A quiet force in DAP

Lobak state assemblyman Anthony Loke has slowly risen up the political ranks and is set to be a force to reckon with.

INTERVIEW

It was mid-January 2007. While most were sobering up from the New Year revelries, DAP’s Lobak state assemblyman, Anthony Loke, was recovering from a political uppercut.

Lim Fui Ming, the then Bahau assemblyman, vice-chief of the state DAP and the only other opposition rep in the Negri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly, had just hotfooted back to MCA.

And he hadn’t gone quietly. In his wake lay accusations of being sidelined by the party’s top hierarchy and oppressed by Loke’s “dictatorship”.

Loke, the then DAP state chairman, was left to not only fight off the disrepute but also steel himself to face 35 Barisan Nasional representatives at the next state assembly sitting.

“You can imagine how lonely I was!” he chuckled, during an exclusive interview with FMT. “I don’t know if the others respected me but my fluency in BM saved me from any heckling.”

Not that Loke needed any rescuing. He may have only been in his 20s then but he always held his own since crossing over from political observer to political party member at the age of 17.

Loke has his father, an ardent DAP supporter, to thank for his early brush with politics. His teenage years were spent following his father to election rallies where he soaked up the party’s values and ideals.

In the 1999 general election, he had his first real taste of politics when he campaigned for his friend and current DAP election publicity chief, Hew Kuan Yau, who was contesting in Bukit Gasing.

“We were both inexperienced in running a campaign but thought we would have an easy ride to victory since it was a DAP stronghold,” Loke said.

DAP lost Bukit Gasing that year. But cradled in the bitterness of that loss was a fundamental and humbling lesson for Loke, and one that he would revisit five years later.

“I learnt that an election victory is built on good planning, new campaign methods and a solid knowledge of the groundswell,” Loke said. “With hindsight, DAP’s lack of preparation had cost us many seats in the past.”

Resentment among veteran leaders

When the 2004 election rolled around, Loke had just traded a corporate life for a career in politics and was the political secretary to the then secretary-general, Kerk Kim Hock.

“DAP was in bad shape because of infighting,” Loke recalled. “The Negri Sembilan state leadership had been taken over by the central executive committee (CEC) and (Cheras MP) Tan Kok Wai had assumed the state chairman’s position.”

Tan brought the Seremban-born Loke home and appointed him as a state committee member. DAP’s reputation was so tattered that Loke struggled to secure candidates for the 2004 election. Then he discovered that his own name had been nominated for the Lobak state seat.

The nomination, which came from none other than Kerk himself, aroused resentment among veteran state leaders who had been eyeing the seat for themselves.

They protested that Lobak was too valuable to be entrusted to a 27-year-old greenhorn. But Kerk met their objections with a firm insistence that the only way for the state DAP to flourish was to inject young blood into it.

The 2004 election passed, DAP finally broke its zero position status in the state assembly with the Lobak and Bahau seats, and Loke was made state chairman. Three years later, Lim defected to MCA.

“That year was my most challenging year so far,” Loke said. “I had to rebuild members’ morale, take over Bahau and undergo open heart surgery to remove a cyst.”

“I took a two-month break to deal with the post-surgery emotional turmoil and recovered in time to prepare for the 2008 election.”

That year Loke stood for his first parliamentary seat in the Rasah constituency and defended his Lobak seat. On March 8, 2008, DAP won 10 of its 11 contested state seats and both its contested parliamentary seats. One of them was Seremban, and the other was Rasah.

“DAP had its best performance that year,” said Loke. “We thought we had a fighting chance but didn’t expect such a huge win. And no one expected Seremban after previously losing it by 16,000 votes!”

“That year was particularly exciting because it also produced many young DAP leaders, especially at the state level. And since then DAP’s strength has been its youth in their struggle and sacrifice for the party.”

Loke would know. As the current DAP Youth chairman the now 34-year-old sits in the driver’s seat when it comes to youth engagement. And coupled with DAP’s creative team, DAP Youth’s outreach has been notable.

In 2004, DAP’s creative team decided to depart from the dusty campaigning methods in favour of newfangled campaigning methods used by Taiwan.

Gone are the black and white unsmiling candidate posters that – in Loke words – resemble a “wanted person’s” poster and stacks of leaflets. In their places are sharply coloured billboards of candidates striking fresh poses alongside catchy slogans, a party theme song and a mascot.

The 2008 election underlined the power of social media and DAP has since stamped its presence on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

“These are not major things but they create excitement among the youth and complement our campaign,” said Loke. “Many young voters don’t delve into serious issues but these campaign materials attract them to attend our ceramahs and listen to our messages.”

“We’ve evolved beyond static material to technology in reaching the people during non-election periods. And we’ve been very successful. Over 300,000 people viewed our one-minute detergent video clip on YouTube. So much better than using foot soldiers to distribute leaflets, don’t you think?”

Turning point in Negri politics
Despite the enthusiastic responses and glowing feedback, Loke believes that much still needs to be done ahead of the next general election.

Among it is convincing Negri Sembilan Malays that DAP is a viable option and burying rumours of a “dominant DAP” robbing the Malays of their political position if Pakatan Rakyat comes into power.

“These are southern Malays who have been traditionally very loyal to Umno,” Loke noted. “So we’re saying that we aren’t here to conquer them.”

“We’re now beginning to see a slow change in their mindset and political direction. They aren’t hostile to Pakatan anymore to the extent of even attending our ceramahs.”

According to Loke, the turning point in Negri Sembilan politics came on Jan 15 when Pakatan launched its state’s manifesto in Gemas – an Umno stronghold and the epicentre of the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) scandal.

Close to 9,000 people showed up which Loke hailed as a significant sign in the Umno heartland. And with these increasingly encouraging nods from the grassroots, he is confident that BN will be in for a tough fight in the next election.

Loke, meanwhile, has decided to chance his fight strategy. While he will defend his Rasah parliamentary seat, he will make way for a new face in Lobak and stand in a “tougher” constituency.

“It’s part of DAP’s strategic plan,” he said, but shook his head when asked if he could reveal his intended state seat. “That is the party’s decision which will be made closer to the election.”

“The obvious objective is for Pakatan to form the state government and to do that DAP must deliver at least 11 seats. If PAS and PKR can win a combination of 10, then we have Negri Sembilan in the bag.”

Anthony Loke wasn’t an overnight political superstar. But neither was he a fly-by-night politician. And it is for this reason that he has become a quiet force to look out for and reckon with.