It must have been a rather awkward moment for James Wong Kim Min. There he was seated in front of Dr Mahathir Mohamad among top Barisan Nasional leaders when the prime minister advised veteran political leaders to step down while they were still popular.
"Don't wait until you become unpopular to retire", he said at the opening of the Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB) convention in Kuching last Monday (July 8).
Of course, the prime minister did not make reference to anyone. If he did, he would probably be talking about himself and his intended departure from the pinnacle of power come October next year.
But the embattled president of the Sarawak National Party (Snap) was clearly feeling uneasy when press photographers focused on him exchanging greetings with Mahathir as he left the hall after the opening ceremony. A journalist present said he found the scene "politically embarrassing" for the veteran Sarawak politician.
James Wong is, of course, the man in the centre of a major political storm in Snap. The twists and turns of the four-month-old crisis have greatly embarrassed the Sarawak Barisan Nasional. No solution is in sight...yet.
When a reporter asked the prime minister on Monday what advice he has for Snap leaders, he merely replied, "I have no advice to give them. I'm sure they can find a solution to their problems".
Humiliation
Dr Mahathir Mohamad is 77. He will quit all political and government posts in October 2003. Kelantan chief minister Nik Aziz Nik Mat is 71 and had declared that he is ready to go anytime. Leo Moggie, at 60, is ready to go and had planned to step down as president of Parti Bansa Bayak Sarawak (PBDS) and as minister by July next year. MCA's Lim Ah Lek, 60, who gave up his ministerial post and did not contest in the 1999 general election, had also declared that he would give up the deputy presidency of the MCA and retire anytime.
But the oldest of them all is 80...and is still fighting to hang on to a top party post. Just what is James Wong still trying to prove in politics in his twilight years? And still clinging on to the president's post in the party, even when more than half of the party members (as claimed by the rebel group) want him to go.
Isn't it a shame that Malaysia's longest-serving politician, who should have retired in glory, style and grace years ago, is now the subject of ridicule among his fellow citizens, particularly Sarawakians?
Much as I sympathise with this grand old man of Sarawak politics and what he is going through now, I also feel he deserves the humiliation and all the dirt and smirch being thrown at his face now.
Yes, James Wong does deserve some accolades for his contributions to state and national politics. He was Sarawak's longest serving state assemblyperson, a deputy chief minister in the state's first post-independence cabinet and also a one-time parliamentary Opposition Leader.
But is there any necessity at all for a man of his position, stature and age to be involved in lies, deceit, betrayal and backstabbing the usual variables of a political crisis that have been plaguing Snap over the past few months?
Few will answer that question in the affirmative.
Problem-filled past
Talk to any politician worth his salt in Sarawak today and they are not likely to be surprised that Snap is in trouble yet again. It is as if they know that problems in the party will never end.
Now, it is not that Snap is the odd one out and that other political parties have never been in trouble before. The bigger parties like Umno, MCA or PBB had problems too. But the difference there is, such problems, whether internal or external, are solved quickly (in most cases) and they do not occur as frequently.
Snap has been through many crises since its formation in 1961. The late Apai Snap (Father of Snap) Stephen Kalong Ningkan was sacked as Sarawak's first chief minister in 1966 over the Land Bill issue. This was more of an external problem but Snap was never able to become a dominant player in Sarawak politics after that.
In 1970, Snap leaders claimed they were betrayed after the Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) teamed up with Parti Bumiputra and Parti Pesaka to form Sarawak's first coalition government. Left out in the cold, Snap remained in the opposition until 1976 when it decided to be a partner in what was already known as the Barisan Nasional state government.
Just as the party thought everything would be calmer after it joined the government, came another blow. This time, it was an internal crisis, the worst Snap went through.
The abrupt resignation of the then Snap president Dunstan Endawie (who succeeded Ningkan as president in 1976) in early 1981 left a vacancy which led to the party's worst internal crisis.
The bitter tussle between James Wong Kim Min and Leo Moggie for the party presidency in December that year split Snap right down the middle. The defeated Moggie led a breakaway group to form Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) two years later. After 1983, Snap never recovered and was never the same again.
Ming Court revolt
Four years later, in 1987, Snap was dealt another heavy blow when several of its key leaders including the late Edward Jeli, Joseph Balan Seling and Michael Ben joined the failed Ming Court revolt against Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.
Taib then brought the two remaining Snap senior leaders who were on his side during the crisis, James Wong and Dr Patau Rubis, into the state Cabinet. The 1987 revolt saw a further erosion of Snap's strength. It was left with only two state assemblypersons after the elections that year.
While some leaders eventually returned to the BN fold after the elections, many left the party to join PBB. Notable among them were Balan Seling and Michael Ben. It was also at this time that James Wong brought in pensioner Peter Tinggom to succeed Edward Jeli as deputy president. Tinggom, of course, is now leading the party's rebel group to force Wong out of office.
Patau's honeymoon years as an assistant minister only lasted until 1995 when Snap had to face another internal problem. In October that year, Taib sacked Patau from the Cabinet for allegedly supporting independent candidates in the parliamentary election that year.
This eventually led to Patau's indefinite suspension from the party. The following year, on the eve of the 1996 state election, Snap lost its senior vice-president when Patau resigned from the party and formed the State Reform Party (Star).
Although Patau's exit did not create much of a dent in Snap as he was seen as more of a lone ranger, the formation of Star however gave the Sarawak Barisan Nasional another political opponent. Although the party did not win any seat after having participated in two state and one parliamentary polls, it is still the only active local opposition party in Sarawak today.
Father-and-son factor
But Patau's resignation from Snap in 1996 did have a bearing in the crisis plaguing the party today. His departure left the Snap senior vice-president's post vacant.
The senior vice-president was the No 3 in Snap. Whether he is the wrong or right choice, Richard Wong (the president's eldest son) was nevertheless duly elected to fill in the vacant lot after he defeated former secretary-general Peter Gani during the party's delegates conference in 1997.
Richard's position today is now a sore point in the current party crisis. His father's detractors, not surprisingly, had alleged nepotism.
Of all people, it was Tinggom who fired the first "nepotism" salvo publicly by claiming that James Wong had told him that he (Wong) would not step down as party president until his son was ready to take over. But father and son had since denied the allegation.
Whatever it is, I feel it is not politically correct to have a father and son holding senior positions in the same party at the same time and worse, making key decisions for the party. The same can be said for the DAP's Lim Kit Siang and his son, Guan Eng.
As it is today, the father-and-son factor in Snap has become a 'powerful weapon' for the rebel group in their quest to force James Wong to step down.
The sacking of the member of parliament for Bintulu, Tiong King Sing, on April 20 this year sparked off the current crisis in Snap.
Like Leo Moggie in 1981, the rebel group in Snap today is not small. It comprises all but one of the party's elected representatives. That so many of the key leaders in the party are against the president and his men is an indication that something is seriously wrong indeed.
Perpetually plagued
So what is the real problem with Snap, or rather with those guys in the party?
Snap is a small party. Because it is small, it is vulnerable. Possibly one or two people think that because the organisation is small, it is easy to manage and control. Then, there are also others who feel that it is also easy to take over a small party via a coup or revolt from within.
As long as there are such people around (and politicians belong to that category), a small party or organisation like Snap will always face problems.
Secondly, Snap is a component of the BN and because it is a partner in the ruling coalition, it still has some clout and power, never mind that it is small. Now tell me, which politician is not interested in position and power (fame and fortune will possibly come later)? In that aspect, Snap is a political asset.
Snap has my sympathy. From a party which single-handedly formed Sarawak's first post-independence government in 1963, it has now been reduced to the most junior partner in the state government. Somehow, I doubt that the party will ever manage to regain its glorious days again. That era truly belongs to Stephen Kalong Ningkan alone.
Whether James Wong and his men or Tinggom, William Mawan and company are right or wrong is irrelevant. I believe both sides have their strength and weaknesses. Being politicians, I suppose they know what's in store for winners and losers. Yes, politics is complicated and it can also be an ugly and dirty game.
Party elders should know when it is time to call it a day and never to overstay their welcome in politics.
Like Mahathir said, go while you are still popular. James Wong, of all people, must consider it as a sound, tactful advice.
Like Mahathir, Wong should also be able to console himself with the knowledge that after all those decades in politics, there is really nothing else left to prove.
My hope for Sarawak's second oldest political party is that those who will lead Snap in the future will not bring in more dirt and ugliness into the party which has served the people of Sarawak so well for so long.
FRANCIS SIAH is a member of the malaysiakini team. He is a former Sarawak newspaper editor and the former secretary-general of the State Reform Party of Sarawak (Star).
