DAP’s Struggle: Part 1 - The Early Days, and What It Stands For
The Democratic Action Party, better known as DAP, was formed on the 18th of March, 1966, initially as the Malaysian branch of Singapore’s People’s Action Party (PAP). However, after Singapore’s separation from Malaysia, DAP became an independent party of its own.
DAP is the first multiracial political party in Malaysia, a revolutionary concept then (and some would argue now as well). This was one of the main reasons why I was drawn to this party. It’s belief in a Malaysian Malaysia resonates deeply with me. DAP’s political leanings are towards the left of the political sphere. It’s a social democratic party, dedicated towards the elimination of the inequalities in society, and protecting the rights of every Malaysians, regardless of their race or religion.
Beliefs:
The complete list of their policies concerning a wide range of issues can be seen here.
Social: Due to the dominant political mood of conservatism in Malaysia, DAP has taken the liberal side on social issues. Since DAP isn’t burdened with the Islamisation race that PAS, UMNO and Keadilan had choosen to partake in, it generally takes up issues ranging from protesting against the ban on public kissing, to advocating the formation of the National Interfaith Commission. DAP’s also very big on the preservation of all the cultures of Malaysians of different ethnicities, hence its support for the preservation of Mandarin and Tamil-medium schools, as well as the mother-tongue languages of Malaysia’s minority races.
DAP is against the National Economic Policy (NEP, a Malay/indigenous affirmative action program) in its present form, but not its aims and ideals. It does not agree that affirmative action should be based on something as crude as race. Instead, it advocates the reformation of the NEP into an affirmative program which would give assistance to any poor Malaysian according to their socio-economic status, irregardles of their ethnicities.
DAP is also constantly at the forefront in its struggle to reform local university admissions and scholarship rewarding programs so that they would be based on genuine meritocracy. They want only 1 standardised university admission examination, instead of the present 2 (STPM and Matriculation). They also want the scholarship process to be transparent, revealing the criterias used in deciding who to award them to.
Economic: DAP supports a regulated free-market economy. I think it would be safe to venture that it would favour heavier taxation on the highest earners in society, and redistributing that wealth to the poorer segments of society in the form of social safety nets. DAP also advocate the implementation of minimum wages and the restoration of the rights for unions to operate.
DAP is also synonymous with zealously being against corruption of any kind. They are well-known for consistantly unearthing allegations of corruptions involving government departments, government-linked corporations (GLCs) as well as personal corruptions from government MPs. They also constantly hound UMNO on their culture of money politics, or ‘cash for votes’, both within UMNO’s internal structure, as well as during elections.
Political: DAP advocates reforms of the more unfair aspects of Malaysia’s political structure. It opposes the gerrymandering of constituencies to favour BN, some of which result in an urban voter’s vote being equal to only one-tenth of a rural voter’s vote. Representational? Don’t think so.
It also advocates a directly elected Senate. Currently, senators in the Dewan Negara are all appointed by the state governments, with the result of those senators being almost all from BN, except for 2 from PAS. It also wants to restore municiple/city/local government elections, which inexplicably is still banned by BN under the ridiculous excuse of “the Opposition would win a lot of mayoral seats if we permit them to vote for their majors”. What the hell??? I mean… seriously, what the fcuk???
DAP is also in favour of televising parliament sessions, in order to improve the quality of the MP’s debates.
That’s it for Part 1!
Good effort. At last someone made the initiative to put everything in black and white. But it does sounds very “idealistic”, at times I do feel there are many conflicts that exist within the party itself. For example, statements that been issued contradicts one another. There don’t seem to be a synergy there and not to mention some statement issued sounds ridiculously stupid and brash. I think what they need to do is to get things sort out internally first, then proceed to convince the rakyat that they’re worth us taking the chances.
Comment by sarahjane — June 24, 2006 @ 6:13 pm
Hi there sarahjane! Thanks for dropping by
I’m curious to know what are those conflicting statements that you’ve mentioned. Mind enlightening me?
As far as I know about DAP’s stances, I don’t think I’ve encountered any major conflicting stances as yet.
A bit idealistic?
Well, maybe. But one can hope, now can we? Plus, after my personal examination of DAP and what it stands for, they have convinced me of their commitment, dedication and sincerity in pursuing their cause. Causes which I wholeheartedly support, such as a truly Malaysian Malaysia national identity, a fairer tertiary education admission system, and anti-corruption.
Comment by sigma — June 28, 2006 @ 3:33 pm
impressive!
Comment by jeffrey — June 30, 2006 @ 3:41 pm