FORMER Sabah Cabinet Minister, Datuk Tham Nyip Shen has described his former party President Datuk Yong Teck a ‘suspicious and ingratitude’ character.
In a rebuttal to the recent unkind remarks by Yong and SAPP Assistant Secretary-general, Foo Fook Ming issued today, Tham claimed that as early as in 1986, Yong had tried to oust him (Tham) as an elected candidate.
He claimed that Yong was furious when he discovered that he (Tham) was to be a candidate for Elopura in the 1985 State elections when both were then in Parti Bersatu Sabah.
This despite the fact that both had formed a strong bonding during their student leadership days while in the United Kingdom and sharing the same passion in politics back then.
“But Yong’s attempt failed miserably when Datin Genevieve (Kitingan), wife of PBS leader Datuk Pairin, got my candidacy reinstated in the 1986 State elections,” Tham pointed out.
“He finally got his way to nudge me aside from active politics in 2004, when we were both in SAPP, by denying me the opportunity to be a parliamentary candidate for Batu Sapi.
“In between, our supposedly friendship saw me giving tacit support to Yong even while he was a junior Chinese leader in PBS, much to the consternation of the PBS leadership, who then reckoned that I was a rabble rouser.”
Tham said he was finally 'dropped' from the PBS candidate list for the 1994 State elections and he had planned on switching to the Gerakan before Yong proposed the formation of SAPP, as Yong too was being pressured by certain PBS leaders.
“But I dropped the idea of joining Gerakan and helped out with the (SAPP) Constitution, together with Au Kam Wah, drew the Logo and Flag of the new party. Despite all these, when Yong showed me the pro tem list of his Supreme Council, I was down as a committee member (this is how much he valued me!).
“He was ‘forced’ to shift me to Treasurer General when other ‘better’ choices of his declined. Despite that slight, I used my personal contacts to help to register SAPP in less than 24 hours. When returned from KL at the airport, he was swamped by his “much more trusted comrades”, surrounding him right in front during the press conference.
“I was left at the back to pick up the luggage. Surely, I am not the only one he ‘trusted so much as claimed,” added Tham.
Despite such treatment and the fact that his friends had warned him about Yong’s ‘suspicious and ingratitude’ nature, Tham said he laboured on and was among three of the seven SAPP candidates to win in the 1994 State elections. Yong and Datuk Raymond Tan were the other two.
Tham said that having played many other important roles in the formation of the BN Government (in 1994), much beyond the scope of SAPP, he was picked as a Minister.
“If my appointment to the Cabinet then is solely Yong’s effort – surely I would have him to thank him solely. If I did not thank him then, now I am saying a big “thank you” to him again,” said Tham who was once Deputy Chief Minister.
According to Tham, when he decided to quit State politics in 2004, the first person he spoke to was Yong, at the same time proposing that the Elpoura seat go to Au Kam Wah.
“I did express my wish to contest in Batu Sapi, a newly created Parliament seat,” admitted Tham.
“In the BN seat-sharing concept component parties are allocated with specific number of seats, the Party President then solely decide the candidacy. Yong was given two new seats (he later picked Melanie Chia for Luyang (ADUN) and Eric Majimbun for Sepanggar(MP).
“He has the sole power to decide who to stand and where. (BN Chairman) Datuk Seri Musa Hj Aman even persuaded Yong to let me stand in Batu Sapi instead of Eric in Sepanggar in a seat swap, but Yong remained adamant.
“After two attempts, I told Datuk Musa not to pursue the matter further as I was happy to play a different role anyway. I then told Yong that I would not go back to my State seat that was given to Au. (Today, he alleges that I am still eyeing for Batu Sapi-HOW HILARIOUS!).
“I pledged to campaign for BN statewide instead. Appreciating what I did, Datuk Musa appointed me as Science Advisor over and above the SAPP quota in the Government. The appointment was conveyed to Yong, not lobbied by Yong, as a matter of fact.”
Tham said after a premature end to his active political career and despite attempts to oust him as the party’s Number 2, he remained committed to the SAPP cause. He said he knew that Yong had secretly backed Raymond’s challenge.
“Despite Yong’s antics against me, I have refrained from talking about it all these while and even when I left SAPP, out of respect and for his sake. I have never protested and kept quiet all this while; hoping that he will rise to greater height even if at my expense.
“My naïve hope is that, one day he would appreciate all these good deeds and remember me. It now has become obvious that I am a disposed ‘dog’ ready to be cooked.
“Politics is certainly a cruel game, as the famous Chinese saying, “Arrows shall be safe-kept once the birds are all gone; and the hound would be cooked when the game is over!” [鸟飞尽，良弓藏，狡兔死，走狗烹].
“How true! For my own survival, I need to at least try to clean the taint as much as possible by telling my side of the story!”
Note:
(Datuk Tham Nyip Shen was Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah from 1996 - 2004. He also held other portfolios including State Tourism & Culture Minister, State Industrial Development Minister, State Resource Development and IT Minister, and State Science Adviser which he quit soon after SAPP pulled out from Barisan Nasional in September 2008.)
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