IPOH, Dec 15 (Sin Chew Daily) — Perak DAP chairman Nga Kor Ming said he was well aware that opening the window of cooperation with Umno would make him a target of public censure among the party's members as well as supporters.

However, he said in an exclusive interview with Sin Chew Daily that given the country's current political and economic situation, his objective is to break the old mentality and think out of the box, and bring the local Chinese community back to the country's mainstream politics in sharing the power with the Malays.

"Multiracial politics is fast receding while monoracism takes precedence. If we do not break this pattern, we will never deliver ourselves out of the current doldrums.

"You can curse me or ridicule me. That's alright with me, but I think what I did was right!"

Nga nevertheless insisted that he would never try to whitewash the iniquities of some corrupt Umno leaders, adding that this is DAP's principle.

"If PH were to work with Umno, leaders like (party president) Ahmad Zahid and (former PM) Najib must still be answerable to the law. They have to bear the consequences if the court finds them guilty."

Nga said the Umno-PAS-Bersatu coalition in the Perikatan Nasional government has completely marginalized the local Chinese community, and if we allow this to go on, we will be led by the nose by racist and religious politics, and our pluralistic values will be completely destroyed.

"We have two options: do nothing, or change. I chose the latter. I know people will curse me, but at least it's better than doing nothing at all."

He pointed out that among the three major PN parties, PAS will definitely be excluded, if PH were to negotiate to work with any of them, while Bersatu is a racist party without a clear direction in running this country, leaving Umno as the only possibility.

He said while he knew about the seriousness of corruption within Umno over the past six decades, he had to pick the less evil as a potential partner of cooperation despite the risks.

"If not because Lim Kit Siang made the bold move to put aside the differences and work with Nik Aziz, we wouldn't have seen the political tsunami in 2008. And if we didn't join hands with Tun Mahathir in 2018, we wouldn't have seen a change of federal administration for the first time since our independence..

"These two instances show that a leader must be able to do something others fear.

"If you were to ask me, I would tell you I have no regrets. Of course I could choose not to do anything, stay within the comfort zone and be a powerful opposition leader while the Chinese community continues to grumble in distress. But this is not what the Chinese community wants to see.

Nga said there are still many liberals within Umno who does not want to be led by the nose by PAS' religious fundamentalism, and under such circumstances, it is worth making the attempt.

"If PH eventually works with Umno, Umno will be forced to be more moderate and abandon the ketuanan Melayu advocacy.

"Non-Malays will stand by us, and bear in mind that many voters in East Malaysia do not accept PAS and Bersatu and they will lean more towards a relatively liberal PH-Umno."

Nga admitted that while Umno might lose some of the Malay votes, this should be offset by gains among non-Malay voters, adding that Umno is still irreplaceable among the 54 Felda constituencies on the peninsula, as evidenced by the outcome of the Slim by-election.

"I know I have to bear the risks for working with Umno. Firstly, I will be abhorred by the party members and may lose in the party elections. Secondly, DAP may lose some of the seats.

"What we can see is called a sight, and we can't is called vision. My vision tells me this is going to be a viable option."