The Malaysian Insight

THERE are at least three other books on DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang on the market, but the latest by Kee Thuan Chye is probably the most readable and relatable.

Writing the life story of one of the most loved and loathed politicians in the country is no easy feat but author, actor and journalist Kee has delivered an intimate account in Lim Kit Siang: Malaysian First (Vol 1: None But The Bold).

In more than a record of Lim’s career as a politician, Kee digs deep into “what makes Lim Kit Siang Lim Kit Siang”, the man who has been a thorn in the side of the establishment for more than 50 years and is still fighting.

As Kee told The Malaysian Insight, he employed a “fiction” writing style rather than the academic or historic approach others have used.

Kee has structured the biography chronologically, taking the reader from Lim’s hometown in Batu Pahat to the last chapter that ends with a cliff-hanger in 1987, a black year for opposition and media suppression in Malaysia’s history.

Kee’s attention to detail and meticulous research makes the veteran politician’s story come alive, the result of interviewing no fewer than 60 people, going back as far as Lim’s school days.

This was no easy feat as Lim turned 80 this year.

Kee is thus able to corroborate facts and accounts rather than rely on a single source, piecing together a picture from the perspectives of family, friends and foes.

While other writers have squarely focused on Lim’s politics, Kee gives the reader a glimpse of what it’s like to interview the man who has so much to say about politics and the country, but offers little when the spotlight is on him.

For example, the exchange between Kee and Lim on whether he had asked DAP’s first secretary-general CV Devan Nair why he had picked a relative unknown young reporter as his political secretary in 1966.

“I don’t know,” said Lim.

“You must have asked him, right?” Kee pressed.

“Well, he knew me. As a reporter, I had a few drinks with him. My own views differed from established views, and he respected that independence of spirit. He also related to me in trade union circles, so he probably felt that I had the credentials, the qualifications.”

“You never asked him during the course of your work?” Kee continued.

“I didn’t ask him and now I can’t because he’s dead. When I go to the other world, I’ll ask him,” said Lim.

The above exchange illustrates the challenge other interviewers have experienced when trying to interview Lim about himself.

Another subject Kee deals with well is the allegation that Lim ran DAP like a dictator.

In the chapter Great Dictator, which talks about the removal of DAP’s second secretary-general Goh Hock Guan, Kee takes Lim to task.

In response, Lim says he had to be decisive and firm at times.

“Yet, if I had been dictatorial, I don’t think DAP would have survived until today.

“Is having strong will and being decisive a dictatorship? Dictator means I decide regardless of others’ opinions, I don’t care about other views. Can a party operate like that? Can it last for more than 50 years?”

“I would love to be a dictator (nevertheless),” said Lim.

In between Lim and DAP’s political adventures, which are tightly intertwined, Kee slips in glimpses of Lim as a father and family man.

In the chapter Dear Father, we see Lim the father who took time to help his four children with their schoolwork or hobbies.

His son, Guan Choon, recalled how Lim helped him with his English when he was chastised in school for his weakness in the language.

Similarly, daughter Hui Ying spoke of how Lim taught her how to type song lyrics while listening to music cassettes when she was 12.

Guan Eng, who later followed in his father’s footsteps in politics, also mentioned how he was taught to write to pen pals overseas, play chess and take shorthand.

These are all some of the snapshots of the political firebrand that very few people have had the chance to see.

What comes through strongly in Kee’s story of Lim is the two-time Internal Security Act detainee’s burning quest for a united Malaysia.

As a young student, Lim was already writing articles about how all races needed to work together to build a newly independent Malaya. He would go on to make the idea of a Malaysian identity that comes before race the heartbeat of his politics.

With much dividing the country at the present time, Kee’s goal for the biography to uncover “what makes Lim Kit Siang, Lim Kit Siang” may be much needed.

“People need to know what makes Lim tick; an instance of him as a person and I hope that people will take something from this biography, whether it is this or his relationship with his comrades.” – October 24, 2021.

Note: Lim Kit Siang: Malaysian First (Vol 1: None But The Bold) is available at RM80 in bookstores nationwide from October 25. The book will be launched by Kee Thuan Chye and Lim Kit Siang on webinar on November 9 at 5.30pm. Among those invited to the event are Upko president Wilfred Madius Tangau, author Mariam Mokhtar, Undi18 co-founder Nur Qyira Yusri and Global Institute for Tomorrow CEO Chandran Nair. The session will be moderated by Johnson Chong.