I thank those who tried to reach me by phone. I had to switch it off to literally cool it down.. And also i thank those who commented in this blog or elsewhere in the cyber world, whether they supported my decision or not.
I would also like to thank Dr Koh Tsu Koon for asking me to reconsider my quit decision.
The decision to quit is a major decision as i mentioned before. It was not an impulsive decision. I normally look at things from different angles, and then make a decision, and once a decision is made, i would stick to it. It is also not easy to leave all those good friends and conscientious members. It is not an easy decision but I have to look at the bigger picture.
There is no going back. I can always fight for a fair and equitable society , the ideology of my former party, in my own unique way and using my pen .
Pen is mightier than sword. It may not see immediate result. But once a writer post an idea in his writing, it is like planting a seed in the soil. The seed may or may not survive and grow into a big tree. But if we don’t even plant it, it will never have a chance to grow into a big tree.
An idea is just like that. I can float an idea, and maybe people may not take it up immediately, but after numerous attempts to reinforce the idea, it may actually take roots in someone else’s mind. That is the power of pen, influencing mindsets in a very subtle way.
My heart is still with those members who believe in a fair and equal society for all. As I have said, even though I quit, I am still hoping against hope that the party can prove me wrong and succeed in realising its ideology. I hope to be wrong so that we can see a fair and equal society in my lifetime. But that reality is very slim.
I have no intention of joining Pakatan or other parties. I have always spoken out against partisan politics, and by freeing myself of any political links, I may be able to write in a more impartial manner.
We should support whatever is good and should not be partisan for the sake of being partisan. That is the folly of many a politician, too eager to please the boss.
Politics should be about the welfare of the people and the country, not about individuals. The world would be a much better place if more politicians can subscribe to this principle.
Dr. Hsu's forum 
Mar 08, 2011 @ 23:12:40
May God be with you, keep the good work up. We shall pray together for the dawn of new political environment.
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Mar 08, 2011 @ 23:15:57
Readers including myself know it was not an impulsive decision like the Chinese idiom saying goes, “Three feet of snow did not happen overnight”. You have our support for your courage and conscientious decision. It could not have happen at a better time. You had time and again been very patient as we know. This had been discussed over almost 3 years now. You did the right thing. Bravo.
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Mar 09, 2011 @ 01:31:12
I think it takes a real MAN to realise when is WHEN. With decades of hindsight to draw on, there can be only one decision to make, and I am sure many will agree with the one you just made. A little late maybe, but perhaps never too late.
And like you, I have given up on the politics of the UMNO/BN genre. The direction it has woven for itself can only end in disaster for this country who has so far been denied the opportunity to be a nation.
The latest doings of the UMNO/BN at the buy-elections only reaffirm the bankrupt politics and policies of the ruling UMNO/BN regime and its leaderships that can only dismay all loyal and rational Malaysians.
How and where is the way out of this dismal future that will behold this country and its people? All right thinking Malaysians, like you, must abandon the current political leadership to save this land of our fathers and children.
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Mar 09, 2011 @ 05:05:09
A million drops of rain floods the plain. Best of luck to you.
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Mar 09, 2011 @ 08:30:42
Dr. Hsu,
Sincerely speaking, I had always expected something like this since u doesn’t sound very much like BN. I totally agree with u in taking this step in view of making a stand for what u believe and i guess u have had thought over this step for some time. I guess i also can see why u would not want to join PR but i leave that to u to explain later. What i can see PR is NOT a good alternative to BN for the reasons we all know why.
It should be a great relieve to u now as u had no string tie to u as to speak out or write freely. As i can see u had a good heart, a great belief and vision for this nation and above all a man of principle and i hope u will continue to plant these seeds into people’s heart that one day, wonderful things will happen to us all in Malaysia. I can also agree with u of the reason why u quit. But to me, BN is still better than PR as a coalition as its has a common goal and policy but both have their flaws. The problem for PR is that DAP and PAS are too too different in their ideologi and that in BN is that UMNO is too dominant as u have pointed out. To me, if u ask me, sincerely i don’t believe that we can have anything totally fair in this world, not in this country as well as in any country in the world and this is true even in work and home. However, i bet to be differ with u on one point, i don’t believe all that what Najib does is all retoric as i can use ur own word that he is sincere but the question is just to what extend can he be fair to us, the nons and that’s come ur role and PR role, a strong opposition to check and balance. I would like to add that even life is not fair to some and so are some parents in dealing with their own children, so what can we expect in politic. Even Indians fell that were being used by PR and now giving back the votes to BN!
Anyway I would really like to say this: All the best to u and may God bless u and ur family and ur service to mankind.
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Mar 09, 2011 @ 08:46:14
Hear, hear!
The pen is mightier than the sword indeed.
Take a look at Robert Downs’ book i.e. “Books That Changed The World”
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Mar 09, 2011 @ 09:41:28
Dear Dr Hsu,
It was a difficult decision to make but you have decided in keeping with your principles and honour. It must be respected.
LEE LAM THYE
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Mar 09, 2011 @ 10:09:31
Dear Dr Hsu,
I have never read your blog before this day, but after reading of your resignation and the link to your blog, i have deep respect for you. I look forward to your future posts as a well articulated, discerning and true Malaysian patriot.
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Mar 09, 2011 @ 10:26:17
Doc, you mentioned above that you have always spoken out against partisan politics. It strikes me as odd since you were a Gerakan member before your decision to quit.
It has always been the case that we can never agree with one another and that is why we have so much conflict even among party members who have common aims. I watched RPK’s speech (thanks to a reader who posted the link). It is a good speech but nothing that we do not already know of. I have my doubts about this MCLM thing. Please allow me to explain:
As it is we can see that even in disciplined parties like PAS and to a lesser extent DAP we can see differences between members and they form groups to fight against one another. This is only to be expected as each politician seeks to realize their prized ambition to become members of parliament or state assemblymen. Needless to say, there will be tussle for power between component parties for influence and power within the coalition. With party ideologies to bind party members we already have such problems. what more can we expect when we have a party-less group of people calling themselves MCLM? RPK said in his speech that the MCLM is seeking to restore the various pillars of government: Executive, Judiciary, Legislature, and Monarchy which UMNO-BN has destroyed in their 50 years of rule. Noble ambition. But how can MCLM as a loose grouping of individuals each with their own ideals achieve what partisan politics cannot achieve?
Confucius said that while we can have high ideals, we must at the same time have our feet planted firmly in the ground in order that we can find our way in the world. Otherwise we are mere dreamers.
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Mar 09, 2011 @ 11:12:44
🙂
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Mar 09, 2011 @ 11:32:28
You were tilting at windmills while in Gerakan. You will be tilting at even more windmills out of it, there being so many scattered across the Malaysian political landscape. The winds can blow in many different directions. One day it may blow in just the perfectly aligned direction and your candle will help light the way. Thank you for your sincere efforts in the struggle for a just, fair and equal society for all Malaysians.
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Mar 09, 2011 @ 11:38:28
Dear Dr. Hsu. I hope your action will prod like minded members of Gerakan to quit. You quiting Gerakan just says that there is no room in Gerakan for idealists. The seed planted will sure to germinate.
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Mar 09, 2011 @ 11:53:17
Is Lee Lam Thye a principled man ? Or is he just tailing where glamour and comfort lies subsequent to his resignation from politics? Has he made any effort to right the wrong of the current regime? Or he is too comfortable with title of Tan Sri and surrounded by GLCs top guns?
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Mar 09, 2011 @ 13:18:00
Dear Dr. Hsu,
As you turn to a new chapter in your life, may there be new challenging avenues for you to express your views, state your opinion, and plant your seeds of hope, truth and justice for your fellowmen.
You are not alone in this journey. Many are on your side.
Cheerio and Walk On!
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Mar 09, 2011 @ 13:20:48
Dear Dr., Congratulation !
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Mar 09, 2011 @ 14:51:53
Dear readers
Thank you for the support and comments.
I have always been an idealist. Many in the party have said that being an idealist is useless in politics. According to these people, being practical is the ‘in’ thing in politics, especially for those who want to ‘cari kangdou’.
But i view it differently. Ideals are important. Democracy started as an ideal. Even communism started as an ideal from Karl Marx. As i said above, an ideal is like a seed, if you don;t plant it, how are you going to make it grow. You must plant it first, nurture it.
AN ideal will grow if it is proposed and followed. The ideology of a fair and equitable society came from such luminaries like Prof. Syed Alatas, Prof Wang GengWu, Dr Lim CHong Eu, and Dr Tan Chee Koon, V David and so on. These are giants in their respective fields and collectively, they were the best minds then in 1968 when the party was formed and when the ideology of a fair and equitable society was thought out and adopted.
So ideals are important. If there is no ideal, Eddison would not discover light bulbs. If there is no ideal, Steve Job would not have developed Mac computer, iphone and ipads. If there is no ideal, confucianism wold not have taken roots. If there is no ideal, Gandhi would not have convinced millions of Indians compatriots to adopt his idea of non resistance movement. If there is no ideal, Solidality would not have taken power in Poland…
It is only opportunists and conformists who think that ideals are not important. These so called leaders are actually followers of others. They become leaders more because of the patronage system, rahter than selling an idea or having an ideal.
These are too common in the political sphere. Not only in Malaysia but other places as well. That is why people say politics are dirty. Politics is not dirty, it is the people who take part in politics that are dirty.
I am an idealist. But i would not apologise for being an idealist. I would not bend my principles to abandon my ideals.
…………………………………………
CYC
Just to answer your comment. Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye is a sincere person and he has certain principles too. I can vouch for him on this, He is also extremely hardworking. He resigned as NS chairman mainly because of his principles too when he sees that things are not turning out to be what was initially planned.
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Mar 09, 2011 @ 14:58:56
Good for you doc. Idealists are only idealists if they have their feet planted in the ground. Otherwise they become dreamers rather than idealists.
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Mar 09, 2011 @ 15:58:42
Tan Keng Heng and those readers new to this blog
Tan Keng Heng and those new to this blog, (Tan posted his comment under humour page btw)
If you have followed this blog right from the beginning(end 2006), I have been advocating Gerakan to pull out from BN . Even before starting this blog, for many months i have been saying the same thing, and that was before 308.. I told the top leaders that tsunami was coming in 2006, and that we would lose all seats in KL and many parts of the country. No one took me seriously. I satrted this blog exactly because no one seems to take the ideology seriously, and I thought I must be the one standing up and hold the ideology torch so that other memebrs would not have forgotten it.
After the tsunami, I contested as a CC member mainly to try to bring the views of manygrassroots into the CC, mainly to bring the party out of the coalition then.
It would be a viable third force back in 2008, and 2009. I saw thru some of the PKR matierials which were not good at all, and i have written on Ancient China’s Taiping revolutions a few times to warn them being too complacent after winning a few states. It was all in this blog, more than a 1000 posts. Those new to this blog can go through it slowly and then you may realise that I had always objected to UMNO’s way of doing things. I have shunned titles, positions offered, since if i have accepted them, someone may tie a leash around my neck and i cannot voice out without fear or favour, like what i have been doing all along.
But now, even if gerakan moves out of BN, it would be too late. PR is also unlikely to be able to form the next federal government given the Malay votes have returned to UMNO. IT has actually itself to blame, like what RPK has said.
So we need to influence more mindsets especially the younger generation that it is important to have a more level playing field.
Affirmative action should only be based on social strata, and not on race itself. If it is based on social strata, even the poorer Malays, poorer CHinese, poorer Indians, poorer Kadazans, poorer Ibans would all get help. The richer ones irrespectively of their race, would be able to take care of themselves, and that would lead to a more competitive and meritocracy based society… Crutches only for the handicapped , not based on race, like what we doctors do to our handicapped patients.
That is the ideal that I have been writing and saying for the past so many years…
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Mar 09, 2011 @ 16:22:41
Dr Hsu,
Thanks for you clarifications. I supported his untiring effort to serves the poor when he was the MP. But he has since lost his integrity when failed to miserably for not voicing out the 1001 “bad and cruel” policies practiced by the govt of the day. Today, he is just another ordinary citizen trying to live his life by compromising his lost ideals.
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Mar 09, 2011 @ 16:24:36
But credit should still be given to his past effort. That should be a fair deal.
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Mar 09, 2011 @ 17:13:16
Doc,
I first came to your blog is right after the 308 tsunami.
I was looking around Gerakan website to find out about the party’s ideology, as Gerakan was so well regarded in the past and by the older generations of Penangites, and I want to find out what went wrong.
How come Gerakan got completely routed in Penang, their stronghold.
Unfortunately during that time, I am unable to find on the website any mention of Gerakan’s ideology (very much an indication that the party have but been taken over by those cari kang tau and working up the patronage system, at the expense of idealist such as you who wants to keep the party true to its founder’s vision).
Beside your blog, I also came by Mr Lim Si Pin’s blog.
Immediately I can see such a big contrast, between one who wants the party to keep true to its ideology of an equitable and just society, and one who just parroting the latest BeEnd toxic messages (we have no doubt from UMNO) and toxic partisan politics.
Needless to say, I’m still following your blogs frequently, but have thrown the Gerakan Youth Chief’s into the dustbin.
If this is what Gerakan have in the Youth line-up, then there is no more hope of Gerakan ever finding its way back to its roots.
Doc, if you ever decide to stand to be elected, you can be sure you get my vote !
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Mar 09, 2011 @ 21:36:18
I understand you Dr. Hsu.
Whatever you decide, you must be happy with it.
Life is short. Smile.
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Mar 09, 2011 @ 22:52:12
Dr Hsu,
So Koh Tsu Koon asked you to reconsider your ‘quit decision’? What do you expect him to say – that your resignation has brought much embarrassment to him and the party he has messed up?
You repeated yourself that your heart is still with those members who believe in a fair and equal society for all. Which “members” are you refering to, ..Koh Tsu Koon, Chang Ko Youn? Hahaha! if at all there are any, you need have to leave Gerakan yesterday!
You were too kind in your press statement yesterday. Don’t be naive dear Dr Hsu, those buggers aren’t complaining, but happily waiting for crumbs thrown from under the UMNO table. You have made the right decision, just move on and leave them to rot under the table!
While we ‘speak’ that tortise-head may be nodding in agreement to every word his political boss said. Yeah it’s wedneday, right?!
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Mar 09, 2011 @ 23:17:45
Wise move , Doc.
A principle and honorable man like you just does not fit into Gerakan which has degraded itself into Umno’s 奴隸.
Gerakan under KTK’s leadership is going nowhere; I used to respect KTK after he gracefully handed over Penang’s CMship to LGE after losing 12th GE, but that respect had been lost because of his words and deeds after becoming a minister .
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Mar 10, 2011 @ 19:40:52
Dr Hsu. Look at it this way. You do not have to be nice to Koh Tsu Koon in public anymore.
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Mar 10, 2011 @ 22:23:45
since he is civil , I return the civility. I have always been speaking on issues and never been personal.
I know he has to go through this motion to show his generosity, and i have to return the generosity as an Asian.
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Mar 11, 2011 @ 00:23:40
DR HSU I HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING YOUR BLOG FOR ABOUT 3 YEARS AND WAS VERY IMPRESS ON ALL THE WRITING & IS THE FIRST COMMENTING YOUR BLOG. I REALLY ADMIRE YOUR FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE AND FREEDOM, SHOULD JOIN MCLM, THINK ABOUT IT SERIOUSLY, AND MAY GOD GUIDE YOU ALL THE WAY, WHO KNOWS YOU MAY BE ONE ONE OF THE PERSON WHO CAN MAKE CHANGES TO THIS MESSY COUNTRY. AS WHAT YOU MENTION PLANT A SEED TO GROW A TREE, IF YOU TRY THEN ALL OF US MIGHT SEE A NEW AND HEALTHY TREE. BEST OF LUCK.
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Mar 11, 2011 @ 08:45:57
Sdr. Dr. Hsu, many members I talked to respected your decision. They share the same thought as u. Best of Luck , Sdr Dr Hsu. We still call u Saudara because fighting for a just , fair and equal society is always Your Fight, The Gerakan Fight and the Peoples Fight.
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Mar 11, 2011 @ 09:21:33
Thank you Michael.
As I have said, this party has many conscientious members who work tirelssly for the party hoping to see the party achieve its ideology of a fair and equal society.
Most of us joined for the same reason. This is the email sent to me by a veteran former Sec Gen who has retired from politics:
“Sdr. Hsu is an excellent Malaysian. In resigning from Parti Gerakan he has in his statement expressed the true and sincere feelings of many genuine Malaysians in the Party.”
There are many genuine members in the party. Ask them to keep up the fight to press for a fair and equal society. We are all Malaysians and should be treated as such..
Political parties are just vehicles to achieve a certain aim. While you all continue in cars and buses ( or like DrKoh likes to say, The Titanic), I will do it my way walking slowly and steadily. Who knows, I may even influence a few people to follow me in my walk.
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Mar 11, 2011 @ 10:15:24
Michael,
I was expecting members to be partisan and attacked my move to resign from all my posts. Very few did so, though a few spread rumours that I am ‘frogging’ over to other parties . One branch chairman in Kepong apparently told people that I was bringing hundred members to join PKR. He must be illiterate or never read my blog.
The fact that few members attacked me while majority respected my decision shows the maturity of the members. Please all be more vocal and critical, by voicing out, you are just championing the ideology, and there is really nothing to lose to stand up to the Big
BrotherBully and say NO, enough is enough!.LikeLike
Mar 11, 2011 @ 14:17:14
PERHAPS DR HSU SHOULD START A NEW PARTY SO CALLED “UNDERGROUND” MOVEMENT. THE UMNO GOVERNMENT IS TOO MUCH WITH ITS OVER ZELOUS CIVIL SERVANTS BEHAVING LIKE LITTLE NAPOLEONS. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. I WILL SUPPORT YOU. MOST LACK OR HAVE PRACTICALLY NO REASONING POWER NOR ARE CAPABLE OF CRITICAL OR LOGICAL THINKING. I AM BORN A MALAY MUSLIM , I AM CAPABLE OF LOGICAL THOUGHT AND I USE MY BRAIN ON MY HEAD NOT LIKE THOSE WHO USE THEIR BRAIN ON THEIR BOTTOM HEAD.
（Editor: Pls no race profiling or stereotyping)
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Mar 11, 2011 @ 16:13:38
hahaha… you actually did it… me speechless.
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Mar 11, 2011 @ 17:09:46
Idea is a good start but not working on it is just like without principle and single handed is just like a twig.
So our sons, daughters and offsprings will always have the UMNO lead BN Government in Malaysia because people just see the the narrow path. They are not willing to team up for the ALTERNATIVE front.
Then it is better to migrate now because there is NO Alternative route except UMNO lead BN Government for thousand of years to come. No one is talking about alternative government but rather wanted to be a mouse seeking out to bite here and there at the BN Government.
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Mar 12, 2011 @ 03:28:05
Lee Lam Thye became somebody to be reckoned with.. through DAP.
He was the first and biggest frog to hop away fromDAP..for personal gains.
All Malaysian Chinese know who he is….and no matter how much one wants to shower him with compliments …Lee Lam Thye is forever considered.. a traitor to DAP.
Everyone can make all sorts of reasons to do this or that…to sound like he has no choice.
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Mar 14, 2011 @ 19:57:11
Dr, i beleive you have make a good decision. In fact you should have leave Gerakan earlier. Infact everyone go also they dont bother, they are only interested in the Party asset, so far , after the 308, there is still no improvement. They only talk talk talk talk and talk everyday but in the end, kosong only. Anyway good luck to you.
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