SUPP’s deregistration ‘very real’

Joseph Tawie

Rumours are rife that Wong Soon Koh’s faction in SUPP is looking at a number of options in the event the party is deregistered.

Is 54-year-Sarawak United Peoples Party (SUPP), which began as a party for working class Chinese here way back in 1959, facing the ROS axe?

Bengoh state assemblyman Dr Jerip Susil seems to think the possibility of this happening is “very real”.

Susil is a SUPP assemblyman aligned to Senior Minister Wong Soon Koh’s faction within the party. Wong’s faction had disputed the party’s tienniel delegates convention and the presidential elections held in December 2011

SUPP expels two but hesitates on Wong

Joseph Tawie

‘Indecisive’ SUPP president Peter Chin is not gaining points for further delaying the party’s decision on the status of Wong Soon Koh.

It appears that Sarawak Senior Minister Wong Soon Koh will have to wait longer to know his fate in Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP).

In a statement issued today, party secretary-general Sim Kui Hian said that “it was up to the disciplinary committee to investigate” and declined comment further.

However the statement did note that the committee had deliberated on two other members – Wong Kie Yong (Sarikei) and Hii Huat Chuong (Bintagor) – and had recommended that they be expelled for conducts seen as detrimental to party interests.

Peter Chin’s men warned

FMT Staff

 

SUPP Youth chief Wilfred Yap is misleading members by saying that the officials elected in the controversial December 2011 party polls are legit “until proven otherwise”

Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) officials who were elected in the controversial party polls last December have been warned against making ‘any’ decision involving the future of the party.

The terse warning came from the faction backing former SUPP deputy secretary general Wong Soon Koh (pix).

Speaking for the Wong faction, SUPP-Engkili assemblyman Johnical Rayong said since ROS had not confirmed the legality of the party’s Triennial Delegates Covention and election held last December, those sitting in the various elected post should confine themselves to day to day administration work only.

Caught between Najib & Taib, SUPP members demand BREAKAWAY from BN

Wong Choon Mei

It looks like things have come to a head at the Sarawak United People’s Party or SUPP, and it may soon leave the ruling BN coalition as a power tussle intensifies between embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak and Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud.

If SUPP does withdrawn from the BN, it would be the first component party to do so after Sabah’s SAPP pulled out in 2008. More than that, an SUPP exit would confirm the already very visible cracks in the BN and trigger a much-anticipated dismantling of the 13-member group.

“It is to be expected because Umno is taking too strong a role and is demanding too much. The return of Mahathir Mohamad and his hardline Malay supremacy policies is also scaring everyone. The people can sense Najib has lost control of Umno and BN members are wondering what will happen to them,” PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

No reprieve for SUPP as Taib snubs Chin again

Joseph Tawie

The ‘power play’ between Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is drowning Sarawak United Peoples Party (SUPP).

Chief Minister Taib Mahmud is making it known that he dislikes Sarawak United Peoples Party (SUPP) new president Peter Chin.

In the latest incident, Taib snubbed Chin, not once but twice and in full view of hundreds of guests attending a Chinese New gathering jointly hosted by the Associated Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) and its president Wee Kok Tiong last week.

Peter Chin takes over as SUPP president

Bernama

He offers a way back to his rival Wong Soon Koh by offering some vacant central working committee slots.

Peter Chin Fah Kui, 66, has been announced as the new president of the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) when he won unopposed after his challenger, Wong Soon Koh, boycotted the party election held today.

Chin, who is the Energy, Green Technology and Water minister, said he was thankful to the delegates for giving him their trust to continue to lead the second biggest Barisan Nasional (BN) component party in Sarawak.

“I’m happy with the election today and certainly my task after this will be more challenging to rebuild the strength of the SUPP, and I will also go down on the ground to meet with grassroots leaders,” he told reporters, here today.

Najib tells SUPP to close ranks ahead of polls

 

Bernama

It is imperative the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) re-establish the people’s trust and confidence in the embattled party through strategic changes to face the coming general election, said the prime minister.

Najib Razak, who is also BN chairman, said the oldest Sarawak BN component party needed to revamp its party machinery by re-thinking winning strategies and taking a re-look of its current image.

“You must realise that if you do not adapt to the wishes of the people, and if you do not change, then you will be changed… in short, change what needs to be changed to make SUPP the choice of the people again,” he said when opening the SUPP’s 22nd triennial delegates conference (TDC) in Kuching today.

Also present were outgoing SUPP president Dr George Chan and state housing and tourism minister Abang Johari Abang Openg, who represented Chief Minister and state BN chairman Abdul Taib Mahmud.

After PBDS and SNAP, it’s SUPP’s turn to be history

 

K Suresh

Currently going through what many of its own members say is a sham party election this weekend, the Sarawak United People’s Party or Supp is the one in real “hot soup” for a change.

Factions including those aligned to presidential aspirant Wong Soon Koh, who pulled out a day ago in protest, say the least the Registrar of Societies could do is to order the party to halt its triennial general meeting (TGM) scheduled for Dec 10-11 until the alleged irregularities are rectified.

Amidst charges and counter-charges of massive fraud and irregularities in the party set-up, the various factions have been making daily visits to the RoS in Kuching. The result is the foregone conclusion that Supp would have to show cause why it should not be deregistered.

The party will probably face the same fate as the Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) which suffered the dubious distinction of being deregistered twice, in 2003 and 2004, and the Sarawak National Party (Snap) which was deregistered in 2002 before being given a new lease of life last year by the Court. However, the party has never recovered and remains comatose and on life-support.

Will SUPP recover in time?

Alan Ting

The weekend delegates conference will decide whether the state’s oldest political party will stay afloat or sink.

The Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) triennial delegates conference (TDC) this weekend will be watched keenly as it represents what observers believe the last chance for the party “to correct things” or continue to face a downfall in the next general election.

Going by the record in the last two state elections, the party appears to be getting weaker due to, what many believe, the problem of perceptions – that it has failed to represent the people’s voices – and because of the internal conflicts it has been facing since 2004.

The party lost 13 of the 19 seats it contested in the April polls, including Piasau, the seat contested by party president Dr George Chan. In 2006, SUPP lost six seats.

Clannish politics dominates SUPP election

Alan Ting

SUPP, the oldest political party, is still riven with regionalism and factionalism politics.

As the branch elections for the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), the oldest political party and a major component of the state Barisan Nasional, kick off this Sunday, there is talk that it might be influenced by clannish and regionalism tendencies.

Political analyst James Chin of Monash Sunway University, who has written extensively on the SUPP, explained that for the first decade after its formation in 1959, the party was dominated by leaders from the Kuching region, and power was concentrated in a small group of the Hakka, Chao-ann and Hokkien dialect groups.

This had caused resentment from the Sibu SUPP, which at that time was mostly made up of the Foochows.

‘Surprised’ Wong ready to take-on Chin

FMT Staff

Sibu warlord Wong Soon Koh to fence with Miri veteran Peter Chin in SUPP’s presidential race.

A ‘surprised’ Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) deputy-secretary general Wong Soon Koh (photo) is prepared wrestle it out with colleague Peter Chin for the party’s top job.

Wong said he never expected Chin to join the fray because he had ‘never’ indicated an interest.

“It’s a big surprise when I heard about it…Chin never indicated his intentions.

“There were many occasions when he whispered to me that he would not contest,” said Wong.

Chin’s bid for the presidency will clearly split the party.

Soon Koh’s Chinese-first salvo portends few hopes for SUPP’s revival

Lee Ryujin

Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) which suffered an embarrassing whitewash in the April state election is gearing up towards its Triennial Delegates’ Conference (TDC) scheduled for December this year.

Being a major component in the Barisan Nasional, and the only BN party representing the Chinese in Sarawak, SUPP is seen by many observers as a ‘has-been party’; with many incumbent heavyweights as well as hand-picked favourites felled by newbies from arch rival DAP in the 10th state polls.

It is now struggling to rejuvenate itself, its politics and ideology. The question is, can the same tired old faces poised to take over from George Chan be able to inject new life into a party that overly relies on the Chinese when the Chinese community has broken out of its time warp and is transforming rapidly by the day.

Angry uprising in Engkilili SUPP over Rayong?

By Joseph Tawie

Almost all the members of the Engkilili branch of Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) are against the state assemblyman for Engkilili Johnichal Rayong joining the party and thereby becoming the SUPP-BN candidate in the coming election.

“Now that Rayong is officially joining SUPP, the Engkilili branch committee members will have a meeting very soon to discuss the issue.

“We were not consulted…,” said an angry Jonathan Krai, the SUPP candidate who lost to Rayong in the 2006 state election.

Rebellion looms in SUPP branch

By Joseph Tawie

Rebellion is brewing in the Engkilili branch of the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP).

Its chairman, Toh Heng San, has warned of “severe consequences” if the party nominates maverick Johnichal Rayong to contest the Engkilili seat in the coming state election.

He said the consequences would include his resignation from the party.

He was responding to an announcement by SUPP president George Chan that the party’s central working committee (CWC) had accepted Rayong and would nominate him for Engkilili. Chan’s statement, reported today in a local daily, confirmed speculation that had been circulating for two years and causing unease among branch members.

Can SUPP’s George Chan save a ‘sinking ship’?

By Chris Reubens

Dr George Chan is known among his close associates as a flamboyant man. In private, he likes to bring friends to his posh residence at Petra Jaya for a few rounds of wine.

The Deputy Chief Minister of Sarawak has a good selection as any close friend can testify. But alas, he is not that lucky when it comes to politics. Many agree that he’s left with little choice now. As a matter of fact, most would say that he’s in a Catch-22 situation.

Undeniably, there is a faction within SUPP who see quitting BN as the only solution to regain their support in the Chinese constituencies. However that idea was brushed aside by the top leaders, including Dr Chan himself.

Sarawak Chinese unbowed by Taib’s threat

By Joe Fernandez

The Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), in trouble with Chinese voters in particular since 2006, is being told that the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) will be able to form the next state government even without a single seat contribution from it. This is the message going out to the party from Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud who has to call state polls by the middle of next year.

Taib’s message is based on the fact that SUPP will be allocated as usual only 19 of the 71 state seats at stake. The party lost eight seats at the last outing in 2006. The Bumiputera-based Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) will take the lion’s share at 35, Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) nine and Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) eight.

SUPP visits Putrajaya – history repeating itself?

By Joe Fernandez

It really comes as no surprise that the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) leaders held an emergency meeting yesterday with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in Putrajaya. It is not known how long the meeting with Najib lasted and whether it went as planned. A shroud of secrecy surrounds the impromptu meeting.

The party has walked down this path before with former prime minister Hussein Onn.

In 1980/81, SUPP secretary-general Stephen Yong led a similar delegation of party leaders to meet Hussein (right) regarding the growing political instability in Sarawak.

That meeting contrasts with SUPP’s current moves to put Putrajaya in the picture on the current political situation in Sarawak.

It was simpler in those days. The SUPP had demanded the removal of Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Rahman Ya’kub, a Melanau Dayak, or the SUPP would quit the BN.

The lies and fall of ethnic politics

By Pak Bui

In the week following the police crackdown in Selangor and Penang, featuring arrests of 30 people for holding candles to mark the 50^th anniversary of the hated Internal Security Act, leaders of junior BN coalition partners failed to stand up for civil rights.

Instead, Chua Soi Lek, president of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and George Chan, leader of the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), chose to speak up on typically parochial issues. Both these veteran politicians cemented their standing as having been left behind the times, reduced to rehashing old and careworn tactics, and bereft of new ideas.

Chua, hoping to burnish his reputation for being a plain-speaking iconoclast, decided to play to the lowest common denominator in the gallery, by making bigoted comments about Muslims. He obviously hoped this would play well among the more introspective and ignorant segment of the Chinese ‘voting bloc’.

SUPP at the crossroads

By Joe Fernandez

here’s increasing suspicion in Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) circles that Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) leaders and activists may have started keeping some distance of late from beleaguered Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.

This follows the failure of SUPP ministers to turn up at two major public functions with the same theme, ‘SeNada SeJiwa – One Beat, One Spirit’ that Taib hosted in Bintulu, and earlier in Sibu, recently.

It is not known what was Taib’s response to what could be construed as a deliberate snub by a party which has not hesitated to walk his path 30 years earlier.

Other public and private functions hosted by Taib (Top right), smaller ones, have been poorly attended as well by SUPP representatives. Again, the youth and the more senior SUPP representatives were noticeably absent.

Sibu results indicate Taib must go

By Hafiz Yatim and Salhan K Ahmad

Barisan Nasional’s loss in the Sibu parliamentary by-election yesterday is a clear message that Sarawak’s Chinese voters feel that it is time for Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud (right ) to go, said Monash University political analyst Professor James Chin.

He says this is among the three lessons to be learnt from the Sibu contest.

“First of all, the majority of Chinese voters are sending a clear message to Taib that he must go. I think they felt Taib has overstayed in holding the post of (Sarawak) Chief Minister,” he said.

Taib has occupied the post since 1981, the same year that former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad came to power.

Five surprises for Najib in Sibu

By Pak Bui

Sibu has voted for the politics of hope over the politics of fear and greed. All Sarawakians ought to applaud these courageous voters.

PM Najib Razak made three flying visits to Sibu, desperate for a BN win, but he was taken aback when the May 16 Sibu by-election did not exactly go according to plan.

We may now challenge some of Najib’s assumptions.

1. Every voter has a price

It was raining cash from the sky in Sibu, to the tune of over RM20 million in federal “projects”. There were reports of cash windfalls in broad daylight, 100 to 200 ringgit per vote. Cash flowed up the Rejang river too: RM600 per pintu or longhouse family.

Sibu voters could make history

By Kim Quek

Amidst the intense election campaigns of the Sibu parliamentary by-election, there is one way to help the besieged electorate make a sound decision. And that is by asking the following question:

Which political coalition – Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat – is more likely to fulfill the wishes of the Sibu people, if given the chance to run the federal government and the Sarawak state government?

The simple reason for asking the question is that only the federal government has the power and resources, and to a lesser extent, the Sarawak state government, to solve their problems and fulfill their aspirations.

Will the SUPP ever speak up for our religious freedom?

By Pak Bui

The Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) and the state Barisan Nasional (BN) have failed at every turn to speak out for Sarawakians, against suppression of religious freedom.

When the UMNO home minister Syed Hamid Albar banned the use of the word “Allah” in the Catholic Herald, he must have had the support of UMNO. When the UMNO home minister Hishammuddin Hussein allowed the seizure and retention of 15,000 Christian bibles containing the word “Allah”, he must have enjoyed the approval of his party.

When the UMNO Prime Minister Najib Razak allowed religious fanatics to protest in contempt of court against the High Court ruling that Umno’s ban was unconstitutional and illegal, he must have won lusty cheers from his party.

SUPP (soap) opera in Sibu

By Martin Jalleh

THE Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), Sarawak’s oldest political party, knows that it would be in real political hot “supp” (soup) if it loses in the coming by-election in Sibu.

The PM who recently received a slap in the face by the Chinese community in Hulu Selangor will have to turn the other cheek if the Chinese who are the majority in the Sibu constituency fail to support SUPP.

This helps to explain why the second coming of Najib (to Sibu) which just took place was so necessary.

The PM descended on Sibu like a saviour determined to deliver its citizens from the evil Opposition by offering the Chinese a slew of expensive gifts.

Is SUPP united to face by-election?

By Joseph Tawie

Is the Sarawak United People’s Party really united to face the 54,695 voters, 67% of whom are Chinese in the Sibu by-election?

SUPP president Dr George Chan believes so, when he said: “All leaders have the motivation to forget their differences and work together for the party in the by-election.”

But many regard, however, that the party is ill-prepared for the by-election as the untimely death of MP for Sibu Robert Lau Hoi Chew on April 9 caught the party leadership in the midst of internal bickering and infighting.

Only weeks before the death of the MP, Malaysian Mirror published an article detailing the internal crisis and issues that have bogged down the party to the point that it did not have any time to talk about the interests of the people it was supposed to represent.

Dayaks hold the key to Sibu by-election

By Joseph Sipalan

Barely days after the heated by-election of Hulu Selangor, and Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat are gearing up to lock horns again, this time over the Sibu parliamentary by-election.

Although the official campaigning period only starts in 10 days, neither side is taking any chances.

Election Commission rules forbid open canvassing for votes before nomination day, which falls on May 8. However its silence on “social” visits or gatherings gives parties a handy loophole to jump-start the race.

Pragmatism will win in Sibu

By Keruah Usit

Voters in Bandar Sibu’s May 16 by-election are less likely to be concerned about the ethnic and religious fault-lines that have shaken peninsular politics over the past 40 years, than about issues of material development and livelihood.

Pragmatism will decide the winner, rather than the ethnic voting patterns that peninsular politicians constantly bang on about. Sibu residents, Iban, Malay, Orang Ulu, Chinese and Melanau alike, are stricken by chronic, crippling ailments of under-employment, economic monopolies by Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS) and other companies linked to the Chief Minister Abdul Taib (right) Mahmud, and poor infrastructure and social services.

‘Little’ Robert expected to win big

By MC Wong

The by-election machine of BN switched on right on the day (April 9th) the incumbent five term MP of Sibu, Robert Lau, passed away after a long battle with cancer at the age of 66.

Already waiting in the wing was his replacement, 45-year-old Robert Lau Hui Yew . He is actually the cousin (not the son, as some might assume), of the late deputy transport minister.

He has introduced himself as ‘little Robert’ or xiao luobo in Chinese, to emphasise his lineage.

Sibu offers Pakatan a new focus

By Terence Netto

After having lost Hulu Selangor by a narrow margin, the parliamentary by-election for the Sibu seat looms as a test of Pakatan Rakyat’s ability to mount a coordinated campaign, something that was said to have eluded them in the earlier poll.

The auguries for a campaign of greater focus and coordination were good in that top Pakatan leaders – Anwar Ibrahim of PKR, Lim Kit Siang of DAP and Nasharuddin Mat Isa of PAS – got together in Sibu two Sundays ago to hammer out an agreement about intra-coalition cooperation for the Sibu poll.

Ignored Bidayuh spell trouble for SUPP

By Terence Netto

As SUPP gears up to defend its stronghold of Sibu in the parliamentary by-election on May 16, discontent in its Bidayuh-dominated state wards near Kuching threatens to veer out of control.

The state seats of Bengoh and Opar, located near Kuching, are held by members from SUPP’s Bidayuh faction, Dr Jerip Susel(right) and Ranun Mina respectively.

These wards, together with the parliamentary constituency of Serian, held by another Bidayuh, Richard Riot, are said to be rife with the community’s discontent over unfulfilled promises made to them by the Chinese-dominated SUPP, which is the second ranked member of the ruling BN state coalition.

Inscrutable and divisive Chinese politics

Kaypo Anak Sarawak is a Columnist  of  Hermit Hornbill at The Borneo Post Online , His article is  published  in The Borneo Post every Sunday. (Used by permission of the Author )

WATCHING from the sideline as the sickening melodrama of the ongoing MCA crisis unfolds before us, we cannot help but cringe from the ugliness of the naked power struggle within this 60-year-old political party claiming to fight for the Chinese community in Malaysia.From the original Datuk Seri Ong Tee Kiat and Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek factions, we are now told of a Third Force that tipped the balance of votes in carrying the motion of no-confidence against Ong’s tenure as the MCA President.

The smoke from the battlefield of the MCA Oct 10 extraordinary general meeting (EGM) had hardly died down, when from Ong’s own support group, a number of Central Committee members hitherto loyal to Ong had agitated for the forced resignation of Ong from the presidency. This led Ong to lament publicly the disappearance of long-time friendship in politics.

To fight off this latest sabotage on his presidency, Ong has invoked his presidential power to call for another EGM, this time to decide whether there should not be another EGM to re-elect the entire CC.

Contra racism

By Sim Kwang Yang

When the DAP Kuching Branch was first established in 1978, the party was a new kid on the block.  For many years before that, the SUPP was seen to be the sole representative of the Chinese in Sarawak.

The most effective tactic of the SUPP in demonising the DAP at that time was to call the DAP as a traitor to the Chinese race, out to divide the Chinese community, and to destroy Chinese unity. The SUPP needed the united support of all the Chinese, in order to negotiate and compromise with other race-based party.

The MCA used the same tactic against the Peninsular DAP and they were quite successful at that time.

During those early years of the DAP in Sarawak, the voters did buy the SUPP’s fare of Chinese unity.  I doubt they will continue to do so blindly, 30 years later.

SKY Counters George Chan – on a lazy Malaysian Sunday!

By Sim Kwang Yang

The public political conversation in Sarawak can only be described as primitive at best.  How I know it!  I was engaged in frontline politics for nearly 20 years in Bandar Kuching, trying to elevate the level of political narrative in my home state.  It was near impossible, because the media was all closed, and the weight of the Internet had yet to be felt.

Thanks to the Internet, I can read the Borneo Post online everyday these days.  Living in Cheras on the edge of Kuala Lumpur as I do, it is my way of touching base with my home state, so to speak.

On June 5, in a story headlined Pakatan Rakyat cannot bring progress, this is what I read about what George Chan has to say.

What’s race got to do with it ….

By Apang

The world’s greatest rock grandma (to me at least), Tina Turner’s great hit “What’s Love Got To Do With It” is being borrowed here and applied to Malaysia, the Boleh Land (borrowing from RPK this time round) in general and Sarawak in specifics.

The current MIC and Bidayuh grumbling about being left out of the new Najib cabinet is another classic in Malaysia boleh-land.

The coming together as BN may had been dictated by historical events, i.e. winning support from the British for independence, but the “model” fundamentally has remained till today. The concept of racial representation has been cemented by successive BN component parties’ leaders. What this has done is to continue sending the message to Malaysians and outsiders alike that “the Ching can only be represented by the Chong”, the “Mali can only represent the Mutu”, the “Ali can only represent the Ahmad”, the “John Anak Sarawak can only represent the Dayaks” and the “Ketingan can only represent the Kadazan-Dusun etc”.

Oh yes, in racially divided Malaysia, I am sure to have missed out some, but damn it, I am also a victim of the encirclement of this divide-and-rule, still.

A product of Racial Politics in Malaysia

Allow me to put forward my own understanding of this situation, however much limited. First and foremost, the BN is made up of parties based on “distinct” racial backgrounds even though there are attempts to have exceptions – like the Indians in Gerakan and of course the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) having non-Malays from mostly Sabah while not to exclude the few Orang Asli. Here in Sarawak, the SUPP has been recreated to include few Dayaks to try to make it “not just a Chinese” party.

I was a product of the racism of Malaysian political creation.

I am a member of the human race!

By Sim Kwang Yang/SKY

One of the most virulent toxins in Malaysian politics is racial and ethnic politics. Politicians and activists of various ethnic origins still dream about the unity of their race.

I can understand their aspiration for unity, though I disagree with them. They think that once their race is united, they will have greater political representation, and their race will enjoy greater socio-economic benefits.

But 46 years after independence, the facts speak for themselves in Sarawak. Despite the dominance of PBB in more than four decades within the Barisan Nasional, the ordinary Malays and the Melanaus in the coastal regions of our vast state are still dirt poor. Although the Dayaks are well represented in the ruling coalition by the four Dayak components, the Dayak people are still dirt poor, by and large. In sharp contrast, how many of these ethnic representatives in the state assembly and the state cabinet have not grown opulently fat?