By any means: A group of people gate-crashing the Dong Zong building before an extraordinary general meeting on Aug 23 to elect a new leadership took place.
IT is a relief to see Dong Zong successfully convening an anticipated extraordinary general meeting (EGM) last Sunday to oust its feuding leaders and elect a new central committee to put an end to its 20-month crisis, despite violent protests held outside its office to stop the EGM.
It is also heartening to note that the newly elected president, Vincent Lau Lee Ming from Sarawak, is someone who has stayed above the fray of the power struggle between two rival camps in Dong Zong (United Chinese School Committees Association).
But to the dismay of many, the new committee also comprises controversial characters such as Poh Chin Chuan, who is one of the key persons responsible for contributing to the current crisis in Dong Zong and splitting this Chinese education group.
Poh, the immediate past secretary-general (sec-gen) of Dong Zong, is retained as sec-gen in the new committee. He had led past committee members to oppose the leadership of immediate past president Dr Yap Sin Tian for the past one and a half years.
But even so, there is no compelling reason for Yap or any disgruntled group to challenge the legality of the EGM and its outcome. This is because the holding of this EGM appeared to have complied with the Constitution of Dong Zong, obtained the sanction of the court and guidance from the state Registrar of Society (RoS) of Selangor.
Hence, Yap should stop finding legal avenues to challenge this EGM and the new leadership line-up.
For someone who has a track record of defending Chinese education for 20 years, there is expectation for him to show his love for Dong Zong. Dragging Dong Zong into another protracted legal battle, like what had happened in the last 20 months, will deal another damaging blow to this Chinese education movement.
Yap is expected to accept the outcome of the EGM in a gentlemanly manner, as prior to the Aug 23 EGM, he had failed to obtain a court injunction to stop the EGM from being held. It would be contempt of court if those who had gate-crashed Dong Zong on Aug 23 were instigated by him.
Logically, Yap should have been allowed to serve his full four-year term as elected president until mid-2017 if there was no issue with him. But since 10 out of 13 state affiliates of Dong Zong lost confidence in his leadership and requisitioned for an EGM to remove him in accordance with the provisions in Dong Zong’s Constitution, he should pass the reins to his successor.
In planning to challenge the legality of the EGM, Yap may want to give some consideration to the feelings of the Chinese community which now only wants to see an end to the Dong Zong’s crisis.
It really does not matter to them who is in the right or wrong. It matters to them that the crisis ends as soon as possible so that serious work, such as the holding of the UEC examination for more than 25,000 students in 60 Chinese high schools in October, can proceed smoothly.
It also matters to the Chinese community that the National RoS will not deregister Dong Zong. The National RoS has given an ultimatum to Dong Zong’s two factions to come to a settlement by Sept 7.
It is clear to Yap and his staunch supporters that even if Yap managed to nullify the Aug 23 EGM, he could not function as an effective leader. Not only has he lost the support of his committee, he has also lost control of the huge Dong Zong secretariat and sympathy of the mass media.
And due to his mishandling of many issues, his advisers and long-time “comrades” in Chinese education have abandoned him. Some are even giving advice to his rivals.
In fact, public opinion is overwhelmingly against Yap since the EGM. Most commentaries in the Chinese media condemned the rogue behaviour of Yap’s supporters and questioned the logic of engaging violence to stop a court-sanctioned EGM.
Now that the EGM had voted in a new committee headed by Lau, the shattered Dong Zong should be allowed to pick up the pieces and move forward, they commented.
As the new leader is a prominent businessman and a politician within the ruling Barisan Nasional in Sarawak, there are high expectations.
Lau is a son of the owner of the hugely diversified KTS Group in Sibu, with businesses ranging from timber and timber-related sectors to plantation, media, oil palm, prawn farming, shipbuilding, food and glass sand making.
In its media segment, KTS owns peninsula-based Chinese newspaper Oriental Daily.
Lau, who is the deputy managing director of KTS, contested the Sibu Parliamentary seat in the May 2013 general election on a SUPP ticket, but lost it to DAP. SUPP is a component party of Barisan.
The 58-year-old Australia-trained economist said in an interview that he was under no illusion that issues plaguing Dong Zong would go away easily. However, he promised to chart a course to bring Dong Zong back on its feet again.
He said Dong Zong could not continue to be split, as this would have far-reaching consequences for Chinese education in Malaysia.
Dong Zong, which has been championing Chinese education for over 60 years, has played a key role in the development of Chinese schools. Many prominent politicians, professionals and businessmen have had their early start in Chinese primary schools.
Lau told Sin Chew Daily that the first task for him as president was to persuade the Sarawak state government to grant official recognition to the UEC certificate awarded by Dong Zong to students sitting for its UEC exams.
Giving official recognition would mean Chinese secondary school leavers with UEC certificates could work in the civil service. This has been the aspiration of the Chinese community for decades.
But Nanyang Siang Pau, in its editorial, advised Dong Zong to eventually retire all controversial figures so that the organisation could win back support from Yap’s supporters and move forward as a united body.
Hopefully, Yap will inform the National RoS on Sept 7 that he accepts the new leadership line-up so that Dong Zong can close a dark chapter of its history.
Without a doubt, a deregistration of Dong Zong will cause an uproar in the Chinese community. Inevitably, fingers will point at Yap and Poh and their collaborators for forcing Dong Zong into this sad and embarrassing state of affairs.
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