GEORGE TOWN – As the second volume of DAP doyen Lim Kit Siang’s biography debuts, its Penang-born author Kee Thuan Chye points out a pertinent fact that, unlike his contemporaries, the 82-year old Lim retired without holding any major political post.
Kit Siang hails from the same era of struggle as the late Penang Chief Minister Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu.
He emerged into the national political consciousness at around the same time the late Lee Kuan Yew was consolidating his leadership on another island, Singapore, where he was the first prime minister.
Yet unlike both Chong Eu and Lee, the Johor-born DAP pioneer did not attain the honour of holding any government post, whether at the state or national level.
He was the power broker in DAP but there was no presence of him whatsoever in the formal corridors of government.
This contrasts with Chong Eu, who went on to etch his name in Penang’s history books as the “father of industrialisation” while Lee’s legacy is as the mentor of Singapore’s modernisation.
So what is Kit Siang’s legacy?
Aside from serving as an MP in the Dewan Rakyat where he was for some periods the opposition leader, and as DAP’s secretary-general and chairman, Kit Siang has not held any posts in government.
Yet when people chat about Malaysian politics, his name is often uttered as a reference point.
Sharing perspectives as ‘big brother’
When DAP became a truly potent electoral force in 2018 together with its allies in Pakatan Harapan, it went on to clinch federal power for the first time after 53 years of struggle.
It was then that Kit Siang decided it was time to move towards retirement.
Kee mentions that despite the fact that Kit Siang did not taste national power, his eldest son Lim Guan Eng and youngest daughter Lim Hui Ying have assumed ministerial responsibilities in government positions of power.
Guan Eng was finance minister for nearly two years and Penang’s chief minister for two terms, whereas Hui Ying has been deputy education minister since November.
“But the man himself...Lim held no major national position. He is the only grand Chinese leader of his era not to finish his career with a post to his name,” said Kee.
Today, Kit Siang occasionally offers his “lao da” (“big brother” in Mandarin) political perspective such as when he recently blogged about welcoming Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s offer to Islamist PAS to join the Madani national unity administration.
In an interview to discuss his book titled Lim Kit Siang: Malaysian First, Kee stressed that it is an independent biography – thus he is in no way influenced to write in a certain way or slant.
Interestingly, the book’s sub-heading is Volume 2: Bold to the Last Battle.
Kee said he felt compelled to allow Kit Siang’s story to be revisited in view of the present context of the post-Barisan Nasional (BN) era.
Kee devoted 14 months he writing daily to sum up this second volume.
He shared that Chapter 71 stands out as it contains references to when PH lost power in 2020 due to the landmark Sheraton Move.
It happened when a few alleged traitors and the entire party of Bersatu betrayed the Reformasi cause to join forces with the opposition of BN and PAS to form a “backdoor” federal government.
Where it hurts most
Poignantly, there are also references to 1987 during the height of Ops Lalang when over a hundred opposition figures and activists were detained without trial.
Kee revealed that Kit Siang was in a daze then he could not locate his son Guan Eng for several hours during the height of the government crackdown on dissent.
It was only later that he found out Guan Eng was arrested.
“You know when the rivals could not get to him (Kit Siang)...they got to him where it hurt the most by going after his son Guan Eng. But Lim showed great character and resilience.”
For Kee, the greatest legacy of Kit Siang was his never-say-die attitude and his fortitude to build a Malaysia for all, regardless of race and religion.
Today, the party he helped to establish is at the epitome of power as a key ally of Anwar’s grand alliance of national unity parties.
If there is anything for all young Malaysians to learn about Lao Da, it is perhaps his enduring attitude towards achieving something. It is the conviction that many Malaysians need to carve out a better life after the turmoil of Covid-19, said Kee.
The book launch of Lim Kit Siang: Malaysian First will be on October 29 at Wembley Hotel in Penang.
The book is available at most bookstores in Malaysia.
As for a parting take, Kee urged Malaysians to renew their reading habit vows, although it is said that people nowadays do not read.
One can take inspiration from Kit Siang himself who is a believer in reading; he had even taken up law on his own accord while having to battle a string of imprisonments and court cases. – The Vibes, October 21, 2023
