Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Get your hands dirty: DAP to bloggers

Get your hands dirty: DAP to bloggers
Beh Lih Yi
Jul 31, 07 3:02pm
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Opposition party DAP has issued an open invitation to bloggers to enter into active politics as part of its efforts to recruit potential candidates ahead of an anticipated early general elections.

The call was made by DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang at a tea party held in Petaling Jaya this morning to welcome Malaysia’s leading blogger Jeff Ooi into the party.

“I will like to see more politicians taking up blogging and more bloggers entering politics,” he told about 70 supporters, bloggers and media representatives who were present.

The Opposition leader stressed that socio-political blogging is not an end by itself but a means to an end.

“A time must come when bloggers must decide whether they should ‘dirty their hands’ and make the transition from advocacy of their political ideals in cyberspace to enter the political terrain to be able to directly translate their ideals into action,” he said.

For a better Malaysia

The veteran politician expressed his wish to see Ooi and other bloggers taking their places in Parliament and state assemblies to create “a better Malaysia.”

Ooi, who is considered the father of Malaysian blogging, was one of the first Malaysians to take to the blogosphere with his Screenshots weblog four years ago.

His entry into the DAP is the latest in a series of high-profile recruits, most of whom are professionals.

It was reported earlier that DAP will continue to unveil its “trump card” every fortnight in the run-up to the forthcoming general elections, speculated to be called between end of this year and February next year.

Among the bloggers who turned up for the event include National Alliance for Bloggers pro-tem president Ahirudin Attan, secretary Nuraina A Samad and lawyer Haris Ibrahim.

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