The giant-killer

Who is the man in the beat-up car that defeated a political stalwart?

 

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2008/3/18/lifefocus/20640182&sec=lifefocus
Stories by MARTIN VENGADESAN

THE news, when it was first announced, was almost unbelievable: Datuk
Seri S. Samy Vellu, an undefeated titan of the Malaysian political scene
for more than three decades, had lost his parliamentary seat in Sungai
Siput, Perak.

Who had defeated MIC’s president, a man who had been a minister in the
Cabinets of Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and Datuk Seri
Ahmad Abdullah Badawi?

Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj.

Who?

That was a common reaction on March 8, that historically unprecedented
general election that saw so many big political names toppled by
complete unknowns and neophytes. Not that Dr Jeyakumar, as he is known,
is the latter. This was the third consecutive election in which he stood
against Samy Vellu, although he is still a relative unknown.

One of the more confusing factors is that Dr Jeyakumar contested the
1999 general election under the DAP logo, but contested in 2004 and this
March under the Parti Keadlian Rakyat (PKR) banner. Yet, he actually
belongs to neither party, and is in fact a founding member and central
committee member of the Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM).

Known in his community simply as Dr Kumar, the silver-haired,
soft-spoken Dr Jeyakumar, 53, explains the reason for the confusion:
“Because of PSM’s legal struggle to be registered (see sidebar on next
page), I decided to contest under the PKR banner.

“When you don’t have registration, it makes it difficult to contest
elections, as independents have to use different logos.”

So why was such a small party able to topple the giant?

“There was a confluence of factors. There was a big swing against
Barisan Nasional, bigger than in 1999’s post-Reformasi election, and
even bigger than in 1969. Also, we have been consistent over the last
nine years. We work with squatters, plantation workers, factory workers,
and the people can see that.”

(In the 1969 general election, Gerakan, which was then an Opposition
party, won Penang, Kelantan was retained by PAS, and Selangor and Perak
also nearly went over to the Opposition.)

While some analysts are now claiming to have predicted the sweeping
gains made by Opposition parties in the recent election, Dr Jeyakumar
makes no such pretensions.

“I thought I’d lose. I expected a closer fight than before, but I
thought that money, the media and the desire to maintain the status quo
would be too much to overcome. It has been a pleasant surprise, but I
would not say I am unprepared for it as I have been working with the
people for the last 30 years.”

That work seems to remain true to his party’s name, the socialist party;
but surely Dr Jeyakumar is aware of the negative connotations that
leftist monikers can have in Malaysia?

“I didn’t start off thinking 'I’m a going to be a socialist'. I wanted
to help at the grassroots level, and I realised that the capitalist
system cannot meet the aspirations of the people. This is felt on
estates, the factory floor, in kampungs, places where people struggle to
survive despite working hard. When it is realised not just
intellectually, but actually felt by the people, it becomes more
powerful.”

So why did this Universiti Malaya medical college graduate decide to
pursue this course in life.

“I think it might be my Christian upbringing,” the doctor says with a
laugh. “I was brought up to belief that health, wealth, intelligence are
all gifts, and the more you get, the more you should give back. I was
very lucky because I was given a lot. I became active in social work in
the late 1970s, and as I saw the struggles of the poor, I became more
committed. I believe that in a world filled with poverty and injustice,
it is obscene to live opulently.”

The man doesn’t just talk the talk, he lives it: One of the common
sights in Sungai Siput is that of Dr Jeyakumar and his wife, R.
Moharani, driving around in a beat-up car doing social work on the days
when he isn’t busy as a medical practitioner (he specialised in internal
medicine).

“I think my car is not so beat-up, but there is some truth to that. I
met my wife as part of the struggle. As students in Universiti Malaya in
1977, we took part in an anak angkat (adoption) programme in Sungai
Siput, and that’s how we met.”

Moharani is now a full-time volunteer with PSM and secretary of its
Buntong branch (in Perak) as well as being a member of the party’s
central committee. The couple have a 15-year-old son.

A Penang native, Dr Jeyakumar, who is the oldest of four siblings, can
be viewed as continuing a family tradition; his father, Datuk Seri T.P.
Devaraj, runs the Hospis programme in Penang (Hospis is a charitable
organisation offering professional palliative care to terminally-ill
patients) while Dr Jeyakumar’s mother was involved with women’s groups
and child protection work.

Crucially, perhaps, his parents have always worked without looking at
race, which might have had some influence on Dr Jeyakumar’s
determination to break race-based politics. However, he does admit that
the Hindraf (Hindu Rights Action Force) demonstrations also played a
part in his electoral victory.

“In my opinion, it was a very spontaneous cry of frustration. The
frustration can be seen by the fact that in every election, I got more
and more of the Indian vote. In 1999, it was 17%; in 2004, it was 36%;
but on March 8, I got 60% of the Indian vote.

“However,” he stresses, “Socialism is not based on race. It is an
ideology based on overcoming barriers between races to help one
another.”

So, ultimately, how does Dr Jeyakumar view the future of the country
after the elections?

“This is a very significant time. Hopefully, (the election) has opened
the door towards a two-party or two-coalition system. This is good for
the country, as both sides have to prove themselves, and the competition
will be good for the people.

“For example, if on the Opposition side, we all declare our assets
publicly every year and start local council elections, this will put
pressure on the other side to be more transparent and democratic.

“But there is a lot of work to be done. Even to achieve a consensus
among Opposition parties will be tough. In the BN, Umno has the whip,
but on our side, no one has that dominance.

“I am also worried that the world economy may go into recession and this
will have a big impact on Malaysia, and the public may not understand
and blame the downturn on the political changes.”

* * *

On the fringe
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PARTI Sosialis Malaysia’s (PSM) entry into Parliament, albeit under a
PKR banner, calls to mind the many fringe parties that have existed in
Malaysia over the years.

Very often, smaller parties, such as the Socialist Democratic Party
(SDP) and Malaysian Democratic Party (MDP), emerge as splinters from
established ones. Both are splinter groups of the DAP that formed after
prominent Parliamentarians (notably Fan Yew Teng and Wee Choo Keong
respectively) became dissatisfied with DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang’s
leadership style.

Parti Rakyat Malaysia is another party that formed from a larger one:
most members of the original PRM voted to consolidate into Parti
Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), but a few refused to do so.

PKR vice-president R. Sivarasa, newly elected MP for Subang (Selangor),
is one of those who has worked to consolidate multi-racial Opposition
forces.

“Frankly, in the landscape today, the relevant parties on the Opposition
side are PKR, PAS, and DAP. For the time being, while it is not
registered, PSM is parked with us.

“As for PRM, we don’t recognise it because it remains a renegade group –
at PRM’s last congress (in 2002), a significant majority of delegates
agreed to merge with Parti Keadilan Nasional (PKN), and the remaining
small group of members defied the discipline of the party as a whole.”

When PRM secretary-general S.K. Song speaks to us, he does confess that,
with the unexpected emergence of PKR as a strong “third force” among the
Opposition parties, it is going to be much hard for smaller parties such
as his to attract voters.

“The reason some of us did not join PKR after the merger was that we
were suspicious that (PKR advisor and de facto head Datuk Seri) Anwar
Ibrahim and his gang would eventually return to Umno, and the new party
would be smashed.

“We were right in that people like Ezam Mohd Noor (former PKR Youth
head) and Ruslan Kassim (former PKN Information chief) did leave PKR.
However, the recent election shows that people of all races can now
accept PKR as a viable Opposition force. This actually makes it even
more difficult for other Opposition parties to survive, and it is
something we in PRM have to address very soon.”

Another interesting factor is that MDP president Wee Choo Keong was
elected to Wangsa Maju (KL) on the PKR ticket. Regarding the future of
the MDP, Wee says he wants to focus on building up his service centre
and serving his constituents before dealing with smaller political
issues such as mergers with other parties.

*** 

Tuesday March 18, 2008

The underdogs

ON April 30, 1998, a number of activists formed a new political party.

Coming from a variety of grassroots organisations that centred on improving the lot of squatters, and plantation and factory workers, the activists who formed Party Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) seemed like throwbacks to the days of the Cold War, freely using Marxist rhetoric in the course of pursuing their struggle for a more just Malaysia.

Unsurprisingly, despite PSM’s repeated commitment to non-violent means of political expression, the party has struggled to have its existence recognised by the Registrar of Societies. In fact, it has yet to be registered.

PSM’s secretary-general, S. Arutchelvan.

Amazingly, the 12th general election saw PSM win both the Sungai Siput (Perak) parliamentary seat through central committee member Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj and the Kota Damansara (Selangor) state seat through chairman Dr Mohd Nasir Hashim, albeit on the ticket of kindred Opposition party, PKR.

Does this mean the party will finally be registered? PSM’s secretary-general, S. Arutchelvan (better known as Arul), 41, doesn’t think so.

“We have lost at the High Court, and lost at the Court of Appeals. Our case is coming up in the Federal Court on June 16, but I don’t see much reason for renewed hope. At most, the general election results might give the judges the extra confidence to make a bold decision ... but I am not hopeful,” he says, adding that the party has heard all sorts of excuses denying registration, from being a threat to national security (no evidence was provided) to not having members in the minimum seven states (it does) and being already registered in Selangor (it isn’t).

PSM’s birth has its roots in the decision by another party to drop the word “socialist” from its name: Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia (which has a long, convoluted history of name changes, but which took on that name in 1967) was restructured into the Parti Rakyat Malaysia in 1990, leading to several members, including former ISA detainee Nasir, to leave the party.

“I left the party because it decided to drop the socialist tag,” explains Nasir, 61, in a phone interview. “The idea under the leadership of Dr Syed Husin Ali then was that the policies would continue to be progressive but without using socialist terminology because that would seem out of step with the times. However, my feeling was, ‘Why be ashamed?’ We are socialists and proud of it!”

At first, Nasir decided to concentrate on his social work with Suara Warga Pertiwi. Eventually, though, he teamed up with like-minded activists Arul (whose Community Development Centre operated in the Kajang-Semenyih area in Selangor) and Dr Jeyakumar (whose group, Alaigal, was working with plantation workers in Perak).

Arul says that, “We decided to be ideologically committed because we noticed that once parties started watering down their philosophies, they soon strayed from the cause of the struggle.”

In keeping with its leftist ideology, the party is not a top-down organisation in which leaders issue orders to be carried out by the rank and file: “We believe that leaders are there to carry out the wishes of the members, for that is true democracy,” explains Nasir.

“It will be very interesting to see how this philosophy will work now that I am representing the people of Kota Damansara because I intend to go to the people to find out what their grievances are, and what they want done. So far, this has worked within the party, but it will be a great opportunity to practise citizen’s democracy with a larger group of people.”

It remains to be seen how PSM’s relationship with PKR, DAP and PAS will function, but Nasir feels that the parties are on common ground on many important issues. His view is shared by PKR vice president R. Sivarasa.

“Co-operation between PKR and PSM is nothing new. It started in 2004, and it was just a question of recognising that they were having difficulty being registered. We have plenty of common ground and their policies were very unlike those of the Barisan Nasional.

“I am sure they will prove to be valuable assets; and they have a long-standing record of service to the people.”

So why do men like Dr Nasir (who has a PhD in nutrition but who prefers to practise acupuncture, which he learnt from fellow ISA detainees), Dr Jeyakumar, and Arul (a trained economist) give up lucrative careers in Malaysia’s consumerist economy to partake in a thankless struggle?

“I for one feel that I have to give something back,” says Nasir. “I was sent overseas by the Government, and I wanted to come back and serve the people. I don’t want the people to serve me. This work has its own reward.”

Arul agrees: “I have rarely been tempted to give up because each small success means so much. When you see downtrodden, honest men, women, and children finally get a house, or a little bit of land, or a cash settlement that has long been denied them unfairly, that sort of joy is priceless.”