It's now or never, Uncle George!

As I flipped through the newspaper yesterday morning, I must say I was taken by surprise to see the headline news that SUPP President, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam would not be seeking re-election in the coming state election.

In fact the news of him not defending his Piasau state seat had been splashed in some vernacular Chinese newspapers few days earlier when other English papers were still on the Chinese New Year break.

With this announcement, it will mean that the illustrious political career of Dr Chan is in its final lap.

But his decision not to seek re-election has been met with skepticism from the Opposition members who seem to take the news with a pinch of salt.

This is all because of Dr Chan’s decision to remain as the president of this oldest political party in the state in its delegates conference end of last year despite him signing a contract in 2006 in the aftermath of the party crisis not to defend the post.

The Opposition may seem to take this news as another chorus of Britney Spears’ Oops I Did It Again, but whatever it takes, Dr Chan must be brave enough to revamp the party despite it is long overdue.

Party members may perceive Dr Chan as a lame duck president from now onwards with this announcement but bear in mind that Dr Chan is still holding the power.

With all the resources available to him, Dr Chan has to make full use of his remaining days in politics to bring positive revamps to the party.

Therefore, with the state election due in the second half of 2011, Dr Chan must not take life easy if he really means what he said and to make drastic changes to the party which has lost the faith and confidence of the people.

In 2006, it lost eight state seats out of 19 seats it contested and thereafter it found itself in a crisis which led to factions within the party.

One senior party member told Dr Chan in a dinner recently that the party needs to show to the people some changes within 100 days after its delegates conference.

Indeed it needs to do so for the people have lost confidence with the party leadership after they saw no change in the line-up with all the existing leaders still cling on to power.

Dr Chan must make sure that the whole party is revamped from top to the bottom though in reality this is almost a magnanimous task to do.

But if there is a will, there are always ways and means as people say and Dr Chan should not wait any longer for change to happen.

Change must not only be done but it must also be seen to be done.

A political scientist had said before that the party candidates in the 2006 state elections were too old as compared to the Opposition and therefore it did not appeal to the young voters.

The coming state election must produce a team of young candidates with the right qualification to present to the voters a new sense of hope.

Failure to do so will mean a foregone conclusion to the party which is fighting for its survival.

SUPP must also be more daring to speak out without fear or favour and not be seen as a toothless partner within the BN coalition.

All this while, the party has been seen as not speaking out for the people and this perception must be changed.

Whenever there is any policy which does not serve benefit to the people, the party must be quick enough to speak out and not remain silent as silence is not always golden.

The party must also engage young and energetic people to run its machineries.

Politics nowadays is not like in the past when it was sufficient for a politician just to attend functions or officiate events.

Now it must be run like a corporate organisation where it is managed by a set of people with all sorts of expertise and qualification and not by those who only appear when the bosses are there.

If monetary profit is the main concern of any corporate organisation, then the number of votes gained is the paramount concern of a political organisation.

So Uncle George there you are my few sincere suggestions although I still have lots to say.