Huan: The value (and occasional lack thereof) of froggy crossovers

by Nathaniel Tan

My ex-colleague YB Sim Tze Tzin (who I remember fondly the day I was released to be holding a sign said “We miss you at the office Nat!…. Got a lot of work to finish,” haha) has come out strongly against Gerakan’s Huan being accepted into PKR.

I don’t really know much about Huan, but I confess some sympathy to Sim’s point of view, and take the opportunity to reflect on such crossovers in general.

I think it is fair of Pakatan parties to adopt an open arms attitude, and sure, we don’t want to keep people out just for fear of having incumbent positions ‘threatened.’

This attitude however, should probably not extend to instantly and automatically ‘rewarding’ crossovers with positions based say on how many membership forms they bring in.

I have always thought that party membership is no big deal, to begin with. It’s easy to sign a form, and never lift a finger to advance the cause of justice.

More importantly: exactly what value do these ex-BN guys (especially non-elected representatives) bring to the table anyway?

The vast majority of them lost in the last elections, and are long time BN stalwarts - having supported the likes of Najib, Abdullah and Mahathir for most of their lives. Have they had a sudden change of heart?

The big question: does their defection cause more voters to vote for Pakatan? I have my doubts.

I imagine a lot of the swing voters who switched allegiances in the last elections did so because they wanted something fresh and new.

If Pakatan is to be dominated by the old and tainted, why would people vote for them again?

I think that if there’s recruitment and promotion to be done, it should be among the ranks of those with no political baggage, those who as a matter of principle have been unsupportive of BN, even when it may have been advantageous to be so.

So, if people want to join Pakatan, let them. But why don’t we keep top leadership positions only for those with at least some record of integrity.

Also, as was pointed out to me recently: those who are sincere about joining tend to either quit first (think Zaid) or just announce straight away without too much build-up. Those who make a big, prolonged hue and cry about it (think Huan or Chua Soi Lek) are often merely posturing to serve interests in their intra-party conflicts.

Anyway, let it not be said that I am not a friend to hopping frogs:

:) Thanks to the photographer, FB and the lovely person who tagged me!