YOURSAY | Kit Siang will be remembered for his Sisyphean efforts

YOURSAY | 'And for his gumption to do what very few Malaysians would.'

Kit Siang announces retirement from politics

Guan Eng holds back tears in swan song speech as sec-gen

Vijay47: That cesspool known as Malaysian politics is filled to the brim with thieves, crooks, racists, and shameless vermin you would never want to be even seen with.

The only small consolation is that we also have towers of honour and honesty, though they can be counted on just one hand. Tunku Abdul Rahman, the Seenivasagam brothers and Tan Chee Khoon will always be looked upon with total respect and great affection.

Striding into the sunset for a well-deserved rest, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang finally leaves the arena that for 56 years was more home to him than home itself.

His was a record of service without a single blemish even if the road was often strewn with stones and thorns, placed on his path by evil men and a traitorous one in particular.

Kit Siang neither flinched nor faltered, he continued on the tempestuous journey to march with and for his fellow Malaysians, unmindful of race and religion.

And for this devotion, he was thrown into the dungeons by that evil man who continues to be evil.

As you ease into the soft refrain of your swan song, what farewell can we bid you, sir? What words can anyone have for a great person?

Beyond your service, yours was a simple life where your wealth, unlike that of countless others, remained as modest as it always was. Perhaps only enriched by the love of your family and the adulation of party and nation. Not many are worthy of this.

Goodbye, and thank you, Kit Siang, for being a true patriot and a Malaysian hero to all of us.

Proarte: A wise and timely decision by Kit Siang to retire now.

Sadly, the collaboration with Dr Mahathir Mohamad proved to be Kit Siang's biggest blunder of his political career.

At the very outset, Mahathir sought to undermine the Pakatan Harapan manifesto, thus reneging on promises to the nation. This soon destroyed the trust which the electorate had for Harapan politicians.

Mahathir made undisguised attempts at undermining PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim and the DAP.

Kit Siang, for all his talk about the Harapan presidential council being able to keep Mahathir in check turned out to be a hoax because neither Kit Siang nor DAP opposed or criticised Mahathir’s excesses or divisive actions.

Mahathir was left unchecked in his mission to destroy the Harapan government. The “Sheraton Move” was engineered by Mahathir but indirectly assisted by DAP because of their political cowardice and their desire not to rock the boat as they were enjoying the extravagant perks of office.

Kit Siang ignored the elephant in the room and directed his criticisms elsewhere, leaving Mahathir unscathed. Kit Siang should have been in government to help greenhorn DAP ministers in their job and also to keep Mahathir in check but he abdicated this responsibility for unfathomable reasons.

The end result was the collapse of Harapan and a totally frustrated and angry rakyat who had been crying out for a “New Malaysia”.

MS: Thank you, Kit Siang. Thank you for the more than half a century you spent trying to keep the country on the straight and narrow, as a country for all Malaysians.

If not for your untiring efforts which have cost you dearly, the godforsaken place in the grips of the worst of humankind - the bigots, the parasites, the thieves and the wastrels - would have failed a lot sooner than it has.

Your failure to stop the steady decline in every measurable aspect was not by any means for want of trying. The country, founded on the false narrative of racial and religious superiority, was doomed to fail… and going by the mounting evidence at hand, it has.

Despite that, you will be remembered for your Sisyphean efforts, for your unwavering focus and your gumption to do what very few Malaysians would, and for striving selflessly and persistently for a better future for all despite everything that was thrown at you.

So, thank you, stay well and fare forward to your next phase as a guide by the side of those who seek your counsel.

Maya: Kit Siang, I salute you for taking the bold step of stepping down.

You have contributed so much to the country and people as a great opposition leader during the Mahathir era. You have taken everything in your stride. Despite being incarcerated by Mahathir, you continued to persevere.

The biggest step you took was to put ego and self aside to work with that man, who has no feelings, except his ego and who almost destroyed your life.

The most important lesson I learnt from you is your virtue of being calm and compassionate, despite being criticised. It takes immense peace of mind to go through all that you stood for. I wonder if we will ever have someone of such calibre in Malaysian politics.

Thank you, blessings and wish you well.

Vote4changejohor: Great job done by the DAP forebearers Kit Siang, the late Karpal Singh and Guan Eng over the last two to three decades.

Despite the recent setbacks in the Malacca and Johor elections, there is a silver lining in the cloud and positive development in Harapan with PKR’s Rafizi Ramli returning to active politics and Nurul Izzah Anwar, who is also taking a more active role recently.

The response from members and citizens to the news was overwhelming. This augurs well for many fence-sitters and sceptics who did not come forward to support Harapan recently.

Now that Harapan is reorganising and resetting its priorities, may good citizens will again come forward to support Harapan in GE15.

WhiteRabbit1700: Heartfelt thanks and appreciation to both Guan Eng and Kit Siang for their dedication, time and effort in upholding good values, ideals, integrity and good governance. Both of you are legends and have secured a place in history as warriors for a better Malaysia.

Together with the late Karpal Singh, you are an inspiration to all in Malaysia and the world. Your efforts will not be in vain. God bless both of you and your family.

Falcon: This is indeed a class act, in a country where one does one’s best to die in office or refuse to hand over, obsessed with wanting to be, to return, or to remain prime minister!

To both Kit Siang and Guan Eng, I have nothing but respect. Your track record and presence in Parliament speaks volumes. You walk the talk, and now the party has 42 MPs.

If only the others in the crowded sea of has-beens, gangsters, thieves, and robbers adopted the same virtue, it would pave the way forward for a younger generation of leaders in Malaysia without the baggage of the old guard.

JazliSalleh: Do not despair. DAP has even survived with only 15 seats in the 1980s. They never gave up, even when party leaders were maliciously detained.

Today, they are in a much better position, thanks to the Lims and all the senior party leaders. The national agenda will be achieved one day.

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