“ONE was looking north, the other was looking south” - that was how a Penang politician described the interaction between DAP national chairman Lim Guan Eng and Penang DAP chief Steven Sim Chee Keong when they attended the party’s Veterans Club AGM (annual general meeting) last weekend.
Their awkward body language was played up in almost every Penang vernacular Chinese media.
Kwong Wah Yit Poh, the most popular Chinese paper in Penang, splashed a photo of Sim and Guan turning away from each other.
The front-page of the same paper had a captivating headline: “Party yet to vote but poison pen letters flying everywhere”.
It also quoted secretary-general Anthony Loke warning that disciplinary action would be taken against those responsible.
Guang Ming Daily, another popular Penang Chinese paper, noted how the two leaders kept their distance in almost every group photo, standing at opposite ends of the lineup during the Veterans Club AGM.
It was the first time the Veterans Club made the news in such a big way.
Most people outside of DAP do not even know of its existence while those who do have likened it to a “karaoke club”, where everybody sings all night long and nobody remembers what they sang the next day.
The subtext here is that the veterans, although valued and appreciated, do not hold much clout.
But the Veterans Club led by Lay Hock Peng, an arch loyalist of the Lim family, was making a stand ahead of the central executive committee (CEC) election.
A grand dinner at a Bukit Mertajam hotel the night before the AGM showed Lay flanked by Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng at the main table. It was a picture worth a thousand words.
Moreover, the dinner was held on “308,” the Chinese reference to March 8, that historic day in 2008 when the then Pakatan Rakyat captured Penang and Guan Eng became chief minister.
Days before the dinner, Lay told the media that at least 50 Yang Berhormats would be attending and he had taken out full page advertisements in the Chinese media to publicise the event.
But only about 15 YBs attended. Loke excused himself at the last minute but officiated at the AGM the next day.
Sim, also attended the AGM but skipped the dinner saying it was his son’s birthday. Sim is hurt and fed-up because many of the poison pen letters were aimed at him, portraying him as a traitor to Guan Eng.
Also missing were vice-chairman Nga Kor Ming and Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow who has stopped pretending that he has no problems with Guan Eng.
The masks have finally come off and there is no need anymore to pretend that love is in the air.
And if an objective of the veterans dinner was to bring everyone together, it failed miserably.
When Guan Eng approached a table where DAP strongman Datuk Seri Phee Boon Poh and his friends were seated, they suddenly stood up and dispersed.
Phee later told reporters he had to answer “a call of nature,” that is, to use the restroom.
Phee, now retired, is a classic people’s man who had never lost in a general election. He has also been the target of attacks by supporters of Guan Eng who blame him for Lim Hui Ying’s near defeat in the Penang DAP election last September.
The Veterans Club event only underscored the deep battle lines in Penang, with the sitting CM and presumptive future CM on one side and the ex-CM on the other side.
A lot of it has to do with how determined Guan Eng is to make it into the CEC.
Most of the young Turks are apparently not with him but it seems like those from yesteryear are standing by him on account of their devotion to Kit Siang.
All this is giving Loke a massive headache but, fortunately, the rivalry outside of Penang is more comrade-like.
Loke’s attempt to persuade Guan Eng to pull out of the race has also angered the latter’s supporters.
They found it disrespectful and undemocratic although the talk in the party is that the request came with an offer to make Guan Eng the next DAP advisor.
The negotiation attempt came too late in the day and those who understand Guan Eng’s character would know he is a fighter who does not retreat or crumble under pressure. He is famous for his never-say-die attitude.
Some are puzzled why the rivalry in Penang is so intense and nasty. They have never seen anything like this in a party election.
Well, being in power has changed the dynamics and, moreover, Penang is DAP’s jewel in the crown. The stakes are higher there because of the chief minister post.
The dominant side led by Loke, Nga and Sim have yet to release their “cai dan” or list of endorsed candidates for the CEC line-up.
A highly-placed source said the team’s official “cai dan” will only be available on the day of the election to avoid the circulation of fake “cai dan” as had happened in the past.
Meanwhile, some are not ruling out a possible 11th hour move by Kit Siang to help Guan Eng.
In 2022, he chose the very day of the election to announce his retirement, thereby swinging sympathy votes to his son and daugther.
Will Lao Da, as Kit Siang is known in the party, make a final push to save the family?
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