By Datuk Zaid Ibrahim
Editor’s note: He was mocked, he was humiliated, he was forced to swallow his pride the extent which no human being with dignity and self-respect would be able to bear.
But Gerakan president Datuk Dominic Lau Hoe Chai remains steadfast – never to pin the blame on the antagonist till his fellow Perikatan Nasional (PN) ally, PAS, was forced to extend an apology to him to calm the backlash the green party was getting by the way it has treated the Bayan Lepas state assemblyman wannabe.
That’s the humility of Lau that has won many hearts – or rather sympathy – among people who were once his biggest critics, including UMNO member-turn-PN sympathiser Datuk Zaid Ibrahim.
IT is a necessary gesture that PAS has decided to apologise to Datuk Dr Dominic Lau Hoe Chai and regroup to support the Gerakan candidate in Bayan Lepas. With this apology, this Muslim party has shown its humility.
The anger felt by PAS members was understandable when its candidate was sidelined in this constituency. But PAS members are a disciplined lot. They unflinchingly obey their leaders in times of war.
It is a critical seat in this election as a barometer of where the non-Malays view Gerakan’s reproaching and collaboration with PAS will end up. Gerakan has always been more farsighted than the DAP. Gerakan has been more trusting of the Malays/Muslims than other ethnic parties.
In 1974, when Tun Razak invited Gerakan and DAP to be part of the national government after the trauma of May 13, Gerakan’s founding president Tun Lim Chong Eu accepted the offer but not the then DAP secretary-general (Tan Sri) Lim Kit Siang.
The Chinese in Penang and elsewhere benefited immensely from being part of this Barisan Nasional (BN) government. Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s reign gave the non-Malays lots of business opportunities. They prospered but they disliked (hated) him till today. It’s a strange world we live in
DAP was more interested in changing the world (they used the phrase first world); they are more ideological, shall we say? Whereas Gerakan is less ambitious and prefers to manage intra-ethnic relationships as a precursor to national stability and moving forward.
I don’t know Dominic Lau although he visited me for coffee two years ago. We talked about politics. He has the guts to join a coalition where the predominant view is the Chinese will reject PAS.
But Dominic realises (as any non-Malay should realise) that any Chinese or non-Malay grouping needs to work with a dominant Malay/Muslim group if we want a suitable environment for prosperity to grow.
Which group is more “functioning” and rock steady than PAS?
We need a stable and functioning government. The question is simply: which Malay/Mulsim leader is the one that will give the country a functioning government and which one exhibits dysfunctionality.
It is a steep hill to climb for Dominic but I wish him well. – Aug 4, 2023
Datuk Zaid Ibrahim was a former de facto law minister.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
