FEB 18 — Elizabeth Wong has been asked to go on leave and PKR will only make a decision whether to accept her resignation when she returns.
The fact that she has not done anything wrong and yet offered to resign her positions in order not to bring problems to her own party is most honourable.
The support shown to her has been tremendous, as can be seen from the 400-odd comments (and still counting) in her blog supporting her and urging her not to resign.
I regret that certain politicians from BN have prejudged her based on the photographs alone (fortunately, there are others who have stood up for her) and have compared this to CSL video, which is totally unfair. That video shows someone “caught” in the act of cheating his wife and family whereas the Eli Wong pictures do not show any wrongdoing.
Just because she is from another party does not mean that she should be attacked and put down.
In life, and in politics, there must be certain sense of decency and conscience.
Sometimes we must not be too caught up in partisanship. You can be a member of a certain political party, but please note that not everything from another party is wrong and must be criticised. Not everything from your own party is right and beyond criticism.
Political parties are just tools to achieve certain aims. Just because we are members of Party A do not mean that we must go all out to put down members of Party B. If certain policies of Party B are good for the people, support those policies. If certain policies of Party A are not good, criticise them as hard as you can.
If our children are in the wrong, we must let them know that what they did was wrong; only then can they grow up to be good people.
Why must politics be dragged to such low levels?
As in boxing,one must not hit below the belt. In life, there are certain acts that are taboo, such as adultery, murder and rape, character assassination, etc. In politics, we are supposed to support what is right and good, and reject what is bad and wrong; it does not matter whether these come from your own party or from the other side.
The great Deng Xiao Peng was a communist, but when he realised that not everything about capitalism is bad, he started to adopt certain free market policies and the result is rapid boom in the economy of China, and a rise in the standard of living of millions of people.
Ultimately, it all comes down to the people. Politics must be about people’s interest, and not self or even party interest.
In this case, if we do some soul searching (and based on the photographs alone), has Eli Wong done anything wrong? Most people will say no. I believe that anyone can do a random survey in his community and the answer will still be no.
So if she has done nothing wrong, then the logical thing for all of us, who claim to have a conscience, is to rise and stand behind her or any other person caught in a similar situation.
I appeal to leaders who are on the opposing side of Eli Wong: before you condemn her, search your own conscience first.
The writer is a central committee member of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia.
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