DAP committed to make life better for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region

It was quite a nostalgic occasion for me when the founder members of the Bintulu DAP Branch came on stage to be recognised and given a souvenir to commemorate their signal contribution to the founding to the Bintulu DAP Branch in 1978, as I was here in Bintulu 41 years ago.

It is very heart-warming to see the old warriors,  men or women, who had toiled, with their sweat, blood and tears, in the past four decades to build DAP in Bintulu, Sarawak and Malaysia to  what it is today.

Bintulu of 1978 is very different from Bintulu of 2019, but the commitment of the DAP, to make life better for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, remains constant and unchanged.

Some thirty years ago in February 1990 when Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad first announced Vision 2020 of Malaysia becoming a fully developed nation in the year 2020, he  referred to 19 countries that were generally regarded as “developed countries”.

We have not only failed to become a “fully developed nation” in 2020, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ranked Malaysia at No. 63 in its list of countries by GDP per capita 2018.

In the past three decades, not only have Malaysia been overtaken by many countries, many ASEAN countries are closing the economic gap between them and Malaysia.

In 1990, Malaysia had a per capita GDP of US$2,550, as compared to US$349 for China, US$1,571 for Thailand, US$806 for Philippines, US$771 for Indonesia, US$100 for Cambodia, US$98 for Vietnam and US$426 for Laos.

In 2018, Malaysia had a per capita GDP of US$10,942, as compared to US$9,608 for China, US$7.187 for Thailand, US$3,104 for Philippines, US$3,871 for Indonesia, US$1,509 for Cambodia, US$2,551 for Vietnam and US$2,720 for Laos.

Forty years ago, when Malaysian Chinese visited China, it was from a rich country to a poor and backward nation. Today, the reverse is taking place – as a visit from Malaysia to China now is to a more developed, advanced and more prosperous nation.

In 40 years of its economic reforms, the World Bank reported that China has brought 850 million people out of poverty while its per GDP had increased 24 times.

Malaysia’s per capita GDP increased by some eight times in the past four decades, while the United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Professor Philip Alston, said recently that Malaysia had undercounted the number of poor, that the reported 0.4 per cent of households or approximately 27,000 households below the poverty line income (PLI) is a gross underestimation.

Last week, there were reports that Malaysia is even losing out to Vietnam.

DAP believes that if we are to make life better for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, we must have the mentality of a developed nation, to break the trajectory towards a failed, rogue and kleptocractic state and dare to aspire to become a top world-class nation in as many fields of human endeavour  as possible.

We must, for instance,  set ourselves to be a leading nation of integrity in the world and to be  in ranked among the  world’s 30 leading nations of integrity within  a decade, and all Malaysians must work with single-minded commitment towards this goal.

I know that many Malaysians are asking why the former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najbi Razak, who caused Malaysia the infamy of being regarded worldwide a s a global kleptocracy, is not yet  in jail – but we must be consistent in wanting to restore the rule of law and Malaysians must accept that the due  legal process takes time.

But we must be determined that all the kleptocrats, whether former Prime Minister, former Deputy Prime Minister, former Cabinet Ministers or “titans” of the previous era, together with the sharks and ikan bilis,  must be brought to book for their kleptoracy, corruption and abuses of power or nobody would believe that Malaysia could make headway to become a leading nation of integrity.

In the last few days, there had been media  reports of plots and conspiracies to topple the Pakatan Harapan Government in Putrajaya, causing it to implode, whether by disintegration or dismemberment, and one of the reasons for these plots and conspiracies is undoubtedly to ensure that the kleptocrats, sharks and ikan bilis of corruption could escape justice  and judgment  including long prisons sentences.

This is an important reason why Malaysians who care for a better life in the future  for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, must unite to ensure that the war against kleptocracy and corruption is carried out to its logical conclusion – which can only be accomplished if the Pakatan Harapan Government remains intact,  unwavering and committed to the goal of an united, just, democratic, harmonious and incorruptible Malaysia.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at Bintulu DAP anniversary dinner in Bintulu on Saturday, 19th October 2019)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 20 October 2019, 3:41 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
Economics
,
PH Government
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Desperation has caused UMNO-PAS conspirators to change tactics – abandon the “no confidence motion” strategy and change tack   to try to  cause downfall of Pakatan Harapan government by targeting DAP and AMANAH

Desperation has caused the UMNO-PAS conspirators to change tactics – abandon the “no confidence motion” strategy and to try to cause the  downfall of Pakatan Harapan government by targeting DAP and AMANAH.

This is why unlike the previous parliamentary meetings, there was no speculation before the present Budget parliamentary meeting to float the possibility that there would be a “no confidence motion” to remove Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad as Prime Minister.

The “no confidence motion” line  was earlier decided as  the strategy to destabilise and topple  the Pakatan Harapan government after the historic decision of a democratic and peaceful transition of power on 9th May 2018  where contrary to pre-election UMNO  propaganda and warning, I was not only not the Prime Minister, I did not play any official government role and was not even in the Cabinet.

The earlier strategy to plot for a new combination and permutation of parliamentary numbers to secure sufficient parliamentary support  to carry out a “no confidence motion” against Mahathir as the Prime Minister, or at least the fevered speculation that this was afoot,  did not materialise and was quite an abject failure.

Now, desperation has  set in, calling for a  change  of strategy. There are several causes for this sense of desperation, resulting from  the failure to find any chink in the solidarity of the Pakatan Harapan government for the conspirators to enlarge and exploit.

But one cause of such desperation is that November 11 is getting closer and closer, the date former Prime Minister, Datuk Najib Razak would know whether he walks free or will be ordered to enter his defence on seven charges of abuse of power, corruption and money-laundering involving RM42 million of funds from SRC International.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court had fixed Nov. 11 as the  date for its decision on the prosecution-stage of the case against the former prime minister and finance minister, after  58 days of  the hearing since April 3.

The prosecution called a total of 57 witnesses over the course of the trial from Najib’s former AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu to former second finance minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, among others.

Yu, who acted as the liaison between the former premier and the commercial bank in regards to his various bank accounts, testified that Najib spent RM606 million within three years from 2013.

Husni, meanwhile, admitted in court that he lied when he said his resignation as second finance minister in 2016 was not due to the 1MDB scandal, adding he did this because he wanted to protect then-premier Najib.

If judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali finds that the prosecution has established a prima facie case (meaning that the prosecution succeeds in establishing a sufficiently strong case that Najib needs to answer), then the court will order Najib to enter his defence against the charges.

However, if the judge rules that the prosecution has failed to prove a prima facie case on any of the seven charges, then Najib walks out a free man on Nov 11.

The judge also set Dec 3 as the first day for the defence stage of the trial if Najib’s defence is called. Dec 3 and 4 is the start (of the defence stage of hearing), followed by  Dec 9 to 12, then Dec 16 to 19.

Time is running out not only for Najib, for other UMNO kleptocrats, whether charged or not yet charged – which makes the sense of desperation more acute with every passing day.

In the change of tactics, the pedlars of lies, fake news and hate speech to incite inter-racial and inter-religious polarisation and conflict have escalated their campaign and caused such an upsurge of lies, fake news and hate speech that  those who advocate multi-racial Malaysian nationhood are painted as the country’s No. 1 enemies, and even the country’s basic documents like the  Constitution and the Rukunegara which advocated a multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural Malaysia are made to  appear as if they have violated national aspirations.

DAP is suddenly pictured as a terrorist organisation or one which supports terrorism, whether communist or LTTE.

Being accused of being a supporter of LTTE is the latest of a long list of lies and falsehoods which had been levelled against me in my 54 years in Malaysian politics – I had been accused of being a communist; responsible for the May 13, 1969 riots, leading the street demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur shouting anti-Malay and anti-Islam slogans although I was never in Kuala Lumpur after the May 10, 1969 General Election; painted as quite a devil, a puaka, even jembalang; that I am anti-Malay, anti-Islam and at various times even anti-Indian, anti-Chinese educated Chinese , anti-English-educated Chinese; an agent of KGB, CIA, MI6 and even Australian Intelligence.

Before the 14th General Election, such toxic politics alleged that I would be the Prime Minister of Malaysia if Pakatan Harapan won the polls. When such lies and falsehoods were proved wrong after May 9, 2018 new lies and falsehoods were manufactured to allege that I am the real power in the Pakatan Harapan government in Putrajaya and that Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Anwar Ibrahim, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Mohamad Sabu were merely my stooges and puppets.

If all the lies told about me were true, I must be among the richest, the most powerful and most remarkable persons in human history.

Now, DAP  is suddenly accused of supporting the revival of LTTE and the PAS official organ, Harakah, even went to the extent of carrying  a monstrous lie of an evil but non-existing LTTE-DAP-Israel-American quartet?

There will more lies, fake news and hate speech from now till November 11, and if Najib’s defence is called, from November 11 till the judgement of the SRC trial.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, October 21, 2019)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 21 October 2019, 2:28 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
Fake News
,
Financial Scandals
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Latest Opposition strategy – dismember DAP and Amanah  to dismember Pakatan Harapan Government

The latest Opposition strategy seems to be to dismember the Pakatan Harapan Government by dismembering DAP and Amanah.

This could be seen by the hectic campaign on the one hand to paint the DAP as anti-Malaysia in supporting the LTTE although the Sri Lanka civil war had ended 10 years ago and there was never any evidence to show that DAP had supported terrorism of any form and on the other hand to demonise  the DAP as anti-Indian as stated by an UMNO Member of Parliament in the current debate in Parliament on the 2020 Budget.

This is also the line taken in the attack over Hew Kuan Yau’s comic book on China’s Belt and Road Initiative – to paint the DAP as on the one hand communist and a stooge of the Chinese Government while on the other hand, a “running dog” betraying the rights and interests of the Chinese Malaysians although both DAP and DAPSY had nothing to do with the comic book.

I had warned two days ago that there will more lies, fake news and hate speech with the approach of  November 11, when the Kuala Lumpur High Court will decide whether the former Prime Minister, Datuk Najib Razak walks free or will be ordered to enter his defence on seven charges of abuse of power, corruption and money-laundering involving RM42 million of funds from SRC International, and if Najib’s defence is called, from November 11 till the judgement of the SRC trial.

At the rate that lies, fake news and hate speech are being spread to incite inter-racial and inter-religious polarisation and conflict and undermine confidence in the integrity of the various national institutions, it would not be long before basic national documents like the Malaysian Constitution and Rukunegara would be regarded as  anti-Malaysian or unMalaysian documents because they were founded on the belief that Malaysia is multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural nation and that the future, success and prosperity of Malaysia lie in the development of the concept of a Bangsa Malaysia, where more and more Malaysians regard themselves as Malaysians rather than just as Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans or Orang Asli.

DAP stands for the Vision that Malaysia can become a top world-class nation in many fields of human endeavour and be an example to the world that Malaysia is a success story of the Alliance of Civilisations rather than a basket case of a failure from a clash of civilisations.

The DAP will remain committed to this Vision of Malaysia as an united, harmonious and successful nation which is  world-class in many fields of human endeavour, striving for a future which is greater than any period in the past.

(Media Statement by DAP  MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Wednesday, 23rd October 2019)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 October 2019, 9:54 am and is filed under
DAP
,
Fake News
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Hew was a “angry young man”, unorthodox and irreverent, to the extent of being extremely crude and vulgar, to fight for justice and a better Malaysia and  the last thing he would do is to be a communist or to  promote communism

Hew adalah seorang yang bersemangat “darah muda” — yang lain daripada yang lain, sehingga dilihat sebagai seorang yang kasar dan tidak sopan — dalam perjuangannya untuk sebuah Malaysia yang lebih baik, adalah mustahil untuk beliau menjadi seorang komunis ataupun memperjuangkan komunisme

Saya telah mengenali Hew Kuan Yaw selama tiga dekad, sejak daripada hari awal perjuangan beliau untuk sebuah Malaysia yang lebih baik dan adil. Walaupun beliau merupakan seorang yang bersemangat “darah muda” yang lain daripada yang lain, sehingga kelihatan seperti seorang yang kasar, tidak beradab dan memalukan, saya tidak percaya yang beliau akan sekali-kali memperjuangkan komunisme, apatah lagi menjadi seorang komunis.

Amatlah mengejutkan apabila saya membaca laporan di mana buku komik beliau yang bertajuk Inisiatif Jalur dan Jalan: Meraih Manfaat Bersama telah diharamkan oleh Kementerian Dalam Negeri di bawah Seksyen 7(1) Akta Mesin Cetak dan Penerbitan 1984 atas beberapa sebab, antaranya; mempromosikan komunisme dan menunjukkan simpati terhadap perjuangan komunis.

Saya mempunyai banyak perbezaan idea dan pemikiran dengan Hew dan saya belum berpeluang untuk membaca buku komik beliau ketika isu ini menjadi hangat, tetapi saya percaya yang beliau bukanlah seorang komunis ataupun seorang yang bersimpati dengan komunis.

Saya tidak bersetuju dengan tindakan Kementerian Dalam Negeri yang mendakwa buku komik Hew mempromosi dan bersimpati dengan perjuangan komunis.

Saya menyeru supaya pegawai Kementerian menyemak semula pengharaman ini, selari dengan agenda keterbukaan Pakatan Harapan tanpa meremehkan isu keselamatan dalam negara.

Malahan, Janji ke-27 Buku Harapan secara terang-terangan menyeru pemansuhan undang-undang menindas seperti Akta Mesin Cetak dan Penerbitan 1984.

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Khamis 24 Oktober 2019)

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

I have known Hew Kuan Yau for over three decades, since the early years as an “angry young man” who was unorthodox and irreverent, to the extent of being extremely crude and vulgar causing great embarrassment all round, to fight for justice and a better Malaysia, and the last thing he would do is to be a communist or to  promote communism.

It has therefore come as a shock to me that his comic book titled
Belt and Road Initiative for Win-Winism
 was banned yesterday by the Home Ministry under Section 7(1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 for among other reasons promoting communism and sympathy for the communist struggle.

I do not agree with all of Hew’s thoughts and ideas, and I have not read his comic book when the controversy blew up but Hew is neither a communist nor a communist sympathiser.

I do not believe that the Home Ministry had acted rightly in leveling the charges that Hew’s  comic book was promoting communism and sympathy for the communist struggle.

I call on the Home Ministry officials to review the ban as the Pakatan Harapan Government had come into power on the promise to usher in an era of greater openness without undermining national security.

In fact, in Promise No. 27,  the Pakatan Harapan had specifically made the pledge in the 14th General Election to repeal oppressive laws like  the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, 24th October 2019)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 October 2019, 5:11 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
Human Rights
,
Media
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


UMNO and PAS have stepped up their campaign of fake news and hate speech to dismember the DAP so as  to destroy the Pakatan Harapan government

UMNO and PAS have stepped up their campaign of fake news and hate speech to dismember the DAP so as to  destroy the Pakatan Harapan government.

I warned a few days ago that with the approach of Nov. 11, when the Kuala Lumpur High Court will decide whether the former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak walks free or will be ordered to enter his defence on seven charges of abuse of power, corruption and money-laundering involving RM42 million of funds from SRC International, there will be an escalation of lies, fake news and hate speech.

This is what has happened.

A PAS leader has joined an UMNO leader to call for the banning of the DAP, replete with lies, fake news and hate speech.

DAP is accused of wanting to create a Christian Malaysia, a subject which had never been brought up in the DAP at any level in the past 53 years, completely ignoring the numerous public  declarations which had been made by the DAP endorsing  and upholding the fundamental features of the Constitution including the position of  Islam as the official religion of the country.

DAP is also accused of supporting the LTTE and Tamil Tigers, when  the Sri Lanka civil war had ended 10 years ago in 2009, and LTTE had been a defunct organisation in the past decade. There was never at any time in the past when the DAP had been accused of supporting LTTE.

DAP is further accused of promoting communism and the communist struggle which goes against the core principles and commitment of the DAP in the past 53 years to conduct a peaceful democratic struggle through the electoral process.

We are seeing in Malaysia a mutation of the spread of fake news and hate speech using unrelated old photos, videos, messages and lies to create a new false narrative in the social media – even alleging that I am related to  former Malayan Communist Party (MCP) leader Chin Peng which  were barefaced lies.

Malaysians must  not fall victim to the lies, fake news and hate speech which are  emerging to be a great threat to the unity, harmony and even survival of Malaysia as a plural society.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at the Kedah DAP State Convention in Alor Setar on Friday, 25th October 2019)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 25 October 2019, 5:57 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
Fake News
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


The target of the lies, fake news and hate speech on  the social media since yesterday is the DAP which was bombed with lies, fake news and hate speech that it is the ”komunis moden in Malaysia” and that there will be no peace in Malaysia unless there is no “communist” in Cabinet

There had been various waves of attacks of  lies, fake news and hate speech on the social media on leaders and parties in the Pakatan Harapan Government, whether focussing on the Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and Bersatu, or PKR President Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and PKR or Mohamad Sabu and Amanah.

Since yesterday, the target of the lies, fake news and hate speech on the social is the DAP which was bombed with lies, fake news and hate speech since yesterday  that  is the ”komunis moden in Malaysia” and that there will be no peace in Malaysia unless there is no “communist” in the Cabinet.

If the social media attack is to be believed, Malaysia has a Special Branch which is one of the most incompetent in the world, which will be most unfair to the Special Branch, as the DAP had never been accused of being communist or communist-sympathiser for the past 53 years.

Furthermore, we are today  in an age where communism has lost its power and influence as representing  the irresistible wave of the future.

In this connection, the statement by an adviser to the police deradicalisation programme, Ahmad El Muhammady warning that the nation could witness a repeat of the May 13, 1969 race riots bear serious consideration.

Speaking at a forum
“Violence and national security: Are we ready?”
yesterday, Ahmad, who had interviewed dozens of militants, expressed concern over the open polemics regarding race, religion and political ideologies.

A lecturer at the International Islamic University, Ahmad said the heated temperature was evident on social media.

He said:
 “If you don’t trust me, open Facebook and read the comment section. As a deradicalisation researcher, the views in there are only a step away from something radical.

“Is there a possibility that the country is heading towards May 13, 1969? I’m confident that it could happen. It is waiting for a trigger.

“This is my warning: if there is not enough efforts to stymie the heat among the people, don’t be surprised if the May 13 incident recurs.”

Last week, I had warned that the Siren Song sung after the historic May 9, 2018 decision in the 14th General Election is becoming louder and more brazen because of desperation, urging that patriotic Malaysian must reject this Siren Song for it can only end up in Malaysia becoming a failed, rogue and kleptocratic state.

The whole purpose of this Siren Song is not to compete with Pakatan Harapan government to make Malaysia a top world-class nation of unity, justice, freedom, excellence and integrity and to show the world that Malaysia is a success story from the Alliance of Civilisations and not a basket-case of a failure from the Clash of Civilisations, but to destroy the Pakatan Harapan Government, even if the price is to usher in an era of division and instability and to destroy the Malaysian nation altogether.

Immediately after the 14th General Election, these conspirators had hoped that Pakatan Harapan Government would disintegrate and implode from internal contradictions because it was an untested coalition of four political parties – DAP, PKR, Bersatu and Amanah.

When this did not take place, the decision was taken to launch an untrammeled campaign of lies, fake news and hate speech to destabilise the country and incite inter-racial and inter-religious polarisation and conflict, and this is why Malaysia has suddenly become a major test-case in the world as to whether a multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural nation like Malaysia can survive the existential threat posed by fake news and hate speech.

With the toxic nature of lies, fake news and hate speech in the Internet age, and their mutation into more toxic forms on the ubiquitous social media, Malaysians can now better understand why the Doomsday Clock 2019 is positioned at two minutes to midnight – closest it’s been to midnight since 1953 during the Cold War – because fake news has been recognised as a third factor after nuclear risk and climate change which posed an existential threat to humanity.

In August this year, I said the Malaysia I want to see is one where the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans come out of their own universe 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.

This is what the basic Malaysian documents in the past six decades, whether the Malaysian Constitution, the Rukunegara or the Vision 2020 of Bangsa Malaysia  were predicated.

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. They keep their separate ethnic identities but they share a common core – as a Malaysian.

All  Malaysians must ask: Who is the “Other” in the Malaysian context?

Are  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.

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 Malay/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?

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

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, 26th October 2019)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 26 October 2019, 4:23 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
Fake News
,
nation building
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Rise up Malaysians, unite to achieve greatness for Malaysia as a top world-class nation of unity, justice, freedom, excellence and integrity and to  resolve the problems of poverty and gross inequality in the country

With four  DAP members, one State Exco and another State Assemblyman, still in detention for suspected LTTE terrorist connections under SOSMA, and the description of an academician that  the 17-month government of Pakatan Harapan is an “unmitigated disaster”, it is difficult to feel that there is anything to celebrate in this year’s Deepavali today.

The message of Deepavali, however, is an eternal one – the spiritual victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance.

We must never cease to hope or to succumb to hopelessness and despair.

While the 17-month government of the Pakatan Harapan has fallen below expectations, it is definitely not an “unmitigated disaster”.

Pakatan Harapan  must be firm in our resolve and commitment to implement the reforms as promised in Buku Harapan in the 14th General Election and this is why the Pakatan Harapan Presidential Council has established a special committee under the Deputy Defence Minister, Liew Chin Tong, to review the Pakatan Harapan 14th general election manifesto.

The Pakatan Harapan government had not expected the massive and deep-rooted nature and scale of the economic and financial disaster left behind by the Barisan Nasional government, not only the kleptocracy of the monstrous 1MDB scandal, but the massive and deep-rooted nature and scale of the corruption and  abuse of power in  other major institutions, whether Tabung Haji, FELDA, Felcra or  MARA.

While the massive and deep-rooted  nature and scale of the legacy of the previous Barisan Nasional government had prevented the Pakatan Harapan government from immediately and fully implementing its pledges and promises, the trajectory of institutional reform is set and there must be no turning back to the kleptocracy, injustices and repression of the past.

In the past months, the country has seen untrammeled spread of lies, fake news and hate speech to incite inter-racial and inter-religious polarisation and conflict, as if to precipitate another May 13, 1969 racial riots within two weeks.

Our energies and time had been consumed in manufacturing and disseminating lies, fake news and hate speech on the social media.

The past three days has in fact  seen a further  escalation of the irresponsible spread of lies, fake news and hate speech where many  old videos, WhatsApp messages and items had been dug up and regurgitated in keeping with the latest line of attack against the DAP as the “komunis moden in Malaysia”

I came across  the following  lies, fake news and hate speech that I came from “Funan”, China when I was 16 years old, which appeared in the  “Hanya di Kelate” facebook:

“FAKTA SEBENAR BIODATA LIM KIT SIANG..

“Lim Kit Siang yg lahir di Funan negara China datang ke Tanah Melayu dgn bapak dia ditahun 1957. Mereka dapat ehsan dari org-org Melayu di Batu Pahat Johor. Umur Lim Kit Siang masa tu 16 tahun. Mula-mula bapak Lim Kit Siang cuma ternak ayam je, tapi kemudian ternak babi pula. Lee Kuan Yew bersekolah di Batu Pahat. Lee Kuan Yew guru Lim Kit Siang didalam fahaman Komunis & Yahudi. Dharurat di Malaya bermula dari tahun 1948 & berakhir pada 1960. Selepas tentera British meninggalkan Malaya (sebelum merdeka) kominis semakin bermaharajalela selama 12 hari. Batu Pahat pada masa tu jadi pusat pengganas kominis. Rumah bapak Lim Kit Siang jadi pusat komunis & mereka banyak bunuh org-org Melayu bunuh askar-askar Melayu. Masa umur Lim Kit Kat 18 tahun ditahun 1960 dia dah pakai uniform kominis.

“Selepas PRU ditahun 1969, masa Lim Kit Siang jadi Ketua Pemuda DAP dia lah yg mula-mula cetuskan api kemarahan hasut org-org Cina halau keluar org-org Melayu lalu berlaku pergaduhan antara kaum pada 10 Mei 1969. Tarikh 13 Mei kemuncak peristiwa berdarah 1969 tu.”

The first two paragraphs of this Facebook, like the rest of the post, are replete with lies and inconsistencies.

It was a downright  lie that I came from Funan to Malaya in 1957 when I was 16 years old. In the first place, Funan is in Cambodia and not China although there is aFunan county in the Anhui province in Eastern China.

I was born in Batu Pahat. Lee Kuan Yew never “bersekolah” in Batu Pahat and he was never a teacher in Batu Pahat. Also I had never wore a communist uniform.

The Facebook alleged that after the second world war, “Rumah bapak Lim Kit Siang jadi pusat komunis & mereka banyak bunuh org-org Melayu bunuh askar-askar Melayu.”

How could it be possible that my father and I had sheltered  the communists in 1945 when we were alleged to have come from “Funan, China” in 1957?

But there is no need to respect consistency, fact or truth in a campaign of lies, fake news and hate speech as all that is needed are “Lies, Lies and Lies – the more blatant the better”!

Instead of wasting our national energies on lies, fake news and hate speech, let  Malaysians rise as one united people to demonstrate our commitment and resolve to transform Malaysia into a top world-class nation of unity, justice, freedom, excellence and integrity which is a show-case to the world that we are a success story of the Alliance of Civilisations as the confluence of the great Malay/Islamic,  Chinese, Indian and Western Civilisations instead of being a basket-case of failure as a result of the Clash of Civilisations.

Furthermore, let us unite to  resolve the grave problems of poverty and gross inequality in Malaysia   which were  supposed to resolved by the New Economic Policy.

An International Consensus Forecast from over 1,000 sources compiled a list of the top 15 fastest-growing economies in 2019.  Five nations are from ASEAN,  four from the rest of Asia and six in Africa.  Malaysia is not included.

Malaysians must make a new  start – to unite  the energies and resources of Malaysians, regardless of race, religion and region, to pull Malaysian up by the bootstraps to be a top world-class nation in as many fields of human endeavour as possible and defeat the plots and schemes of those who want to tear Malaysia apart by causing another May 13, 1969 racial riots.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, 27th Oct. 2019)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 27 October 2019, 1:56 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
Fake News
,
PH Government
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Tanjong Piai will be the WhatsApp by-election in Malaysia

There had been an exponential increase in lies, fake news and hate speech in the past few days, which will be small fry when compared to the explosion of lies, fake news and hate speech  that will take place in the two weeks of the Tanjong Piai parliamentary by-election from Nov. 2 to Nov. 16.

In fact, the Tanjong Piai by-election will be the WhatsApp by-election in Malaysia.

Already, there is in circulation on the social media a purported Pakatan Harapan WhatsApp poster for the Pakatan Harapan candidate Karmaine Sardini, calling  on the Tanjong Piai  voters to “Undilah Calon Melayu & Islam”, which is clearly designed to spook and antagonise the 42% of the Chinese voters and 1% of the Indian voters – as the Barisan Nasional candidate will be MCA’s Wee Jeck Seng.

A news portal article  today headlined  “Fake news one of top 3 factors set to cost Pakatan Tg Piai seat” reported:

“A VIRAL WhatsApp message shared in Tg Piai recently claimed that Budget 2020 has funds for men who want to marry more than one wife and this has voters hopping mad.

“It’s one of the main reasons that 48% of Tg Piai voters want to reject Pakatan Harapan in the by-election, a survey by think-tank Institut Darul Ehsan (IDE) shows.

“The message is one of many fake news items and misinformation spread among villages and community circles in Tg Piai – a predominantly agricultural constituency at the southern-most tip of the peninsula.

“The spread of fake news is one of the top three factors that will determine whether PH can hold on to the seat in the November 16 by-election, IDE said.”

In the United Kingdom, even before the  date of its General Election was fixed for December 12, British national newspapers were full of articles like “Will fake news wreck the coming general election?”

Two days ago, European Union told Facebook, Google and Twitter, who had to submit monthly progress reports fighting fake news,  to take more action on fake news.

One year ago, the tech companies, Facebook, Google and Twitter signed on to the EU’s “code of practice on disinformation,” a voluntary agreement that lays out steps to fight fake news on their platforms.

In a joint statement published earlier this week alongside progress reports from the companies, the EU said the impact of the “self-regulatory measures” remains unclear.

“Large-scale automated propaganda and disinformation persist and there is more work to be done under all areas of the Code,” EU Commissioners Vera Jourova, Julian King and Mariya Gabriel said the joint statement. “We cannot accept this as a new normal.”

Social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are facing  backlash from lawmakers around the world for failing to contain the spread of fake information in election campaigns.

In its report to the EU, Facebook said it removes millions of fake accounts every day.

In a statement to CNBC, a Twitter spokesperson detailed the company’s efforts to tackle platform manipulation and said it discloses data relating to issues such as legal requests and rules enforcement in bi-annual transparency reports.

A spokesperson for Facebook said the company is committed to working together with “government, industry, news publishers, and our community.” “We appreciate the Commission’s extensive report, and share the same commitment to reduce the spread of online misinformation,” the statement said.

Still tech companies could soon face stricter regulations in the EU related to disinformation and illegal content online. European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen has said she would prioritize a new Digital Services Act within her first 100 days in office, which would upgrade “liability and safety rules for digital platforms, services and products.”

In addition to the annual reports published early this week, the companies published monthly reports detailing their efforts to fight fake news in the lead up to the European election.

But what are the tech companies, Facebook, Google and Twitter  doing to fight fake news in Malaysia, and in particular, to prevent fake news and disinformation from distorting the outcome of the Tanjong Piai by-election?

With the Tanjong Piai by-election set to be the WhatsApp by-election, all players in the by-election, whether the candidates, the political parties or coalitions, the Election Commission,  the tech companies and the voters would have to consider their role in the new digital  battlefield.

It will not be an election battle which operates on daily cycle of the print media, not even an  hourly cycle,  but much  faster and more telescoped in time based on the rapidity of production of each fake news and the ability to counter and expose the fake news.

For the immediate purpose of the Tanjong Piai by-election, the tech companies can probably set up a joint fact-check centre, which could verify whether a video, Facebook, Twitter or  Whatsap is a fake news  or factual.

Pakatan Harapan will also need a centre to instantaneously expose the fake news in the digital world.

Can the voters of Tanjong Piai end up being the most media literate in the country,  able to distinguish fake news and disinformation or will they  fall prey to lies, fake news and hate speech?

Returning to the news portal article mentioned just now, an  IDE senior programme manager Kamarulbahrin Zahid was quoted as saying that when they asked the Tanjong Piai voters why they wanted to reject Pakatan, villagers took out their phones and show them  the messages.

He said:
“Every villager we met was part of a WhatsApp group, it was their first source of news. Second was Facebook,”   explaining how pervasive these platforms are shaping opinions.

“Almost all of these messages were fakes. It is a problem because unlike urban folk, there are not many people in these WhatsApp groups that verify or counter suspicious messages, so fake news goes unchallenged.”

Can media literacy in Tanjong Piai be developed in time before the by-election?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Thursday Oct. 31, 2019)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 31 October 2019, 2:33 pm and is filed under
Election
,
Fake News
,
IT
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Another Malaysian first in the world but which Malaysians have nothing to be proud about

Malaysia has achieved another  first in  the world but it is something which Malaysians have nothing to be proud about.

Two days ago, Malaysian ‘billionaire’ and  fugitive financier  from justice, Jho Low reached a settlement deal with the United States Department of Justice and agreed to surrender US$1billion in funds he and his family had misappropriated from Malaysian investment fund 1MDB.

As Jho Low himself said his personal blog page:

“I am very pleased to confirm that a landmark comprehensive, global settlement has been reached with the United States government, which fully and forever resolves in their entirety each of the U.S. government’s civil, criminal, and administrative actions or proceedings relating to the defendant assets at issue in the Central District of California.

“The historic agreement builds on a series of successful prior agreements negotiated with the U.S. Department of Justice and is the result of good faith discussions between the parties.

“Importantly, the agreement does not constitute an admission of guilt, liability or any form of wrongdoing by me or the asset owners. We believe all parties consider this resolution, which is subject to final court approval, to be a successful and satisfactory result.”

Jho Low is not only the first Malaysian, but the only person, in the world who could surrender US$1 billion in funds, although his action “does not constitute an admission of guilt, liability or any form of wrongdoing by me or the asset owners”.

But this is not an action which any Malaysian can feel proud.

US Justice Department officials estimate that high-level officials and associates  of 1MDB including Low and the former Prime Minister Datuk Najib Razak had siphoned over US$4.5 billion belonging to 1MDB  from 2009 to 2015.

It is impossible for the former Prime Minister Najb to claim ignorance of such massive scale of corruption, abuse of power and money-laundering as the full details of the US Department Justice’s largest kleptocratic forfeiture suit were revealed the US DOJ’s litigation proceedings in  July 2016 and June 2017, and if there had been no change of government in Malaysia in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018, it is very unlikely that the recovery and punitive actions  for the massive corruption, abuse of power and money-laundering of billions of dollars on 1MDB funds  in various parts of the world against numerous parties would have reached their present status.

In the final analysis,  it is the ordinary 32 million  Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region,  who will  have the pay the price for Najib and  Jho Low’s grand theft and international money-laundering activities, as they  would have to pay the billions  of dollars of 1MDB debts, despite efforts to minimise the damage as in the announcement by the Prime Minister, Tun  Dr. Mahathir Mohamad that Malaysia will ask the United States Government to hand over the US$1 billion in assets it had recovered from Low.

Malaysia must aim to be world-class but in achievements and fields where all Malaysians can feel proud.

We must not lose hope in the objective of Pakatan Harapan to achieve a New Malaysia which is to be  a top world-class nation of unity, justice, freedom, excellence and integrity and we must be prepared to be assessed based on these goals – not to be a global kleptocracy or our ability to produce a Jho Low!

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, 1st November 2019)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 1 November 2019, 2:06 pm and is filed under
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


The real battle in the Tanjong Piai parliamentary by-election is between the Pakatan Harapan coalition  comprising Bersatu, PKR, Amanah and DAP and the new Muafakat Nasional, comprising PAS and UMNO, and their respective vision of what should be the future of Malaysia

Two days ago, I had forecast that the Tanjong Piai parliamentary by-election will be the WhatsApp by-election in Malaysia, and this forecast has been vindicated since the Tanjong Piai by-election nomination yesterday.

This morning, the voters of Tanjong Piai by-election was bombarded by an overload of lies, fake news and hate speech, and it is clear that the  industrious, creative and highly-funded “influencers” who are responsible for producing  the overload of lies, fake news and hate speech on the social media in the past 24 hours had been working overtime going by the volume of their products since nomination.

Among the lies, fake news and hate speech  that are being disseminated in the by-election is the allegation that it had been 18 months since Pakatan Harapan became the government but Pakatan Harapan has failed to fulfill any of its promises in its Manifesto.

If such an allegation, which could be easily shot down as untrue could be spread in the Tanjong Piai by-election, it should not be difficult to imagine the monstrous lies, fake news and hate speech which could be disseminated in the by-election.

Although there are six candidates in the Tanjong Piai by-election, the real battle in the by-election is between Pakatan Harapan coalition comprising Bersatu, PKR, Amanah and DAP and the new Muafakat Nasional, comprising PAS and UMNO, with the latter dragging along the two remaining Barisan Nasional parties, MCA and MIC.

During the two-week by-election campaign, Pakatan Harapan leaders will have the herculean task to make Tanjong Piai voters  the most media literate in the country, who could identity the lies, fake news and hate speech on the social media, in particular WhatsApp, as the Tanjong Piai voters  are now the  target of the  highly-funded and creative “influencers” on social media, producing and circulating at great speed their latest lies, fake news and hate speech.

There is a second great task for Pakatan Harapan leaders in the two-week Tanjong Piai by-election campaign – to convince the voters why the real battle in the by-election is between Pakatan Harapan and Muafakat Nasional of PAS and UMNO, and their respective vision of what should be the future of Malaysia.

The outcome of the Tanjong Piai by-election on Nov. 16 will depend on the  success of the Pakatan Harapan leaders to  discharge these two great tasks.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Sunday, 3rd November 2019)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 3 November 2019, 7:22 pm and is filed under
Election
,
Fake News
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


The meaning and importance of Tanjong Piai parliamentary by-election – to ensure that the historic decision of the 14th General Election of May 9, 2018 does not go to waste and the country slip back to become a failed and rogue  state flying the banner of klepto-theocracy

The Tanjong Piai parliamentary by-election is the fourth parliamentary by-election since the historic decision of peaceful and democratic transition of power in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018 – Port Dickson on 13th October 2018, Cameron Highlands on 26th January 2019 and Sandakan on May 11, 2019.

The score in these three earlier parliamentary by-elections was PH 2 and BN 1.

Since then, PAS and UMNO has formed Muafakat Nasional, and as the UMNO Vice President Khalid Nordin has openly admitted, Tanjong Piai parliamentary by-election will be an acid test as to whether PAS and UMNO’s  Muafakat Nasional could lead to its long-term plan to win the 15th General Election.

Khaled Nordin was not shy to admit that  MCA’s victory will pave the way for its BN partner Umno and ally PAS to get the necessary support from non-Muslims to take back Putrajaya.

PAS leaders have also not hidden their glee and excitement that Tanjong Piai parliamentary by-election is the first test of whether Muafakat Nasional Charter signed by PAS and UMNO leaders in September could result in a Muafakat Nasional government in Putrajaya in the 15th General Election.

This long-term result will be to make the historic decision of the 14th General Election on May 9, 2019 come to nought, and Malaysia will slip back to become a failed and rogue state flying the banner of klepto-theocracy.

This is why I said yesterday that although there are six candidates in the Tanjong Piai by-election, the real battle in the by-election is between Pakatan Harapan coalition and the new Muafakat Nasional, comprising PAS and UMNO, with the latter dragging along the two remaining Barisan Nasional parties, MCA and MIC.

The people of Tanjong Piai must realise that at stake is not only the rights and interests of the present generation of Malaysians, but that of our children and children’s children’s future in view of the starkly contradictory vision of the future of Malaysia as represented by the two coalitions.

There are those who hold that the Tanjong Piai by-election is an excellent occasion to teach Pakatan Harapan a lesson. This is a wrong attitude to take, because we cannot and must not trifle with the rights and future of our children and children’s children.

The Pakatan Harapan coalition of Bersatu, PKR, Amanah and DAP is not perfect but we are prepared to correct our mistakes and lapses.

Pakatan Harapan had been accused of not fulfilling anyone of the promises in the Buku Harapan Manifesto, which is a downright lie and a blatant case of  disinformation, as we have fulfilled many promises.

But Pakatan Harapan has not been able in 18 months to fulfill all the promises set out in a five-year time span, but the Pakatan Harapan  government is set on the trajectory to move in the direction and to  fulfil the pledges of a New Malaysia and become  a top world-class country of unity, justice, freedom, excellence and integrity.

The Pakatan Harapan government had not expected the massive and deep-rooted nature and scale of the economic and financial disaster left behind by the Barisan Nasional government, not only the kleptocracy of the monstrous 1MDB scandal, but the massive and deep-rooted nature and scale of the corruption and abuse of power in other major institutions, whether Tabung Haji, FELDA, Felcra or MARA.

We in Pakatan Harapan  have not abandoned our vision to build a New Malaysia where every Malaysian, regardless of race, religion or region, has a stake in the future of the country where Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan, Iban or Orang Asli will not only  be proud of their ethnicity, but have developed a common core of Malaysian identity and consciousness.

We must have the stamina, perseverance and commitment to stay the course to build a New Malaysia and not,  because of our impatience and disappointment at   Pakatan Harapan’s inability to resolve all the corruption, abuse of power,  injustices and wrongs of over six decades in a matter of 18 months, to be shunted aside  to become a failed and rogue state  flying the banner of klepto-theocracy.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Monday, 4th November 2019)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 4 November 2019, 3:22 pm and is filed under
Election
,
Penang Government
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Call on Tanjong Piai voters to prove Muafakat Nasional and Barisan Nasional wrong as 1MDB scandal is not fake news but the most shameful chapter of Malaysian history which have denied funds to the people

It was a marvel yesterday to see the Members of Parliament of Muafakat Nasional and Barisan Nasional, in the presence of BOSSku, the former Prime Minister, responding as a united bloc during the end of the second reading debate of the 2020 Budget in Parliament to claim that the 1MDB scandal had not been proven and therefore could not be taken as having happened.

The Tanjong Piai voters have a national duty on the by-election voting day on 16th November to prove both the Muafakat Nasional and Barisan Nasional wrong as the 1MDB scandal is not fake news but the most shameful chapter in Malaysian history which not only  brought infamy, ignominy and iniquity to the nation as a global kleptocracy but denied funds which could have been spent for the benefit of the people.

It is most shocking that Muafakat Nasional and Barisan Nasional leaders could still claim that the 1MDB scandal is still unproven, although the country had to tighten its financial belt so as to pay some RM9 billion towards the 1MDB debt over  the last two years, while the 1MDB debt now stands at some RM50 billion.

If Malaysia does not  have to pay billions of ringgit to pay off the 1MDB debt in the past two years, as well as billions of ringgit towards 1MDB debt interest payments in the coming years, these billions of ringgit could be released to build more roads, schools and hospitals to improve the quality of life of all Malaysians.

The united stance of the Muafakat Nasional and Barisan Nasional MPs yesterday continuing to deny that the 1MDB scandal is unproven is all the more shocking as it flies in the face of the truth, both nationally and internationally.

Only last week, one of the masterminds of the 1MDB scandal, Malaysian ‘billionaire’ and fugitive financier from justice, Jho Low reached a settlement deal with the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) and agreed to surrender US$1billion in funds he and his family had misappropriated from 1MDB.

Jho Low has created world history but it is something that no Malaysian can feel proud.

Jho Low is not only the first Malaysian, but the only person in the world, who could surrender US$1 billion in funds, although he claims that his action “does not constitute an admission of guilt, liability or any form of wrongdoing” in the 1MDB scandal, and  both the Malaysian and US governments have made it very clear that Jho Low is not “off the hook” on criminal charges.

It is most pertinent that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) estimated that Jho  Low and his associates had siphoned over US$4.5 billion belonging to 1MDB from 2009 to 2015.

Yet there are Muafakat Nasional and Barisan Nasional political leaders (including from MCA) who could claim that the 1MDB scandal is just fake news and unproven.

In actual fact, no Malaysian political leader or politician  can  claim ignorance of such a massive scale of 1MDB corruption, abuse of power and money-laundering as the full details of the US Department Justice’s largest kleptocratic forfeiture suit over the 1MDB assets  were revealed in the  US DOJ’s litigation proceedings in July 2016 and June 2017.

If there had been no change of government in Malaysia in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018, there would be no recovery and punitive actions for the massive corruption, abuse of power and money-laundering of billions of dollars on 1MDB funds.

The two latest news on the 1MDB scandal are firstly, the Malaysian government will be making a claim over the US$1 billion 1MDB assets following Jho Low’s deal with the US DOJ; and secondly, the Malaysian Government has turned down Goldman Sachs “less than US$2 billion” compensation for the 1MDB scandal as its demand is for US$7.5 billion.

Malaysia has to date recovered a total of RM925.1 million in 1MDB-related funds, which does not include the estimated revenue from the sale for the Equanimity yatcht of US$126 million (RM529.2 million).

If the 1MDB scandal is fake news and is a figment of imagination of Pakatan Harapan leaders, then where do all these  billions of ringgit of 1MDB-related funds, recovered or to be recovered, come from?

Let Members of Parliament and political leaders of both Muafakat Nasional and Barisan Nasional answer this question.

In fact, the 1MDB scandal should be test-case whether a political leader  is prepared to put national interests above party and personal interests.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Tuesday, November 5, 2019)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 5 November 2019, 3:33 pm and is filed under
Election
,
Financial Scandals
,
Parliament
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Call on Tanjong Piai voters to send out strong message of long-term support of Pakatan Harapan objective of New Malaysia of unity, excellence and integrity because despite the historic vote of 509 for a change of government,  it is not easy  to undo decades of corruption,  injustices, abuses of power  and wrongs in a matter of months or years

Pakatan Harapan has a  very uphill battle in the Tanjong Piai parliamentary by-election on November 16, 2019.

The MCA is confident that its candidate, Datuk Seri Wee Jeck Seng can win the by-election with a majority of over 5,000 votes.

I call on the Tanjong Piai voters to send out a strong message of long-term support of the Pakatan Harapan objective to build  a New Malaysia of unity, excellence and integrity because despite the historic vote of 509 in the 14th General Election 18 months ago for a change of government, it is not easy to undo decades of corruption, injustices, abuses of power and wrongs in a matter of months or years.

Although the MCA is fielding a candidate in Tanjong Piai by-election, the real battle in Tanjong Piai is between the Muafakat Nasional of UMNO and PAS on the one hand and the Pakatan Harapan on the other and the MCA candidate is only an agent of Muafakat Nasional of UMNO and PAS.

Muafakat Nasional, as stated at its ceramah on Wednesday night, wants to make use of Tanjong Piai by-election as the first step for the installation of a Muafakat Nasional government in Putrajaya latest by the 15th General Election.

Does Wee Jeck Seng stand for a united Malaysia where all Malaysians, regardless of race or religion, have their rightful place as provided for in the Malaysian Constitution?

PAS, the dominant partner in Muafakat Nasional, does not accept the Malaysian Constitution, which is the reason for the post-14GE pronouncement  by the PAS President that Muslims in Malaysia must vote for Muslim candidates to ensure Muslim rule and the questioning of the appointment of non-Malays and non-Muslims to various national offices.

The lie that the Malays have lost political power and that the Malaysian Government after the 14th General Election was in the hands of the Chinese was repeated at the inaugural Muafakat Nasional ceramah on Wednesday night.

Did the MCA President or MCA candidate condemn such racialism and race-baiting at the Muafakat Nasional ceramah on Wednesday or did they go along with such lies, fake news and hate speech as is their true role?

If the Pakatan Harapan is defeated by Muafakat Nasional in the Tanjong Piai by-election, it would weaken the middle ground and moderate politics in Malaysia as it would be a  message that appeals to race and religion, even lies, fake news and hate speech, have a stronger market and make the effort to achieve the Pakatan Harapan objective of a New Malaysia of unity, excellence and integrity even more difficult and insurmountable.

Muafakat Nasional is only interested in  destroying the Pakatan Harapan government in Putrajaya, and this is the reason for its lies, fake news and hate speech that the Malays have lost political power.

UMNO failed in its attempt  before the 14th General Electionn to scare Malay voters with the lies, fake news and hate speech that  DAP was the Malays’ Enemy No. 1 as the  Malays would lose political power if Pakatan Harapan came into power.

This was of course a political fallacy, as whatever happened in the 14GE – whether Najib Razak was toppled as Prime Minister or UMNO lost the Federal Government –  and proven in the past 18 months, the Malays in Malaysia will continue to exercise political power in the country as there is no way they will lose their political power.

Before the 14th General Election, nobody in UMNO and its propaganda apparatus had been able to answer  the question asked by National Laureate Pak Samad as to how Malays could lose political power if UMNO was defeated in a general election.

Pak Samad  found it odd that the Malay community was  obsessed over the loss of power to the country’s other minority groups if UMNO lost control of Putrajaya, and asked how the Malays and Islam could be under threat.

He asked: how Malays could be under threat and  Islam be threatened when those in power have been Malays for over six decades?

Even the UMNO veteran, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah was on public record as saying that he did not know where the perceived threats to Malays were coming from when the government was headed by a Malay, state governments headed by Malays with the exception of Penang, the civil service  mostly made up of Malays, the army mostly Malays and there were also the Malay rulers.

Malaysia’s  civil rights activist, Zainah Anwar, had also questioned where the “threat to the Malays” came from after nearly 60 years of UMNO rule, and why, after more than four decades of the New Economic Policy, (i) 75.5 per cent of those at the bottom are Malays; (ii) some 90 per cent of the unemployable university graduates Malays; and (iii) of the RM54 billion worth of shares pumped to Malay individuals and institutions between 1984 and 2005, only RM2 billion remained in Malay hands.

The greatest tragedy of Malaysian nation-building is that MCA and MIC leaders are parties to this UMNO (now Muafakat Nasional) race and religious politics while to largely non-Malay crowds, they  have take an opposite stand in alleging that the DAP had sold out the rights of the Chinese and Indians in Malaysia to the Malay power-brokers.

Does Mauafat Nasional (including the hanger-on MCA) wants to compete with Pakatan Harapan for Malaysia to become a top world-class nation of unity, justice, freedom, excellence and integrity?

Not all at all.

Forty years ago, when Malaysian Chinese visited China, it was from a rich country to a poor and backward nation. Today, the reverse is taking place – as a visit from Malaysia to China now is to a more developed, advanced and more prosperous nation.

Malaysia is even losing out to Vietnam and Cambodia and other ASEAN countries.

We should be focusing on these issues  when we talk about Malaysia’s future, but instead, there is a systematic and orchestrated attempt to destabilise the country by the untrammelled spread of lies, false news and hate speech to incite inter-racial and inter-religious polarisastion and to cause the disintegration and collapse of the Pakatan Harapan Government.

Is Muafakat Nasional for a Malaysia of integrity?

Not at all, for what they want to see is for the former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to walk out of his many charges as a free man, instead of being sent to Sungai Buloh Prison, and even return as Prime Minister of Malaysia!

This is why Najib has come to Tanjong Piai as BOSSku to give his blessing to Wee Jeck Seng as the candidate, hoping that this will the first step for his return as the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

In fact, Muafakat Nasional and MCA don’t even admit that there is a 1MDB  scandal, although Malaysia had paid billions of ringgit to pay off the 1MDB debt,  will have pay billions of ringgit in the future towards 1MDB debt interest payments and  Jho Low (one of the masterminds of the 1MDB scandal) had surrended US$1 billion in funds to the United States Department of Justice which he and his family had misappropriated from 1MDB.

The MCA candidate said he want to provide “check and balance” in Parliament.

Can he say whether he had spoken up even once in Parliament on the 1MDB scandal in his ten years as Member of Parliament of Tanjong Piai from 2008 – 2018?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Friday, 8th November 2019)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 8 November 2019, 10:33 am and is filed under
Election
,
Fake News
,
Financial Scandals
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


November 11 and 16  will  be important dates determining whether Malaysia is  inexorably set in the trajectory to become a top world-class nation of integrity or whether  global kleptocracy could make a come-back in the country

Next week will be an important week for Malaysia in determining whether Malaysia is to make a complete break from the past of global kleptocracy and to  become a top world-class nation of integrity.

On November 11, the Kuala Lumpur High Court will decide whether the former Prime Minister, Datuk Najib Razak walks free or will be ordered to enter his defence on seven charges of abuse of power, corruption and money-laundering involving RM42 million of funds from SRC International.

On November 16, the voters of Tanjong Piai will cast their votes in the parliamentary by-election to demonstrate whether Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, will continue to support the Pakatan Harapan government’s New Malaysia objective to become a top world-class nation of integrity although this mission will take more than one general election cycle of at least one decade  or more to accomplish.

Recently, the global anti-corruption movement, Transparency International (TI), which releases the prestigious annual Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ranking and score for the nations in the world since 1995,  celebrated its 25th anniversary.

It came out with a list of 25 corruption scandals that “shook the world” in the past 25 years, and Malaysia made it to  this  infamous list because of  the 1MDB scandal.

In a statement, TI said:

”Twenty-five years ago, when Transparency International was founded, corruption was seen as the necessary price of doing business and something so deeply ingrained that exposing and fighting it was regarded as futile and even harmful.

“We live in a different world now: citizens, media and politicians across all regions actively condemn abuses of power. Such attitude change is partly due to exposure to past scandals and their consequences.

“We compiled a list of some of the biggest corruption scandals over the last 25 years that inspired widespread public condemnation, toppled governments and sent people to prison. These scandals involve politicians across political parties and from the highest reaches of government, staggering amounts of bribes and money laundering of epic proportions.

“In the wake of many of these scandals, many governments and international bodies committed to or implemented anti-corruption reforms, counted and, in some cases, recovered losses.

“While much progress has been made to improve accountability, raise awareness about how corruption happens and change norms and perceptions, we still have a long way to go to learn from these scandals and fight corruption effectively.”

Undoubtedly, we  in Malaysia  “still have a long way to go” to establish the fundamentals of a nation of integrity  to ensure that Malaysia can become a top world-class nation of integrity, regarded and admired by the world as among the top 30 countries for integrity, anti-corruption and good governance.

Next week will go a long way to decide whether Malaysia takes the turn towards a nation of integrity or we backtrack to again allow a global kleptocracy to make a come-back..

The kleptocrats and the corrupt in many of the 25 corruption  scandals that shook the world in the past 25 years have been sent to prison for their corruption and abuses of power, but the 1MDB scandal in Malaysia is one great exception.

In several foreign countries, bankers and finance officers had been convicted and even jailed for corruption, criminal breach of trust and money-laundering in connection with the 1MDB scandal, except in Malaysia.

The most recent outstanding 1MDB development in a foreign country is the US$1 billion settlement by a 1MDB scandal mastermind, Jho Low, with the US Department of Justice with regard to its litigation to forfeit 1MDB0-linked assets in the United States and the United Kingdom.

But in Malaysia, nobody had  yet been sent to jail for corruption and money-laundering for the 1MDB scandal, although Malaysia is home to this epic corruption scandal with films had  made and booksabout  the 1MDB scandal.

The historic decision of the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018 will be meaningless if Malaysia does not turn its back to its humiliating  past as a global kleptocracy and set inexorably in the trajectory of a nation of integrity in the coming years.

This is why the Tanjong Piai by-election on Nov. 16 is very important  for one of the issues the by-election will decide is whether the long-term effort of the Pakatan Harapan government to root out the 1MDB scandal and other corruption scandals  as in FELDA, FELCRA, TABUNG HAJI, MARA and other institutions still have the support of the people of Malaysia, sending  the corrupt to jail to pay for their crimes,  or whether a global kleptocracy will be able to make a come-back in Malaysia.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Pekan Nenas on Saturday 9th November 2019)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 9 November 2019, 6:32 pm and is filed under
Election
,
Financial Scandals
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Zahid should apologise for his Wednesday speech in Tanjong Piai by-election where he committed contempt of court with his  reckless and irresponsible statement attacking the integrity of a magistrate

UMNO President and Barisan Nasional Chairman Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi  should apologise for his Wednesday speech at the Muafakat Nasional ceramah in the Tanjong Piai by-election campaign where he committed contemp0t of court with his reckless and irresponsible statement attacking the integrity of a magistrate.

In  his speech, Zahid  had questioned the Johor Bahru Magistrate Court’s decision to acquit the driver involved in the accident in which eight teenagers were killed.

In the ruling last month, magistrate Siti Hajar Ali released Sam Ke Ting, 24, without having her called to the stand after finding the prosecution to have failed to prove a prima facie case.

In her judgment, Siti Hajar said the court took into consideration several factors, namely that it was a dark, hilly and winding road where the driver – who was not local to the area – could not foresee that there would be a bicycle gang on the road at three o’clock in the morning.

The magistrate added that the bicycle gang had put themselves in danger.

Siti Hajar said investigations found that Sam was not under the influence of alcohol, was not using her phone, and wore a seatbelt while driving, proving that the accused was driving responsibly and carefully.

The rule of law is one of the institutional reforms that the Pakatan Harapan Government is committed to restore and the fact that the former Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Home Minister could make such reckless and contemptuous attack on the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary is indication of the magnitude of the problems about the rule of law and an independent judociary under the previous regime.

The Barisan Nasional candidate for Tanjong Piai, Datuk Seri Dr. Wee Jeck Seng should also dare to speak out bravely and reprimand Zahid for committing contempt of court and ask  Zahid to retract and apologise for his reckless speech.

This is in fact an acid test whether Wee Jeck Seng dare to speak up for truth  and justice, without fear or favour as he is promising to restore check-and-balance in the political system.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Pekan Nenas  on  Friday, 8th November 2019)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 9 November 2019, 10:59 am and is filed under
Election
,
Fake News
,
Law & Order
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


BOSSku has come to Tanjong Piai not to campaign for the people  of Tanjong Piai but for his own agenda – to claim innocence in  the 1MDB scandal and the hope to be Prime Minister again

Tanjong Piai had a special guest today, BOSSku, who came without his outriders not to campaign for the people of Tanjong Piai but for his own agenda – to claim innocence in the 1MDB scandal and the hope to be Prime Minister again

Monday on November 11 will be an important date for BOSSku and Malaysia, for the Kuala Lumpur High Court will  be deciding  whether he  walks free or will be ordered to enter his defence for seven charges of abuse of power, corruption and money-laundering involving RM42 million of funds from SRC International.

Already, many Malaysians are very  upset why the former Prime Minister is still not in jail and is free to roam all over the country, but the Pakatan Harapan in our pledges in the last general election to rebuild the nation and fulfil the hopes of Malaysians committed ourselves to five pillar-promises, one of which is to carry out “institutional and political reforms”.

This means the restoration of the important principles  of the rule of law and an independent judiciary.

If we put the former Prime Minister in jail without upholding the important principles of the rule of law and an independent judiciary, we will be violating our Pakatan Harapan election pledges and  we will be no different from the previous Barisan Nasional Government which brought to Malaysia the infamy, ignominy and iniquity of being regarded by the international community as a global kleptocracy.

We do not want to return to the infamy, ignominy and iniquity of Malaysia as a global kleptocracy – a rogue and kleptocratic state!

Kleptocracy arising from the 1MDB scandal and the host of other rampant  corruption in institutions like  Felda, Felcra, Tabung Haji and  MARA is something which all Malaysians, regardless of race or religion,  revolted against in the historic decision in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018.

But what is shocking and most reprehensible is that there are  former  Barisan Nasional Ministers, MPs and leaders who still defend BOSSku in the 1MDB scandal.

They claim in Parliament and outside that the  1MDB scandal is unproven, although in several countries except Malaysia, bankers and finance officials had been convicted and even jailed for corruption, criminal breach of trust and money-laundering in connection with the 1MDB scandal.

The most recent outstanding 1MDB development in a foreign country is the US$1 billion settlement by a 1MDB scandal mastermind, Jho Low, with the US Department of Justice with regard to the litigation to forfeit 1MDB-linked assets in the United States and the United Kingdom.

At first, in the first few months after the historic “509” general election, Barisan Nasional leaders tried to keep a distance from BOSSku and the 1MDB scandal.

This was why in the Balakong State Assembly by-election in Selangor in August last year, where MCA fielded a candidate, BOSSku promised to stay away from the Barisan Nasional campaign.

But in the Tanjong Piai parliamentary by-election, when BOSSku made his visit today, the happiest person was the MCA candidate, Wong Jeck Seng, who was in the very forefront to welcome BOSSku, and who could not hide his excitement and jubilation at the support BOSSku had given to his candidature.

BOSSku was regarded as “poison” by MCA in the Balakong by-election campaign last August, but in a matter of less than a year, BOSSku is regarded as a “gem”  by the MCA in the Tanjong Piai by-election campaign!

Wong Jeck Seng’s support for BOSSku today  is  as good as an endorsement of the 1MDB scandal and the infamy, ignominy and  iniquity Malaysia suffered by being regarded by the world as a global kleptocracy under the previous regime.

The question is whether the voters of Tanjong Piai are going to emulate Wee Jeck Seng to endorse BOSSku and his role in the 1MDB scandal, and to undo the historic and even miraculous decision of May 9, 2018 for Malaysia to make a clean break from the past of a global kleptocracy to become a leading nation of integrity in the world.

Now I understand why in  his two terms as Member of Parliament for Tanjong Piai from 2008 to 2018, Wee Jeck Seng had never raised a single question about the 1MDB scandal in Parliament  although only the blind, deaf and dumb would not know about the 1MDB scandal as it continued to make international news  and waves in 2015, 2016, 2017 and the first four months of 2018  until “509”.

I shudder to think what would have happened to Malaysia if there had not been a historic decision on May 9, 2018 to end the kleptocratic government in Malaysia.

But I shudder the more to think what is the future of our children and children’s children if after 18 months of “509”, we allow Malaysia to backtrack from our difficult path to become a leading nation of integrity  in the world to fall back as a global kleptocracy!

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at the Pakatan Harapan Tanjong Piai by-election ceramah in Pekan Nenas on Saturday, 9th November 2019 at 8.30 pm)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 10 November 2019, 11:01 am and is filed under
Election
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Pakatan Harapan would have lost Tanjong Piai by-election if polling were  held last week, but in second week of  campaign, PH workers and supporters must claw back  every possible  vote to clinch victory on Nov. 16

Pakatan Harapan would have lost the Tanjong Piai parliamentary by-election if polling had been held last week.

In the Malay areas, Malays were told that the Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was  my puppet, that the Malays and Muslims have lost their rights and position in Malaysia. But in Chinese areas, the Chinese were told that I was  nothing but Mahathir’s stooge and that the Chinese had lost their rights and position in Malaysia.

In this era of social media, when lies, fake news and hate speech can  be spread in a matter of seconds, both the Malay and Chinese voters would be  right to be very upset if they believed these lies and there is no time  or opportunity to verify the truth or otherwise of these allegations.

This is in fact the most despicable and unprincipled by-election campaign waged by the Muafakat Nasional, comprising PAS and Barisan Nasional, with the MCA included in the latter.

It is clear that Muafakat Nasional, comprising PAS and Barisan Nasional, is not competing with Pakatan Harapan as to which coalition have the best policies to make Malaysia a successful top world-class nation of unity, justice, freedom, excellence and integrity, as all that PAS, UMNO and MCA want is to wreck and destroy the Pakatran Harapan Government, although they have nothing constructive to propose, in particular about  the future of Malaysia.

In the past week, we have started to refute the lies, fake news and hate speech and to tell the people the truth – that there is no basis for these lies, fake news and hate speech spread by the Opposition.

In the second week of the Tanjong Piai parliamentary by-election, Pakatran Harapan election workers and supporters must claw back every  possible vote to clinch a victory on  Nov. 16 to support the Pakatan Harapan agenda for a New Malaysia  to transform  the country  into a top world-class nation of unity, justice, freedom, excellence and integrity.

The Pakatan Harapan Government in Putrajaya  must remain committed to the Pakatan Harapan Manifesto for a New Malaysia, although it is not possible to undo the corruption, abuse of power, injustices and wrongs of a few decades in a year or two – especially, as Pakatan Harapan leaders were not aware of the enormity of the monstrous crimes of corruption and abuse of power until they entered Putrajaya after  the historic and miraculous  “509” decision of the 14th General Election.

Just an example, it was revealed in Najib’s 1MDB corruption trial last week that RM5.5 billion of funds were transferred from 1MDB between September 2008 and October 2011 to companies later revealed by investigators to be sham companies controlled by one of the masterminds of 1MDB,  Jho Low, or his associates.

Malaysians were not aware of these crimes of a decade ago but the political leaders in Barisan Nasional and PAS today still maintain that the 1MDB scandal is not  proven and a mere  fictitious tale invented by Pakatan Harapan.

The MCA candidate for Tanjong Piai, Wong Jeck Seng, had been a Member of Parliament for Tanjong Piai for two terms of 10 years from 2008 to 2018, and he had not dared to raise even once in Parliament  any question about the 1MDB scandal.

Would he dare to raise the 1MDB scandal in Parliament if he is elected as MP for Tanjong Piai in the by-election on Nov. 16?

Of course not, or he would not have welcomed Najib Razak as his “boss”  during the latter’s visit to Tanjong Piai yesterday!

On behalf of all Malaysians, the voters of Tanjong Piai regardless of race or religion  must send out a clear message that Malaysians support the Pakatan Harapan Government’s campaign to root out the corruption in the 1MDB scandal and a host of other institutions, whether Felda, Felcra, Tabung Haji or MARA and those who had cheated Malaysians of millions and billions of ringgit from the public purse must be made to pay for their crimes.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at a Pakatan Harapan kopitiam ceramah in Pekan Nenas on Sunday, November 10, 2019 at 1 pm)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 10 November 2019, 3:46 pm and is filed under
Election
,
Fake News
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


November 11, 2019 an important date in the journey to fulfil  four of the five pillar-promises of Pakatan Harapan pledge of a New Malaysia, and public support must continue until the goal of a New Malaysia is achieved

Today, November 11, 2019 is an important date in the journey to fulfill four of the five pillar-promises of Pakatan Harapan pledge of a New Malaysia and public support must continue until the goal of a New Malaysia is achieved.

Today, the judiciary made two important decisions, viz: firstly, the Federal Court denied the application of leave to challenge the constitutionality of the existence of Chinese and Tamil primary schools; and secondly, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered former Prime Minister, Najib Abdul Razak to defend himself against all seven charges in relation to SRC International Sdn Bhd., placing the onus on the defence team to prove reasonable doubt in the cases established against Najib failing which the former premier would be convicted.

The four pillar-promises in the 14th General Election Pakatan Harapan Manifesto which these two judicial developments helped to advance are:

· Reduce the people’s burden;

· Institutional and political reforms, which includes transforming Malaysia from a global kleptocracy into a leading nation of integrity in the world, and the restoration of the important principles of the rule of law and an independent judiciary;

· Spur sustainable and equitable economic growth; and

· Create a Malaysia that is inclusive, moderate and respected globally.

The High Court decision today on Najib’s first of several corruption trials is an affirmation that Malaysia’s trajectory to transform itself from a global kleptocracy to a leading nation of integrity in the world is on course, although Malaysia is still a long way to achieve its goal.

Imagine the situation if Najib is able to walk out of the Kuala Lumpur High Court as a free man, acquitted of all charges of corruption and abuse of power related to the SRC International charges!

If this had happened, it is likely that all  efforts to transform Malaysia from a global kleptocracy to a leading nation of integrity in the world would have come to a halt, and Najib’s  hope expressed at a function at Slim River yesterday that the Tanjong Piai parliamentary  by-election would be the  stepping stone for the Barisan Nasional to be restored to power and return to  Putrajaya would have acquired great credibility!

With the two developments today, I am more hopeful that the second chance to reset nation-building policies made possible by the historic decision of the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018 would not be squandered.

Let us admit that we have a long way to go whether to transform Malaysia from a global kleptocracy into a world-leading nation of integrity and to create a united Malaysian people who will reject the racial and religious extremism in the country.

But I am now  more hopeful that we Malaysians, regardless of race or religion,  have the stamina, perseverance and commitment to make the long journey together to transform Malaysia into a top world-class nation of unity, justice, freedom, excellence and integrity.

Can Malaysia, which had been ranked No. 62 out of 180 countries in the 2017 Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) make a quantum leap to be ranked among the top 30 countries in 2030?

It is difficult but not impossible. I believe that Malaysia’s TI CPI for 2019 to be announced next year,  will be able to make the biggest quantum jump, in both CPI ranking and score, which will be the greatest for Malaysia in the 25-year history of TI CPI, although in the TI CPI 2018, Malaysia was ranked No. 61 with a score of 47 out of 100 points as  Malaysia  was still suffering  from the Najib corruption legacy problems.

I had said that November 11 and 16 will be important dates determining whether Malaysia is inexorably set in the trajectory to combat corruption and become a top world-class nation of integrity or whether global kleptocracy could make a come-back in the country.

November 11 had delivered the verdict that Malaysia must  transform from a global kleptocracy to a world-leading nation of integrity.

Now, its for the voters of Tanjong Piai in the by-election on Saturday, November 16, to send out a clear and unmistakable message on behalf of 32 million Malaysians that we want Malaysia to be  admired and respected by the world for being among the top 30 nations of integrity and there must be no turning back for Malaysia to become again a global kleptocracy.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, 11th November 2019)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 November 2019, 3:01 pm and is filed under
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Call on Tanjong Piai voters to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat to  ensure a Pakatan Harapan win in the by-election   to reject Muafakat Nasional and MCA candidate, endorse rejection of  global kleptocracy and  to have stamina and endurance to continue the long journey to make Malaysia a top world-class nation of integrity

The Tanjong Piai parliamentary by-election  is in fact the most despicable and unprincipled by-election campaign waged by the Muafakat Nasional, comprising firstly PAS and UMNO and now, MCA.

In the Malay areas, Malays were told that the Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was my puppet, that the Malays and Muslims have lost their rights and position in Malaysia. But in Chinese areas, the Chinese were told that I was nothing but Mahathir’s stooge and that the Chinese had lost their rights and position in Malaysia.

In this era of social media, when lies, fake news and hate speech can be spread in a matter of seconds, both the Malay and Chinese voters would have voted against Pakatan Harapan if they do not have the time and opportunity to verify the truth or otherwise of these lies, fake news and hate speech, which include the monstrous lie that I was not born in Batu Pahat in 1941  but came to Malaysia from China in 1957 when I was 16 years old.

The  Muafakat Nasional of  PAS, UMNO and MCA,  is not competing with Pakatan Harapan as to which coalition have the best policies to make Malaysia a successful top world-class nation of unity, justice, freedom, excellence and integrity, as all that PAS, UMNO and MCA want is to wreck and destroy the Pakatan Harapan Government, although they have nothing constructive to propose, in particular about the future of Malaysia.

For instance, does Muafakat  Nasional of PAS, UMNO and MCA support the Pakatan Harapan objective to transform Malaysia from a global kleptocracy into a leading nation of integrity in the world?

Of course not, in fact, they deny that Malaysia had been a global kleptocracy and even deny that there is such a thing as a 1MDB scandal – that it was all fake news created by the Pakatan Harapan to throw the Barisan Nasional out of power in the last general election.

On Sunday night, on eve of his Kuala Lumpur High Court decision whether he is to walk free after being acquitted  or be ordered to enter his defence for seven charges of abuse of power, corruption and money-laundering involving RM42 million of funds from SRC International, former Prime Minister Najib Razak was in Slim River in Perak  to attend a special function where he said that Tanjong Piai parliamentary by-election will be an important step for the Barisan Nasional to return to power by the 15th General Election.

I have said that Pakatan Harapan would have lost the Tanjong Piai parliamentary by-election if polling had been held last week

Tonight, I want to make an urgent call on the voters of Tanjong Piai, in particular the outstation voters,  to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat to ensure a Pakatan Harapan win in the by-election to  make it clear that after the historic and quite miraculous decision of the 14th General Election of May 9, 2018, Malaysians do not want Barisan Nasional to return to power in Putrajaya with PAS in Muafakat Nasional,  reaffirm endorsement of the voters of Malaysia in the 14th GE to reject global kleptocracy and  to continue the long journey to make Malaysia a top world-class nation of integrity.

If Najib had walked  out of the Kuala Lumpur High Court  yesterday as a free man, acquitted of all charges of corruption and abuse of power related to the SRC International charges, all efforts to transform Malaysia from a global kleptocracy to a leading nation of integrity in the world would have come to a halt.

It would have emboldened all who have claimed that the 1MDB scandal is fake news, although it was recently  listed by Transparency International as one of the 25 corruption scandals that “shook the world” in the past 25 years.

Transparency International, the global anti-corruption movement, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, had released an annual Corruption Perception Index  (CPI) ranking and score for the nations in the world since 1995.

If  we examine the TI CPI for the past 25 years, we will find one unusual characteristic, that Malaysia is one country which had worsened in both CPI ranking and score while other countries whether in Asia like China, India, Japan, South Korea, or in ASEAN whether Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam had improved either in CPI ranking or score, and had made progress over the last 25 years in the war against corruption.

But Malaysia achieved its worst TI CPI ranking of No. 62 under the Najib premiership in the 2017 TI CPI  and the worst TI CPI score of 4.3 out of 10 points in the 2011 TI CPI.

In fact, in seven of the ten years of Najib premiership, Malaysia’s TI CPI score was below the midpoint of below 50 out of 100 points or five out of 10 points in the earlier indices.

The  journey to transform Malaysia from a global kleptocracy to a leading nation of integrity which is ranked among the top 30 to 35 nations in the world will take at least one decade to accomplish.

It is an example why the Pakatan Harapan objective to re-set nation-building policies to become a top world-class nation of unity, justice, freedom, excellence and integrity cannot be completed in one general election cycle, and Malaysians must have the stamina and perseverance to stay the course for at least a decade until the job  to build a New  Malaysia is done.

There are those who advocate using the  Tanjong Piai by-election to teach Pakatan Harapan, Bersatu  or DAP a lesson, which is quite misguided and misplaced, for we should not be trifling with the rights and future of our children and  children’s children, especially as no other  political party or coalition is committed to make Malaysia a top world-class nation of unity, justice, freedom, excellence and integrity,

One message of a loss of Pakatan Harapan in Tanjong Piai parliamentary by-election will be the strength and power of the politics of extremism in race and religion, as well as   of lies, fake news and hate speech and that politicians must pander to the extremism of race and religion to survive.

Such consequences will be dire and far-reaching and will be detrimental to the growth  of moderate politics of the centre in Malaysia, based on  the appeal as to how to unite all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region, in their capacity as Malaysian citizens  rather than setting one race against another or one religion against another.

The Pakatan Harapan government is not a perfect government. We  have committed missteps and made  mistakes but we are prepared to make amends.

Our commitment to reset nation-building policies to build a New Malaysia which is a top world-class nation of unity, justice, freedom, excellence and integrity is solid and unswerving as we are prepared to be guided and judged by the  the Buku Harapan in the 14th General Election.

Let the Tanjong Piai voters prove the Muafakat Nasional of PAS, UMNO and MCA  wrong that  the 1MDB scandal is  fake news when it is  the most shameful chapter in Malaysian history which not only brought infamy, ignominy and iniquity to the nation as a global kleptocracy but denied funds which could have been spent for the benefit of the people.

Pakatan Harapan will suffer a major setback in the effort to transform Malaysia from a global kleptocracy into a leading nation of integrity if this plank of the Pakatan Harapan agenda fails to get continuing support from Malaysians.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at the Pakatan Harapan Tanjong Piai by-election ceramah in Pontian on Tuesday, 12th Nov 2018 at 9 pm)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 13 November 2019, 12:53 pm and is filed under
Election
,
Facebook
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Achievements of PH government in 18 months which are recognised internationally

Going by the campaign rhetorics of Muafakat Nasional of PAS, UMNO and MCA in Tanjong Piai by-election campaign, it would appear that the 18 months of Pakatan Harapan government in Putrajaya has been a total failure and disaster  which is in  total contrast to the recognition given by the world to  the  achievements chalked up by the Pakatan Harapan Government.

The World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index has improved to the 12th best in the world in 2020 from 15th in 2019, while Malaysia is among the best improved economies in the World Bank’s 2018 Worldwide Governance Indicators.

Thanks to its commitment to institutional reforms after the “509” result of the 14th General Elections, Malaysia is also among the best improved country in the World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) for year 2018.

The WGI measures institutional quality across 214 countries by accounting for 6 dimensions: accountability, political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law and corruption. Malaysia improved in 5 out of the 6 dimensions.

Dimensions

2017 scores

2018 scores

Change

Voice and accountability

-0.40

-0.08

+0.32

Political stability and absence of violence/terrorism

0.12

0.24

+0.12

Government effectiveness

0.83

0.08

+0.25

Regulatory quality

0.68

0.68

0.00

Rule of law

0.41

0.62

+0.21

Control of corruption

0.03

0.31

+0.28

Even more remarkable, Malaysia has jumped and improved from No. 25 to 16 in the Global Peace Index (GPI), the biggest jump among the top countries.

The  Global Peace Index  measures the relative position of nations’ and regions’ peacefulness.

The GPI ranks 172 independent states and territories (99.7 per cent of the world’s population) according to their levels of peacefulness. In the past decade, the GPI has presented trends of increased global violence and less peacefulness.

Long-term findings of the 2017 GPI include a less peaceful world over the past decade, a 2.14 per cent deterioration in the global level of peace in the past decade, growing inequality in peace between the most and least peaceful countries, a long-term reduction in the GPI Militarization domain, and a widening impact of terrorism, with historically high numbers of people killed in terrorist incidents over the past 5 years.

Malaysia is also set to make the greatest improvement in the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) in the  25-year history of TI CPI since 1995.

Malaysia got its worst ranking,  at No. 62 out of 180 countries,  in the 2017 Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) and recorded  the worst CPI score of 4.3 out of 10 in the 2011 TI CPI, all  during the period when Malaysia sank to the abyss and  was regarded by the whole world as a global kleptocracy.

I believe  Malaysia’s TI CPI  for 2019 which will be early  announced next year will make the biggest quantum jump, in both CPI ranking and score, which will be the greatest for Malaysia in the 25-year history of TI CPI.

These are not puny achievements as Malaysia undertake institutional reforms which will take years to see their final impact, whether in the restoration of the important principles of the rule of law and an independent judiciary or to transform Malaysia from a global kleptocracy to a leading nation of integrity  in the world.

These institutional reforms, which will take years to fully implement, will be impossible if there had been on change of government in Putrajaya in the 14th General Election in May 9, 2018.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 14 November 2019, 10:57 am and is filed under
Corruption
,
PH Government
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.