Jimmy Leow

The differences between a PKR and BN dinner during campaigning in the Bukit Selambau by election was plenty as CJ Lim Boo Seng and I witnessed last night. We did a coverage at the PKR dinner and the atmosphere there was thunderous and cheerful, people shaking hands with PKR’s officials and so forth. Even the reporters looked lively and jovial. According to a PKR official, there were 106 tables (1060 seatings) and every seat was taken.

I noticed that the itinerary of the event was important and there were some differences in the way both parties arranged them. For example, PKR would get all the big guns to finish their speeches and then serve food. While MCA served food as they addressed the crowd.

Over at MCA’s dinner, much to our amaze, the crowd was very quiet, everyone seems attentive, well to the food, that is. Even when Ong Tee Keat was giving his speech, there was no reaction from the crowd. I believed the crowd figure was approximately 600.

The worst part was, when BN candidate S. Ganesan was giving his speech, some supporters had left, in particular the table right in front of us. Was that a sign of rejection? Well, we will know come 7 April 2009.

The only good thing that happened during the MCA dinner was a surprising statement by Mrs S. Ganesan in Hokkien and she spoke the dialect well. And that brought some cheers from the crowd. Maybe she should be the candidate for BN in this by election….

“If they (BN) offer free food, go and eat! If they give money, take it and spend it, why worry? By the way, the money is actually from people like you and me, so what is wrong? But vote PKR ok?” said a 70 Pak Haji that I came across at Youth Park Hill 3 this morning.

“Su ka lau kor” in Hokkien it means sue them till their pants drop…The mosque authorities from Bandar Kinrara admitted that Teresa Kok had nothing to do in the case of the azan call, it showed how “misinterpreted” the police and the newspapers were at the time of the investigations. So, this can only mean that Khir Toyo and Utusan Melayu were lying. 

Kok was political secretary to Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang from 1990 to 1995. In 1995, she contested the Ipoh Barat 

Parliamentary seat on a DAP ticket but was defeated by the MCA candidate. Kok resigned as political secretary after that to further her studies.

In the 1999 General Elections, Kok won the Parliamentary seat of Seputeh in Kuala Lumpurwith a majority of 5,200 and was re-elected in 2004 with a majority of 12,895, the largest winning margin among the 13 elected DAP MPs. In the 2008 General Elections, Kok retained her Parliamentary seat of Seputeh in Kuala Lumpur with a majority of 36,492, the largest majority in any constituency. In the new Selangor executive council, she was named senior executive councillor and put in charge of investment, trade and industry to ensure all fund are directed to all the Malaysians.

Teresa was reelected into Central Executive Committee of DAP during the party’s National Congress (23-24 August 2008) in Kuala Lumpur. She is currently the DAP National Organising Secretary, prior to this position she was DAP Publicity Secretary. She is also the National Secretary of DAP Wanita (the women‘s wing of the DAP) and a member of the DAP Disciplinary Committee. In Parliament, she was a member of the Select Committee on Review of Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code.

Kok is the Secretary of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC). She was an active lobbyist for Burmese democracy and human rights since 1996 when she was the Coordinator of Political Leaders Network Promoting Democracy in Burma (PD Burma) in Southeast Asian region.

You don’t hear or see much of these unselfishness these days. Some may ponder why she is doing this when she is not a muslim, this and that. Maybe the fact is simply that she is concerned about the needs of the people.

Teresa intended to donate a cattle to Bandar Kinrara mosque authorities for clearing her name in any involvement in the azan call issue, but those plans have not panned out. Probably, not a good idea to donate cows nowadays, a lesson learned by MB Khalid, that poor guy, donates to charity yet and got into “trouble” with MACC.

Teresa Kok was accused of asking a Bandar   Kinrara  mosque, situated in the state seat of Sri Serdang —  which neighbours her Kinrara constituency — to  reduce the volume of its azan call last year, leading  to her arrest and week-long detention under the  Internal Security Act (ISA).

 Here are some comments from the public taken  from Malaysian Insider over Tersa Kok’s donation to a surau, Islamic daycare centre and a primary school in conjunction of Maulidur Rasul.

“Sri Serdang mosque stood by you during those trying times. It is wonderful that you reciprocate. A bright future is dawning on Sri Serdang. Well done, Teresa and Haji Harun.”

“We are all one entity, one being all interrelated closely with one another. So to harm others is to harm ourselves. We originally had this comprehension, this great broad-mindedness, why are we so narrowed minded now. Save Malaysia from this narrowed-mindedness.”

“Bila i baca ni, rasa happy ada, curiga pun ada. Apa motif sumbangan ini? Tapi I tetap akan bersangka baik dengan YB. I harap keikhlasan YB akan membuka mata semua.”

“God will of course bless those who reaches out to help others. Even though we are of differing religion, but let us not forget that God’s creations comes from the lineage of Adam and Eve (or Adam dan Hawa). 

We have Prophect Abraham (Nabi Ibrahim), Moses (Musa), Joseph (Yusuf), Jacob (Yakob) and many similar named prophects (or Nabi) in the Old Testament (and Koran). If we delft deeper into the history of mankind, we are somehow inter-related to one another. It is not that God or Allah belongs to one race, but God or Allah blesses all of us, without regards to the colour of our skin, and in the language and dialect that we called out to Him. He reigns supreme over all His creations. If the trees can talk and sing, they will call and sing out God’s praises in adoration of Him. 

Yes, Teresa, you are truly a good daughter to our Father in Heaven. God or Allah will keep on pouring His blessings upon you, and through you, blessings will overflow unto others. Well done, Teresa! 

Our heartfelt prayers to God or Allah will definitely reach His Kingdom-shore. Let our cries be heard by His Divine Majesty. Yes, God is Great. Allah will keep on blessing His children, and none will be left out.”

“Well done, YB Teresa. Keep helping all walks of life – Malays, Chinese, Indians, Orang Asli etc. Show them that you’re doing it not to gain fame, but to fulfill your responsibilities as an MP. Hope to hear more good deeds from you for the people soon.”

Malaysian Insider PUCHONG, March 9 – She was locked up for  a week on allegations of being anti-Islam but yesterday Kinrara state assemblywoman Teresa Kok donated a sum of RM10,000 to the Surau Darus Salam here for its new speaker system to broadcast the call to prayer or azan.

The donation was in conjunction with Maulidur Rasul, for which the Seputeh MP also gave RM2,500 each to a local Islamic daycare centre and primary school.