16 theSun | THURSDAY APRIL 16 2009

INTERVIEWS VIEWS

WHEN the Penang government

The DAP’s socialist streak

announced late last month that
it had eradicated hardcore pov-
erty within its borders, the news
raised quite a few eyebrows.
It seemed an incredible, if not
impossible, task to achieve. On
hindsight, however, when one
looks at what the Pakatan Rakyat
government executed, the solu-
tion seems common-sense.
But though it may appear
simple, the move was instituted
with such impudence and guts it
could only come from a political
element that is part of the origins
and makeup of the DAP – its
democratic socialism.
What the state did was to
directly uplift every one of the
726 households registered with
the welfare department as being
in the hardcore poor category by
giving them the money. Affected
families were literally funded to
ensure their incomes are topped
up so that they get at least RM500
every month.
These poor souls whose
lives, and statistics, seemingly
changed overnight must owe
their new fortunes to a political
decision made way back in 1966.
It was then that the DAP was first
registered, following the Setapak
Declaration, as an offshoot of the
Singapore-based People’s Action
Party (PAP). What marks the
event as significant today is not
just its history, but the fact that
the party was registered as a
democratic socialist entity.
Penang’s success in eradicat-
ing hardcore poverty is a fruition
of a progressive post-modern
socialist ideology. In fact, much
of the state’s economic and
social policies today can be
attributed to a highly-evolved
socialist streak in the DAP.
By socialism we do not nec-
essarily mean the radical, anti-
capitalist school that emerged in
the early 20th century, influenced
by the works of Friedrich Engels
and Karl Marx. Democratic
socialism surfaced as a splinter
movement that envisioned the
attainment of socialism not
through a revolutionary proc-
ess, but through an embracing,
evolutionary one. It embraced
civil liberties, free elections,
parliamentary democracy and
transparency in governance.
It is no coincidence then that
the DAP is a long-time member
of the Socialist International,
whose origins can be traced to
early international labour move-
ments.
Now, some 43 years after the
DAP was founded, Penang has to
some extent become a test-bed
of sorts for a modern socialist
experiment in Malaysia. Hints
of this new wind, blowing along
a distinctly proletarian agenda,
was already felt on the first
day that the DAP took helm of
the state by assuming the chief
minister’s post, with Lim Guan
Eng ordering all summonses
for hawkers and parking be
waived.
Lim had later even proposed
to the federal government an
“economic stimulus” plan worth
RM48 billion that he said would
have a “tidal effect” in directly
benefiting 27 million Malaysians
during the financial crisis. The
plan included giving a RM6,000
annual “oil bonus” to all fami-
lies earning less than RM6,000
a month, or a RM3,000 annual
bonus to bachelors earning less
than RM3,000 a month. The
amount, Lim said, would cost
RM35 billion or one third of
Petronas’s 2007 gross profits of
RM107 billion.
The idea to use national cof-
fers in a massive way to alleviate
the people’s burden is perhaps
something that could only have
come out with such brazen con-
TheNutmeg fidence from the DAP, due to the
Verses socialist element in its set-up.
by Himanshu Bhatt For democratic socialism
seeks to improve the rights and
standards of the majority by di-
rectly increasing the powers of
workers and consumers. It does
place social welfare as a prime
component in the governance of
a society.
Any aid or subsidy, however,
is not meant to be dished out as
dole benefits to passive citizens
without resourcefulness or
personal enterprise; the aid is
deemed necessary to empower
people, by giving them impetus
to be active participants in the
greater economic community.
In one of the Penang govern-
ment’s boldest moves, for exam-
ple, all residential landed prop-
erties on state land were made
freehold, and all industrial and
commercial property owners
had their leaseholds converted
to the maximum 99 years. “We
want to give ownership of land
back to the people,” Lim had
said.
Of course, in practice, the
DAP’s style of administration is
not so purely egalitarian; but its
socialist roots do hold significant
sway in how the administration
has caught people by surprise,
by making sweeping changes
with unassuming audacity.
It remains to be seen then
how many more surprises the
DAP-led government will dish
out, and exactly how well its
socialist inclinations will work
for the state over the remaining
duration of its term in power.
Himanshu is theSun’s Penang
bureau chief. Comments: letters@
thesundaily.com

letters
letters@thesundaily.com
Party’s request baffling
ONE is baffled by MIC’s argument that it needs
more cabinet space to serve the Indian community
better when one wonders why the need for cabi-
net positions to serve the community?
Political parties like Parti Sosialis Malaysia
have been serving the communities without any
cabinet positions so what is MIC’s point here or is
MIC requesting the additional space for serving its
members better?
Political parties in Malaysia often struggle to
differentiate between their own members and the
communities they are to serve when it comes to
enriching the people.
But why is MIC asking for more cabinet positions
when its president only requested for one minister
and two deputies in his meeting with the prime
minister just two days before the announcement
of the new cabinet? They got what they asked for
and this is the same president, who for the last 30
years was happy with the 1+2 cabinet space when
have occupied a bigger space in the cabinet before
but the Indian community has none the less never
benefited from it then, so why should it now when
nothing else has changed with MIC?
One should negotiate for more from a position
of strength and not from a position of weakness,
which is what MIC is today and sinking further by
the day.
There have been no signs of recovery from
its disastrous performance in the last general
elections; the Indian community has by and large
walked away from MIC, rendering it irrelevant to
its welfare and its re-branding exercise is all form
without content. This latest song and dance by
MIC for more cabinet space is yet another sign of
desperate times signalling the nearing to the end
of an ailing political party that was once relevant
to the Indian community.
Public best judge of comments
WITH reference to “Judge CM Lim on his record”
(April 13), I wish to reiterate that the writer is
continuing his barrage of critical comments
based on baseless observations. Although he
is entitled to his comments, I believe he should
focus on what is best for Penang. After all, ask-
ing the present government to give credit to the
past government clearly shows that he has a
short-term memory that it was the rakyat that
was instrumental in bringing progress to the
state and not solely residual efforts from the
past government.
Therefore, I hope the writer will take this
important note to heart and allow the present
government to govern and create a good envi-
ronment for progress to happen. The writer’s
comments are fast portraying himself as an
apologist for BN. After all, he seems to know
so much but yet he continues to shy away from
giving constructive comments to further im-
prove. Hence, his choice of writing to the press
points me to the fact that he has misguided
intentions. I wish to reiterate that the Penang
government has been given the mandate to
govern the state to the best of its best ability.
The writer has spent a lot of time highlighting
old issues which are fast becoming trivial. The
public will have to make their judgment as to
whether his comments are valid or otherwise.
I wish the writer all the best for his own version
of pursuit of excellence and hope Penangites
and the rakyat as a whole will see the true value
of the comments. Therefore, I have decided not
to further respond to his BN laced comments.
Jeffrey Chew
Special Assistant to the Chief Minister
of Penang

Kalaichelvan
Where are our children’s heroes?
he himself was a minister in the cabinet. He may Via email COMMENTS about a public relations officer
in “When it’s not from the heart” (Down2Earth,
March 6) struck a chord, and I sent copies of
that article to my own PR team as a lesson.
I loved “Another song and dance show”
(Down2Earth, April 14) but more so for the
second part than the first. I grew up watching
P. Ramlee movies, and till this day will gladly
sit through yet another screening of Labu Labi,
Do-Re-Mi or a more serious Antara Dua Darjat
even though I’ve seen them more times than I
can remember. I’ve heard the jokes again and
again, and I still laugh listening to them.
P. Ramlee, together with the Alleycats, Lat,
and Sudirman were of a small number of per-
sonalities who personified the muhibbah spirit
we espoused as children, upheld as teenag-
ers, questioned in our 20s and now view with
askance and cynicism in our 30s.
The Selangor football squad of the 80’s was
another bunch that did it for me, with legends
like Mokhtar Dahari, Santokh Singh, “Spider-
man” A. Arumugam, and group, and other
Malaysian greats like Soh Chin Aun and Ghani
Minhat – all of whom I was fortunate enough
to see in action.
I was a big fan, and I am proud of a child-
hood and teenage years where I scoured the
back pages of the newspaper for the latest
news and results on Malaysian football (with
as much enthusiasm as I do these days with
the EPL), and have vivid memories of painting
my face red and yellow, trudging along with the
many other Selangor fans from Rex theatre to
Stadium Merdeka for home games.
Those were the days when I believed we
were a great nation, growing up as I did to
influences such as these. I wonder who and
where my two-year-old daughter will turn to
for inspiration, and what influences will define
her generation.
Joachim Rajaram
Via email

Don’t tax my retrenchment benefit

I AM a 51-year-old Malaysian, who was recently
served with notice of retrenchment. I appeal to
the government not to tax the compensation I
receive for loss of employment. Even though
the tax relief per year of service was revised
during the mini-budget, long-serving workers
still have to pay a substantial amount of tax.
My employer was caring enough to provide
a retrenchment benefit higher than the statu-
tory requirement. Hence the payment exceeds
the tax relief allowed by the government. I have
to pay tax on the balance, precious funds that I
can ill afford in my jobless state.
At my age, it is extremely challenging to find
a new position. I depend on every sen of my
payout to keep my family afloat while I search
desperately for alternative sources of income.
Many long-serving colleagues around my age
are in the same tenuous position.
I appeal to the government to demonstrate
more sympathy for our plight. We have been
productive members of the workforce, faithful
taxpayers, and are now in dire straits due to the
downturn. Please provide full tax exemption
on total compensation received by retrenched
employees, especially those above 50, to help
us and our families during this critical period.
50+ Retrenched Malaysian
Penang