A Weekend of Note
This had been a noteworthy weekend. On Saturday night, the Bemban new village DAP Branch was opened in Batu Gajah, followed by a successful dinner attended by some 400 villagers.
On Sunday morning, we hosted a tea-party attended by representatives of organizations concerned about the future of Chinese and Tamil primary schools and summarized public opinion on the matter in the Resolutions adopted unanimously by all representatives which:
(1) CONDEMN extremist and racialist statements by Haji Suhaimi Kamaruddin, UMNO Youth Leader, to implement Clause 21(2) of the Education Act 1961, and by Haji Jalani Jaafar, Kelantan UMNO delegate, for the closure of Chinese and Tamil primary schools;
(2) CALL ON THE GOVERNMENT TO ENSURE the impartiality of law enforcement agencies including the prosecution of Haji Suhaimi and Haji Jalani for offences of sedition;
(3) CALL for the repeal of Clause 21(2) of the Education Act 1961 in conformity with the spirit of Article 152 of the Federal Constitution;
(4) DEMAND THAT THE GOBERNMENT ENSURE the accordance og legitimate status for mother-tongue education as integral and eternal part of the mainstream of national education system.
The weekend was capped by the opening of Temoh DAP Branch, where thousands of Temoh people came out to witness the official opening, making it one of the biggest gatherings in DAP history. The official opening of Temoh DAP Branch was followed by a thousand-people dinner.
Thousand-people dinners is no more unusual for the DAP, in big towns like Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Malacca, Penang or Seremban. But for a small one-road township like Temoh to be able organize a thousand-people dinner is indeed a great credit to the DAP Temoh Branch officials and Batang Padang leaders and members.
If Temoh can organize thousand-people dinners, then big towns like KL, Ipoh, Penang, Seremban and Malacca would have to organize as a minimum two-thousand-people dinners if they are not to be put in the shade by Temoh.
I am particularly happy with the successes we had achieved in Bemban and Temoh. Firstly, because we are penetrating deeper and deeper into all corners of Malaysia, throwing out deep roots into the masses the DAP ideology and political struggle. Secondly, these successes in Perak took place at a time when Perak DAP had been in the doldrums. They demonstrate the power and tenacity of the DAP popular appeal.
These two successes were achieved despite the doldrums of Perak DAP.
Now that Perak DAP State Committee, at its meeting last Saturday, had set out on new directions to infuse Perak DAP with vim, vitality and vigour to synchronise with the national offensive for the Eighties, I look forward with great expectations to the great things that will be achieved in Perak in the coming months and years, when DAP’s political potential in Perak is fully harnessed.
There is one oversight at the Temoh Dinner however. The Chinese edition of ‘Time Bombs in Malaysia’ was not sold at the dinner, which is a golden opportunity missed.
It is the responsibility of the State Publicity Secretary to see to it that at every function or occasion in the State, party literature are sold or distributed to ensure maximum impact of these materials.
Chinese ‘Time Bombs in Malaysia’ must become a special project by all State Publicity Secretaries to ensure fullest dissemination and sale in the coming months. The Acting National Publicity Secretary, Sdr. Dr. Tan Geng Giaw, would be communicating with the State Publicity Secretary to work out a systematic national campaign to push sales of Chinese edition of ‘Time Bombs in Malaysia’.
While it is the specific responsibility of the State Publicity Secretary to ensure that all party functions and occasions are fully utilized to disseminate party literature, it is also the responsibility of the State Committee leaders to see to it that the Publicity Secretary carry out his/her work. This must be a collective effort and responsibility.
In the new devolution of responsibilities on the question of materials, the time has also come for Branches to have Publicity Secretaries who understand the new responsibilities in their particular area of operation.
The State Publicity Secretary should probably call a State meeting of all branch publicity secretaries to brief them on what the Party expects of them in the Challenge of the Eighties.
Brain-storming sessions
Perak initiated a new series of ‘brain storming’ sessions to discuss issues and questions in depth. This should become a regular series but also throughout the country. For the immediate start, Peninsular Malaysia would be de divided into three areas for the regular conduct of such in-depth political discussion: (i) Penang – covering Penang, Kedah and Perlis; (2) Perak (3) Kuala Lumpur covering Selagor, Pahang, Negri Sembilan, Malacca and Johore.
The first of this series is as follows:
18.7.80: Islam and its relevance to Malaysian nation building. Speaker: Fadzlan. Chairman:
P.Patto (Ipoh) – already held.
24.7.80: The Universal Values of Islam: by Fadzlan.
Chairman: P.Patto (FOR PENANG)
31.7.80: Islam in Malaysia: by Fadzlan.
Chairman: Lee Lam Thye. (for K.L.)
These series must be held monthly, compulsory for MPs and State Assemblymen in the respective areas, and for a start would be held in English only. Such series in other languages would be worked out by the Political Education Committee which will have its first meeting coming Sunday.
The second of the above series will be on “Democratic Socialism”, which should be held in August.
Details are:
Perak: 29/8: Speaker – Ngan Siong Hing. Chairman: Ting Chek Ming.
Penang: Speaker – Peter Dason. Chairman: Shanmugam.
K.L. Speaker – Lee Lam Thye. Chairman: Bernard Sta Maria.
SEPTEMBER
Perak: North-South Relations. Speaker: Ting Chek Ming.
Penang : North-South Relations. Speaker: Peter Dason.
K.L. : North-South Relations. Speaker: Dr. Tang Seng Giaw
Details of date and others would be worked out by Sdr. P.Patto and announced in his supplements to the Party Diary.
Speakers earmarked to give talks are not meant to be experts on the subjects concerned, as such in-depth political discussions are meant to benefit both the speaker and the participants together: the Speaker to read up intensively on the subject concerned, and the participants to discuss intelligently on the subject. Participants should also do a fair amount of pre-reading before the political discussion, and for this purpose, the Speaker should circulate a list of recommended reading materials to the participants two weeks before the talk. The Speaker is also to prepare a written paper and circulate it two days before the talk so that a more knowledgeable and effective discussion can take place.
The DAP’s political offensive in the Eighties must include efforts by DAP leaders and members to acquire greater political knowledge and content, at a greater self-mastery of oneself.
15th Anniversary Committee
The composition of the Party 15th Anniversary Celebration Committee is as follows (which would hold its inaugural meeting on 26th July):
Chairman: P.Patto
Vice Chairman: Ibrahim Singgeh Secretary: Bernard Sta Maria
Members: Lau Dak Kee
Teoh Teik Huat
Tai Sin Piow
Fung Ket Wing
Ismail Mohamed
Hu Sepang
FOR GENERAL INFORMATION, all committees and bureaus, formed or to be formed, would be for the duration of ONE YEAR only, and would stand dissolved after one year of their constitution. This is to enable those who are unable or refuse to contribute to vacate their places for others.
Discipline
For the Challenges of the Eighties, all departments of Party activity require fresh approach and new ideas. This includes the functioning of the Disciplinary Committee, which hitherto had met only when there had been specific cases of infraction of party rules or discipline to consider and recommend disciplinary action.
The Disciplinary Committee will now be responsible for ensuring a general heightening of party discipline to ensure that the Party could with minimum disruption attack the problems of the Eighties. The Disciplinary Committee would meet soon to consider the General State of Discipline in the Party and to put an end to indiscipline, which comes in diverse forms, including running down the Party, party leadership; leaking stories to outsiders or the press leading to tendentious and unfavourable newspaper reports or articles, which can only damage the Party; refusal to discharge party responsibility although entrusted, etc.