He said he would not return the Datukship he accepted in conjunction with the 65th birthday of Sabah governor Juhar Mahiruddin.
“No, I will not apologise even though I am aware there are leaders who will not be happy with me for breaking with party tradition.
“The party also did not order us to say sorry because they understand the situation we face.
“The time-frame between the announcement of the title and the ceremony was too short. We got the information on Oct 4 and the award was conferred on Oct 6. Just a day and a half,” he told FMT.
Earlier today, DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke said in a statement that DAP’s elected representatives and local councillors should only receive titles or awards after retiring from active service.
He said the Melaka and Sabah DAP had been “informed and categorically told of this decade-old Central Executive Committee (CEC) understanding in July”.
He said the CEC had expressed its displeasure over not being consulted on the offer of titles and awards.
Recently, two DAP Melaka state assemblymen, Tey Kok Kiew and Wong Fort Pin, received the Darjah Mulia Seri Melaka (DMSM) award, which carries the title “Datuk”.
Two Sabah DAP ministers — Stephen Wong and Frankie Poon — and Assistant Minister to the Sabah Chief Minister Jimmy Wong were awarded the Panglima Gemilang Darjah Kinabalu (PGDK), which also carries the title “Datuk”.
(Although Stephen is Sandakan MP, he is one of the two appointed assemblymen under Chief Minister Shafie Apdal’s Cabinet.)
Stephen said the party had previously not issued clear instructions forbidding serving DAP leaders from receiving awards or titles.
“Yes, we understand, it is the stand of the party. But there were no clear instructions.
“I understand it now. Party leaders or representatives are not encouraged to accept awards or titles during their active service.
“The issue was also not discussed with the governor or the chief minister when it was conferred. When we received the award, it was hard for us to reject it as we felt it would not be nice to do so.
“We felt it would have been disrespectful to Tun Juhar to reject it.
“We have explained our situation to the CEC,” he said, adding that the issue was now considered resolved.