Passing of a fiery politician

Yeap: Known forstirring oratory

DAP founder member Yeap Ghim Guan, who died on Monday aged 66 after a long illness, is remembered as one of the most colourful and daring politicians of his time. 

The British-trained lawyer began his political career in Penang during the 1960s and was known for his aggressive style, stirring oratory and uncompromising views on all types of issues. 

Till today, many remember his “marathon speech” at the Penang Legislative Assembly in the early 1970s during which he rambled on for more than 10 hours. 

“I'm told the record has never been broken,” said Penang DAP veteran Wong Hang Yoke. 

Yeap was a one-term assemblyman for Kelawei in 1969 and also Penang DAP chairman from 1965 to 1977. 

His other famous remark concerned a pledge to jump off the Penang Bridge if the Government could complete it in five years. Fortunately, he was spared the swim in the polluted waters because the bridge took about 10 years to complete. 

“But he was a star speaker and we always saved him till the very end to stop the crowd from going home,” said Wong. 

Wong, a witty speaker himself and usually the MC, admitted that Yeap was such a controversial speaker that “my knees felt weak whenever it was Ghim Guan's turn to speak”.  

His fearless style cost him dearly in 1974 when at an election rally, he tore a poster of Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein shaking hands with China's chairman Mao Zedong. Razak had returned from his historic meeting with Mao who was a cult figure among the older Chinese Malaysians. 

Yeap left the party in 1978 after a bitter power struggle with then DAP secretary-general Lim Kit Siang. 

Yeap's style epitomised the contentious mood of the 1960s and 1970s. But underneath the fiery temper and political arrogance, Yeap was a man who had ideals and ethics. Until his debilitating stroke two years ago, his legal office in Seberang Prai was like a service centre. 

His eldest daughter and lawyer Su Lynn, who worked with him, said her father would accept poor clients and charge a nominal fee because he was not a cold-hearted lawyer. “He told us that if you want to go into politics, do it because you want to help people,” said Su Lynn. 

Yeap was a founder member of two fringe parties, the Social Democratic Party in 1978 and Malaysian Democratic Party in 1999 that went nowhere. 

Yeap leaves behind his wife Rita Wong Su Kee and two other daughters May Lynn and Ai Lynn.