I wish to publicly apologise to the party and the people for my mistake in choosing to trust in the loyalty of the Gang Of Four to the DAP, especially after I was cheated by Sim Tong Him’s pledge that “he lived as DAP and would die as a DAP man”. The Gang of Four comprising Kota Melaka MP Sim Tong Him, Duyong assemblyperson Goh Leong San, Bachang assemblyperson Lim Jak Wong and Kesidang assemblyperson Chin Choong Seong, had given BN a gift in the next general elections by unexpectedly resigning from the DAP.
Sim had repeatedly pledged his undying loyalty to the DAP. Even during his betrayal of the party in the 2013 general elections when Sim stood as an independent in the Kota Laksamana state seat against the DAP official candidate, Sim had famously said that “he lived as DAP and would die as a DAP man, this fact is immutable”. Clearly it is not the party that has changed, but it is Sim that has changed by breaking his solemn pledge made publicly in 2013.
On the day he left DAP, Sim even said that he felt no heartache in leaving the party he had been a member for 35 years. I was wrong to believe that Sim would remain steadfast and loyal to the DAP despite deep differences with CEC leaders. This was the reason why the Gang of Four were given seats to contest in the 2013 general elections.
Sim now claim he is still loyal to the party but only disloyal to the party leadership. If Sim is loyal to the DAP, he should remain in the party to campaign and convince DAP members to remove the party leadership he did not like. Or has Sim lost confidence in getting support from DAP members after his faction’s defeat in the DAP Melaka state elections in 2015?
Sim defies logic by insisting that he is still loyal to the DAP after betraying the party. This suspension of reality and reason is no different from BN insisting that there is no corruption in the 1MDB RM52 billion scandal, the USD 1 billion donation scandals and FELDA’s RM 4.3 billion missing funds scandal. What is worrying is that just as there are some who do not believe that BN is corrupt, there are also some, including within the party, who believe that the Gang of Four is still loyal to the DAP by leaving the party.
For this reason party leaders and members should not underestimate the threat posed by the outrageous and ridiculous claims made by Sim or the Gang of Four that they are still loyal to the party. Neither should party leaders and members underestimate the ability by BN leaders to carry out their predictions of more of such acts of “betrayals”.
So far, the Gang of Four had been unable to provide any solid rationale for leaving the party. This is an act of personal retaliation for their defeat in the Melaka state party elections in 2015 and subsequent suspension for one year for focusing their attacks, not on BN but on the DAP. The Gang of Four appears confused as to what policy differences with the party leadership they are unhappy about, especially when they have never communicated them to top CEC leaders.
Instead it is the BN that has provided the rationale for their resigning, citing co-operation between Lim Kit Siang and Tun Dr Mahathir, as well as the falsehood of DAP still working together with PAS. These issues will be discussed at the party meeting with DAP Melaka members and leaders tonight.
Once again I apologise for believing in Sim Tong Him and the Gang of Four’s loyalty to the party, a mistake which caused the party to still nominate them as winning candidates in the last general elections and caused DAP to lose one MP and 3 ADUN seats.