Saturday, April 25

Taib in a quandary over Sng's cabinet position ~ Malaysiakini


With Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud’s cabinet reshuffle imminent, focus is on Larry Sng, an assistant minister in the Chief Minister’s Department and assistant minister of industrial development, who has been ‘party-less’ since April last year.

Is Taib going to retain or drop him? That is the question many people, especially members of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), are pondering.

Sng was expelled from PRS after a leadership crisis which began in May 2006 and which led to the election of two presidents in the party with two sets of supreme councils and two headquarters.

While Sng was ‘elected’ to be president of one faction, James Masing, on the other hand, was ‘elected’ to head the other faction by his own supporters.

Sng (pic above) had a promising career with PRS, holding a senior post in the party when it was formed following the de-registration of the Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) in 2004.

Elected at the Iban-majority Pelagus constituency on a PBDS ticket on his first electoral outing in 2002, Sng was then appointed assistant minister two years later at the tender age of 25 in a cabinet reshuffle.

It is known that he was strongly recommended to the chief minister by Masing in order to show his (Masing’s) gratitude to Larry’s father Sng Chee Hua, who together with Masing successfully de-registered PBDS to form PRS.

Sng’s appointment as assistant minister by-passed some of the most senior state assembly persons in the party.


Will Taib entertain Masing’s request?

But the fall-out began when the young and ambitious Sng challenged Masing for the top post of the Dayak-based PRS, a move considered by observers to be Sng’s biggest mistake.

Sensing a threat to his leadership, Masing then expelled Sng’s men from the party in order to curtail his influence.

The expulsion of party secretary-general Sidi Munan, deputy publicity chief Earnest Chua and supreme council member Sng Chee Beng, plus the ‘reassignment’ of Sng himself from deputy secretary-general to publicity chief triggered the protracted leadership crisis in the party.

One effect of the expulsions was that the party split down the middle with each faction ‘electing’ their own presidents both with their own supreme councils and party headquarters. The two protagonists proceeded to accuse each other of conducting party affairs illegally.

The problem was more or less solved when the Registrar of Societies on April 1 last year recognised Masing’s power under the party’s constitution to hire and fire officials and office -bearers. Sng and members of his faction were then expelled.

In the latest development, Masing (pic below) yesterday wrote to the chief minister to officially inform him that Sng was no longer a PRS member and that he should be replaced by another state assemblyperson from the party in the cabinet.

Masing’s request has placed Taib in a quandary although it is the chief minister’s prerogative to select any one to be in his cabinet.

Will Taib entertain Masing’s request? To not do so would mean that Taib does not regard PRS as an important partner in the state BN coalition and already there are grumbles in PRS that Taib is ‘bullying’ the party.

Drop Sng, and Taib will have to incur the wrath of Sng’s rich and famous father-in-law, Ting Phek Khiing, who is also Taib’s close ally.


Keeping a low profile

But nobody knows what game is Taib is playing. Seemingly, Masing has an advantage as he has seven state assembly persons and six parliamentarians with him.

Looking at the matter from this perspective explains why the promised cabinet reshuffle has been delayed a number of times, generating more interest along the way not only in PRS, but also among the Dayak community as they speculate on Taib’s next move.

Many think that Taib may not carry out the reshuffle although there are a number of vacancies which have yet to be filled especially after Sarawak United People’s Party’s (Supp) two assistant ministers were defeated in the 2006 state election.

The best solution for Taib, observers say, would be to carry on as usual until the next state election due in mid- 2011 or earlier. This way, he neither pleases nor incurs the wrath of anyone.

Sng, meanwhile, is keeping a low profile and concentrating on discharging his duties. He refuses to comment on rumours that he may join Supp soon.

On his political future, he will leave it to the chief minister. “I am not a fortune-teller so I don’t think I have business telling the future,” he said.

“There are a lot of things to do and serving the people is my priority now. I intend to continue serving the people until the people think that there are better people to serve them and their interests.”

12 comments:

NEIL said...

Nothing but kitchen cabinet with masing as kitchen helper.

Boss 98 said...

JT,
There was one particular point you dearly missed out. When Masing notified Taib that Larry was no longer a party member he also submitted the name of YB Snowdon Lawan as the likely replacement.

Anonymous said...

Mr Taib once felt sorry for Dr Wong Soo Kai and appointed him as a Science Advisor to Sarawak Government.
Mr Larry Sng can be easily accomodated as a Financier Link.

Ibaneer United said...

Larry constituency's is majoritily Iban. He claims to represent the Iban community for so many years and yet he didnot married an Iban but married Ting Pek Khing's daughter.

When question raised why Chinese can represent Iban majority in DUN seat?

Many Iban says 'manah meh Cina ka ngari ka kitai'?

Then, next question, do Chinese majority in any DUN in Sarawak choose Iban as their DUN reps?

Chinese are more racist than the Dayak, for example, to be Resident in Sibu Division's dominated Foochows,the leaders there want only Chinese can be confirmed Resident there and same goes for the Sibu Municipal Council. The current Malay who are acting Resident in Sibu now for more than a year now can't be confirmed because he is not Chinese.....

So, to those Ibans who said 'manah meh Cina ka ngari ka kitai',goodluck to you...

Anonymous said...

Iban : Is the mention above story true ? I'm not chinese or opposing you in any particular. Just need the truth, that's all man.

Phyrestarter said...

Morning readers,

I would like to refer to what Iban (April 27, 2009 1:09 AM) wrote.

First of all in this new age of politics, it does not matter what race or religion you profess to when it come to representing a race. What is wrong with a Chinese representing the Iban or vice versa? Or a Malay representing Chinese? In the end we are all Sarawakians. As long as you can bring about progress, tell the govt our problems and provide solutions, I find no problem wit it.

Its people who say only this person has a right to represent that group of people regardless of his background and how he can perform is 1 of many reason why we still are stuck in the race politics. Agreed that sometimes it is easier when you know the people and you are 1 of them. Basically what I am saying is that in the end you must see whether there is a suitable candidate who can perform and his or her race is not important.

Who that person marries and which God he worships is irrlevant.

With the Foochows, I don't totally disagree that they sometimes look down on other races even other Chinese but there are cases where they have accepted a Dayak. The maib stumbling block would of course be the language but also the work culture. The Dayaks have long been known to be lazy and not dependable. Just ask those contract farming owners who hire the local people to work on their farm...Satu hari show up, satu hari lambat, 5 hari lagi tak show up langsung....sakit la...burung gagak duduk depan rumah...semua cerita pun bisik...

We have to prove to the other races that we can be more hard working and produce better results...something which no race can take away from you.

Sometimes we need to take a step back a re-evaluate ourselves and not just blame others....its easy to do that. It harder to admit its your mistake...it never is...

Back to the original post..


Snowdan Lawan as minister...now that is really scrapping the bottom of the barrel. What the fcuk is wrong with Masing...cannot find anyone better than that faggot Snowdan...Might as well recommend Jabu's son or Boy Mawan....all the same character...minum la...main perempuan la...bodoh la...and now you wonder why people look down on Dayaks...its bad enough we have Jabu and Masing and now the next generation also equally stupid.

Lord, pls save Sarawak from being flushed down the toilets of history....

Anonymous said...

better cina control then iban or bidayuh..laban sidak iban or bidayuh ybs pun nadai nulong bangsa diriumpu..

anang blame larry sng...undilah BN/taib sampai ari kiamat

Dayaks are meant to be the lowers class in sarawak..by theire own votes ...

Anonymous said...

Will Malcolm Mussen Anak Lamoh be nominated to replace allayarham Datuk Dubline Unting Anak Ingkot as Assistant Minister OR will the Youth Chief Mong Anak Dagang be so instead ????? OR Snowdown Lawan ????? For what Sng did to make BN won in the Batang Ai byelection, Larry will remain as Asst. Minister ? Any body waht to bet ???? YB Hagum & party ...????

Anonymous said...

I want to bet with anyone that Taib will keep Larry Sng as Assistant Minister or even promote him to be a full Minister.
Rumours are that Taib has asked Supp to take Larry Sng in but for some reason the Supp is dragging its feet which is just as well because as a Chinese party Supp is as good as finished come the next state elections. Their leaders can say whatever they want, so longas people like George Chan, Law Hieng Ding, Wong Soon Koh, Robert Law, Peter Chin,etc remain as leaders of the party the Chinese have little confidence in the party anymore. Supp is not what what it was in 1970. It is now akin to the old SCA (Sarawak Chinese Association) a party controlled by the Ling family or a towkay party. Supp is no a party that fights for socialism, but capitalism,because its leaders are involved in logging , plantation, contracts,etc, no better than any of the other parties in the BN. It is similar to MCA. They think they control the Chinese guilds and associations but do the Chinese support them? If you look at the results of the last state elections the answer is clearly no.
As to the many young Chinese voters, they know who they want to vote. Even if they do not want to vote DAP they will vote either for PKR (which in Sarawak has lousy Chinese leaders) and even for PAS like in Peninsular Malaysia.

Yes, what is wrong for a Chinese to represent an Iban constituency?IT shows the Ibans are quite broad, able to remove the chaff from the wheat,so to speak.In Batang Ai, they are only being practical. The BN Government offered so much money, they took it and out of obligation voted for BN, and now wait for the BN to fulfil their promises, and if the BN failed to fulfill those promises they will know what to do the next round.So you better watch out Malcolm Mussen Lamoh. You may not serve long enough to collect your pension because Jawah Gerang will be there all the time, not Nicholas Bawin who has betrayed his race in Batang Ai.

Anonymous said...

Apai Saliman says "Who is Ikan Masing to question brother Ting Pek Khing's SIL position. Have Ikan Masing look into the mirror?"

Anonymous said...

why a all bidayuh a stupid n forget bout their root n where they came frm...even thoug we a not that big n popular in sarawak but we must stand n stick together in any situation so that we can be strong n can sit in the dun seat...heheheheh....
that why our wellfare and voice never been herard by other...now is the time we rise n take our right and show what a true bidayuh made frm.....do u want ur land n home been taken by outsiders and living as aline in ur own home...
dont be selfish and iriponsibble with ur welth n name cause any time all of that will be taken ....

so i as a bidayuh guy really want at least 1 our bidayuh leader can speak and defent his kind not sell or just palying dum cause of the money , position and being control taht all bullshit ....we a a fighter and a worrior so do so speak the truth n do ur job not for the money , name or the title but for ur race n believe...
if not i think all of bidayuh will gone n broken.....and that will efect our future generation....
so think bout it...if u with me so we rise together n fight for out right take what is our........if u just want to be a puppet just do as usual and play along

Anonymous said...

"...Jawah Gerang will be there all the time, not Nicholas Bawin who has betrayed his race in Batang Ai..."
CHUUN AMAI KO DEK? Agum & party sure to promote Jawah Gerang ...again. They won with Sieng in betting ..
Did he NGELAR (slit) his throat as he said that he would do so now that he lost the election....Sieng won some RM5million in betting when Jawah was endored finally as the calon ... and the pakbayat won some RM100million in betting when he siad BN majority exceeded 1,200 votes. Who had been fianacing Hagum and PKR oublic function and who did pledge to finance Jawah for the by-election ???? -

PKRm must find reliable calon in the next eletion .. find better one for Ngemah ....

Rick Junkuboh