Dark horse Teng Chang Yeow has emerged as a top contender for the post of Chief Minister but the race is not over and there is much lobbying still going on.

COMMENT BY JOCELINE TAN

REPORTERS have mobbed Teng Chang Yeow everywhere he has gone since news broke that he may be the next Penang Chief Minister.

Just a few days ago, the boyish-looking politician was just another Barisan Nasional candidate vying for a fourth term in the Padang Kota state seat.

Now he is like a rock star. People rush to shake his hands and reporters pursue him from one event to another. Teng has been overwhelmed by the surge in attention.

“He has not been picking up the phone or answering our calls and that’s not like him because he’s one of the nicest guys around,” said one reporter.

Apparently, Teng, 43, has been told by outgoing Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu to be prepared to take over from him.

All the Sunday papers carried articles and pictures of him. Sin Chew Daily ran six full pages on him, with pictures going as far back as 1995 when he made his political debut as a giant-killer, defeating DAP’s Karpal Singh in Padang Kota.

But this is where the plot thickens as they say in detective novels.

Despite the media blitz that had as good as crowned him the next Chief Minister, the other frontrunner Dr Teng Hock Nan is insisting that the Gerakan leadership had told him a week ago to be prepared to take over the state government.

The senior Teng finally broke his silence after evading the matter for weeks.

It appears there now could be two Tengs in line for the top job.

As Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said in his colourful style: “First, it was a four-horse race, then three, and now it’s down to a two-horse race.”

Party sources said the matter was “still open,” meaning the decision on whether it will be the young Teng or the old Teng is still out there.

Top party leaders including acting Gerakan president Dr Koh is said to be still in favour of Dr Teng, a former medical practitioner.

They say Dr Teng’s candidature has to be seen in the context of continuity and that he is the most suitable person to continue the policies set in place by Dr Koh. They claim that most Penang people have accepted Dr Teng as the one.

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has been keeping his ears close to the ground on the Chief Minister issue.

He is very aware of rumblings about Dr Teng’s age, that Dr Koh was only 41 when he became Chief Minister in 1990, yet is now planning to pass the baton to a 62-year-old.

Besides, the next Chief Minister has to be around for at least two terms, which would see Dr Teng hit the ripe old age of 72 by then.

Abdullah himself is said to favour someone younger and who is able to bring out the full potential of Penang that is famous for its human capital resources.

But he also respects Gerakan’s right to pick its own man for the post. He will not interfere but that does not mean he does not have clear views on the attributes required of the in-coming Chief Minister.

It is no secret Dr Koh prefers Dr Teng because they enjoy good rapport in their work and politics.

But personalities aside, he must convince the Prime Minister and Penang people that Dr Teng will be good for the state.

Dr Koh should have settled this issue before the election campaign began instead of letting it become the hot topic of opposition ceramah.

But he had, until recently been reluctant to even identify the three candidates – the two Tengs and Datuk Lee Kah Choon who is contesting the Machang Bubuk state seat.

He was also upset over media speculation on the matter. Some said his reluctance was to protect the candidate from being sabotaged by the opposition campaign. Others said he knew his choice would be controversial and so decided to keep mum.

Sometime last year, a well-known geomancer in Penang said in an interview that the next Penang Chief Minister would be a “dragon” (someone born in the Year of the Dragon).

Teng and earlier forerunner Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye, 56, are dragons, whereas the senior Teng is a rooster.

Reporters now joke that the geomancer was probably referring to the younger dragon.