Digest on Malaysian News

Soon after Larry Sng gave his statement that he vows to lead PRS, the other faction of PRS reminded him that he is treading on soft ground and is asked to stop giving the wrong signal to PRS grassroots.




Larry did admit that if the ROS's decision stands, then he will urge members to support James Masing and Barisan Nasional (BN) leadership.

As for himself, since is the other faction leader that is not recognized by ROS, he will be partyless, almost.

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Extracted from TheBorneoPost

PRS leadership crisis far from over

By Churchill Edward

Sng asked to disassociate himself with ‘sacked’ officials and stop giving ‘wrong signal’

KUCHING: Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) has asked one of its members, Larry Sng, to stay clear of those whom the party has “sacked”.

Sng, Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department, has been told to do so otherwise he would be sending a wrong signal — that the party is still divided by factions and that he is still the “president”.

PRS secretary-general Wilfred Nissom said it would not be good for Sng to be associated with those already “sacked” including Sidi Munan and Munan Laja.

Nissom said what was already clear was that the Registrar of Societies (RoS) had approved Dato Sri Dr James Jemut Masing as the president.

Masing is also Land Development Minister.

“The so-called Sng’s faction is a non-entity following RoS’ recognition (or approval) of Dato Sri Masing’s sacking of Sidi Munan and Munan Laja with several others on May 25 2006,” Nissom told The Borneo Post yesterday.

“Sidi Munan, Munan Laja together with a number of others, have already been sacked from PRS and this is recognised by RoS. It is therefore not good for Larry Sng to be associated with them,” he reiterated.

Nissom said he was making this very clear because he was unhappy with a recent development in Sibu where Sng appeared to have sent the wrong signal to members when he addressed himself as a faction leader.

Nissom said if Sng continued to address himself as a faction president he could spark another round of quarrel among members.

Yesterday The Borneo Post reported Sng as saying that: “As for me, my mission and vision as a faction leader is to bring all factions in the party together, forge greater unity and create greater stability. I will continue to be in PRS, to be in BN.”

He was quoted when closing a Ngiling Bidai ceremony jointly organised by five PRS divisions namely Nangka, Pelawan, Bukit Assek, Bawang Assan and Katibas on Friday night in Sibu.

Among the 500 people present at the Sibu event were Sidi Munan whom the group (Sibu event) addressed as “secretary-general”, Munan Laja (organising chairman), Jimmy Donald “deputy president” and his son Leon Jimat, “Youth chief”. When contacted yesterday, Sng said PRS leaders should not misconstrue the Sibu event or even feel threatened by it.

Asked whether he recognised Masing as president, Sng responded: “As far as my supporters are concerned, they still recognise me as a leader and want me to work with other PRS leaders.

“I hope the Sibu event is not misconstrued. And I don’t want the others to feel threatened by it. After all we are working in BN.”

Sng said the BN should worry more if PRS supporters started joining PKR or other opposition and that was not in his, Masing’s or BN’s best interest.

“What I want to say is that, there is no denying that PRS has 19 divisions which are aligned to me. At the moment, they want me to lead.

“Their members are also registered members of the party and they are also looking up to me as a leader and want me to continue leading them.

“I would like to see PRS united because at the end of day we (BN) are going to face a stronger opposition in the coming election. At the moment we would not want any of our supporters being marginalised or being neglected.

“In Sibu we reaffirm our group of supporters that we remain intact. I’ve sent a strong message to them that we are supporting the government,” he said, adding that Masing did not try hard enough to unite all party members.

Sng said: “Although RoS has issued a vague letter in support of Dr Masing, there has not been any initiative on his part to reunite the party, which in the opinion of my supporters, is like marginalising them from the BN as a whole.”

“So this has resulted in a power vacuum which the opposition can capitalise on. This is what I am totally against.

Since April or May 2008, things seemed to be so quiet for PRS until Friday.

The RoS had apparently issued four letters to PRS, including one addressed to “deputy president” Datuk Sng Chee Hua, Sng’s father, on April 1, 2008.

The original letter containing the decision of the Registrar, Datuk Alias Md Kalil, not to deregister PRS was sent to the PRS “secretary” at the party’s registered headquarters at Green Heights Commercial Centre.

Three others were ‘cc’ to Sng, the “president” Dato Sri Dr James Masing and “treasurer” Clement Eddy. Only the “secretary” was not named.

There were actually two pages with the Registrar’s decision on the first page, while the second page contained the people the letter was copied too.

Masing then claimed that senior Sng was no more party deputy president even though the letter was addressed to him as such.

He said that senior Sng’s position in the letter was just an administrative matter.

“You must remember the showcause letter was addressed to him too when he was the deputy president and so when the reply came back, it must go to who the letter was sent to. These are administrative matters, it is not political.

“To think that it is still the same, you must be dreaming,” he told reporters after a private meeting with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, along with four of his supreme council members.

The April 1 letter contained Alias’ decision on a showcause letter his predecessor had sent PRS on Sept 7, 2006, following the sacking of six principal office bearers by Masing in May that year.

Those sacked included junior Sng, who was then the deputy secretary general. Senior Sng and several others had complaint to the RoS and this led to the issuance of the showcause letter.

Alias decided on April 1 that he was satisfied with the reply given by Masing on Sept 15, 2007 as to why he had sacked the office bearers and, therefore, PRS would not be deregistered.

The registrar had also told The Borneo Post later on that Masing was PRS president.

Then Alias said Masing was still the PRS president and explained that the April 1 letter, which contained his decision not to deregister PRS, was written in response to the reply given by Masing in his capacity as PRS president on Sept 15, 2006.

“That’s how it is. Dato Sri Dr James Masing is still the president. I think my explanation in the letter is already clear enough and I do not want to add anything more,” he said when contacted in Kuala Lumpur.

When the PRS crisis first erupted, the battle was between Masing and senior Sng. Eventually senior Sng stepped aside after his group held a delegates’ conference in which his son was elected as president.

Masing too held his own delegates conference and subsequently, there were two presidents in PRS with separate supreme councils. Masing’s deputy president is Joseph Entulu.

PRS was born out of the demise of Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak on Oct 21, 2004, following a leadership crisis.

Until today Masing has not decided to expel Sng from the party, saying he wanted to check the feeling on the ground about the matter.

In April, Sng said he would only recognise Masing as the president if this is indeed the decision of RoS Alias.

He said he would abide by the registrar’s decision even if that meant that he was expelled from the party by Masing and his supreme council after he did not reply to a showcause letter from them earlier last year.

“If the RoS’ decision stands, then I will urge members to support Dato Sri James Masing. I hope they will also maintain their support for the Barisan Nasional (BN) leadership.

“If such chain of events stands, I am now partyless,” Sng said then.

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