Political frogs cause instability as they make people mistrust and despise politicians. They alter the political equation and neglect to honour the voting public that put them in power.
– Mariam Mokhtar, columnist
I have always believed that party-hopping or ratting is nothing to be proud of. It’s something that a politician would want to avoid if he or she could help it because it comes with a tag marked by ignominy.
Everyone by now is familiar with the term katak or ‘political frogs’. The word was made popular by the late Sabah politician Datuk Abdul Malek Chua, who in his book, ‘YBs for Sale’, chastised hopping politicians for their “despicable, unprincipled and unforgivable act” of abandoning the very party which fed, nurtured and made Yang Berhomats out of them.
Chua called these politicians “thankless creatures” motivated by self-interest. If he were to be alive today, I believe he would have much more to say. Probably, he is turning in his grave right now.
On Saturday, YB Baru Bian gave a new meaning to ‘political frogs’ when he told journalists there were two categories of ‘frogs’ — the intelligent katak and the stupid katak!
This was what the Selangau MP and Ba’kelalan assemblyman, and former Sarawak Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) chairman said at the press conference after he and Batu Lintang representative See Chee How led some 20 other ex-PKR members to join Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB). The text has been slightly edited for clarity:
“… Politics evolves, and leaders do change. When you are on a political platform and following a political leader, and when they do not maintain or pursue the original vision or mission that you believed in, like PKR for example, … and when the leaders change and they divert from the original vision and mission of the party, then you have no choice but to leave.
“… Because they don’t believe in the party’s vision and mission anymore, they failed you, so then you leave the party. It would be silly to stay. That’s how we felt.
“When that happens, and when you leave, people call you katak. It jumps but that is a good katak, intelligent katak. An intelligent katak will jump, but a stupid katak will stay.”
A PKR politician, let’s just call him JW, buzzed me early yesterday morning and said: “Now, what Baru means here is that a ‘frog’ who decides to leave his party for another political home is an ‘intelligent’ one. But would it be right to call someone who sticks with his party and who has never deserted his team a katak, and a stupid one at that?
“To call a party hopper a katak okay lah. Smart or not smart, that’s BB’s (Baru’s) views. But come on lah, to call party loyalists ‘frogs’? Wrong word lah, kawan!”
I decided not to argue with JW.
However, I would like to make an attempt to interpret Baru’s views. So, he said party hoppers like the still-active politician who stood as an Independent, then joined DAP, and later hopped to SNAP, and SPDP (now PDP), then to Teras and now in … and another fella who stood as an Independent, then moved to STAR, later hopped to SUPP, then to UPP (now PSB) and is now in … are “intelligent katak”?
Very interesting! So, party loyalists who decided to stay on are paloi (stupid)? I am confused.
Which means if Saratok MP and Krian assemblyman Ali Biju, and Puncak Borneo MP Willie Mongin, both of whom are former PKR members, do not move to PSB, would they be unintelligent katak?
And since Voon Shiak Ni, the former PKR National Women vice-chief, reportedly said she would not emulate her ex-PKR colleagues by joining PSB, would that make her an unintelligent katak?
So, all the MPs and assemblymen who jumped from Pakatan Harapan (PH) to Perikatan Nasional (PN) are intelligent ‘frogs’ and those who didn’t are ‘stupid’?
By the same token, those in Malaya who might have plans to hop back to PH from PN in the next few months are the intelligent katak? And those who stay on in PN are stupid?
So much for interpretations. It’s about time for us, the voters, to show our intelligence by giving party hoppers the boot in the coming elections. Let’s show them who is intelligent and who is stupid!
Guess it’s our ‘stupidity’ that keeps katak in politics. Let’s be smarter and decide who we should have as our representatives next time round.
I fully agree with Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing that ratting is neither honourable nor a yardstick for intelligence.
And I also support his call for an anti-hopping law. Better promulgate one before our political landscape is infested with katak, intelligent or otherwise!
