DAP S’wak sets up Bau branch, recruits 100 new members

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Chong (front, fourth left) receives the new membership application forms from Granda.

KUCHING: Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak recently set up its Bau branch and recruited 100 new members, led by Granda Aing.

DAP Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen said DAP Bau was the fifth branch set up in southern Sarawak since Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) took effect on June 10.

“The new branch will work hand-in-hand with the existing DAP Tasik Biru branch in providing services to the people in Bau, and also prepare for the coming Sarawak state election,” said Chong, who is Stampin MP, in a statement yesterday.

The other new branches are DAP Sungai Tapang, DAP Stapok, DAP Maong Bazaar and DAP Green Road.

Chong added that integrity and discipline remained to be DAP’s strength.

“These are values now very scarce in Malaysian politics, where betrayals, back-stabbing, selfishness and party-hopping have become the new norm.

“As the chairman of DAP Sarawak, I am glad that ordinary Sarawakians still hold highly and appreciate such values in a political party, and this is evident in an influx of new members to the party, especially after the fall of the PH (Pakatan Harapan)-led government in March this year,” he said.

He pledged that DAP would continue to be the pillar of integrity in politics, adhering to the principles of democracy, good governance and justice for all.

In the 22 months of PH-led governance, Chong said DAP’s insistence on good governance, especially open tenders for government procurements and contracts, had antagonised many quarters.

“That may also explain why political parties in Sarawak will choose to work with PAS and Umno rather than to work with DAP,” he stressed.

After the fall of the PH-led government and the implementation of Movement Control Order (MCO), Chong said many government contracts were awarded without open tender.

He claimed that the ‘good old days’ of direct negotiation and invited tenders for huge government contracts, “are now back in business, restarting the gravy train for the cronies of the power that be.”

For the future of the country and generations to come, Chong said Malaysians must strive to stop such ‘patronage politics’.

“Otherwise, the whole country would soon go down the drain. My advice to the new members is to uphold the good values of DAP and serve the people without self-interest,” he said.