Let a new wave of the Malaysian Dream campaign  begin from Sekinchan to re-inspire and rekindle the hope and vision of the present generations of  Malaysians to   restore the  country to the status of  a world-class great nation

(Tatal ke bawah untuk kenyataan versi BM)

Five years ago, on June 18, 2016, Pakatan Harapan lost badly in two parliamentary by-elections – one in Sungai Besar and the other in Kuala Kangsar.

The Pakatan Harapan candidate in Sungai Besar by-election, Azhar Abdul Shukor of Amanah lost by a majority of 9,191 votes while in Kuala Kangsar, Ahmad Termizi Ramli of Amanah lost by a majority of 6,969 votes.

There was gloom and doom about prospects of political change for the 14th General Election which must be held by May 2018.

In fact, the ruling administration was so emboldened by the great victories in the two parliamentary by-elections that several new measures were taken in the following two weeks after the by-elections to strengthen itself, including:

· The sacking of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir from UMNO and the suspension of Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal as UMNO member;

· Series of actions against former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahahtir, including the withdrawal of government funding for the Perdana Leadership Foundation;

· Major purge in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) involving the two top men in the MACC;

· Intensification of the UMNO campaign of lies, falsehoods and disinformation against the DAP to falsely paint it as anti-Malay and anti-Islam;

· Cabinet reshuffle to bring in more mediocrity and “yes men” whose loyalty were to the Prime Minister’s survival and not to the nation or people; and

· The arrest on two trumped-up charges of corruption against the DAP Secretary-General and then Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

In the Sungai Besar parliamentary by-election, DAP even lost in the Sekinchan state assembly seat which the present Selangor Speaker, Ng Suee Lin, had won for three terms – first time with a wafer-thin majority of 344 votes in the 2004 General Election, the second time with an even smaller majority of 190 votes in the 2008 General Election, the third time with a comfortable majority of 2,239 votes in the 2013 General Election.

Was the DAP heading for defeat in the Sekinchan state assembly seat in the 2017/2018 General Election after Ng Suee Lin had won it for three terms?

A political analyst pointed to a “Chinese swing” to the Barisan Nasional and predicted that the Opposition may lose over 13 Parliamentary seats in the 14th General Election if the “Chinese swing” and the “flow-back” of support of Chinese voters for UMNO/Barisan Nasional in the twin polls in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar continued in the next General Election.

These seats were Alor Setar, Bukit Gantang, Sungai Siput, Kampar, Raub, Temerloh, Sepang, Lembah Pantai, Teluk Kemang, Bukit Katil, Bakri, and Batu Pahat in the peninsula, Sandakan in Sabah and Sarikei, Sibu and Miri in Sarawak.

In the event, when the 14th General Election was held on May 9, 2018, Malaysians shocked not only themselves but the world with the first peaceful and democratic transition of power, with the Pakatan Harapan winning most of the “dubious” parliamentary seats – including Sungai Besar with a majority of 714 votes.

Ng Suee Lin also won Sekinchan for the fourth term with his biggest majority of 2,844 votes.

Sekinchan and the twin by-elections in 2016 hold lessons for all Malaysians, that in the depths of despair and hopelessness, one should not give up the Malaysian Dream for Malaysia to be a world-class great nation.

Suee Lin has not only brought about a tourism boom in Sekinchan and turned Sekinchan into a model rural town in Malaysia, he has demonstrated that Sekinchan could launch a new wave of the Malaysian Dream campaign at a time of political apathy, despair and hopelessness about the political situation to re-inspire and rekindle the hope and vision of the present generations of Malaysians to restore the country to the status of a world-class great nation

We are now in the political position akin to the post-twin by-elections in June 2016, where there is black despair about the political future for Malaysia.

Many were then asking about the future of Malaysia after the two big BN wins in the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections, with the backdrop of the BN landslide victory in the Sarawak state election and the earlier Teluk Intan by-election.

Was it still possible for Malaysians in June 2016 to hope for political change in Putrajaya in the 14th general election or even in the near future?

Should we give up in a sense of despair and hopelessness and surrender the Malaysian Dream?

Sekinchan is the best answer that we should not.

The 14th General Election was a high-water mark in the pursuit of the Malaysian Dream, for it represented a superhuman effort by Malaysians who believe in the Malaysian Dream to roll back decades of regression and imprudent policies and to try to fulfil Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman’s hope that Malaysia can be “a beacon of light in a difficult and distracted world”.

But the hopes and dream of Malaysians for a New Malaysia spelt out in Buku Harapan – the 2018 general election manifesto of Pakatan Harapan coalition – suffered a grievous blow when the Pakatan Harapan Government was toppled by the Sheraton Move conspiracy after 22 months, ushering in a backdoor illegitimate government which suspended Parliament as it was unsure that it could continue to command the support of the majority of MPs in Parliament.

Instead of five years of institutional reforms and political, economic, social and educational changes to strongly anchor Malaysia as a world-class great nation, we were suddenly plunged into a post-PH scenario with the country teetering on the verge of a kakistocracy, while facing the worst racial and religious polarisation after many years of unhampered dissemination of a deluge of fake news, lies, falsehoods and disinformation to drum up fear, distrust and hatred among the diverse races, languages, religions and cultures in the country.

The challenge now is how to rekindle, re-inspire, re-energize and re-motivate hope and inspiration in the Malaysian Dream for the country to be a world-class great nation by ensuring that the 15th General Election can fulfil the high but dashed hopes of the 14th General Election for reform and salvation?

Actually, we have travelled quite a political distance in Malaysia. Only 13 years ago, before the 12th general election in 2008 (GE12), if any Malaysian was asked if it was possible to foresee a change of federal government, the answer would be a unanimous and unambiguous “No”.

But the “political tsunami” of GE12 had completely changed the political landscape, and what had been “unthinkable” and “impossible” had been transformed into “thinkable”, “possible” and “achievable”, and the question of a change of federal government has taken the quantum leap from “whether” to “when” and “how” to a political miracle in Malaysia on May 9, 2018, leading to a peaceful and democratic transition of power in six decades of Malaysian nationhood.

Malaysia’s greatest challenge is to become a normal democratic country, where voters can change the party or political coalition in government peacefully and democratically through the ballot box, like other mature democracies, without inviting national catastrophes.

Even the Philippines and Indonesia have more democratic traditions and practices than Malaysia, as Filipinos and Indonesians can use the ballot box to change the party or political coalition in power without any national disaster or calamities.

If Malaysia is to become a normal democratic nation, we must debunk the various political myths that have allowed the politics of race and religion to dominate the politics in the land since Merdeka, especially the myths that the Malays will lose political power and become strangers in their own land if Umno is exposed and debunked and that Islam is facing an existential threat.

Leading Malay personalities had been trotting out the canard that if Umno is defeated, Malays will lose political power which they cannot recover in the future.

This is a double lie, for the Malays will not lose political power, even if Umno is evicted from Putrajaya, as the events of post-14th General Election have illustrated.

Nor is Islam facing an existential threat in Malaysia.

National Laureate Pak Samad had several years ago posed two questions to expose the lie of such political myths, viz:

“How are Malays under threat? How can religion (Islam) and Malays be threatened when those in power have been Malay for over five decades?”; and

“What have they (Malay leaders) been doing for five decades (if Malays can be under threat)?”

The demographic reality is the surest guarantee that the Malays will not lose political power, since the Malays in Malaysia will continue to exercise political power in Malaysia as there is no way they will lose political power.

In 1970, Malaysia’s population comprised 44.32 percent Malays, 34.34 percent Chinese, 8.99 percent Indians, 11.89 percent non-Malay bumiputera, 0.67 percent others.

In 2020, the percentage of Malays and indigenous people have increased to 62%, Chinese reduced to 20.6%, Indians dropped to 6.2%, other 0.9% and non-citizens 10.3%.

I am probably the most demonized politician in Malaysia. I had been falsely accused of being anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-Royalty. Now there is campaign to paint me and the DAP leadership of having sold out the rights and interests of the Chinese and Indians in Malaysia.

I never knew that I am a “superman” – threatening the rights and position of both the Malays and the non-Malays in Malaysia in my pursuit of the Malaysian Dream.

We must be aware of the pitfalls of the Internet era, where fake news and hate speech can combine to create a “new reality” which is completely opposite to the truth and facts.

This is why after the controversy over the revised curriculum in 2019 over Jawi in Chinese and (Tamil) Primary schools, 95% of Chinese and Indian Malaysians are still not aware that for years, there was Jawi in Std. V Bahasa Malaysia textbook and that the revised curriculum to introduce Jawi in Std. IV was decided by MCA, Gerakan, MIC, SUPP and UMNO Ministers in Sept. 2015.

MCA, Gerakan, MIC and SUPP leaders were the loudest in 2019 in condemning the introduction of Jawi in Chinese and Tamil primary schools, although this decision was taken by their Ministers four years ago in 2015, to be implemented yearly in the revised textbooks from 2017 – 2022.

The Pakatan Harapan government made one change – making the study of Jawi in Chinese and Tamil primary schools an optional instead of a compulsory subject, but this important change had been lost on DAP demonisers and character-assassins.

DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng has been accused of stating that he was not a Chinese when he became Finance Minister in 2018. He never said he was not a Malaysian Chinese but he said he wanted to be a Finance Minister for all Malaysians, regardless of race or religion.

As Malaysians, we are all going to have multiple identities – ethnic, religious, cultural – and in the early years of Malaysian nationhood, it may be understandable for Malaysians to regard themselves as Malays, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan, Iban or Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Sikhist, Taoist first and Malaysian second, but if after six decades of nationhood we still regard our ethnic, religious or cultural identity first and common Malaysian identity second, then it is a failure of Malaysian nation-building and nationhood.

The Malaysian Dream is based on the principle that power must be used to unite Malaysians to ensure that their common interest of having a better life in terms of economy and jobs, education, housing, health, environment and transportation, can be met, and that we must reject the thesis of “Power for Power’s sake”.

Let us learn from the darkest days in June 2016 and learn from Sekinchan in launching a new wave of the Malaysian Dream movement!

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang to DAP ketua-ketua kampong and ahli-ahli majlis in Sekinchan on Sunday, 11th April 2021 at 12 noon)

Jadikan Sekinchan titik mula gelombang baharu kempen Impian Malaysia untuk membangkitkan semula inspirasi dan menghidupkan kembali harapan serta visi untuk mengembalikan negara ke status sebagai negara hebat bertaraf dunia dalam generasi masa kini rakyat Malaysia

Lima tahun lalu, pada 18 Jun 2016, Pakatan Harapan tewas teruk dalam dua pilihan raya kecil parlimen — satu di Sungai Besar dan satu lagi di Kuala Kangsar.

Calon Pakatan Harapan pada pilihan raya kecil Sungai Besar, Azhar Abdul Shukor dari Amanah tewas dengan majoriti 9,191 undi sementara di Kuala Kangsar, Ahmad Termizi Ramli dari Amanah tewas dengan majoriti 6,969 undi.

Harapan untuk melakukan perubahan politik pada Pilihan Raya Umum ke-14 yang perlu diadakan pada Mei 2018 dilihat semakin kelam dan suram.

Malah, kerajaan yang baharu sahaja memperoleh kemenangan besar dalam dua pilihan raya kecil parlimen dilihat mengambil beberapa langkah baru dalam dua minggu berikutnya dengan tujuan untuk mengukuhkan kuasanya:

– Pemecatan Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin dan Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir dari UMNO dan penggantungan keahlian Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal;

– Tindakan berterusan terhadap mantan Perdana Menteri Tun Dr. Mahathir, termasuklah penarikan semula dana kerajaan untuk Yayasan Kepimpinan Perdana;

– Penggantian besar-besaran dalam Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) yang melibatkan dua pegawai kanan dalam SPRM;

– Mempergiatkan kempen pembohongan, kepalsuan dan maklumat palsu terhadap DAP untuk mengambarkan ia kononnya anti-Melayu dan anti-Islam;

– Rombakan kabinet untuk membawa lebih ramai pak turut yang kesetiaannya hanya tertumpu kepada kepentingan Perdana Menteri dan bukannya kepada negara atau rakyat; dan

– Penangkapan atas dua tuduhan rasuah yang dibuat terhadap Setiausaha Agung DAP dan Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang ketika itu, Lim Guan Eng.

Pada pilihan raya kecil Parlimen Sungai Besar, DAP kalah di kerusi DUN Sekinchan yang telah dimenangi oleh Speaker Selangor semasa, Ng Suee Lin selama tiga penggal — kali pertama dengan majoriti tipis 344 undi pada Pilihan Raya Umum 2004, kali kedua dengan majoriti lebih kecil iaitu 190 undi pada Pilihan Raya Umum 2008, kali ketiga dengan majoriti selesa sebanyak 2,239 undi pada Pilihan Raya Umum 2013.

Adakah DAP menuju kekalahan di DUN Sekinchan pada Pilihan Raya Umum 2017/2018 setelah Ng Suee Lin menang di situ selama tiga penggal?

Seorang penganalisis politik meramalkan akan berlaku “peralihan undi Cina” kepada Barisan Nasional dan meramalkan bahawa Pembangkang mungkin kehilangan lebih dari 13 kerusi Parlimen pada Pilihan Raya Umum ke-14 sekiranya “peralihan undi Cina” dan “aliran balik” sokongan pengundi Cina kepada UMNO/Barisan Nasional dalam pilihan raya berkembar di Sungai Besar dan Kuala Kangsar berterusan pada Pilihan Raya Umum akan datang.

Kerusi ini adalah Alor Setar, Bukit Gantang, Sungai Siput, Kampar, Raub, Temerloh, Sepang, Lembah Pantai, Teluk Kemang, Bukit Katil, Bakri, dan Batu Pahat di semenanjung, Sandakan di Sabah dan Sarikei, Sibu dan Miri di Sarawak.

Namun, ketika Pilihan Raya Umum ke-14 diadakan pada 9 Mei 2018, rakyat Malaysia tidak hanya mengejutkan diri mereka sendiri tetapi juga dunia dengan peralihan kuasa yang berlaku secara aman dan demokratik yang julung kalinya terjadinya, dengan Pakatan Harapan memenangi sebahagian besar kerusi Parlimen “50-50″ – termasuklah Sungai Besar dengan majoriti 714 undi.

Ng Suee Lin juga memenangi Sekinchan untuk penggal keempat dengan majoriti terbesar, dengan 2,844 undi.

Sekinchan dan pilihan raya kecil berkembar pada tahun 2016 memberi pengajaran kepada semua rakyat Malaysia, bahawa dalam kekecewaan dan rasa putus asa, seseorang tidak boleh mengabaikan Impian Malaysia untuk negara kita menjadi sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia.

Suee Lin bukan sahaja membawa pertumbuhan industri pelancongan di Sekinchan dan mengubah Sekinchan menjadi sebuah kawasan kampung yang patut dicontohi di Malaysia, beliau juga telah menunjukkan bahawa Sekinchan dapat menjadi titik mula gelombang baru kempen Impian Malaysia dalam suasana politik yang acuh tidak acuh, dibelenggu rasa putus asa dan kekecewaan terhadap keadaan politik semasa, untuk menyuntik semula inspirasi dan menghidupkan kembali harapan dan visi generasi rakyat Malaysia kini untuk mengembalikan negara ke status negara hebat bertaraf dunia.

Kita sekarang berada dalam kedudukan politik seperti pilihan raya kecil berkembar pada Jun 2016, di mana terdapat perasaan putus asa terhadap masa depan politik untuk Malaysia.

Ramai yang tertanya mengenai masa depan Malaysia setelah dua kemenangan besar BN pada Pilihan Raya Kecil Sungai Besar dan Kuala Kangsar, dengan latar belakang kemenangan besar BN dalam pilihan raya negeri Sarawak dan pilihan raya kecil Teluk Intan sebelumnya.

Adakah masih ada harapan bagi rakyat Malaysia pada Jun 2016 untuk mengharapkan perubahan politik di Putrajaya pada pilihan raya ke-14 atau bahkan dalam masa terdekat?

Haruskah kita menyerah dalam kekecewaan dan rasa putus asa sekali gus melupakan terus Impian Malaysia?

Sekinchan adalah jawapan terbaik bagi persoalan itu.

Pilihan Raya Umum ke-14 adalah merupakan penanda aras dalam mencapai Impian Malaysia, kerana ia merupakan usaha luar biasa rakyat yang menyakini Impian Malaysia untuk menebus kegagalan selama berpuluh dekad dan berusaha memenuhi harapan Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman supaya Malaysia dapat menjadi “sinar cahaya untuk dunia yang sukar dan terganggu”.

Tetapi harapan dan impian rakyat Malaysia untuk Malaysia Baharu seperti yang dinyatakan dalam Buku Harapan — manifesto pilihan raya umum gabungan Pakatan Harapan 2018 — dilambung badai yang ganas ekoran kejadian Kerajaan Pakatan Harapan digulingkan oleh konspirasi Langkah Sheraton setelah 22 bulan mentadbir negara, sekali gus membawa kepada pembentukan kerajaan pintu belakang dan tidak sah yang seterusnya bertindak menggantung Parlimen kerana tidak yakin ia dapat terus mendapat sokongan majoriti ahli parlimen di Parlimen.

Daripada melakukan pembaharuan institusi dan perubahan politik, ekonomi, sosial dan pendidikan selama lima tahun untuk menjadikan Malaysia sebagai sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia, kita tiba-tiba terjerumus ke dalam senario pasca-PH dengan negara kini bergerak ke ambang kakistokrasi, sementara berhadapan dengan polarisasi perkauman dan agama yang terburuk setelah bertahun-tahun berdepan tanpa henti penyebaran berita palsu, pembohongan, kepalsuan dan maklumat yang tidak benar yang direka bertujuan untuk menimbulkan rasa takut, tidak percaya dan kebencian di antara pelbagai kaum, bahasa, agama dan budaya di negara ini.

Cabaran terbesar hari ini adalah bagaimana kita dapat menghidupkan kembali, menginspirasi kembali dan memotivasi kembali harapan dan inspirasi dalam Impian Malaysia agar negara menjadi negara hebat bertaraf dunia dengan memastikan bahawa Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 adalah satu lagi usaha luar biasa rakyat Malaysia untuk memenuhi harapan pada Pilihan Raya Umum ke-14 yang lalu untuk melakukan reformasi.

Sebenarnya, kita telah menempuh jarak politik yang cukup jauh di Malaysia. Hanya 13 tahun yang lalu, sebelum pilihan raya umum ke-12 pada tahun 2008 (PRU12), jika ada orang Malaysia yang ditanya apakah ada kemungkinan untuk meramalkan pertukaran kerajaan persekutuan, jawapannya sudah tentu “Tidak”.

Namun “tsunami politik” PRU12 telah benar-benar mengubah lanskap politik, dan apa yang “tidak terfikirkan” dan “mustahil” telah diubah menjadi “dapat difikirkan”, “mungkin” dan “dapat dicapai”, dan persoalan tentang perubahan di peringkat kerajaan persekutuan telah meninggalkan persoalan yang menyentuh tentang “apakah” ke “bilakah” dan “bagaimana” dan bergerak membentuk keajaiban politik di Malaysia pada 9 Mei 2018, yang membawa kepada peralihan kuasa secara damai dan demokratik dalam enam dekad pembinaan negara Malaysia.

Cabaran terbesar Malaysia adalah menjadi negara demokratik sebenar, di mana pengundi boleh menukar parti atau gabungan politik dalam pemerintahan secara damai dan demokratik melalui peti undi, seperti demokrasi matang yang lain, tanpa mengundang bencana besar terhadap negara.

Bahkan Filipina dan Indonesia mempunyai tradisi dan amalan yang lebih demokratik daripada Malaysia, kerana rakyat Filipina dan Indonesia dapat menggunakan suara mereka untuk mengubah parti atau gabungan politik yang berkuasa tanpa melakukan kekacauan.

Sekiranya Malaysia ingin menjadi negara demokratik yang sebenar, kita mesti membongkar pelbagai mitos politik yang membiarkan politik bangsa dan agama menguasai politik di tanah air ini sejak Merdeka, terutama mitos bahawa orang Melayu akan kehilangan kuasa politik dan menjadi orang asing di tanah mereka sendiri sekiranya kejahatan Umno dibongkarkan, selain dakwaan yang mengatakan Islam kononnya terancam.

Ramai tokoh-tokoh Melayu terkemuka telah mengetepikan dakwaan bahawa jika Umno ditewaskan, orang Melayu akan kehilangan kuasa politik yang mana tidak dapat dipulihkan pada masa akan datang.

Ini adalah pembohongan berganda, kerana orang Melayu tidak akan kehilangan kuasa politik, walaupun Umno diusir dari Putrajaya, seperti yang digambarkan oleh peristiwa Pilihan Raya Umum ke-14.

Islam juga tidak menghadapi ancaman eksistensial di Malaysia.

Sasterawan Negara Datuk Seri A Samad Said atau dikenali sebagi Pak Samad beberapa tahun yang lalu mengemukakan dua soalan untuk mengungkap kebohongan mitos politik seperti itu:

“Bagaimana orang Melayu boleh terancam? Bagaimana agama (Islam) dan Melayu diancam, apabila untuk lebih lima dekad mereka yang memegang kuasa adalah orang Melayu?

“Apa yang mereka pemimpin Melayu lalukan selama lima dekad ini jika benar Melayu di bawah ancaman?”

Realiti demografi adalah jaminan yang pasti bahawa orang Melayu tidak akan kehilangan kuasa politik, kerana orang Melayu di Malaysia akan terus menggunakan kuasa politik di Malaysia kerana tidak mungkin mereka akan kehilangan kuasa politik.

Pada tahun 1970, penduduk Malaysia terdiri daripada 44.32 peratus orang Melayu, 34.34 peratus orang Cina, 8.99 peratus orang India, 11.89 peratus bumiputera bukan Melayu, 0.67 peratus pula lain-lain.

Pada tahun 2020, peratusan orang Melayu dan orang asli telah meningkat kepada 62%, orang Cina menurun kepada 20.6%, orang India menurun kepada 6.2%, yang lain 0.9% dan bukan warganegara 10.3%.

Saya mungkin adalah ahli politik yang teruk dimomokkan di Malaysia. Saya telah dituduh sebagai anti-Melayu, anti-Islam dan anti-Raja. Kini terdapat kempen untuk mengambarkan saya dan pemimpin DAP kononnya telah menjual hak dan kepentingan orang Cina dan India di Malaysia.

Saya tidak menyangka yang saya ini sebenarnya seorang adiwira yang mengancam hak dan kedudukan orang Melayu dan bukan Melayu di Malaysia dalam mengejar Impian Malaysia.

Kita harus menyedari perangkap era Internet, di mana berita palsu dan ucapan kebencian dapat bergabung untuk mewujudkan “realiti baru” yang bertentangan dengan kebenaran dan fakta.

Inilah sebabnya mengapa setelah kontroversi mengenai kurikulum yang disemak pada tahun 2019 mengenai Jawi di sekolah rendah Cina dan (Tamil), 95% orang Cina dan India masih belum mengetahui bahawa selama bertahun-tahun, terdapat Jawi dalam Buku Teks Bahasa Malaysia untuk murid sekolah rendah darjah lima dan bahawa kurikulum yang disemak semula untuk memperkenalkan Jawi untuk murid darjah enam telah diputuskan oleh MCA, Gerakan, MIC, SUPP dan Menteri UMNO pada September 2015.

Pemimpin MCA, Gerakan, MIC dan SUPP menjadi yang paling lantang pada tahun 2019 dalam mengecam pengenalan Jawi di sekolah rendah Cina dan Tamil, walaupun keputusan ini diambil oleh Menteri mereka empat tahun lalu pada tahun 2015, untuk dilaksanakan setiap tahun dalam buku teks yang disemak semula dari 2017 – 2022.

Kerajaan Pakatan Harapan membuat satu perubahan – menjadikan pengenalan Jawi di sekolah rendah Cina dan Tamil sebagai pilihan dan bukannya mata pelajaran wajib, tetapi perubahan penting ini telah hilang dalam radar pembuat fitnah yang ingin memburuk-burukkan DAP.

Setiausaha Agung DAP Lim Guan Eng telah dituduh pernah mengatakan bahawa beliau bukan orang Cina semasa menjadi Menteri Kewangan pada tahun 2018. Beliau tidak pernah demikian sebaliknya beliau menegaskan bahawa beliau mahu menjadi menjadi Menteri Kewangan untuk semua rakyat Malaysia, tanpa mengira bangsa atau agama.

Sebagai rakyat Malaysia, kita semua berbilang identiti – etnik, agama, budaya – dan Pada era-era awal penubuhan negara kita, boleh difahami jika seseorang itu melihat diri mereka pertamanya sebagai seorang Melayu, Cina, India, Kadazan, Iban, Islam, Buddha, Kristian, Hindu, Sikh, atau Tao dan kemudiannya barulah seorang rakyat Malaysia, tetapi sekiranya kita terus mengetepikan identiti Malaysia kita, perkara ini hanyalah menjadi bukti kegagalan proses pembinaan negara bangsa kita.

Impian Malaysia dilandaskan pada prinsip bahawa kuasa harus digunakan untuk menyatukan rakyat Malaysia untuk memastikan bahawa kepentingan bersama mereka untuk memiliki kehidupan yang lebih baik dari segi ekonomi dan pekerjaan, pendidikan, perumahan, kesihatan, persekitaran dan pengangkutan, dapat dipenuhi, dan kerana itu kita mesti menolak pendirian untuk “mendapatkan kuasa semata-mata untuk kuasa”.

Semoga kita sama-sama belajar dari hari-hari paling suram pada bulan Jun 2016 dan belajar dari Sekinchan dalam melancarkan gelombang baharu gerakan Impian Malaysia!

(Ucapan Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang kepada Ketua-ketua Kampung dan ahli-ahli majlis DAP di Sekinchan pada hari Ahad, 11 April 2021 jam 12 tengah hari)

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DAP does not advocate any de-Chinese, de-Malay, de-Indian, de-Kadazan or de-Iban policy, but the very opposite, to accept that Malaysians will have multiple identities but first and foremost that they are all Malaysians

(Tatal ke bawah untuk kenyataan versi BM)

In the DAP’s 55-year history, it had the victim of many lies, falsehoods and baseless allegations.

The DAP had been falsely accused of being anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-Royalty when throughout our history, DAP had remained committed to the Malaysian Dream for the country to become a world-class great nation which is only possible if all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region are united under the Malaysian Constitution and Rukunegara to build a harmonious, just, democratic, progressive and prosperous plural nation.

I was accused of causing the May 13, 1969 riots in Kuala Lumpur and having led illegal procession along the streets of Kuala Lumpur. I was even accused of having urinated at the official residence of the Selangor Mentri Besar in Kampong Baru, Kuala Lumpur on May 13, 1969!

But I was never in Kuala Lumpur after the 1969 General Election results on May 10, 1969, and I was in Kota Kinabalu on May 13, 1969 to campaign for Sabah Independent candidates as polling in Sabah and Sarawak were to be held later after Peninsular Malaysia.

The Police knew that I had nothing to do with the May 13, 1969 riots and that was why I was never questioned about the May 13, 1969 riots in my two detentions under the Internal Security Act.

I was accused of being a communist and having come to Malaya when I was 17 years old. In fact, I was born in Batu Pahat eighty years ago, and went to school from primary standards onwards.

In the 1969 general election, the communists wanted to see me defeated, and that was why in my letter to the Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman from Muar Detention Centre on 5th August 1969, I expressed my “anxieties for the future of Malaysia”.

I wrote:

“The May 10 General Elections result was a defeat for the Alliance Party. But it was graver blow to the MCP (Malayan Communist Party).

“During the general elections campaign, the MCP and its open auxiliaries campaigned for a boycott of elections to discredit parliamentary democracy and to prepare the political base for its second armed insurrection.

“The people rejected the MCP line and came out solidly to vote. This proved that the people had faith in the democratic process to peacefully bring about the changes they want.

“The result of May 10 was the people’s verdict for democracy, as against the MCP campaign. There was joy and expectancy, after the results, not to deprive anyone of his rights, but at the new hope to work for a more just, equal and fulfilling society.

“The May 13 disturbances and the subsequent events, however, had greatly undermined the people’s faith in democracy.”

In my letter to Tunku Abdul Rahman from detention in August 1969, I made a three-point proposal for forging national unity in the wake of the May 13, 1969 racial riots, viz:

The immediate convening of Parliament (a) for an affirmation and pledge by all MPs to the concept and ideal of racial tolerance, understanding and multi-racialism; and (b) to restore the people’s confidence in the democratic process and deny the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) from making political capital from the disturbances;

The establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the causes of the May 13 disturbances, and to apprehend and punish the culprits; and

The establishment of an all-party, all-races Royal Commission of Enquiry to probe into the entire gamut of racial problems in Malaysia, with a view to seek long-term solutions.

Now, there is a social media campaign to accuse me of selling out the rights and future of the Chinese in Malaysia and questioned why the DAP was not fielding only Chinese candidates in all DAP contested seats.

The latest allegation is that DAP wants to “de-Chinese” the DAP, and that the DAP should not “dilute its Chineseness” to belittle or degrade itself just to gain Malay support.

I must be a “superman” – accused of being anti-Malay, anti-Islam, anti-Royalty on the one hand and now anti-Chinese and anti-non-Malay on the other.

There is no basis or truth in such wild allegations.

DAP does not advocate any de-Chinese, de-Malay, de-Indian, de-Kadazan or de-Iban policy, but the very opposite, to accept that Malaysians will have multiple identities but first and foremost that they are all Malaysians.

In pursuit of the Malaysian Dream for all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region to be united to make Malaysia a world-class great nation, I have to bear many crosses. This is the latest cross that I have to bear.

Is this because what I said about Jawi in Chinese and Tamil primary schools in 2019?

I said in Salem, Tamil Nadu in August 2019 that I taught myself Jawi while I was serving my first detention in Muar in 1969 and that it did not “make me any less of a Chinese, and may have helped in making me more of a Malaysian”.

This has been distorted into my saying that one has to learn Jawi to be a Malaysian.

Malaysia is a multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious nation and we should leverage on our unique position where the great Malay/Islamic, Chinese, Indian and Western civilisations meet in confluence in Malaysia to build a great Malaysian nation.

This is what I said in Bangalore on 5th August 2019:

“We must be careful not to fall into the trap of conspirators who want to pit race against race, religion against religion to arouse suspicion, distrust and hatred in our plural society to regain political power and work against the flowering of the best of our multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious nation.

“Just as a Malay who can speak and write in Chinese does not make him or her less of a Malay in Malaysia, a Chinese who knows Jawi does not make him or her less of a Malaysian Chinese. Probably, the additional acquisition of another language make him or her a better Malaysian – but there must be no compulsion in the learning of another tongue!”

Just as my statement on Jawi had been twisted and distorted into a statement that one must learn Jawi to be a Malaysian, DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng had been accused of declaring that he was not a Chinese when he became Finance Minister in 2018 when all he said was that he would be a Finance Minister for all Malaysians, regardless of race or religion.

As Malaysians, we are all going to have multiple identities – ethnic, religious, cultural.

In the early years of Malaysian nationhood, it may be understandable for Malaysians to regard themselves as Malays, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan, Iban or Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Sikhist, Taoist first and Malaysian second, but if after six decades of nationhood we still regard our ethnic, religious or cultural identity first and common Malaysian identity second, then it is a failure of Malaysian nation-building and nationhood.

Whatever the setbacks, we must continue to pursue the Malaysian Dream, based on the principle that power must be used to unite Malaysians to ensure that their common interest of having a better life in terms of economy and jobs, education, housing, health, environment, transportation, respect for the diverse cultures can be met, and that we must reject the thesis of “Power for Power’s sake”.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang to DAP Bandar Utama State Assemblywoman Jamaliah binti Jamaluddin’s Volunteers at Theatre Impian, Bukit Jalil on Monday, April 12, 2021 at 7 pm)

DAP tidak cuba untuk nyah-Cina, nyah-Melayu, nyah-India, nyah-Kadazan, atau nyah-Iban mana-mana orang, tetapi sebaliknya, untuk menerima bahawa semua rakyat Malaysia mempunyai pelbagai identiti berbeza tetapi mereka semua pertamanya rakyat Malaysia

Dalam sejarah 55 tahun DAP, Parti ini telah menjadi mangsa pelbagai penipuan, fitnah, dan pertuduhan yang tidak berasas.

DAP telah difitnah sebagai anti-Melayu, anti-Islam, dan anti-Raja sedangkan sepanjang sejarah kita, DAP telah kekal komited kepada Impian Malaysia untuk menjadikan negara kita sebuah negara hebat berkelas dunia yang hanya boleh menjadi kenyataan sekiranya semua rakyat Malaysia, tanpa mengira kaum, agama, atau kawasan, bersatu padu di bawah Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan Rukun Negara untuk membina sebuah negara majmuk yang harmoni, adil, demokratik, progresif, dan makmur.

Saya pernah dituduh sebagai menjadi punca rusuhan 13 Mei 1969 di Kuala Lumpur, kononnya memimpin perarakan haram di jalan-jalan di Kuala Lumpur. Malah saya juga dituduh kononnya telah kencing di kediaman rasmi Mentri Besar Selangor di Kampong Baru!

Tetapi saya tidak pernah berada di Kuala Lumpur selepas keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum 1969 diumumkan pada 10 Mei 1969, saya berada di Kota Kinabalu pada 13 Mei 1969 untuk berkempen untuk calon Bebas di Sabah memandangkan pilihan raya di Sabah dan Sarawak akan diadakan kemudian selepas Semenanjung Malaysia .

Polis tahu bahawa saya tidak ada kaitan dengan rusuhan 13 Mei 1969 dan sebab itulah saya tidak pernah disoal siasat mengenai rusuhan 13 Mei 1969 dalam dua penahanan saya di bawah Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri.

Saya dituduh sebagai komunis yang kononnya datang ke Tanah Melayu ketika berusia 17 tahun. Sedangkan saya sebenarnya dilahirkan di Batu Pahat lapan puluh tahun yang lalu, dan bersekolah dari sekolah rendah di situ.

Pada pilihan raya 1969, pihak komunis ingin melihat saya kalah, dan itulah sebabnya dalam surat saya kepada Perdana Menteri, Tunku Abdul Rahman dari Pusat Tahanan Muar pada 5 Ogos 1969, saya menyatakan “kerisauan saya untuk masa depan Malaysia”.

Saya menulis:

“Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum 10 Mei adalah halangan bagi Parti Perikatan. Tetapi perkara ini merupakan satu tamparan yang lebih hebat kepada PKM (Parti Komunis Malaya).

“Semasa kempen pilihan raya umum, PKM dan jentera-jentera partinya telah berkempen supaya rakyat memboikot pilihan raya untuk merendahkan keyakinan kepada demokrasi berparlimen dan mempersiapkan latar belakang politik untuk memulakan pemberontakan bersenjata keduanya.

“Rakyat umum telah menolak apa yang dibawa oleh PKM ini dan keluar mengundi beramai-ramai. Perkara ini membuktikan bahawa rakyat masih percaya dalam proses demokrasi untuk membawa perubahan secara aman yang mereka mahukan.

“10 Mei menunjukkan pilihan rakyat untuk demokrasi, menolak kempen PKM. Terdapat kegembiraan selepas pilihan raya ini, bukan untuk menghalang sesiapa daripada mendapat haknya, tetapi untuk berusaha membentuk sebuah masyarakat yang lebih adil dan saksama.

“Namun, kejadian 13 Mei dan kejadian-kejadian selepasnya telah merendahkan keyakinan rakyat kepada demokrasi”.

Dalam surat saya kepada Tunku Abdul Rahman dari pusat tahanan pada bulan Ogos 1969, saya membuat cadangan tiga perkara untuk menjalin perpaduan nasional setelah terjadinya rusuhan kaum 13 Mei 1969, iaitu:

(i) Persidangan Parlimen dengan segera untuk (a) semua Ahli Parlimen berikrar untuk menjunjung konsep toleransi perkauman, persefahaman dan masyarakat majmuk pelbagai kaum; dan (b) untuk mengembalikan keyakinan rakyat dalam proses demokrasi dan untuk menafikan PKM daripada cuba untuk menggunakan kekacauan ini untuk kepentingan politik mereka;

(ii) Pembentukan Suruhanjaya Siasatan Diraja untuk menyiasat punca rusuhan 13 Mei, dan untuk menangkap dan menghukum pelakunya; dan

(iii) Pembentukan Suruhanjaya Siasatan Diraja yang melibatkan semua pihak untuk menyiasat masalah hubungan antara kaum di Malaysia, untuk mencari penyelesaian jangka panjang.

Kini, terdapat kempen media sosial untuk menuduh saya menjual hak dan masa depan orang Cina di Malaysia, yang mempersoalkan mengapa DAP tidak hanya meletakkan calon Cina di semua kerusi yang dipertandingkan DAP.

Tuduhan terbaru adalah bahawa DAP mahu “menyah-Cinakan” parti ini, dan bahawa DAP tidak boleh “mencairkan identiti Cinanya” untuk meremehkan atau merendahkan dirinya hanya untuk mendapatkan sokongan orang Melayu.

Pastinya saya seorang “superman” — dituduh sebagai anti-Melayu, anti-Islam, anti-Raja dari satu sudut dan sekarang anti-Cina dan anti-bukan-Melayu dari sudut lain.

Tidak ada sebarang asas atau kebenaran dalam tuduhan liar tersebut.

DAP tidak cuba untuk nyah-Cina, nyah-Melayu, nyah-India, nyah-Kadazan, atau nyah-Iban mana-mana orang, tetapi sebaliknya, untuk menerima bahawa semua rakyat Malaysia mempunyai pelbagai identiti berbeza tetapi mereka semua pertamanya rakyat Malaysia.

Dalam mengejar Impian Malaysia untuk semua rakyat Malaysia tanpa mengira kaum, agama atau wilayah untuk bersatu untuk menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia, saya harus menanggung banyak beban, dan inilah beban terbaru yang harus saya tanggung.

Adakah perkara ini dibangkitkan kerana apa yang saya katakan mengenai isu Jawi di sekolah rendah Cina dan Tamil pada tahun 2019?

Saya mengatakan di Salem, Tamil Nadu pada bulan Ogos 2019 bahawa saya belajar sendiri menulis Jawi ketika saya menjalani tahanan pertama saya di Muar pada tahun 1969 dan bahawa perkara ini tidak “mempunyai kesan kepada identiti saya sebagai seorang Cina, tetapi mengukuhkan lagi identiti saya sebagai seorang rakyat Malaysia.

Perkara ini telah diputarbelitkan untuk mengatakan yang kononnya saya mengatakan yang seseorang perlu belajar Jawi untuk menjadi rakyat Malaysia.

Malaysia adalah negara berbilang kaum, pelbagai bahasa, berbilang budaya dan berbilang agama dan kita harus memanfaatkan kedudukan unik kita di mana peradaban Melayu / Islam, Cina, India dan Barat yang hebat bertemu di Malaysia untuk membina negara bangsa Malaysia yang hebat.

Inilah yang saya katakan di Bangalore pada 5 Ogos 2019:

“Kita harus berhati-hati agar tidak terjebak dalam perangkap mereka yang ingin melaga-lagakan hubungan perkauman dan kegamaan untuk menimbulkan kecurigaan, syak wasangka dan kebencian dalam masyarakat majmuk kita sebagai sebahagian daripada usaha mereka untuk mendapatkan semula kekuatan politik dan berusaha menentang usaha menyatukan nilai-nilai yang terbaik dari masyarakat pelbagai kaum, bahasa, budaya, dan agama di negara kita.

“Seperti mana seorang Melayu yang boleh bertutur dan menulis dalam bahasa Cina tidak menjadikannya kurang Melayu di Malaysia, seorang Cina yang boleh menulis Jawi tidak menjadikannya kurang Cina. Malah, mungkin kebolehan tambahan ini menjadikan mereka seorang rakyat Malaysia yang lebih baik — tetapi tidak boleh ada paksaan kepada sesiapa pun untuk mempelajari bahasa lain!”

Sama seperti kenyataan saya mengenai Jawi yang diputarbelitkan menjadi kenyataan bahawa seseorang mesti belajar Jawi untuk menjadi rakyat Malaysia, Setiausaha Agung DAP Lim Guan Eng telah dituduh menyatakan bahawa beliau bukan orang Cina ketika menjadi Menteri Kewangan pada tahun 2018 sedangkan apa yang beliau katakan adalah beliau akan menjadi seorang Menteri Kewangan kepada semua rakyat Malaysia, tanpa mengira kaum atau agama.

Sebagai rakyat Malaysia, kita semua akan mempunyai pelbagai identiti — etnik, agama, budaya.

Pada era-era awal penubuhan negara kita, boleh difahami jika seseorang itu melihat diri mereka pertamanya sebagai seorang Melayu, Cina, India, Kadazan, Iban, Islam, Buddha, Kristian, Hindu, Sikh, atau Tao dan kemudiannya barulah seorang rakyat Malaysia, tetapi sekiranya kita terus mengetepikan identiti Malaysia kita, perkara ini hanyalah menjadi bukti kegagalan proses pembinaan negara bangsa kita.

Apa pun halangannya, kita mesti terus mengejar Impian Malaysia, berdasarkan prinsip bahawa kuasa mesti digunakan untuk menyatukan rakyat Malaysia untuk memastikan bahawa kepentingan bersama mereka untuk mempunyai kehidupan yang lebih baik dari segi ekonomi dan pekerjaan, pendidikan, perumahan, kesihatan, alam sekitar , pengangkutan, penghormatan terhadap budaya yang pelbagai dapat dipenuhi, dan bahawa kita harus menolak pendirian untuk “mendapatkan kuasa semata-mata untuk kuasa”.

(Ucapan Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang kepada Sukarelawan Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri Bandar Utama Jamaliah Binti Jamaluddin di Teater Impian, Bukit Jalil pada hari Isnin, 12 April 2021 jam 7 petang)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 13 April 2021, 8:02 am and is filed under
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The lessons from the 22-month Pakatan Harapan government

(Tatal ke bawah untuk kenyataan versi BM)

Pakatan Harapan must learn the lessons from the 22-month Pakatan Harapan Government whose five-year mandate was cut short by the Sheraton Move conspiracy which brought in a backdoor, undemocratic and illegitimate government.

Some of these lessons are:

Serious about implementing election pledges.

Early in the Pakatan Harapan Government, it was the Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad who said that the manifesto was not a bible.

As a result, even if 80 or 90 per cent of the election pledges had been implemented in the five-year mandate, damage had been done. It was worse when the five-year mandate of the PH government was cut short in 22 months by the Sheraton Move conspiracy.

Ministers must be honest, trustworthy and have integrity. DAP was demonized as anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-Royalty for the proposal to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) at the end of 2018 when it had nothing to do with DAP.Saifuddin Abdullah, who was the Foreign Minister at the time, in reply to Anthony Loke, said he was not the Minister responsible for trying to ratify ICERD. Will Saifuddin reveal who was the Minister responsible or is he more prepared to see an increase in his “trust deficit”?

Be more aware of the power of lies, falsehoods, fake news and disinformation. I was alleged to have said that one must learn Jawi to be a Malaysian and DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng accused of declaring that he was not a Chinese when these were downright lies.

Political parties in Pakatan Harapan should not interfere in the affairs of another member party.

The Prime Minister and Cabinet must have a Pakatan Harapan coalition mindset and framework. In the 22-month PH government, the Prime Minister was acting in the old mode of Barisan Nasional governments when there should be a new mode, mindset and framework.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, 14th April 2021)

Pengajaran daripada 22 bulan pentadbiran kerajaan Pakatan Harapan

Pakatan Harapan perlu menginsafi pengajaran daripada 22 bulan peluang mentadbir yang telah dipendekkan melalui konspirasi Langkah Sheraton yang telah membawa masuk kerajaan pintu belakang yang tidak demokratik dan tidak sah.

Sesetengah daripada pengajaran yang dapat dihayati adalah:

1) Bersikap serius dalam mengotakan janji pilihan raya.

Sejak daripada awal penubuhan kerajaan Pakatan Harapan lagi, Perdana Menteri ketika itu sendiri, Tun Dr Mahathir yang telah mengatakan bahawa manifesto ini bukanlah satu kitab suci.

Hasilnya, sekalipun jika kita berjaya mengotakan 80 ke 90 peratus daripada janji-janji pilihan raya Pakatan Harapan, kerosakan telah pun berlaku. Perkara ini bertambah buruk apabila mandat lima tahun Pakatan Harapan dirampas secara haram melalui konspirasi Langkah Sheraton.

2) Menteri perlu jujur, boleh dipercayai, dan mempunyai integriti. DAP telah dimomokkan sebagai anti-Melayu, anti-Islam, dan anti-Raja akibat daripada cadangan untuk meratifikasi Konvensyen Antarabangsa mengenai Penghapusan Diskriminasi Perkauman (ICERD) sedangkan perkara ini tidak ada kaitan sama sekali dengan DAP.

Saifuddin Abdullah yang menrupakan Menteri Luar Negeri ketika itu, dalam menjawab kepada Anthony Loke, mengatakan yang bukanlah menteri yang bertanggungjawab dalam isu ratifikasi ICERD. Adakah Saifuddin bersedia untuk mendedahkan siapakah menteri yang bertanggungjawab ke atas ICERD ini atau adakah beliau lebih rela melihat “defisiti kepercayaan” terhadap beliau terus meningkat?

3) Lebih sedar mengenai kuasa penipuan, fitnah, berita palsu, dan maklumat palsu. Saya telah dituduh sebagai orang yang mengatakan yang seseorang perlu belajar tulisan Jawi untuk menjadi rakyat Malaysia dan Setiausaha Agung DAP, Lim Guan Eng telah dituduh sebagai mengatakan yang beliau bukan seorang Cina sedangkan perkara ini hanyalah pertuduhan palsu semata-mata.

4) Parti komponen Pakatan Harapan tidak patut masuk campur hal ehwal parti komponen lain.

5) Perdana Menteri dan Menteri Kabinet perlu berfikir dan bekerja sebagai Pakatan Harapan. Sepanjang 22 bulan PH mentadbir, Perdana Menteri semasa itu masih bertindak dalam corak fikiran dan gaya kerajaan Barisan Nasional, sedangkan sepatutnya perlu ada gaya, cara fikiran, dan rangka kerja yang baharu.

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Rabu 14 April 2021)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 14 April 2021, 5:08 pm and is filed under
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I will contest the DAP CEC election but will not aim for any front-line leadership position and am prepared to be defeated in a party election where I have given over 55 years of my life in pursuit of the Malaysian Dream

(Tatal ke bawah untuk kenyataan versi BM)

I will contest the DAP Central Executive Committee election in June this year and am prepared to be defeated in a party election where I have given over 55 years of my life in pursuit of the Malaysian Dream.

I am not aiming for any front-line leadership position.

I want to reiterate that DAP does not advocate any de-Chinese, de-Malay, de-Indian, de-Kadazan or de-Iban policy. We stand for the  very opposite, as we want Malaysians to accept that Malaysians will have multiple identities – ethnic, religious, linguistic, cultural, regional –  but first and foremost that they are all Malaysians.

I want to thank Datuk K.Y. Chan and Tony Pua, the DAP MP for Damansara, for this idea of Theatre Impian which they had worked for over two years as a labour of love, solidarity, idealism and patriotism but they had  kept me in the dark until last month, just before the launching of Theatre Impian.

Theatre Impian captured the substance of what we had fought for over half a century, in pursuit of the Malaysian Dream for all Malaysians regardless of race, language,  religion or region to be united to make Malaysia a world-class great nation.

There are many forces in the country which want to see me crushed  and obliterated and the Malaysian Dream defeated.

I have said in my 55 years of political struggle that I was born, grew up and will die in Malaysia.  I never expected to be an octogenarian.  But one thing is sure, I will die in Malaysia and not in any other land.

Last month, there was the Alaska Summit and historic clash between China and the United States, and there were many reports about the Chinese diaspora – one of the biggest diasporic populations in the world numbering over 70 million people of diverse backgrounds.

The Malaysian Chinese, however,  do not belong to the Chinese Diaspora as they are part of the Malaysian Diaspora – comprising not only Chinese, but also Malays, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans.

I have visited many countries, including several trips to China, but I never felt  home except when I was on Malaysian soil.

I want Malaysian Chinese, like other Malaysians whatever their race, religion, language, culture or region, to be treated as first-class Malaysian citizens.  This is the only way to realise the Malaysian Dream.

I want all Malaysians, regardless of race, language, religion or region, to be able to fulfil their potential in Malaysia and do not have to migrate to other lands to do so, whether United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada or the United States to help  to make these nations great.

I want them to stay in Malaysia to make Malaysia world-class great!

I visited Sekinchan four days ago on Sunday.

Five years ago, on June 18, 2016, Pakatan Harapan lost badly in two parliamentary by-elections – one in Sungai Besar and the other in Kuala Kangsar.

The Pakatan Harapan candidate in Sungai Besar by-election, Azhar Abdul Shukor of Amanah lost by a majority of 9,191 votes while in Kuala Kangsar, Ahmad Termizi Ramli of Amanah lost by a majority of 6,969 votes.

There was gloom and doom about prospects of political change for the 14th General Election which must be held in two years’ time by May 2018.

In fact, the ruling administration was so emboldened by the victories in the two parliamentary by-elections that  it took several new measures in the following two weeks after the by-elections to strengthen itself, including the sacking of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir from UMNO and the suspension of Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal as UMNO member; a major purge in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) involving the two top men in the MACC; and the arrest on two trumped-up charges of corruption against the DAP Secretary-General and then Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

In the Sungai Besar parliamentary by-election, DAP even lost in the Sekinchan state assembly seat held by the present Selangor Speaker, Ng Suee Lin, who had  won  it for three terms – first time with a wafer-thin majority of 344 votes in the 2004 General Election, the second time with an even smaller majority of 190 votes in the 2008 General Election, the third time with a comfortable majority of 2,239 votes in the 2013 General Election.

But in  less than two years in the 14th General Election on  May 9, 2018, we converted the gloom and doom of June 2016 into a high watermark for political change in Malaysia when we shocked Malaysians and the world with the first peaceful and democratic transition of power in six decades of Malaysian nationhood.

We are now in that political nadir as in June 2016 with Malaysians disillusioned and disappointed about the political process, with despondency and hopelessness pervading the land.

The high hopes and expectations  of the 14th General Election  to restore  Malaysia as a world-class great nation  – in the words of Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman to be “a beacon of light in a difficult and distracted world” – had not been fulfilled.

Instead of five years of institutional reforms and political, economic, social and educational changes to strongly anchor Malaysia as a world-class great nation, the Pakatan Harapan Government was toppled by the Sheraton Move conspiracy after 22 months, ushering in a backdoor, undemocratic and  illegitimate government which suspended Parliament as it was unsure that it could continue to command the support of the majority of MPs in Parliament.

Can we rekindle, re-inspire, re-energize and re-motivate hope and inspiration in the Malaysian Dream for the country to be a world-class great nation by ensuring that the 15th General Election can fulfil the high but dashed hopes of the 14th General Election for reform and salvation?

I say yes. We can. We have done it before. The darkest  hour is just before the dawn. All we  need are conviction, stamina, commitment and  perseverance to pursue the Malaysian Dream.

I have said that we must learn the lessons of the 22-month Pakatan Harapan Government.

One important lesson is to be more  conscious  of the power of lies, fake news and false information in the internet era of social media which can create a “new reality” which is completely opposite to the truth and facts.

For instance, many still believe  the lies that I had said that one must learn Jawi to be a Malaysian and  that DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng had declared that he was not a Chinese when he was appointed Finance Minister.

Or the lies that the Pakatan Harapan had arrested 12 people  for alleged Tamil Tiger (LTTE) involvement or  refused to recognise    the Unified  Examination Certificate (UEC).

I had told our two State Assemblymen, P. Gunasekaran from Negri Sembilan and G. Samninathan from Malacca that it was DAP’s efforts in government which led to their release   at the end of February 2020, or they would be detained for a long time if they were not freed before the Sheraton Move.

On the UEC certificate, this is what the  Buku Harapan says:

“Pakatan Harapan will undertake to recognise UEC certificates to enter public institutions of higher learning (IPTA) provided that applicants have a credit in Bahasa Melayu at the SPM level. For this purpose, the UEC certificate will be assessed to be equivalent to the existing general qualification for entry into IPTA.”

At the DAP Retreat in 2019, the then Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad  said the Pakatan Harapan government was committed to the pledge to recognise the UEC certificate to enter public institutions of learning, after an assessment.

But the Pakatan Harapan government did not have five years to fulfil its election pledge as it was toppled after 22 months by the Sheraton Move conspiracy.

There are those who advocate a return to the past, when the DAP was in the Opposition.

One of the lessons of the 22-month Pakatan Harapan government is that it is in government that one can get things done.

We must aim to return to power in the 15th General Election and I urge all Malaysians to give full support to Pakatan Harapan and the Pakatan Harapan Prime Minister-designate, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The Malaysian Dream movement must continue,  based on the principle that power must be used to unite Malaysians to ensure that their common interest of having a better life in terms of economy and jobs, education, housing, health, transport, environment,  respect for religious and cultural diversity, parliamentary democracy, the rule of law, separation of powers, good governance, public integrity,  press freedom,  human rights,  can be met to be a world-class great nation, and that we must reject the thesis of “Power for Power’s sake”.

(Speech  by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur to supporters at Theatre Impian on  Wednesday, 14th April 2021 at 6 pm)

==================================

Saya akan bertanding dalam pemilihan CEC DAP tetapi saya tidak menyasarkan apa-apa kedudukan penting dan saya bersedia untuk dikalahkan dalam pemilihan parti yang saya telah dedikasikan 55 tahun hidup saya untuk mengejar Impian Malaysia

Saya akan bertanding dalam pemilihan Jawatankuasa Tertinggi Pusat (CEC) DAP pada bulan Jun tahun ini dan saya bersedia untuk dikalahkan dalam pemilihan parti yang saya telah dedikasikan 55 tahun hidup saya untuk mengejar Impian Malaysia.

Saya tidak mengejar apa-apa kedudukan kepimpinan barisan hadapan.

Saya mahu menegaskan bahawa DAP tidak membawa apa-apa agenda untuk menyah-Cina, nyah-Melayu, nyah-India nyah-Kadazan, atau nyah-Iban mana-mana orang. Sebaliknya, kita mahu rakyat Malaysia untuk menerima hakikat bahawa kita semua mempunyai pelbagai identiti — kaum, agama, bahasa, budaya, kawasan — tetapi apa yang paling utama sekali adalah kita semua rakyat Malaysia.

Saya ingin mengucapkan terima kasih kepada Datuk K. Y. Chan dan Tony Pua, Ahli Parlimen DAP Damansara untuk idea membuka Teater Impian ini yang telah diusahakan oleh mereka selama dua tahun atas dasar cinta, solidariti, idealisme, dan patriotisme di tanpa memberitahu saya sehinggalah bulan lepas, sebelum pelancaran Teater Impian ini.

Teater Impian ini menangkap intipati perjuangan kita selama setengah abad yang lepas, dalam mengejar Impian Malaysia untuk semua rakyat Malaysia, tanpa mengira kaum, bahasa, agama, mahupun kawasan, untuk bersatu padu menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia.

Terdapat banyak pihak dalam negara ini yang mahu melihat saya dimusnahkan dan Impian Malaysia dikalahkan.

Saya telah katakan dalam 55 tahun perjuangan politik saya yang saya lahir, membesar, dan akan mati di Malaysia. Saya tidak pernah jangkakan yang saya mencapai umur sehingga 80 tahun. Tetapi satu perkara itu pasti, saya akan mati di Malaysia, dan bukannya mana-mana negara lain.

Bulan lepas, terdapat Sidang Kemuncak Alaska dan pertembungan bersejarah di antara China dan Amerika Syarikat, dengan laporan mengenai jumlah populasi diaspora China — satu kumpulan diaspora terbesar di dunia, dengan hampir 70 juta orang dengan latar belakang yang sangat pelbagai.

Namun, orang Cina Malaysia tidak dikira sebagai sebahagian daripada diaspora China ini, memandangkan kami semua adalah sebahagian daripada Diaspora Malaysia — yang terbentuk bukan sahaja daripada kalangan orang Cina, tetapi juga Melayu, India, Kadazan, dan Iban.

Saya telah melawat banyak negara, termasuklah beberapa lawatan ke China, tetapi saya tidak pernah merasakan seperti berada di rumah kecuali apa bila saya berada di Malaysia.

Saya orang Cina di Malaysia, seperti mana rakyat Malaysia yang lain dari latar belakang kaum, agama, bahasa, budaya, atau kawasan, untuk dilayan seperti rakyat Malaysia kelas pertama. Inilah satu-satunya cara untuk memenuhi Impian Malaysia.

Saya mahu supaya semua rakyat Malaysia, tanpa mengira kaum, bahasa, agama, atau kawasan, untuk boleh memenuhi potensi mereka di Malaysia tanpa perlu berpindah ke negara lain untuk berbuat demikian, baik ke United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Kanada, atau Amerika Syarikat, untuk hanya menghebatkan negara-negara ini dan bukannya Malaysia.

Saya mahu mereka untuk kekal di Malaysia untuk menjadikan negara kita hebat dan bertaraf dunia!

Saya telah melawat Sekinchan empat hari yang lalu pada hari Ahad.

Lima tahun yang lalu, pada 18 Jun 2016, Pakatan Harapan telah kalah teruk di dua pilihan raya kecil Parlimen — satu di Sungai Besar dan satu di Kuala Kangsar.

Calon Pakatan Harapan di Sungai Besar, Azhar Abdul Shukor daripada Amanah telah kalah dengan majoriti sebanyak 9,191 undi sementara di Kuala Kangsar, Ahmad Termizi Ramli daripada Amanah telah kalah dengan 6,969 undi.

Terdapat perasan suram dan putus asa dengan harapan untuk perubahan politik dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-14 yang perlu diadakan dalam tempoh dua tahun sebelum Mei 2018.

Malah, pihak kerajaan semasa itu sangat yakin dengan kemenangan dalam kedua-dua PRK ini sehingga ia mengambil beberapa langkah untuk memperkukuhkan kedudukannya dalam minggu-minggu selepas PRK ini, termasuklah dengan memecat Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin dan Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir daripada UMNO dan menggantung keahlian Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal; penggantian besar-besaran dalam Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia yang melibatkan dua pegawai tinggi SPRM; dan penangkapan Setiausaha Agung DAP yang juga merupakan Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang ketika itu di atas dua pertuduhan yang direka.

Dalam PRK Sungai Besar, DAP kalah dalam kawasan DUN Sekinchan yang disandang oleh Yang di Pertua Dewan Negeri Selangor semasa, Ng Suee Lin, yang telah memenanginya untuk tempoh tiga penggal — kemenangan pertama dengan majoriti tipis 344 undi pada tahun 2004, kemenangan kedua dengan majoriti yang lebih tipis 190 undi pada PRU 2008, dan kemenangan ketiga dengan majoriti selesa 2,239 undi pada PRU 2013.

Namun, tidak sampai dua tahun kemudian, dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-14 pada 9 Mei 2018, kita berjaya mengubah perasaan suram dan kecewa pada Jun 2916 kepada arus perubahan apabila kita mengejutkan dunia dengan peralihan kuasa secara aman dan demokratik buat pertama kali selepas enam dekad negara ditubuhkan.

Kita kini berada di tahap rendah yang sama seperti mana pada Jun 2016 dengan rakyat Malaysia berhadapan dengan perasaan kekecewaan dan putus asa dengan proses politik.

Cita-cita dan jangkaan daripada PRU14 untuk mengembalikan negara kita menjadi sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia — dalam kata-kata Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, untuk menjadi “sinar cahaya dalam dunia yang kelam dan terganggu” — masih tidak dapat dicapai.

Daripada mendapat reformasi institusi reformasi dan perubahan politik, ekonomi, sosial, dan pendidikan selama lima tahun untuk menetapkan hala tuju negara kita sebagai negara yang hebat, kerajaan Pakatan Harapan ditumbangkan hanya selepas 22 bulan melalui konspirasi Langkah Sheraton, yang membawa masuk sebuah kerajaan pintu belakang yang tidak sah dan tidak demokratik yang telah menggantung sidang Parlimen demi kelangsungan hidupnya.

Bolehkah kita menghidupkan semula harapan dan aspirasi Impian Malaysia untuk negara kita menjadi negara hebat bertaraf dunia dengan memastikan PRU 15 berjaya memenuhi harapan yang dirampas selepas PRU 14 yang lalu?

Saya katakan ya. Kita pernah lakukannya sebelum ini. Waktu yang paling gelap sekali adalah jam-jam sebelum subuh. Apa yang kita perlukan adalah keyakinan, stamina, komitmen, dan ketabahan untuk mengejar cita-cita Impian Malaysia ini.

Saya telah katakan yang kita perlu mempelajari pengajaran daripada 22 bulan Pakatan Harapan mentadbir.

Salah satu pengajaran yang penting adalah untuk menyedari kuasa penipuan, berita palsu, dan maklumat palsu di media sosial yang boleh mewujudkan satu “realiti baharu” yang berbeza sama sekali dengan perkara yang sebenarnya.

Sebagai contoh, masih ramai yang termakan penipuan yang kononnya saya telah mengatakan seseorang itu perlu mempelajari jawi untuk menjadi rakyat Malaysia, atau kononnya bahawa Setiausaha Agung DAP, Lim Guan Eng mengatakan yang beliau bukanlah seorang Cina apabila beliau dilantik sebagai Menteri Kewangan.

Ataupun penipuan bahawa Pakatan Harapan telah menangkap 12 orang atas pertuduhan berkaitan dengan Tamil Tiger (LTTE) atau enggan untuk mengiktiraf UEC.

Saya telah mengatakan kepada dua orang ADUN kami, P. Gunasekaran dari Negri Sembilan dan G. Saminathan dari Melaka yang bahawa usaha DAP dalam kerajaanlah yang telah membawa kepada pembebasan mereka pada penghujung bulan Februari 2020, jika tidak mereka pastinya akan ditahan lebih lama lagi sekiranya mereka tidak dibebaskan sebelum Langkah Sheraton.

Mengenai persijilan UEC, Buku Harapan mengatakan:

“Pakatan Harapan akan mengiktiraf sijil UEC sebagai syarat am kelayakan untuk memasuki institusi-institusi pengajian tinggi awam (IPTA) dengan syarat pemohon memiliki kepujian dalam mata pelajaran Bahasa Melayu di peringkat SPM. Untuk tujuan ini, sijil UEC akan dinilai agar setaraf dengan syarat am kelayakan sedia ada untuk kemasukan ke IPTA.”

Dalam pemukiman DAP pada tahun 2019, Perdana Menteri ketika itu, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad telah mengatakan yang kerajaan Pakatan Harapan komited kepada janji untuk mengiktiraf sijil UEC untuk kemasukan ke institusi pengajian awam, selepas kajian dijalankan.

Namun, kerajaan Pakatan Harapan tidak mempunyai lima tahun untuk memenuhi janji-janjinya memandangkan kerajaan ini telah ditumbangkan hanya selepas 22 bulan melalui Langkah Sheraton.

Terdapat mereka yang menggesa supaya kita kembali ke masa lampai, semasa mana DAP hanyalah merupakan sebuah parti pembangkang.

Salah satu pengajaran daripada 22 bulan menjadi kerajaan adalah dengan menjadi kerajaan, kita boleh membawa perubahan.

Kita perlu berazam untuk kembali mendapatkan kuasa dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 dan saya menyeru semua rakyat Malaysia untuk memberikan sokongan penuh kepada Pakatan Harapan dan calon Perdana Menteri PH, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Gerakan Impian Malaysia ini mesti diteruskan, berdasarkan prinsip bahawa kuasa perlu digunakan untuk menyatukan rakyat Malaysia, untuk memastikan keperluan kita semua dijaga untuk mendapatkan kehidupan yang lebih baik dari segi ekonomi dan pekerjaan, pendidikan, perumahan, kesihatan, pengangkutan, alam sekitar, hormat terhadap kepelbagaian agama dan budaya, demokrasi berparlimen, kedaulatan undang-undang, doktrin pemisahan kuasa, tadbir urus yang baik, integriti awam, kebebasan akhbar, dan hak asasi manusia dapat dipenuhi untuk membolehkan kita menjadi sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia, dan kita perlu menolak prinsip “mendapatkan kuasa hanya kerana kuasa”.

(Ucapan Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur kepada penyokong di Teater Impian pada hari Rabu, 14 April 2021, jam 6 petang)

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Is Malaysia facing a fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic before we could bring  the third wave (which started in September last year) under control, by reducing the daily increase of new cases to double-digit figures  as in August last year?

Malaysia reported an increase of 2,148 new Covid-19 cases yesterday – the highest in 41 days.

Is Malaysia facing a fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic  before we could bring the third wave (which started in September last year) under control by reducing the daily increase of new Covid-19 cases to double-digit figures as in August last year?

If so, then the declaration of emergency and the suspension of Parliament on 12th January 2021 purportedly to combat a rise in Covid-19 cases has failed on two grounds:

(i) lack of constitutional scrutiny and  check-and-balance of the Executive by Parliament to ensure an “all-of-government” and “whole-of-society” strategy and approach in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic; and

(ii) kakistocracy of the backdoor and illegitimate government in combating the Covid-19 pandemic.

In fact, a powerful case can be made that if the Pakatan Harapan government had not been toppled by the Sheraton Move conspiracy, Malaysia would have  been spared both the second and third waves of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as  the disastrous economic, educational and national impact of the pandemic from the MCO and national lockdowns  and the  various modifications of the movement control orders.

Clearly, there must  be a new Health Minister.

Malaysia is already having one of longest waves of  Covid-19 pandemic in the world.

At the Iskandar Puteri Covid-19 Vaccine Registration Centre in Gelang Patah on April 2, I had asked two questions which are  still very relevant today:

Firstly, whether Malaysia could breach the triple-digit figure to fall to double-digit figure in April itself; and

Secondly, whether Malaysia can prevent the upsurge of a fourth wave before bringing the third Covid wave fully under control.

But instead of breaching the triple-digit figure to fall to double-digit figure in this month, we had yesterday  breached the 2,000-mark to reach new heights of daily  increase of Covid-19 cases!

The East Asia and Pacific region is one of the few global bright spots in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic unlike the disastrous performance of United States and the European nations, and such a success provides many lessons on containing infectious diseases at a low cost to the economy in an era of chronic pandemics.

But Malaysia is the exception as we have performed dismally compared to many countries in the region.

The latest monthly report of the Bloomberg Covid Resilience Ranking on March 25 again showed Malaysia as trailing behind Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Vietnam in our performance as a nation in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Emergency Proclamation and the suspension of Parliament are decisions which are not science-based but politics-based purportedly to combat Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia.

In view of the possibility of a fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic before the third wave is brought under control, I call on the Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to respond positively  to the Yang di Pertuan Agong’s Ramadan  call and advise the Yang di Pertuan Agong to convene Parliament with the specific agenda on the Covid-19 pandemic on how to better deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, 15th April 2021)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 15 April 2021, 5:22 pm and is filed under
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Parliament must be reconvened to debate  on the best strategy to combat a  fourth Covid-19 wave as  we should not continue to bumble and bungle  as a poor national performer against Covid-19 pandemic

(Tatal ke bawah untuk kenyataan versi BM)

Parliament must be reconvened to debate  on the best strategy to combat a fourth Covid-19 wave as we should not continue to bumble and bungle as a poor national performer against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The East Asia and Pacific region is one of the few global bright spots in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic unlike the disastrous performance of United States and the European nations, and such a success provides many lessons on containing infectious diseases at a low cost to the economy in an era of chronic pandemics.

But Malaysia is the exception as we have performed dismally compared to many countries in the region.

The latest monthly report of the Bloomberg Covid Resilience Ranking on March 25 again showed Malaysia as trailing behind Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Vietnam in our performance as a nation in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Emergency Proclamation and the suspension of Parliament are decisions which are not science-based but politics-based purportedly to combat Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia.

But Malaysia’s inability  to bring the third  Covid-19 wave under control by bringing the daily increase of new Covid-19 cases to double-digit figures as in last August and yet facing the prospect of an even worse fourth Covid-19 wave is the failure of the national  anti-Covid-19 strategy so far.

An article of the official media today entitled “Malaysia at Covid-19 crossroads” referred to the “snail’s pace” of the national  vaccination effort.

Why is Malaysia still at the “Covid-19 crossroads” and  on “the verge of a fourth wave”  one year after the Covid-19 pandemic and why is the national vaccination effort proceeding at “snail’s pace”?

A month ago, I suggested that the Cabinet  should find answers to two problems – why Malaysia was having one of the longest waves of the Covid-19 pandemic in the world and how to make the national Covid-19 vaccination rollout not only a success but to accelerate and complete it by National Day-Malaysia Day period.

But they fell on deaf ears.

The Cabinet even ignored the public stand of the Yang di Pertuan Agong that Parliament can be convened during an emergency.

In view of the possibility of a fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic before the third wave is brought under control, will the Cabinet advice the Yang di Pertuan Agong on Wednesday to convene Parliament with the specific agenda to debate on how to better deal with the Covid-19 pandemic?

Will any Minister resign in protest at the Cabinet’s refusal even to discuss this problem on next Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting?

We  will wait and see.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in  Kuala Lumpur on Friday, 16th April 2021)

=======================

Parlimen perlu dipanggil bersidang untuk membahaskan strategi terbaik untuk melawan gelombang keempat wabak Covid-19 kerana kita tidak sepatutnya terus melakukan kesilapan dalam memerangi wabak ini sebagai negara dengan prestasi terburuk

Parlimen perlu dipanggil bersidang untuk membahaskan strategi terbaik untuk melawan gelombang keempat wabak Covid-19 kerana kita tidak sepatutnya terus melakukan kesilapan dalam memerangi wabak ini sebagai negara dengan prestasi terburuk.

Kawasan serantau Asia Timur dan Pasifik adalah salah satu titik cerah dalam usaha melawan wabak Covid-19, tidak seperti prestasi buruk di Amerika Syarikat dan negara-negara Eropah, dan kejayaan ini memberikan banyak pengajaran tentang bagaimana wabak ini dapat dibendung tanpa impak yang besar kepada ekonomi dalam era wabak yang teruk.

Namun Malaysia menjadi satu pengecualian kepada perkara ini memandangkan kita mencatatkan prestasi yang buruk berbanding dengan negara-negara lain di kawasan serantau.

Dalam penerbitan terkini laporan Indeks Ketahanan Covid Bloomberg yang diterbitkan pada 25 Mac, Malaysia sekali lagi berada di belakang kedudukan Singapura, Taiwan, Korea Selatan, China, Jepun, Thailand, Hong Kong, dan Vietnam dalam prestasi negara kita melawan wabak Covid-19.

Proklamasi Darurat dan penggantungan sidang Parlimen yang dilakukan bukanlah satu tindakan yang dibuat berasaskan sains, tetapi berasaskan politik, kononnya untuk melawan wabak Covid-19 dalam negara kita.

Namun, kegagalan kita untuk mengawal penularan gelombang ketiga wabak Covid-19 dengan menurunkan kadar peningkatan harian ke julat dua angka seperti pada bulan Ogos tahun lepas dan pada masa yang sama berhadapan dengan risiko gelombang keempat yang mungkin lebih buruk menjadi bukti kegagalan strategi kita.

Satu artikel dalam media rasmi yang bertajuk “Malaysia di Persimpangan Covid-19” berkata mengenai kelambatan program vaksinasi kebangsaan.

Mengapakah negara kita masih di “Persimpangan Covid-19” dan “di ambang gelombang keempat” setahun selepas wabak ini bermula dan mengapakah program vaksinasi kita bergerak lambat?

Sebulan yang lepas, saya telah cadangkan kepada Kabinet untuk mencari jawapan kepada dua permasalahan — mengapa Malaysia berhadapan dengan gelombang penularan Covid-19 terpanjang di dunia dan bagaimana untuk menjayakan program vaksinasi Covid-19 menjelang sambutan Hari Malaysia.

Namun perkara ini tidak diendahkan.

Malah Kabinet juga telah mengabaikan nasihat Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di Pertuan Agong yang mengatakan Parlimen boleh dipanggil bersidang semasa darurat.

Memandangkan terdapat kemungkinan negara kita dilanda gelombang keempat wabak Covid-19 sebelum kita berjaya mengawal gelombang ketiga wabak ini, adakah Kabinet akan menasihati Yang di Pertuan Agong pada hari Rabu depan untuk memanggil sidang Parlimen dengan agenda khusus untuk membahaskan cara untuk mengekang penularan wabak Covid-19 ini?

Adakah kita akan melihat mana-mana menteri meletakkan jawatan sebagai tanda protes atas keengganan Kabinet untuk membincangkan masalah ini dalam mesyuarat Kabinet pada hari Rabu minggu hadapan?

Kita tunggu dan lihat.

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Jumaat, 16 April 2021)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 16 April 2021, 1:20 pm and is filed under
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Malaysia is not only among the worst performing nations in the first  year in the pre-vaccination phase of Covid-19 pandemic, but regarded as likely to be  among the worst performing nations in the second year of the vaccination phase of the pandemic

(Tatal ke bawah untuk kenyataan versi BM)

Malaysia is not only among the worst performing nations in the first year in the pre-vaccination phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, but regarded as likely to be among the worst performing nations in the second year of the vaccination phase of the pandemic.

Malaysia must pull ourselves up by the bootstraps so that we could be one of the better performing nations in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic in the year of the second vaccination phase.

We do not want the hashtag #KerajaanGagal, which trended on Twitter yesterday, reflecting Malaysians’ frustration over Perikatan Nasional (PN) government’s incompetence and kakistocracy ranging from the Covid-19 situation to the economy, to also become an international phenomenon.

The East Asia and Pacific region is one of the few global bright spots in the first year in the pre-vaccination phase in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic unlike the disastrous performance of United States and the European nations, and such a success provides many lessons on containing infectious diseases at a low cost to the economy in an era of chronic pandemics.

But Malaysia is the exception as we have performed dismally in the pre-vaccination phase as compared to many countries in the region.

The latest monthly report of the Bloomberg Covid Resilience Ranking on March 25 again showed Malaysia as trailing behind Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Vietnam in our performance as a nation in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now, the world is entering a new phase of pandemic measures in the vaccination era, and the tables are somewhat turning.

The US and UK are leading the world in their mass
vaccination
 campaigns, while some Asia-Pacific countries that won praise for containing the virus are lagging and Malaysia is among the worst laggards.

Malaysia is ranked No. 45 among countries with the most cumulative total of Covid-19 cases, and is in a most unfavourable position as shown by the following table:

Rank

Nation

Cumulative Total of Cases

19.

Indonesia

1,594,722

27.

Philippines

914,971

38.

Japan

520.745

45.

Malaysia

370,528

62.

Myanmar

142,617

86.

South Korea

112,789

95.

China

90,466

102.

Singapore

60,769

111.

Thailand

39,038

144.

Hong Kong

11,636

162.

Cambodia

5,480

177.

Vietnam

2,772

192.

Taiwan

1,070

207.

Laos

54

However, according to the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker, more than 860 million doses have been administered across 155 countries worldwide, but in Malaysia, only 1.3 per cent of the population had been fully vaccinated, while 2.1 per cent administered one dose of the vaccine as compared to the following nations:

Nation

Percentage of Population

Given 1+ dose

Fully vaccinated

US

38.5

24.3

UK

48.8

13.4

Israel

59.0

54.9

Singapore

19.8

9.4

Indonesia

4.0

2.2

Malaysia

2.1

1.3

Philippines

1.0

0.2

There is a need for a greater sense of urgency about the national vaccination rollout in Malaysia as it is a recipe for disaster to have a largely unvaccinated people in a world where Covid-19 is mutating and changing rapidly.

This is why Parliament must be reconvened immediately in view of the dire prospects of a fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia, when Malaysia had not been able to bring the eight-month-long Covid third wave under control — by reducing the daily increase of Covid-19 cases to double-digit figures as in last August.

Yesterday, the daily increase of new Covid-19 cases in Malaysia reached a new high of 2,551 cases — with Sarawak setting a new daily record of 960 cases.

We have a snail’s pace development in the national vaccination rollout and all MPs should find ways and means to make the national Covid-19 vaccination rollout not only a success but to accelerate and complete it by Malaysia Day on Sept. 16 so that normality and economic recovery efforts can be initiated as early as possible.

Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, 17th April 2021

Malaysia bukan sahaja salah satu negara dengan prestasi terburuk dalam tahun pertama era pra-vaksinasi Covid-19, tetapi juga bakal dilihat sebagai antara negara dengan prestasi terburuk dalam tahun kedua era vaksinasi Covid-19

Malaysia bukan sahaja salah satu negara dengan prestasi terburuk dalam tahun pertama era pra-vaksinasi Covid-19, tetapi juga bakal dilihat sebagai antara negara dengan prestasi terburuk dalam tahun kedua era vaksinasi Covid-19.

Kita perlu berusaha untuk mengubah hala tuju negara kita untuk menjadi negara dengan prestasi Covid-19 yang lebih baik dalam usaha melawan wabak ini.

Kita tidak mahu hashtag #KerajaanGagal yang tular di Twitter semalam, menunjukkan kekecewaan rakyat terhadap kegagalan dan kakistokrasi kerajaan Perikatan Nasional dalam mengendalikan perkara-perkara daripada hal Covid-19 sehinggalah kepada ekonomi negara menjadi perbualan media antarabangsa.

Kawasan serantau Asia Timur dan Pasifik adalah salah satu titik cerah dalam usaha melawan wabak Covid-19, tidak seperti prestasi buruk di Amerika Syarikat dan negara-negara Eropah, dan kejayaan ini memberikan banyak pengajaran tentang bagaimana wabak ini dapat dibendung tanpa impak yang besar kepada ekonomi dalam era wabak yang teruk.

Namun Malaysia menjadi satu pengecualian kepada perkara ini memandangkan kita mencatatkan prestasi yang buruk berbanding dengan negara-negara lain di kawasan serantau.

Dalam penerbitan terkini laporan Indeks Ketahanan Covid Bloomberg yang diterbitkan pada 25 Mac, Malaysia sekali lagi berada di belakang kedudukan Singapura, Taiwan, Korea Selatan, China, Jepun, Thailand, Hong Kong, dan Vietnam dalam prestasi negara kita melawan wabak Covid-19.

Kini, dunia sedang memasuki fasa baru melawan wabak ini dengan era vaksinasi, dan situasinya kelihatan sudah berubah.

AS dan UK kini dilihat sedang mendahului dunia dengan kempen vaksinasi mereka, sedangkan sesetengah negara Asia-Pasifik yang sebelum ini dipuji atas usaha membendung penularan kini ketinggalan di belakang, dengan negara kita ketinggalan agak jauh.

Malaysia berada di tempat ke-45 di dunia dengan jumlah kes Covid-19 tertinggi, berada di tempat yang tidak menyenangkan, seperti dalam jadual berikut:

Kedudukan

Negara

Jumlah kes terkumpul

19.

Indonesia

1,594,722

27.

Filipina

914,971

38.

Jepun

520.745

45.

Malaysia

370,528

62.

Myanmar

142,617

86.

Korea Selatan

112,789

95.

China

90,466

102.

Singapura

60,769

111.

Thailand

39,038

144.

Hong Kong

11,636

162.

Kemboja

5,480

177.

Vietnam

2,772

192.

Taiwan

1,070

207.

Laos

54

Namun, menurut Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker, lebih daripada 860 juta dos telah diedarkan di sekitar 155 buah negara di seluruh dunia, tetapi di Malaysia, hanya 1.3 peratus rakyat telah diberikan vaksin sepenuhnya, manakala 2.1 peratus penduduk di Malaysia telah diberikan satu dos vaksin, berbanding dengan negara-negara lain seperti berikut:

Negara

Peratus Penduduk

Diberikan 1+ dos

Divaksin sepenuhnya

AS

38.5

24.3

UK

48.8

13.4

Israel

59.0

54.9

Singapura

19.8

9.4

Indonesia

4.0

2.2

Malaysia

2.1

1.3

Filipina

1.0

0.2

Kita perlu menyegerakan program vaksinasi kebangsaan memandangkan mempunyai sejumlah besar penduduk yang tidak divaksinasi dalam dunia di mana wabak Covid-19 ini terus bermutasi dan muncul dengan bentuk baharu adalah satu perkara yang amat merbahaya.

Kerana inilah Parlimen perlu dipanggil bersidang segera, memandangkan kita berhadapan dengan kemungkinan gelombang keempat wabak Covid-19, sedangkan kita masih belum berjaya mengawal gelombang ketiga wabak ini yang telah berlarutan selama lapan bulan — dengan menurunkan kadar peningkatan harian kepada julat dua angka seperti pada bulan Ogos tahun lepas.

Semalam, kadar peningkatan harian kes Covid-19 mencecah kadar tertinggi baharu, dengan 2,551 kes — dengan Sarawak mendahului dengan 960 kes.

Kita berhadapan dengan perkembangan pengedaran vaksin yang terlalu perlahan dan semua Ahli-ahli Parlimen perlu mencari cara, bukan sahaja untuk menjayakan program vaksinasi Covid-19 kebangsaan, tetapi juga mempercepatkannya menjelang sambutan Hari Malaysia, supaya kehidupan normal dan pemulihan ekonomi dapat dimulakan secepat mungkin.

Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Sabtu, 17 April 2021

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 17 April 2021, 7:15 am and is filed under
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Malaysian Dream movement must dare to face daunting tests and obstacles but we must be fortified by the  conviction that truth and justice will eventually prevail

I said a few days ago that Pakatan Harapan must learn the lessons from the 22-month Pakatan Harapan Government whose five-year mandate was cut short by the Sheraton Move conspiracy which brought in a backdoor, undemocratic and illegitimate government and one lesson is to be more aware of power of lies, falsehood, fake news and disinformation.

I have denied that DAP has any de-Chinese, de-Malay, de-Indian, de-Kadazan or de-Iban policy, as it is very opposite of what the DAP is trying to do – that Malaysians will have multiple identities, ethnic, religious, linguistic, cultural, regional, but their common overriding identity must be that of a Malaysian.

But I am still attacked for wanting to de-Chinese the DAP, and my comments on the Jawi issue in 2019 was used as an example.

I am really at a loss as to how my comments on the Jawi issue in 2019 can be used as an example.

Firstly, I was accused of abandoning my stand on Jawi in 1984, which I stated in a speech to the Selangor State DAP Committee on 1st June 1984. This is what I said then (speech available on the website):

“The DAP is opposed to the introduction of Jawi as a compulsory subject for the primary schools, for it is clearly against the Constitutional provision in Article 152 which provided for the national language to be Rumi script of Bahasa Malaysia. The Jawi script therefore is not part of the national language or official language.”

The DAP stand on Jawi, whether in 1984, 2019 or 2021, is unchanged.

This was I said in Salem in Tamil Nadu in August 2019 over the controversy over Jawi in the Year 4 Bahasa Malaysia curriculum for Chinese and Tamil primary schools:

Jawi is not compulsory but optional for students in Chinese and Tamil primary schools, and that there will be no compulsion, learning or examination of Jawi.

Plans to revise the curriculum to include Jawi in Std. 4 Bahasa Malaysia textbook in 2020 was decided by the Barisan Nasional government in 2014-2016.

The statement from the Education Ministry that “Although the plan to introduce khat in schools will proceed, the ministry will still accept the views of various parties to ensure that there is fair consideration” indicates that the Education Ministry is still open to views and consultation from all groups and parties concerned.

How was my stand on Jawi in 2019 contrary to my stand on Jawi in 1984?

Secondly, I was accused of saying that one must learn Jawi to be a Malaysian. This is a downright lie as I had never said such a thing. This is what I said in 2019:

“When I was first detained under the Internal Security Act in 1969, I taught myself Jawi in detention. It did not make me any less of a Chinese, and may have helped in making me more of a Malaysian.”

Did I say that one must learn Jawi to be a Malaysian? No. Why then are people saying that I have said such a thing to justify their allegation that DAP is trying to de-Chinese the DAP?

Similarly, the DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng was accused of declaring that he was not a Chinese when he became the Finance Minister.

He never said it.

Is there any Malaysian in the country who will say he or she is not a Malay or Chinese or Indian or Kadazan or Iban?

Of course not. The battle for the soul of Malaysia is whether we can get the overwhelming majority of Malaysians to regard themselves as Malaysian first, and their ethnicity, religion, language, culture or region second.

What Guan Eng was stressing in May 2018 was that he would be Finance Minister for all Malaysians and not just for the Malaysian Chinese.

Is there anything wrong with such an outlook?

What form of nation-building should be pursued in multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious Malaysia – assimilation or integration?

In 1994, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in his 13th year as the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia, publicly announced that the Barisan Nasional government had given up its nation-building policy of assimilation as it had realised that this was unsuitable for a plural society like Malaysia and that integration and not assimilation should be the basis of the nation-building process in the country.

But apart from assimilation and integration, there is a third alternative of nation-building: no assimilation and no integration but where different communities live side by side but separately under the same political system.

I have always advocated integration – not assimilation nor a nation building which is neither assimilation nor integration, but merely to let the separate communities to live by side although under the same political system.

There are Chinese who live completely in the Chinese universe of their own, without inter-acting with other races; just as there are Malays and Indians who live completely within their own respective Malay or Indian universes.

This is not the Malaysia that I strive for.

The Malaysia I want to see is one where the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans come out of their own universes to interact with other communities; to learn, appreciate and accept that Malaysia is not to be identified with any one community but with all the different communities who have made the land their mother country – where a Chinese has not betrayed race and culture for his exquisite Jawi skill, a Malay has not betrayed race and culture because of his Bharatanatyam repertoire, or an Indian betrayed race and culture because of his mastery of Chinese calligraphy.

In other words, a Malaysian is a Chinese who is not 100 per cent Chinese but has an extra dimension which could be described as Malaysia-plus; a Malay who is not 100 per cent Malay but with a Malaysia-plus dimension; and an Indian who is not 100 per cent Indian but with a Malaysia-plus dimension.

One question all Malaysians must ask: Who is the “Other” in the Malaysian context?

Is the “Other” the Chinese and Indians to a Malay Malaysian, the Malays and Indians to a Chinese Malaysian, and the Malays and Chinese to an Indian Malaysian?

If this is the answer, then we have not yet succeeded in Malaysian nation-building, for the “Other” must be a non-Malaysian, whether from Indonesia, China or India or any other part of the world.

The pressing importance in Malaysia with regard to education is to introduce reforms so that Malaysian students in international assessments can attain above global average results and be ranked in the top one-third of world countries instead of being placed in the lowest one-third bracket as is the position today.

Malaysia seems to be trapped in an extraordinary situation which, if not addressed, will only lead to greater division and disunity, stagnation and failure to leverage on the best values and qualities of the Islamic, Chinese, Indian and Western civilisations which meet in confluence in Malaysia to build a great Malaysian nation.

This extraordinary situation is one where the Malays feel threatened, the Chinese feel threatened, the Indians feel threatened, the Kadazans feel threatened and the Ibans feel threatened.

Every community is made to believe that its culture and ethnicity is facing an existential threat.

But who is creating all these threats to all racial groups in the country?

Not only the various races feel threatened, Islam feels threatened and the non-Islamic religions feel threatened.

Malaysians must develop a new self-confidence of “reaching for the stars”, a new “Malaysia Boleh” spirit, to exorcise the various contrived or imaginary fears and demons for Malaysia to excel itself in various fields of human endeavour so as to achieve a golden age for Malaysia.

This is the substance of the Malaysian Dream.

The Malaysian Dream movement must dare to face daunting tests and obstacles but we must be fortified by the conviction that truth and justice will eventually prevail.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang to DAP members and supporters from Kuala Kubu Baru at the Theatre Impian, Bukit Jalil on Saturday, 17th April 2021)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 17 April 2021, 11:32 am and is filed under
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