By Murray Hunter
STRUMMING my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox’s song, made famous by Roberta Flack in 1973, is the song the DAP delegates selected last Sunday after the vote on whether the DAP should remain within the Madani Coalition.
They are hoping that the political narratives over the next 18 months will save them, hitching their whole history and legacy of the party to what happens over the next few months.
However, the DAP party national chairman Gobind Singh Deo has qualified this support to the separation of roles between the Attorney General and Public Prosecutor; and limiting the prime minister's tenure to two terms.
The other two reforms of utmost importance may include amending the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) and the Peaceful Assembly Act.
So, it's all about actions and words. These specifications seem to have weakened the resolve of the party vote.
However, there are a couple of points the media is not catching on to about the DAP’s historical decision.
First, only 2,106 out of the 4,264 delegates actually voted in the plebiscite.
Only 1,857 votes were cast in favour of the party staying in the coalition.
This is hardly overwhelming support for the party leadership.
For those who didn’t vote, their intentions are not fully known.
However, it's sure that they weren’t motivated enough to come out and support the direction their leadership wanted.
The DAP leadership can claim a massive 88% victory of those who turned out. That’s the narrative, which, as Roberta Flack sang, is just “Strumming my pain with his fingers.”
Consequently, the party may see the result of this in the coming elections.
DAP grassroots members just may not come out to work hard for the party's re-election.
That’s the dangerous consequence for the party now.
Secondly, the vote shows that the DAP is now far from being united.
There are clear factions that haven’t been reunited by last weekend’s special conference.
Everyone knows what happens when a party becomes disunited.
In the DAP bastion of Penang division, the top circles are most evident.
Coffee shops and WhatsApp groups are talking about numerous narratives, and whether one group can succeed over the existing icons and official leadership.
Inside the DAP is pain. This is being covered up by narratives, which most of its own membership just doesn’t believe anymore.
Last Sunday’s performance clearly showed the pain and the “killing me softly” that could potentially lead to death. – August 19, 2026
