INTERVIEW | Over the past decade or so, DAP has been embroiled in an internal debate between two factions, which have labelled each other as Hua Sha (Chinese chauvinists) and Ying Sha (English chauvinists) or the “grassroots” versus the “elites”.

Dubbed as the "Blue Ocean vs Red Ocean" debate, it has been ongoing since the 13th general election when DAP sought to shed its Chinese image to appeal to the Malay electorate.

The Hua Sha faction has argued against abandoning DAP's principles and diluting the party’s Chinese-ness in favour of Malay votes.

Secretary-general Lim Guan Eng criticised this viewpoint, stressing he preferred being “Malaysian-centric and Malaysian first”.

Focusing on a single ethnic group, he said, would be a violation of DAP's call for a “Malaysian Malaysia”.

“You cannot limit yourself to just a single core. If you do that, then I think you end up being very narrow-minded, very extremist, and on the margins.

“Elections are never won on the extreme, they are always won on...