- Wartawan Nabalu News
Untrue that Justin made “yes man” to DAP Sabah leadership, told to stop distorting facts
27 March 2022
By Wartawan Nabalu News
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Democratic Action Party (DAP) Assistant Publicity Secretary George Wong Hsueh Cheng in a statement today rebuked former DAP Sri Tanjong Assemblyperson Justin Wong Yun Bing for claiming that he was required to be a “yes man” to the party leadership when he was serving under his former party, the DAP.
Justin Wong, together with Elopura Assemblyperson Calvin Chong Ket Kiun, had quit the DAP on 21 January for being disillusioned with the DAP Sabah leadership and claiming that the leadership had "lost direction" and "was beset with internal squabbles and serious communication problems among its leaders".
“It is saddening to see former DAP ADUN Elopura and ADUN Sri Tanjung leaving the DAP. Back in January, the duo claimed that the purpose of their quitting DAP was not with the intention to jump to any other political party. However, two months down the line, they have officially joined DAP rival Parti Warisan Sabah. This is a clear contradiction of what they had previous said,” said Wong.
George Wong then trained his guns specifically at the 31-year old Sri Tanjong Assemblyperson Justin Wong who was previously groomed by the DAP leadership to take over from his father Jimmy Wong Sze Phin, former DAP Sabah Chief.
“Justin claimed that he was required to become “yes man” to the party leadership and that's why he left the DAP. Let me say this with no uncertain terms, that Justin’s claim is absolutely not true. The outrageous "yes man" claim is certainly fallacious. There is certainly no justifying his hopping and betrayal to the people who voted him in,” said Wong.
Wong said that DAP Sabah Chairman Datuk Frankie Poon, during DAP Sabah committee meetings, had always given room to all committee members to voice out. Wong added that Poon had always encouraged young leaders such as himself to comment on issues or to express and voice out differing opinions, and that if Justin had attended the committee meetings, he would have had the same avenue to speak up.
“It is normal for leaders to have differing opinion and no one had ever silenced him or instructed him to become "yes man" in the party. I am not sure why he is spewing venom at the political party which groomed him politically and gave him a political platform in the first place,” said Wong.
(George) Wong remarked that whilst Justin (Wong) may be dissatisfied with the DAP Sabah election results, in any election there will always be a winning party and a losing party, and that the losing party has to accept the final result and respect the mandate given by the delegates to the winning party.
“Also to respond to Justin Wong regarding DAP Sabah’s willingness to cooperate and work with the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) political coalition, it is not because DAP Sabah is craving for power, but it is mainly to stop BN-UMNO from returning to power in Sabah at all cost!” said Wong.
Wong remarked that Sabahans have finally removed BN-UMNO from power in Sabah in 2018. However, with the recent election results, it shows that BN-UMNO Sabah might make a move to overthrow the GRS government.
“In order to avoid another snap Sabah election or return of power to BN-UMNO in Sabah by another round of hopping, DAP Sabah has indicated its willingness to cooperate with like-minded rival political parties. Warisan is definitely our priority. However, Warisan has in recent days drifted away from PH and the DAP,” said Wong.
Wong added whilst there is "willing to cooperate" with GRS, the DAP Sabah had never said anything about joining GRS. The emphasis has always been on preventing an UMNO comeback and the urging of all like-minded opposition parties to work together like "Avengers" to stop the UMNO comeback.
“It is normal and common to see contests for leadership positions in any political parties, and it is the same for DAP Sabah. Regardless of the results, it is important to put differences aside after the party election. At the end, all DAP members are all still comrades and we shall continue to move forward to fight for the betterment of Malaysia.
Wong remarked that he does not believe that there are no infighting whatsoever in other political parties such as Warisan that Justin Wong had preferred Warisan over the DAP.
“Till now, I am still sad to see Justin Wong using “internal squabbles” as an excuse to leave the DAP and join Warisan. It is certainly not an excuse as leaders come and go,” said Wong.
Lastly, Wong said that the DAP Sabah will continue fight for not only a "Malaysian Malaysia" but also for the preservation of Sabah's rights vis-à-vis the Federation of Malaysia.
