Larry Sng - the 'young man’, his father and their Julau bastion

‘Young man’ was the term used by Sng Chee Hua to refer to his son, Larry, at every mention of his boy among friends.

To Chee Hua’s friends and associates, the term became synonymous with Larry. They accepted it as an affectionate term of the father for his favourite kid. So did I.

I first met the ‘young man’ when he was really a young man at 22, fresh from his return to Sarawak after completing his studies in London.

This was 17 years ago, just before the 2001 Sarawak state election. Chee Hua had already served two terms as the state assemblyperson for Pelagus and was keen to let his son replace him.

Credit is due to Chee Hua as a father, for he would seek the help of friends to size up his son’s readiness and suitability for a political career.

I was among the political acquaintances he approached to have a talk with Larry. I was still politically active at that time and was also preparing to contest in the 2001 state election.

I recall telling Chee Hua, before meeting his son, that I thought Larry was too young to replace him in Pelagus. Why, he was barely 22.

I suggested he contest Pelagus for the third time, and appoint his son as his political secretary to let him learn the ropes. He should be ready in five years to take over in Pelagus.

Chee Hua arranged his son to meet me one fine afternoon at Suria KLCC. To my surprise, Larry struck me as very mature for his age. He was an intelligent young man and articulated his thoughts well. He even challenged me, a much older person, on my views about Sarawak politics and held his ground well. I left the meeting very impressed with the young man.

Before I knew it, Larry replaced his father as the BN candidate for Pelagus in the 2001 state polls, won the seat and was appointed an assistant minister by then Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud three years later, in 2004. At 25, he was Sarawak’s youngest assistant minister.

Chee Hua has that uncanny ability to maintain good ties with all politicians, even those in the opposition, me included. He was a BN man but he once told me that he counts former Sarawak DAP strongman (the late) Sim Kwang Yang as a very dear friend. In fact, it was Sim who introduced me to Chee Hua in 1995.

I did not meet Larry again nor have a decent conversation with him until 11 years later in 2012. It was a breakfast meeting in a Sibu hotel, the morning after the Sngs launched their new Sarawak Workers’ Party (SWP) with Larry as its president.

Larry told me then that SWP would be his new political vehicle to take on Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) in GE13 the following year. The Sngs were earlier embroiled in an internal tussle with PRS president Dr James Jemut Masing and were subsequently sacked.

Both father and son and three other SWP candidates who contested in five BN/PRS parliamentary seats were all defeated in the 2013 election. Larry stepped down as SWP president two years later. Chee Hua publicly announced his retirement from politics soon after his defeat in Selangau in GE13.

Opportunists, not troublemakers

To those who know the Sngs well, don’t expect them to fade into the political sunset that easily. Like all shrewd political animals, they know when to retreat in defeat, bid their time and strike when it is scorching hot.

Today, the Sngs are in the political limelight again. Give them credit for their political acumen - they had the foresight to move from their hometown in Pelagus, Kapit, to Julau in Sarikei to set up their new stronghold.

They were able to negotiate with PKR for Larry to engage in a straight fight with PRS/BN incumbent Joseph Salang during GE14. Much to the surprise of all, except the Sngs perhaps, Larry won as an independent and signed up with PKR immediately (photo).

It may be worthwhile to note too that the senior Sng had also served as the Julau MP for one term from 1995 to 1999. With Larry’s victory on May 9, the father has now successfully passed on two of his former seats to the son. Quite an achievement, no doubt!

Call them “troublemakers” in PKR if you will, but political animals like the Sngs are able to shine best when there is trouble, like the fierce internal strife in PKR today. I wouldn’t call them “troublemakers”. I think “opportunists” is a more correct term.

Politicians like the Sngs are very ‘useful’ when there are internal problems in a party. PKR president-elect Anwar Ibrahim and deputy presidential candidate Rafizi Ramli, being political animals themselves, are aware of the Sngs’ political connections in Sarawak and wisely utilise them. Of course, both sides benefit from this arrangement.

In August, Larry was appointed the new chairperson of the Malaysian Pepper Board (MPB), replacing former Saratok MP William Mawan Ikom. This caught many by surprise as Larry was just a three-month-old PKR member then.

A month later, Larry was in a photocall with Anwar during a courtesy call on Sarawak governor Taib. Tongues were a-wagging as to why Sarawak PKR chairperson and Works Minister Baru Bian did not accompany his party’s supremo on that Astana visit in Kuching.

Then, in a widely-circulated video clip on Anwar’s visit to Miri two weeks ago, it was the Sngs who featured prominently among the welcoming party at the airport, sidelining PKR Miri MP Dr Michael Teo, a long-time PKR member and Anwar loyalist.

When a reporter from Free Malaysia Today asked me for my comments on the Sngs and Julau fiasco on Oct 26, this was what I said:

“Larry and his father Sng Chee Hua are big names in Sarawak politics. Now that Larry is in PKR, he and his father won’t want to play second fiddle to Sarawak PKR leaders. They’ll want to be at the top of the pyramid.

“In politics, there’s nothing wrong with being ambitious. Who doesn’t want to be at the top? The same thing is happening at the national level in PKR.

“My advice to my friends in Sarawak PKR is this: don’t get involved in dirty ‘Malayan’ politics. Ditch PKR and join another Pakatan Harapan component in Sarawak, or form a new Sarawak-based party aligned to PH (Pakatan Harapan).”

Let me repeat my stand here. I think it would be more productive for Sarawak PKR leaders to struggle for the state and its people than for those who “only want to grab power”.

This internal power play in PKR which is getting messier and dirtier has made me and many others very disillusioned with the party.

I’m not sure I will go out of my way to support PKR in Sarawak as I have done in the past, but come the state elections, there are individual friends in the party who are still deserving of my support.

As for the Sngs, a peep into the crystal ball tells me that Larry will be appointed a minister once Anwar becomes prime minister, with the senior Sng riding on a white stallion into his twilight years a very prosperous businessperson.

And that, my friend, is part of this game we call politics – “lu tolong gua, gua tolong lu” (you help me, I help you).

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FRANCIS PAUL SIAH heads the Movement for Change, Sarawak (MoCS) and can be reached at sirsiah@gmail.com - Mkini