Dawn of A New Era for Penang

Today, Tuesday, 11th March 2008 is an historic day for the State of Penang (known as Pulau Pinang in the Malay language which means Penang Island), one of the 13 States of Malaysia.

It is the dawn of a new era for the State named after the pinang tree which is featured in both its state flag and emblem and which is located in mainland Peninsular Malaysia.

On this day Mr Lim Guan Eng, 48, secretary-general of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) was sworn-in (picture) as the State's 4th Chief Minister before Penang Yang Di-Pertua Negeri (Governor), Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas. His appointment capped a 22-year political career which started when he was only 26 years old when he was elected a Member of the Malaysian Parliament (MP) and all of which (until today) was spent being in the Opposition. For someone who spent more than a year in jail and who was barred from contesting in an election for almost a decade, this appointment is perhaps something which he himself never dreamnt of! After all, throughout the campaign period his aim was only to provide the Penang State Legislative Assembly with a strong Opposition by denying the ruling party a two-thirds majority!

'Historic' because Lim's DAP not only defeated the Gerakan party-led Barisan Nasional (National Front) in the 12th Malaysian General Election held on 8th March 2008 beyond its own expectation, but wiped out Gerakan in the process. 'Dawn of a New Era' because Gerakan had been at the forefront of the Penang government since 1969.

That year, Gerakan led by Dr Lim Chong Eu defeated the Malaysian Chinese Association-led (MCA) Alliance Government which included United Malay National Organisation (UMNO), and Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC). Ironically, Dr Lim (now Tun, Malaysian's highest civilian title awarded by the King) is a former MCA president himself before he founded Gerakan.

Dr Lim took over from the late Tan Sri Wong Pau Nee to become Penang's 2nd Chief Minister. Wong was Chief Minister from 1957, the year Malaya (the predecessor of Malaysia) gained independence from Britain. However, Gerakan joined the BN (the successor of Alliance) just before the 1974 election after tasting 5 years of being in the 'Opposition' at the federal level as the central government was controlled by the then Alliance. Thus, it had been a Gerakan-led BN state government in Penang since 1974 until its shocking defeat by DAP last Saturday.

However, Dr Lim was unexpectedly defeated by DAP advisor Mr Lim Kit Siang, Guan Eng's father and then DAP secretary-general in 1990. But DAP did not then win enough seats to form the state government. Taking over from Dr Lim as Penang's 3rd Chief Minister was Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, the former's political secretary and protege. Dr Koh remained Chief Minister until Gerakan was wiped out over the weekend. Among his greatest political achievements since 1990, apart from leading the Penang BN into 3 consecutive election victories in 1995, 1999 and 2004, was when he personally defeated Lim Kit Siang who tried to 'finish him off' in 1995 the way he did to Dr Lim Chong Eu, thus obtaining a sweet revenge of sorts on behalf of his former boss.

Thus, Gerakan's humiliaiting defeat on March 8 was reminiscent of what happened in 1969 when the party uprooted MCA. "It took almost 30 years, but the Penangnites (mostly Chinese) finally said 'enough is enough'. Last Saturday, Guan Eng finished off what his father could not in 1990 and 1995. This reminds us of US President Bush finishing what his father could not with Saddam Hussein and Irag in the early 1990s," commented an observer.

Dr Koh, who had been an MP representing Penang in the Malaysian Parliament prior to his being a Penang State Assemblyman throughout the period he was Chief Minister, contested a parliamentary instead of state seat last Saturday to enable him to join the Federal Cabinet in order to be in the mainstream of national politics now that he heads a component party of the BN. He has been acting Gerakan president, taking over from Dr Lim Kean Yick , a long-serving Malaysian Minister who last year handed over the helm to the former. But just like his mentor, Dr Koh and most of his party candidates too suffered humiliating defeat over the weekend, thus dashing his hopes of becoming a Federal Minister. Also dashed were the hopes of the 3 Penang Gerakan leaders short-listed to replace Koh as Chief Minister.

Will history repeat itself 5 years (the length of a Malaysian parliamentary term) from now? Ten years? 15 years? That depends on the performance of the DAP-led new Penang Government. In the meantime, congratulations!


(Footnote: For more on Malaysian election news and politics, click on any of the Malaysian or Sabah media listed on the left.)