It shot 14 “rockets” into the state legislative assembly and was just three seats short of wresting the state administration from Barisan Nasional with a simple majority. There were 33 seats in Penang then.
Caretaker Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and outgoing three-term state exco member Phee Boon Poh were part of that brilliant showing spearheaded by then party secretary-general Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang.
But in a dramatic turn of events, the party headed for political doldrums sooner than anyone would have expected.
After the high of Tanjong II that ended the political career of the late Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu, DAP was brought down to earth in its Tanjong III project in 1995.
Even with the “Robocop” campaign, the party suffered a near total wipe-out, winning only the Batu Lancang state seat through Wanita DAP chief Chong Eng.
Kit Siang blamed the humiliating defeat on the national euphoria over the buoyant economy then.
The script repeated itself in 1999 and 2004, with Datuk Danny Law the sole DAP survivor in the state assembly after successfully defending the Batu Lancang seat in 1999.
Like Law, Phee became the only “rocket” in the august House from 2004 to 2008. He won the Sungai Puyu state seat.
But then in 2008, everything just fell into place for the party.
Kit Siang’s son, Guan Eng, was the DAP secretary-general tasked with restoring the party’s glory in the frontline.
Blogger Jeff Ooi, political scientist Dr P. Ramasamy and party strategist Liew Chin Tong, among others, were “parachuted” to contest in Penang.
Guan Eng and Ooi, especially, were crowd-pullers at DAP’s ceramah.
The campaign song “Just Change”, slogan “Just change it” and its new mascot – the Rocket Kid – resonated well with voters.
The excesses of Umno’s race politics back then, caused unease among non-Malays.
Most Penangites were also unhappy with the political chatter about who would be the successor of Gerakan acting party president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, who had decided to contest a federal seat then.
The names of three Gerakan leaders – Datuk Seri Lee Kah Choon, Teng Chang Yeow and Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan – were bandied about to take over the top post even before the start of the election.
All of them lost in that state poll.
The presence of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in many ceramah was another factor that saw the then Pakatan Rakyat sweeping to victory.
From 2008 to 2023, DAP secured a 100% record, winning all the 19 seats it contested for three terms in a row.
Gone were the days when most party heavyweights had to take on double duty – contesting in both state and parliamentary seats.
The Malaysian Malaysia agenda seemed to be able to attract professionals and new talents on board.
A large number of young members have since been actively serving in city councils, community and village management councils as well as various state bodies.
City councillors who performed well had been fielded as election candidates.
Fast forward to the present state election and DAP seemed to have started on uneven footing, with reports of “infighting” over the chief minister’s post.
Then came the so-called rejuvenation process that saw the dropping of five state executive council members, including Ramasamy as well as the long-serving Phee and Chong, from being fielded in the polls.
In protest, two ex-party members – M. Satees and David Marshel – decided to stand as Independents in Bagan Dalam and Perai state seats respectively.
But history has told us that no individual is bigger than any party.
This can be attested by a few ex-party leaders who changed political banners, contested and lost their deposits because they could not even garner one-eighth of the votes.
Given DAP’s strength in today’s political landscape in Penang, the “tell-all” by Satees and Marshel might be considered a storm in a teacup.
Although one may say a decent victory in this election is well in the bag, factionalism seems to have fractured the party.
Any wrong move will make for bad optics and show poor character in the party leadership, reflecting especially badly on the chief minister and state exco line-up.
Sentiments on the ground have shown that Penangites generally still have high regard for DAP.
This includes Penang Chinese Town Hall, which boasts 536 Chinese associations of civil society under its umbrella.
Penangites now wait excitedly for Aug 12 to see how the votes go.
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