Naga Kepala 2 gets rap on knuckle from party

An unpopular decision

The DAP disciplinary committee’s decision to let off exco member Ronnie Liu with a light reprimand has not gone down well, with many adverse comments in cyberspace.

DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, one of the most Internet-savvy politicians out there, is given to whacking Barisan Nasional political parties in cyberspace.

For a change, he should read the many negative public comments piling up in news portals like Malaysiakini and Malaysian Insider over the DAP disciplinary committee’s decision to let off Ronnie Liu, the Selangor State exco-member.

While the public see the support letters issued as corruption, the DAP sees it as “bad management.”

On that score, the DAP let off Liu on Thursday saying there was no evidence of wrongdoing.

The only issue is that he did not manage his office well and allowed his former assistant Tee Boon Hock to write support letters on his behalf.

While the committee sacked Tee last month for alleged abuse of power, they only asked Liu for a “firm commitment” that he would manage his office professionally.

This turn of events is not going down well with the general public going by adverse comments on the Internet.

Many commentators reject the DAP view of “bad management” and openly show their resentment. Some were disappointed that DAP is not “brave enough” to bite the bullet and clean its stable.

Generally, the writers believe the DAP had put politics – in that the top leadership has a vested interest in Liu – over good governance.

Such criticism, while rare, is on the rise against the DAP, which had enjoyed “good press” especially after the 2008 general election which saw the opposition party transformed into rulers in several states.

No doubt the DAP’s five-member disciplinary committee, like disciplinary committees in other political parties, usually mirror the desires of the top leaders.

But the politically-expedient decision has disappointed the general public as reflected in the free-flowing comments on the Internet with the majority seeing the issue as poor governance, not bad management and for some, a betrayal of public trust.

They disagree with the decision to let off Liu with a “rap on the knuckles” after the DAP had played to the gallery when sacking Tee for signing bagi pihak support letters for individuals and firms applying for tenders, allegedly valued at RM1mil.

Tee was fired after it was found that two letters he had issued under Liu’s name were in support of a firm in which Tee’s son is a shareholder.

Liu on his part was comical, alternatively saying he was unsure whether he had issued support letters or whether he had authorised Tee to issue them.

“The DAP disciplinary committee is trying to hoodwink the people with the lame excuse of “unprofessional management on Ronnie Liu’s (part),” said one commentator identifying himself as JSTom.

“Please don’t think all PR supporters are PR worshippers,” the commentator said in his searing criticism.

Selangor Speaker Teng Chang Kim also came in for criticism for trying to explain his controversial tweet, “OMG Culprit Freed”, as referring to a movie and not the disciplinary committee’s action.

The DAP’s internal politics and the upcoming party elections appear to have overshadowed good governance in the sacking of Tee and the “saving” of Liu, a senior party insider said.

He was referring to Liu’s “undying loyalty” to Lim and his son, party secretary-general Guan Eng, the Penang Chief Minister.

“Liu is politically untouchable in Selangor DAP,” the insider said.

“He and his type are a post-2008 phenomenon of political success . . . a new breed of DAP leaders altogether.”

Liu’s rival in the state, Teng who was pulled up for the tweet, got off easily but his case shows that even a simple, three-word tweet can get senior leaders like him in trouble if you are on the wrong side of the DAP fence.

While the DAP defends human rights and democracy nationally, internally the party is ruled with an iron fist and as the Teng episode demonstrates, dissent is not encouraged and immediate action is possible, usually under the cover of “party unity.”

On Thursday night, the DAP executive committee meeting (CEC) discussed this and other issues and Liu came under criticism with senior and junior members raising the letters issue and how it has been handled as well as the rising criticism against the party.

A DAP leader said party elder Dr Chen Man Hin and newcomer and Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi expressed worry that the “Liu episode” needs a “satisfactory resolution” and that just a reprimand would not satisfy the public.

“Ooi said the Internet comments were adverse and worrying and urged the party to take note of the perception shift,” the insider said. “Dr Chen worried about public perception of the DAP because of the letters episode.”

What is significant, party insiders say, is that Liu had no defenders at the CEC meeting. The majority of the members were silent and this indicated, the insiders said, that they were not happy with the “rap on the knuckles” outcome.

This means, they said, the issue has not been resolved with the outcome of Tee’s appeal against his sacking deferred and Liu’s standing badly damaged.

The upcoming party elections will see party veterans and newcomers jostling for positions, forming alliances and trying to secure a place in the cai dan or (set menu, meaning a pre-selected list of leaders).

The era of warlords seems to be emerging in the new DAP which has expanded phenomenally since 2008 and power brokers like Liu, although tainted, will play a major role.

"In discharging his public duties, DAP leaders and members must realise the high expectation of the public. The public wants to see a move away from the culture of corruption and cronyism of the Barisan Nasional. For these reasons, integrity and principles of Competency, Accountability and Transparency (CAT) are the basic governing principles of the DAP".

Kita nampak, dengar dan terbaca sendiri siapa yang lebih berasuah dan berkronisme sekarang. Allah (SWT) itu maha mengetahui dan maha adil dalam persoalan ini. sekarang sudah terbukti bahawa Roket Naga Kepala 2 adalah berasuah dan berkronisme the hinghest order in town. Tindakan yang di ambil terhadap EXCOnya juga tidak setimpal dengan kesalahan yang di lakukan sekiranya betul-betul mengikut prinsip "Competency, Accountability and Transparency (CAT)". Nampaknya CAT itu adalah kucing siam yang tak boleh mengigit tetapi hanya makan untuk tidur sahaja. Ini bermakna CAT - Cari, Ambil dan Telan adalah motto yang lebih baik digunakan oleh Roket Naga Kepala 2 dalam usahanya untuk membersihkan salahguna kuasa oleh orang-orangnya bukan sahaja lintah tetapi tergolong dalam kategori buaya yang akan makan apa sahaja bagi menguntungkan perutnya sendiri dan perut konco-konconya.

PETALING JAYA, Aug 12 – The DAP disciplinary committee today let off Selangor state executive councillor Ronnie Liu with a “severe reprimand” for his role in the support letter debacle.

Committee chairman Tan Kok Wai said that Liu, in his capacity as the state executive councillor, should be held partially responsible for the controversy for it involved his former assistant, sacked DAP councillor Tee Boon Hock.

“We did not find enough evidence to support Tee’s allegations against Liu but the committee still holds Liu responsible for what happened.

“The committee therefore issues a severe reprimand against Liu (picture) for not managing his office in accordance with public expectations,” he said in a press conference after chairing a four-hour hearing at the DAP headquarters here this evening.

He added that the committee also wanted a firm commitment from Liu that he would, from now on, focus on managing his office in a professional manner.

“In discharging his public duties, DAP leaders and members must realise the high expectation of the public. The public wants to see a move away from the culture of corruption and cronyism of the Barisan Nasional.

“For these reasons, integrity and principles of Competency, Accountability and Transparency (CAT) are the basic governing principles of the DAP,” he said.

Tan however stressed that the committee would not recommend to sack Liu or suspend him for his role the support letter controversy.

“Ronnie had no knowledge… he thought the support letters were only misused by Tee. Tee issued a support letter in favour of a company owned by his son, even though Liu might not have had the knowledge that the company belonged to Tee’s son.

“This episode has damaged the party’s image. However, Ronnie has the responsibility to exercise his official responsibility as an exco member so although the misuse of his letterhead was beyond his awareness, we find him responsible for the wrongdoing of his assistant,” he said.

Liu was hauled up to face the committee after Tee had made a counter-allegation against his boss during the committee’s last hearing on July 31 where he was sacked.

Tee had alleged that all the letters of support he had issued, had been under the instruction of Liu himself.

Tee was facing the committee after it was exposed that he had allegedly been forging Liu’s signature to issue letters of support awarding contracts worth over RM1 million to 16 companies, one of which was co-owned by his son, Tee Chin Chin.

When met outside the meeting room, Liu told reporters that he “humbly accepted” the decision of the committee and promised to try his level best to manage his Pandamaran office in a professional manner.

“I know and I agree that the expectations of the public to DAP and the Pakatan Rakyat is extremely high and therefore, we should run our office in a better manner,” he said.

When asked if he accepted responsibility of his assistant’s wrongdoings, Liu however hesitated.

“That is a little harsh to say. I accept the committee’s decision. I should ... run my office in a better and more professional manner. My mistake was to misplace my trust in the wrong person. I have to accept that responsibility,” he said.

Liu had initially denied that his letterheads had been misused but later retracted this.

Earlier, the committee also said that it had accepted the explanation given by Selangor Speaker Teng Chang Khim over his controversial tweet “OMG! Real culprit freed!”.

Teng had sent the tweet shortly after Tee was sacked by the committee on July 31, giving rise to rife speculation that the committee had punished the wrong person in the issue.

Teng today told the committee in a 45-minute explanation that the “real culprit” he was referring to was the “jinyiwei” or the Chinese imperial guard, in the movie “14 Blades”.

He explained that he had sent the tweet after watching part of the movie in his car during his journey from one political function in Batu Pahat to another in Yong Peng during the night of July 31.

“However, we have given strong advice to Teng, being a party leader, to exercise extra care in the future if he is to make any statement through the media or through social networking sites like Twitter.

“His statement had given rise to the impression that he challenges and disputes the committee’s decision on the sacking,” said Tan.

He noted that Teng’s tweets had led to wrongful conclusions and had generated adverse national attention.

“He has been advised that he should be alert and sensitive to the situation so that the party’s image is not damaged,” he said.

Tan maintained that Teng should have come forward with an explanation to the committee at the first possible opportunity to avoid the issue from being blown out of proportion.

“If he would have clarified after I made my statement later (announcing that Teng would be summoned to explain his tweet), it would not have even been necessary for him to come forward today,” he said.

Tan however admitted that none of the party’s leaders had directly communicated with Teng to ask about his tweet and had gone ahead to the media to announce that the latter would be summoned to face the committee.

Teng had earlier said that he had decided not to clarify his tweet earlier for he was already sunmoned to face the committee, noting that he did not want to show disrespect.

He also said that the whole misunderstanding showed that there was a lack of effective communication among party leaders.

Tan noted that the party would take stock of the issue and would improve communication among leaders in the future.