Former Federal Territories Umno youth chief Mohd Razlan Rafii has claimed that DAP’s rebuke against its members for receiving state honours is proof that the party is against the Malay rulers.
He said that the true reason for DAP’s "anger" towards its own elected representatives is because receiving the award is a significant blow to the party’s “true cause”.
“What Malacca DAP elected representatives had done has angered DAP leaders by officially acknowledging the constitutional monarchy in Malaysia’s administration, which is a great blow to DAP’s true cause.
“The excuse that they can get titles only after retiring or upon approval by the central executive committee (CEC) is only a lie meant to keep Malaysians contented for a while,” he said in a statement today.
He noted that DAP’s party constitution makes no mention about supporting the system of constitutional monarchy, which he claimed is proof that the party is in favour of parliamentary rule without the royalty.
For the record, the DAP party constitution makes little mention of a preferred system of government apart from listing “to reaffirm and restore the Malaysian constitution in its original secular framework as the supreme law of the land […]” as one the party’s objectives.
The longstanding issue of state titles has been a thorny one for DAP, as it tries to preserve its egalitarian image while fending off accusations of being anti-royal.
The issue had resurfaced last weekend when exco member Tey Kok Kiew (photo, right) and state legislative assembly deputy speaker Wong Fort Pin (photo, left) received a Malacca state award each on Saturday that carries the title “Datuk”. This was in conjunction with the state’s governor Mohd Khalil Yaakob’s 80th birthday.
In addition, three Sabah DAP leaders had also received awards that carry the title “Datuk”, namely Sabah DAP chairperson Stephen Wong, vice-chairperson Frankie Poon and Sri Tanjung assemblyperson Jimmy Wong.
In reprimanding the DAP leaders today, party organising secretary Anthony Loke said, "DAP leaders are in politics to serve the people and not seek fame or titles or positions”.
He added that elected representatives and local councillors could receive these honours after retiring from service, “presumably after they have contributed to the society at large”.
Loke said the party will issue a written advisory to all its elected representatives and local councillors on the committee's reiterated position, which is that DAP members should not receive any awards and titles while still in active political service.
Any offers of such awards and titles should be referred to the party’s central leadership, he added.
Also today, DAP assistant national treasurer Ngeh Koo Ham had insisted that this guideline was not a sign of disrespect against the monarchy.
“There is no intention for us to offend the royalty as they are one of our institutions. We will respect them,” Ngeh said.
DAP award recipients in the past
Previously, the CEC had approved for its leaders Teng Chang Kim and Ngeh to receive state awards from the Selangor and Perak sultans, respectively, in 2010 and 2008.
The decision was made after it emerged that the recommendation for the award came from the palace itself.
There had also been calls from within the party, such as by its Sekinchan assemblyperson Ng Suee Lim in 2012, for the party to relax it stance on state titles and awards to avoid the perception of being anti-royalty.
In an interview with Malaysiakini, Ng had suggested at the time that DAP leaders should accept awards after three years of government service.
"Perhaps our excuse in the past was that we have yet to make any contributions (to the state). If we get a title as soon as we come into government, the people would question us, as if we are power hungry," he said.
