designed for impartial resolution and violated the objectives of the Industrial Relations Act 1967,” she ruled.

Moreover, she contended that Sim had demonstrated bias and that his decision to refer the trade dispute to the Industrial Court was tainted by unreasonableness.

Prone to rightist attack

An obvious first reaction as gauged from the Berita KS Facebook news report is that “DAP has shown its true colours” to the extent of Sim “hoodwinking the Malays by using them as his publicity material”.

True enough, DAP found itself implicated from all fronts following the illegal temple fallout with rightist/vigilante groups.

Not only was Sim chastised for supporting the so-called Hindu temple in from of the Bukit Mertajam Hospital, his comrade and Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) M. Kulasegaran, too, was targetted for seen ‘escorting’ Hindu activist Arun Dorasamy to court.

From once a darling, one can imagine how fast one’s rating can fall should one inadvertently step on the tail of the so-called rightist fraternity – in Sim’s case for been seen siding the so-called land grabbers.

At least, one has commenter has the audacity to present a constructive criticism based on the court’s judgement per se as opposed to other side  political matters.Political commentary subscription

“Steven Sim Chee Keong 沈志强 was found guilty by the high court. But still no action was taken,” he lamented.

“Still a minister under the Madani government. Imagine if a subordinate employee who committed a mistake would have been severely punished/dismissed quickly.”

Interestingly. one banker revealed that Sim is not the only minister who sided banks for former finance minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz, too, is known “to be an even more biased bank crony” till he was previously jibed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. 

- focus malaysia