Of Gentlemen Losers and Sore Losers
March 10, 2008 | Filed in: Malaysia

Its ironic, how two person, on the same coallition party, could protray themselves and expressing their views so differently. On the headliner “Koh offers to step down“, Koh was seen to have accepted the defeat gracefully and ask the people, as well as the civil servants to work together with the new state government. “I want to urge the people to give their full support to the leaders they have chosen. Give your new leaders a chance to perform. This is also what I told civil servants. We may have different opinions on policies but I must accept the views of the people,” he said. I was impressed of what he has said, even my wife’s friend, Kalei, who used to be critical of Dr. Koh’s praised him highly today for his “Gentleman’s Defeat” attitude.

On the other hand, in The Star today, with the headliner “Zam: Protest voters cause defeat“, our Ex-Information Minister, Datuk Sri Zainuddin Maidin said,

“It is not that they love Parti Keadilan Rakyat or PAS more that they voted against me,” he said, adding that Indians who were loyal Barisan supporters turned against him due to certain dissatisfaction.

“The Chinese showed their resentment because of the economic backlash they often complained about,” he said in accepting his defeat.

“So, PAS and PKR should not be overly proud of their win (in Kedah),” he said.

“The people may have to pay a price for their decision,”

What would Samy Say? Well, under the headliner “Samy to stay on as MIC chief”

“Even Keadilan lost in many seats in the last general election but this time, it made some gains. Winning or losing is not all that the game is about but more about serving the people,” he said.

I couldn’t find any quotes from Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil in today’s Star, but she did mention some good words yesterday giving advice to Nurul, who beat her to the Majority.

So, you have it, different people take defeat differently, as the ever famous quote says “Leading by Example!”, some of these leaders have shown the good way of taking defeat and taking accountability of their actions. As GE2008 goes down in history as the day the people speak, I would also remember some of the past leaders take their defeat and move on.

Update:
Other bloggers who share the same respect for our Outgoing CM.
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