KUCHING: Amidst the rising chains of comments on having ‘termites’ within political parties, Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Women’s chief Kho Teck Wan calls for unity of all Sarawakians.
“When we have an unstable government, the ultimate victims in this situation are the people. Therefore, Sarawak at this stage cannot afford to be unstable as we are in the process of fighting for our rights and resources,” she said when contacted by the New Sarawak Tribune, today.
According to Kho, she believed that ‘termites’ exist in every organisation. The insects are invasive and can do significant damage to building and structure.
“In politics, these termites intend to do the same by destroying the stability of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) in order to weaken and eventually break the coalition,” she stated.
“Termites are here to eat away the trust between GPS component parties. Once the trust is broken, GPS will be weak and it is then easier for the termites to break the coalition,” she elaborated.
Kho added that she hopes the people have the wisdom to see clearly that ‘Bumi Kenyalang’ is shared together by Sarawakians. Hence, she urged the people to be united and not to succumb to the plots of causing Sarawakians to fight amongst themselves.
When asked if she has any advice to give to the termites, Kho said, “We will eventually be judged by what we do than what we said. If your actions can’t prove your words, then your words are nothing more than lies.”
The term ‘termites’ was first used by the Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg in his speech when launching the Marudi Waterfront in Miri, last Wednesday.
He reminded that it is very dangerous to keep ‘termites’ within the GPS because they can destroy the foundation of the party.
Meanwhile, Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) Women’s chief Datuk Chiew Yen Chew believes that the chief minister is only encouraging better coalition in GPS consisting of Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), and Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS).
“I believe the CM wants to have a healthy social interaction within the groups in GPS to further strengthen the coalition.
“All component parties in GPS are ambitious. Thus, I believe that the CM’s underlying intention is to encourage us to adopt a policy of modesty, strong principal and consensus among the component parties,” she said.
When asked to elaborate on the ‘ambitious’ part, Chiew said all parties would work hard in winning seats in any election.
“In this situation, there are no fixed ways of doing certain things, but anyone behaving like a termite that exudes bad influence and slowly bending and tarnishing the good objectives of GPS is certainly destructive,” she said.
Chiew thinks that the term ‘termites’ was used because it carries similar element of being destructive towards a structure especially if one is disobedient and tends to recalcitrate in an organisation.
Chiew also stressed that her comment was just a quick and general view. She stated that the ‘Barisan Nasional’ brand has been etched too long on people’s mind, and thus it is important and crucial now that the coalition has to work towards a better brand under GPS in accordance with CM’s wish to not have termites in it.
