Bah will not reconsider decision

ORANG ASLI activist lawyer and until last week, one of Perak DAP’s rising stars, Bah Tony, says he will not reconsider his decision to resign from the party as he is “done with it”.

“There is no turning back for me now,” Bah, whose real name is Amani William-Hunt Abdullah, said when met by The Malay Mail yesterday.

Bah, 58, had been elusive since news broke out last week that he had resigned from the party, shying away from both the media and his party comrades.

When The Malay Mail caught up with him on the sidelines of a Perak Bar Council event on Saturday, he refused to say the reason he had quit the party he joined 16 months earlier.

Bah denied having issues with certain key figures in the Perak DAP leadership, including its chief, Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham.

“I want to make it clear that I have no problems with anyone,” he said.

“I have already had a discussion with the DAP leadership on the reasons why I resigned and, therefore, I feel it is improper for me to reveal my reasons.”

Bah also clarified that he handed his resignation letter directly to party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and not Ngeh.

Party sources said the party leadership had attempted to keep news of his resignation under wraps so as to buy time to talk him out of leaving.

“The reason I chose not to speak to the media or make any press statements is because I was not seeking any publicity on the matter. This is just a small thing to me,” he said.

Bah had joined DAP in June last year as he wanted a platform to voice his concerns for the orang asli community. He still believed this was possible even though he was now out of the party.

“I have been committed and will always be committed to my people. I have been doing that for the last 25 years,” he said.

Observers, including Pakatan Rakyat insiders, had speculated that among the reasons for him leaving the party were differences with Ngeh, and that matters concerning the orang asli had not made it to the DAP platform.

There were also claims that he had been given the runaround on whether he would be fielded as a candidate in Chenderiang, which has Perak’s largest number of orang asli voters, in the coming general election.

Bah had often been touted as being the most suitable candidate to challenge MCA’s Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon for the seat.