{"id":7714,"date":"2011-01-27T15:33:20","date_gmt":"2011-01-27T07:33:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/teresakok.com\/?p=7714"},"modified":"2011-01-27T15:33:37","modified_gmt":"2011-01-27T07:33:37","slug":"zairil-khir-johari-why-i-joined-dap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=7714","title":{"rendered":"Zairil Khir Johari: Why I joined DAP"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Zairil Khir Johari: Why I joined DAP<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal<\/div>\n
January 25, 2011<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/p>\n
Zairil said he chose the DAP because it shared \u2018common goals\u2019 with what his late father had looked for in the \u2018old\u2019 Umno. \u2014 Pictures by Jack Ooi<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 \u2014 A year ago, Zairil Khir Johari\u2019s only association with politics would be his father \u2014 the late Tan Sri Mohd Khir Johari, Umno stalwart, former education minister and who served three prime ministers including the late Tunku Abdul Rahman.<\/p>\n

Over the past few months, however, Zairil\u2019s name has been the talk of the town, namely through opposition blogs as well as anti-Pakatan Rakyat (PR) blogs over his appearance at the coalition\u2019s last convention in Kepala Batas, where he was a guest speaker.<\/p>\n

His retractors have accused him of being a \u201ctraitor\u201d and \u201canti-Malay\u201d for abandoning his late father\u2019s party and choosing to become a part of the DAP \u2014 a party which is still feared by many Malays and considered to be pro-Chinese due to its majority Chinese membership.<\/p>\n

The DAP has, however, of late extended an olive branch to Malays in its bid to shake off \u201cmisconceptions\u201d about the party, and Zairil is seen as an example of the party\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n

Zairil said he chose the DAP over Umno because the PR party shared \u201ccommon goals\u201d with what the late Khir had looked for in the \u201cold\u201d Umno.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father\u2019s Umno is a completely different Umno from today\u2019s Umno. When he joined Umno it was during pre-independence, his struggle was to free our country from the oppression of the British government. Now after more than 50 years of BN rule, the situation is such that people are being colonised, oppressed by our own people, we do not have any freedom.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no civil liberties, so the struggle is still the same. It\u2019s the same struggle, I am just using a different platform, that\u2019s why I chose the DAP over Umno,\u201d said the 28 year old who runs his own chocolate business.<\/p>\n

Zairil told The Malaysian Insider <\/em>that if the late Khir were alive today and at the same age as Zairil, he himself would not be a part of Umno.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would go against any principle he believed in. When my father joined Umno it was a grassroots party, most of the members were teachers, my father was a teacher himself… today many of them are in it only for the money and to secure lucrative government contracts,\u201d said Zairil.<\/p>\n

Coming from a family of nine siblings including himself, Zairil admitted that many of his peers back in his Penang hometown were grassroots DAP members and had encouraged him to join the party.<\/p>\n

Prior to joining the DAP, Zairil had \u201cfollowed\u201d its leaders and attended night functions and ceramahs to get a better idea of what the party was about.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n
Zairil: \u2018My father\u2019s Umno is a completely different Umno from today\u2019s Umno.\u2019<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cPeople in DAP, Liew Chin Tong, for example, have been proactive in introducing me to ceramahs. I followed them to Galas. What I\u2019ve been impressed is the influx of young leaders in DAP as well as PKR.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no social mobility in Umno where it is based on patronage and hierarchy. In PR, young leaders who are capable are allowed to shine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Zairil told The Malaysian Insider <\/em>that he consulted many parties before making the decision, including some very \u201csenior\u201d Umno members who had advised him against joining his father\u2019s party.<\/p>\n

Zairil said he was \u201cwilling\u201d to contribute to DAP in any way he could \u2014 even if it meant contesting in the next general election.<\/p>\n

\u201cI put myself out there to serve… no one has discussed anything yet but I am willing to serve in any capacity that is needed,\u201d said the father of one.<\/p>\n

According to the young politician, PR was a platform which could be used for restoring \u201ccivil liberties\u201d in the country with the abolishment of draconian laws such as the Internal Security Act (ISA), the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA), and the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) which prohibits students from being politically active.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I am pushing for the Education Department to be a separate entity from the Education Ministry. There is too much politics involved when the department is answerable to a minister. There should be a separate panel to monitor the department, made up of all interested parties in the field of education, and this will also include the ministry,\u201d said Zairil, who said he was writing an academic paper on such a proposal.<\/p>\n

Political parties are currently rushing to sign up some 4.3 million unregistered voters.<\/p>\n

The DAP takes the lead while Umno follows closely behind.<\/p>\n

The DAP registered 32.5 per cent of the 169,838 new voters registered between January and June last year.<\/p>\n

Umno registered 32.3 per cent of the new voters while PAS registered 22.7 per cent in the same duration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zairil Khir Johari: Why I joined DAP By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal January 25, 2011 Zairil said he chose the DAP because it shared \u2018common goals\u2019 with what his late father had looked for in the \u2018old\u2019 Umno. \u2014 Pictures by Jack Ooi KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 \u2014 A year ago, Zairil Khir Johari\u2019s only association…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dap"],"yoast_head":"\nZairil Khir Johari: Why I joined DAP - TERESAKOK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=7714\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zairil Khir Johari: Why I joined DAP - 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