I can’t get this past my head, so forgive me for sounding quite contrarian: the DAP must learn to be tyrannical to itself. I mean look at it this way: the DAP, whether we wish to believe represents the aspirations of Malaysians for a democratic state, must learn in my opinion to engage in selective tyranny, especially with itself.

We have here a political party run by personalities and not ideals, in my opinion: it’s all been trench-fighting, tossing diatribe after BN’s diatribe. All this is fine, I suppose, and some would say necessary: our political climate is such that with BN’s overwhelming majority in parliament, any incident not turned into a national issue is a lost opportunity.

Well and good. We have had demogogues, with LKS being the most prominent - this in itself is not wrong, I believe, because this in itself reflects necessity. But when you have a party, country or company run by a personality playing the by-lines and blowing up issues, you can’t afford to be seen as tardy in your own backyard.

See, the way I think of it is like this: LKS, Teresa Kok and the memory of Lim Guan Eng’s imprisonment, etc. all help to form a certain image of DAP to the public. If the recent ear-squat incident, or the recent hoo-haa about university rankings is anything to go by, LKS and Teresa Kok have had the opportunity to appear larger than life. Now, that’s my point: DAP is well placed to appear either larger than life, or standing for things larger and far bigger than the mundane.

Add to this the singular opportunity to appear messianic: they are being castigated in the press (two of them against Legion), they have every opportunity to play the suffering crusader. But then the bubble bursts: a let-down in Kota Melaka, Lim Guan Eng and wife are out, whispers of conspiracies and what-not.

To be eaten from the inside is far worse a tragedy than to be defeated by your foes, that’s what I say. So therefore, DAP must submit to some kind of central authority. It’s my belief that Singapore enjoys success now purely because of LKY’s patriachal tyranny - and I mean this not as a pejorative, but refer to the mode of government.

This isn’t time for DAP to “stand together”, this is the time for DAP to submit to the vision of one man, however misguided, because a singular front penetrates public consciousness far easier than does a squabbling spectacle. DAP is playing right into BN hands.

Yes, I am aware of the irony of proposing a tyranny within a party that espouses democratic values, but that’s the only way, I think, they can make inroads in the electorate.

That’s what I think, anyway.