– Amar Singh & Lim Swee Im
The Malaysian Insider
June 01, 2014
Dear Dyana Sofya,
You may have lost this small election but you have won the hearts of many, many Malaysians. Despite the ugly ways and attempts to shame or demonise you, we are pleased you did not sink down to the level of those who were shameless in their behaviour.
We know you are ethnically Malay, but throughout this campaign it was clear you are first a Malaysian and stand for all Malaysians. So we seldom think or see you as a Malay, but more as our fellow sister and Malaysian.
It is vital that all of us move away from any form of ethnic politics, ethnic decision-making, ethnic criteria in selection, etc., as this just divides us further. So we are delighted with your stand of inclusiveness.
We want to assure you that you did not lose but won many heart.
The amount of pressure, threats, inducements, promises, etc., that were used is unbelievable. Such behaviour is unethical in any developed and ethical nation.
Do not lose heart.
We are all fighting for the true One Malaysia, where our ethnic differences are celebrated and appreciated, where our religious difference are respected and protected, where we no longer have to classify ourselves by our ethnicity but by our identity as Malaysians.
Like you, we long for the day when Malaysians from all walks of life will fight for their fellow man, regardless of their skin colour, beliefs or position. Thank you for doing so. – June 1, 2014.
* Datuk Dr Amar-Singh HSS and Datin Dr Lim Swee Im read The Malaysian Insider.
#1 by bryanbb on Sunday, 1 June 2014 - 11:21 pm
Ennobled by lofty thoughts of all that must be just
she rose from obscurity to defy.
the forces that continue to defile
the hopes and dreams of a nation of people
with their wanton tyranny and lust of power
but Diyana is among the collective force
of the trampling march of unconscious power
that will determine the fates
of a nation of people yearning to breathe unshackled
an inexorable force relentless and blind
till all that is unjust has yielded and trampled asunder.
#2 by boh-liao on Monday, 2 June 2014 - 2:14 am
Interesting comments fr Kwong Wah:
http://www.kwongwah.com.my/news/2014/06/01/147.html
不论行动党的实权派领袖如何对安顺补选的结果作花言巧语式的诠释，旁观者有一种看法是：安顺战果，是行动党霹州基层的胜利。
随同这项胜利而突显的，则是行动党实权派领袖一意孤行政治手段的失败。
A slap in d face 4 DAP’s leaders, TRUE aaah?
#3 by Noble House on Monday, 2 June 2014 - 2:42 am
Winning by a mere 238 votes majority is nothing to brag about. Mah Siew Keong should not blow his trumpet too loud too soon thinking this is a cleared mandate. If anything to derive from this slight win, it is to thank your lucky stars you managed to get away with it.
A large percentage of those living in Teluk Intan today are still having the post-era mindsets of the 1969s where they were invariably told to accept their redefined “status” by the new colonial masters. And so long as they cocooned themselves in the invisible jails, then they are protected and safe to go about making a living for themselves.
To say that the Chinese voted along racial line is a gross understatement. The figure 19,919 is a good testimony. Mah proposed to fulfill at least 70% of the promises in his manifesto within the next three years. Let’s see if he can do just that.
#4 by Bigjoe on Monday, 2 June 2014 - 8:44 am
238 votes is just a lot of excuses. Come GE-14, all DAP has to do is turn on the guilt-trip and even if Mah Siew Kong stuff thousands in the pocket of the voters, he would still lose.
Dyana need to spend more time in Teluk Intan over the next 3 years. But she also need to raise her national profile by taking up a major opposition portfolio. Other than that she should be tasked with selling in Sarawak & Sabah why she turn her back against UMNO and Perkasa in particular..
#5 by Jeffrey on Monday, 2 June 2014 - 9:14 am
Don’t blame Chinese voters as not transcending race as they voted for even PAS in last GE13! Pride prevents the DAP’s top from admitting Dyana Sofya was a miscalculated risk arising from its own internal inconsistencies: factionalism and internal jockeying within prevented fielding the candidate whom Seah himself recommended as candidate whom Teuk Intan constituents most likely vote for from being nominated; someone “neutral” has to be parachuted (in the name of new politics (race & religious blind) have to be parachuted from elsewhere to keep in the peace between vying contenders n Perak. So as result one had PAS campaigning for Dyana Sofya’s ‘religion’ blind politic in Perak and at same time Hudud in Kelantan, making voter KL confused and not committed to return to vote on Sat and resuscitating salt fish Gerakan in Parliament!
#6 by Jeffrey on Monday, 2 June 2014 - 9:34 am
New Politics is good reason but never on balance better than risking la low voter turn out leading to a loss of a Parliamentary seat that ended reviving Gerakan by fielding an unknown outsider just so to pacify factions in Perak lobbying their favourite candidate. To insinuate that non malay voters in Teluk Intan might not have not shredded their “race based” voting, is neither true nor true. In GE13, DAP’s Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz (blogger Sakmongkol AK47) defeated MCA’s Hoh Khai Mun for the Raub parliamentary seat while Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji had defeated MCA’s Chuah Boon Seong for the Mentakab state seat in Pahang. DAP’s Zairil Khir Johari had also triumphed against Gerakan’s Teh Leong Meng in Bukit Bendera in Penang last year.
#7 by Justice Ipsofacto on Monday, 2 June 2014 - 10:02 am
It was close. But lets fact it. Things could have been better. Nevertheless, dyana has done pretty well considering that a lot of outstation voters (a large number of them chinese) did not return to vote.
#8 by pulau_sibu on Monday, 2 June 2014 - 11:34 am
there is a little discomfort with dyana’s mother as an umno member. some of us would ask, how kit siang can be so sure that dyana will not be an umno person harboring in dap to learn of the first hand information about pakatan rakyat strategies? we know kit siang is smart enough to judge about this, but he needs to explain to the people as well.
dyana of dap can be as smart as nurul izzah of keadilan. nurul is more experienced and is a big sister for dyana to learn from. she is the smartest young lady in pakatan rakyat. in fact, i have wished more speeches from dyana during the election campaign compared to the many big guns who have spoken for her that might have overshadowed her presence (just like top umno guns who came in to speak for mah all the time).
the defeat was an accident. many voters saw the majority of over 7000 votes in previous election and would ensure a victory for dap. many of us could not understand the more difficult arithmetic of why more outstation voters should return to vote. am sure dap also saw it as a safe place to put down dyana because the basic policy for contesting an election should be to send in the candidate having the max likelihood of winning.