Shall I just forget about New Malaysia and call it quits?

Patutkah saya hanya lupakan impian satu Malaysia Baharu dan bersara sahaja?

Salah satu respons kepada kenyataan saya semalam mengenai keupayaan Pakatan Harapan untuk memenangi PRU15 pada tahun 2023 — di mana saya telah menyatakan keyakinan saya untuk kemenangan ini — yang berbunyi seperti berikut:

“Bukan, bukan sekarang. Buat masa ini DAP pasti akan musnah. Sila turun ke peringkat akar umbi sekarang, dengar apa yang rakyat ingin katakan… dengar pendapat mereka yang dahulunya penyokong DAP… yang kini jumlahnya dapat dibilang dengan jari… Pemimpin DAP kini sudah menjadi pekak, buta… dan BODOH.”

Dua minggu yang lepas, saya telah mengatakan di Gelang Patah yang saya akan kehilangan kerusi parlimen Iskandar Puteri ini dan DAP akan kehilangan 30-40 peratus undi dalam negara jika pilihanraya umum diadakan sekarang.

Perkara ini menunjukkan betapa kritikalnya salah faham dan salah tanggapan yang dihadapi DAP dan Pakatan Harapan dalam kalangan penyokong kami.

Kami memerlukan masa untuk membolehkan penyokong kami menyedari yang DAP belum pernah dan tidak pernah mengkhianati mereka dan kami masih komited terhadap matlamat Malaysia Baharu yang berteraskan perpaduan, kebebasan, keadilan, kecemerlangan, dan integriti.

Jika benar DAP telah mengkhianati rakyat dan harapan dan matlamat Malaysia Baharu, maka layaklah DAP ditolak oleh rakyat Malaysia dan tidak akan ada cara untuk DAP mendapatkan semula sokongan rakyat. Malah sokongan ini hanya akan makin merosot.

Tetapi, jika DAP tidak mengkhianati prinsip kami dan harapan rakyat, maka masa akan membuktikan kesilapan semua salah tanggapan dan salah faham mengenai DAP ini.

Setelah berdekad-dekad berjuang, DAP tidak akan sesekali mengkhianati rakyat ataupun prinsip kami mahupun aspirasi Malaysia Baharu yang berteraskan perpaduan, kebebasan, keadilan, dan integriti ini. Oleh itu, para pemimpin DAP haruslah mempunyai stamina untuk terus cekal dan komited terhadap matlamat ini.

Dalam tempoh masa dua bulan kebelakangan ini, melalui kempen berita palsu dan hasutan besar-besaran, ramai rakyat Malaysia terperangkap di dalam satu keadaan yang sangat buruk di mana hampir setiap komuniti hidup dalam ketakutan, syakwasangka, dan kebencian antara satu sama lain. Di mana mereka merasakan hak, kaum, budaya, dan agama mereka menghadapi satu krisis eksistensial.

Bagaimanakah kita sampai ke tahap sebegini? Di mana kaum Melayu kini merasakan yang mereka telah hilang kuasa politik dan hak, agama, dan budaya mereka kini terancam.

Sebagai contoh, kerosakan kepada sistem data Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Kuala Lumpur (KLIA) baru-baru ini telah digunakan untuk menyebarkan berita palsu mengenai kemasukan tiga juta rakyat China ke negara ini, sekaligus mengubah demografik negara. Sedangkan berita ini tidak mempunyai sebarang asas langsung memandangkan proses semakan imigresen masih dijalankan secara manual dan semua pelawat tertakluk kepada prosedur yang telah ditetapkan oleh Jabatan Imigresen.

Malahan, jika difikirkan logik akal, mustahil untuk tiga juta rakyat China mendarat di KLIA dalam masa tiga hari kerana perkara ini akan memerlukan pendaratan lebih daripada 10,000 pesawat setiap hari! Tidak mungkin perkara ini boleh berlaku tanpa disedari oleh sesiapa.

Pada masa yang sama, rakyat Malaysia berkaum Cina ketakutan mengenai kehilangan hak, kaum, dan budaya mereka. Nasib baik berita palsu yang mengatakan kononnya kerajaan Pakatan Harapan akan menyekat tarian singa ini disangkal dengan pantas oleh Timbalan Menteri Belia dan Sukan semalam.

Kerana kekurangan maklumat dan perundingan, legasi kerajaan sebelum ini dalam memperkenalkan mata pelajaran jawi di sekolah jenis kebangsaan Cina dan Tamil dilihat sebagai satu serangan ke atas sistem pendidikan Cina dan Tamil oleh kerajaan Pakatan Harapan.

Dalam masa dua bulan sahaja, melalui berita palsu dan hasutan, oportunis politik telah memarakkan api perkauman dan sentimen keagamaan sehingga wujudnya perasan syak wasangka, kebencian, dan ketakutan antara satu sama lain di negara ini.

Proses pembinaan negara kita terumbang-ambing sepanjang 16 bulan sejak pilihanraya umum ke-14 yang lalu.

Sepatutnya kita semua sebagai rakyat Malaysia bertanyakan satu soalan; jika setiap komuniti, suku kaum etnik, dan budaya menghadapi ancaman eksistensial, siapakah yang menimbulkan ancaman ini?

Saya percaya kepada satu Malaysia Baharu yang boleh menjadi salah satu daripada negara terulung di mata dunia dalam semua bidang yang diceburi manusia, memandangkan empat tamadun hebat dunia —  tamadun Islam, Cina, India, dan Barat — bertembung di negara ini.

Satu kajian Malaysiakini baru-baru ini menunjukkan kira-kira satu daripada enam rakyat Malaysia tidak tahu apa-apa mengenai budaya dan agama lain selain daripada budaya dan agama sendiri dan tidak berminat untuk mengetahui lebih lanjut.

Hampir satu per empat responden mengatakan yang mereka tidak mengenali budaya atau agama lain tetapi bersedia untuk mengetahui lebih lanjut dan baki 60 peratus mengatakan mereka agak faham atau sangat faham mengenai budaya yang lain daripada budaya sendiri.

Bagaimanakah dapat kita menggunakan kajian ini untuk menjadikan Malaysia sebagai negara model Perikatan Peradaban di mata dunia.

Bolehkah kita lakukannya?

Jika kita mempunyai komitmen ini untuk menjadi model Perikatan Peradaban ini, kita semua perlulah keluar daripada kepompong etnik masing-masing dan mula berinteraksi dan menghargai nilai-nilai murni yang ada dalam setiap budaya dan tamadun yang ada di negara ini. Bukan menjadi mangsa oportunis politik yang hanya bergantung kepada perpecahan dan sentiasa menghasut kita untuk berasa syak wasangka, benci, dan takut antara satu sama lain — dengan melagakan agama, budaya, dan kaum di dalam negara ini.

Ramai yang telah memberikan respons terhadap kenyataan saya dan menggesa saya untuk berputus asa.

Patutkah saya hanya lupakan impian satu Malaysia Baharu dan bersara sahaja?

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Gelang Patah pada hari Rabu 28 Ogos 2019)

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

One response to my statement yesterday asking “Can Pakatan Harapan win the 15th General Election in 2023?”, where I had given a tentative “yes” answer, is as follows:

“No, not like now. DAP likely to perish. Go to the ground now, listen to the people … to once DAP supporters … few if any now … DAP leaders have gone deaf, blind … & DUMB.”

A fortnight ago, I said in Gelang Patah that I will be defeated in Iskandar Puteri parliamentary seat and DAP would lose 30 to 40 per cent of our votes in the country if an general election is held now.

This is the extent of the misperception and misunderstanding about the DAP and Pakatan Harapan among our  long-standing supporters.

We need time for our supporters and the people to realise that the DAP has not betrayed them and that we have not given up on our hopes and objectives of a New Malaysia of unity, freedom, justice, excellence and integrity.

If the DAP had in fact betrayed the people and the hopes and objective of a New Malaysia of unity, freedom, justice, excellence and integrity, then DAP deserves to be rejected by Malaysians and  there is no way that DAP can recover or recapture the support of the voters with the passage of time. In fact, the outcome can only be worse.

But if the DAP had not betrayed our principles and the hopes of the people, then time will demonstrate how wrong were the misperceptions and misunderstandings about the DAP.

With our decades of struggle and sacrifice, DAP will never betray the people, our principles and our hopes and objective of a New Malaysia of unity, freedom, justice, excellence and integrity, but DAP leaders must have the stamina, perseverance and commitment to stay the course for a New Malaysia, whatever the temporary misperceptions and misunderstanding of the people.

In a matter of two months, through a massive and orchestrated campaign of fake news and hate speech, Malaysians have been entrapped in a vicious position where every community lives in fear, doubt, suspicion and even hatred of other communities and religions, believing that their rights,  ethnicity, religion and culture are  facing an existential threat.

How could this be possible. The Malays are made to believe that they had lost political power and their rights, ethnicity, religion and culture are facing an existential threat.

For instance, the recent Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) system malfunctions were used to  spread alarm and fear that three million Chinese nationals have entered the country, changing the demography in the country, when there is completely no basis for such fake news as the process of inspecting the entry of foreigners was conducted by the Immigration Department manually, and all visitors had to follow terms according to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).

In any event, a  little thought would show that it is just impossible for  three million Chinese to slip through the KLIA in three days, which would mean over 10,000 aircrafts landing in one day! Could this be done without anyone noticing?

The Chinese Malaysians  fear that their rights, ethnicity and culture face an existential threat, and it is fortunate that the latest scare that the Pakatan Harapan Government was restricting lion dance performance was nipped in the bud by quick anticipatory response by the Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports yesterday.

Because of lack of information and inadequate consultation, a legacy of the previous government on Jawi in Chinese and Tamil Primary Schools was perceived as an existential  attack on Chinese and Tamil education and culture by the Pakatan Harapan Government.

In just two months, through fake news and hate speech, political opportunists and desperados had fanned racial and religious insecurities in  each community into a powder-keg of distrust, fear and hatred of other communities.

Malaysian nation-building is in a quandary in the last 16 months after the 14th General Election.

Let every Malaysian ask this question: If every  community, ethnicity and culture is facing an existential threat, who is creating all these threats to all the communities, ethnicities and cultures in the country?

I believe in a New Malaysia that can become a top world-class nation in various fields of human endeavour as four great civilisations – Islamic, Chinese, Indian and Western – meet in confluence in Malaysia.

A recent Malaysiakini  survey shows that about a sixth of Malaysians say they do not know about other religions and cultures, and have no interest in learning more.

Nearly a quarter of respondents said they were unfamiliar, but willing to learn, while the remaining 60 percent say they are either very familiar or somewhat familiar.

How can we leverage on this  survey for Malaysia to be showcase to the world as the success of an Alliance of Civilisations, so that it could be a model of the Alliance of Civilisations in the world.

Can this be done?

If we have this commitment to be a showcase to the world of the success of Alliance Civilisations, we  must  come out of our ethnic shells and enclaves, interact and appreciate the virtues and best values of each other’s ethnicity, culture and civilisation  and not to fall victim to desperados  who only want to engender and incite suspicion, distrust, fear and hatred – by  pitting race against race, religion against religion, culture against culture and civilisation against civilisation.

Many had responded to my statements and urged  me to call it a day.

Shall I just forget about New Malaysia and call it quits?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Wednesday, 28th August 2019)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 28 August 2019, 6:30 pm and is filed under
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Battle for the soul of Malaysia – to bridge Malaysia’s divides to build a common future for all Malaysians or for each ethnicity to return to its  respective enclave in false belief that it is facing an existential threat and  in denial of a Malaysian dream

In the last two days, my thoughts have often returned to the opening paragraph of Charles Dickens’s
“A Tale of Two Cities”
 –

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair …, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way …”

Best of Times, Worst of Times; Light and Darkness;  Hope and Despair – these were the paradoxes that agonised  Malaysians on our 62nd Merdeka Day.

Early this week, I encapsulated this paradox and posed the question whether I should just forget about New Malaysia and call its quits.

I received tons of responses, a large number of them bots wishing my immediate disappearance from the political scene, but a fair amount reflecting the paradoxes of the opening paragraph of “A Tale of Two Cities”.

A political commenter was so full of despair about the future of Malaysia that he penned an article entitled “A meaningless Merdeka”, expressing this attack of darkness  that “After 21 years of writing ideas, criticisms and advice for Malaysians, Malays and those in power in academic, religious and political institutions, I have no more to give”.

This paradox caused another commentator to write about “Let’s have Merdeka from ‘race and religion’”.

But shining through these paradoxes is the common thread of love and patriotism for  Malaysia, wanting the country to be good and great, to be a top world-class nation of unity, freedom, justice, excellence and integrity and not to become a failed and rogue state and least of all, a klepto-theocracy!

This is best captured by another 62nd Merdeka Day Opinion piece on “A Merdeka Prayer – in pursuit of a better quality of life in beloved Malaysia Baru”.

Do we have reason to hope and dream that we can reset nation-building policies and undo the wrongs, injustices and abuses of power in the past six decades?

Yes, but we must have the stamina, perseverance and commitment to work for a  New Malaysia which will  be a top world-class nation of unity, freedom, justice, excellence and integrity, and be an example of the success of “Alliance of Civilisations” instead of a failure because of a “Clash of Civilisations” – a national  mission which will take more than an general election cycle to accomplish.

Malaysians must develop a social media literacy, as in a matter of two months, through a massive and orchestrated campaign of fake news and hate speech, Malaysians have been entrapped in a vicious position where every community lives in fear, doubt, suspicion and even hatred of other communities and religions, believing that its rights, ethnicity, religion and culture are facing an existential threat.

How could this be possible. The Malays are made to believe that they had lost political power and their rights, ethnicity, religion and culture are facing an existential threat.

But it is not only the Malays who fear that they are facing an existential threat as  the Chinese Malaysians  and Indian Malaysians also fear that their rights, ethnicity and culture also face an existential threat.

How can this be – for if every community, ethnicity and culture is facing an existential threat, who is creating all these threats to all the communities, ethnicities and cultures in the country?

But every cloud has a silver lining.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad called on those responsible to call for a boycott of non-bumiputera and non-Muslim products in the past two months to cease their campaign, as it is not going to work but will only create anger.

The failure of the boycott campaign is one proof that the social media does not represent the larger Malaysian whole.

Let us celebrate the 62nd Merdeka Day today and the 56th Malaysia Day on Sept. 16 conscious that we are in the thick of the battle for the soul of Malaysia – to bridge Malaysia’s divides to build a common future for all Malaysians or for each ethnicity to return to its respective enclave in the  false belief that it is facing an existential threat and  in denial of a Malaysian dream.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Saturday, August 31, 2019)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 31 August 2019, 6:32 am and is filed under
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Social media Malaysia is entirely different from real-life Malaysia  and the fake news and hate speech which dominate the social media to incite suspicion, distrust, fear and hate  pitting race against race and religion against religion must be strontly curbed

Malaysia yang digambarkan media sosial berbeza sama sekali dengan Malaysia dalam dunia sebenar dan berita palsu yang disebarkan dalam media sosial untuk memecah-belah dan melagakan rakyat Malaysia mestilah dibendung

Semasa dalam perjalanan ke program ini, saya terkenang kepada masa muda saya.

Kewujudan internet membolehkan saya untuk mencari semula sebuah editorial yang saya tulis 62 tahun yang lalu ketika saya menjadi editor majalah kelas III A yang bertajuk Light di Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tinggi Batu Pahat.

Di dalam editorial ini, saya telah menulis:

“Malaya telah menjadi sebuah negara yang baru, kini mengambil tempat dan tanggungjawabnya di dalam dunia yang penuh perselisihan. Ia mesti menerima dan menangani semua cabaran, dan satu hari nanti, diiktiraf sebagai salah satu daripada negara hebat dunia. Namun begitu, tokoh-tokoh masa kini yang sedang mengemudi negara kita tidak akan berada bersama kita selama-lamanya.

“Kita sebagai pemuda masa kini, adalah pemimpin masa depan, yang akan mewarisi tugas dan tanggungjawab untuk mengemudi hala tuju negara, sama ada kearah Utopia atau Kemusnahan. Kita mestilah mempersiapkan diri untuk berkhidmat untuk memimpin. Janganlah kita bazirkan masa kita dengan perbuatan yang sia-sia.

“Peranan sebagai golongan muda di dalam Malaya yang merdeka adalah lebih berat dan sukar untuk dipikul oleh bahu golongan muda generasi kita yang kurang berpengalaman. Kita akan menjadi golongan muda yang pertama yang memikul tanggungjawab ini sebagai negara yang merdeka. Marilah kita berkerja keras dan berazam supaya seluruh dunia boleh mengatakan dan mengiktiraf yang usaha dan tenaga golongan muda Malaya tidak dibazirkan.

“Untuk mencapai hasrat ini di dalam negara baru yang mempunyai demografi yang pelbagai ini, kita mesti sentiasa ingat bahawa kerjasama antara kaum adalah perkara yang paling penting sekali.”

Itulah yang telah saya tuliskan semasa saya berumur 16 tahun.

Prinsip ini — kepentingan kerjasama, kesefahaman, toleransi, dan keharmonian antara kaum di dalam negara yang berbilang latar belakang ini — telah menjadi pegangan hidup saya.

Saya mempunyai beberapa program lain di Iskandar Puteri hari ini sempena sambutan Hari Merdeka yang ke-62. Pagi tadi, saya telah memberikan isyarat mula untuk acara Larian Hari Merdeka di Kangkar Pulai yang disertai oleh lebih daripada 2,000 orang. Juga terdapat Pesta Bola yang disertai oleh 32 kumpulan daripada kampung berdekatan dan Konvoi Motosikal Hari Merdeka ke-62.

Berdasarkan interaksi dengan rakyat di peringkat akar umbi, tidak kiralah sama ada orang Melayu, Cina, ataupun India pada Hari Merdeka ini, kelihatan jelas sekali perbezaan di antara Malaysia yang digambarkan melalui media sosial dengan Malaysia dalam dunia sebenar.

Persepsi yang dicipta oleh media sosial menggambarkan seolah-olah negara ini kini berpecah-belah pada tahap yang tidak pernah dilihat dalam sejarah negara, seakan-akan negara ini hanya menunggu masa sebelum berlakunya keganasan antara kaum dan agama jika berita palsu dan hasutan yang berlegaran di media sosial ini tidak dikawal secepat mungkin.

Disebalik gambaran buruk ini, saya dapat lihat di kawasan saya, kesefahaman, keharmonian, dan toleransi di kalangan rakyat Malaysia biarpun daripada orang Melayu, Cina, ataupun India.

Saya percaya bahawa penting untuk kerajaan membendung penyebaran berita palsu dan hasutan jahat di media sosial yang bertujuan untuk memutar-belit dan meracuni hubungan antara kaum dan antara agama di negara ini dan tindakan tegas untuk mengatasi isu ini harus menjadi keutamaan untuk kerajaan hari ini.

Saya boleh berikan satu contoh berita palsu yang berlegaran baru-baru ini.

Kerosakan kepada sistem data Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Kuala Lumpur (KLIA) baru-baru ini telah digunakan untuk menyebarkan berita palsu mengenai kemasukan tiga juta rakyat China ke negara ini, sekaligus mengubah demografik negara. Sedangkan berita ini tidak mempunyai sebarang asas langsung memandangkan proses semakan imigresen masih dijalankan secara manual dan semua pelawat tertakluk kepada prosedur yang telah ditetapkan oleh Jabatan Imigresen.

Jika tiga juta rakyat China mendarat di KLIA dalam masa tiga hari, ini bermakna secara purata sejuta rakyat China akan mendarat di KLIA setiap hari, menjadikan KLIA lapangan terbang tersibuk di dunia!

Jika perkara ini benar, ia bermakna KLIA akan menerima lebih daripada 10,000 pesawat setiap hari — perkara ini adalah mustahil untuk berlaku.

Berita palsu dan hasutan tidak hormat atau pedulikan kebenaran dan atas sebab inilah rakyat Malaysia harus berhati-hati di media sosial supaya kita semua tidak mudah tertipu.

Golongan muda adalah aset yang penting kepada negara, lebih-lebih lagi selepas pindaan kepada Perlembagaan bagi menurunkan had umur mengundi daripada 21 kepada 18 tahun.

Saya telah menjadi Setiausaha Agung Kesatuan Wartawan Kebangsaan Singapura pada tahun 1962 ketika saya berumur 21 tahun. Pada akhir tahun 1965, saya telah ditarik sepenuh masa kedalam arena politik negara pada umur 24 tahun dan menjadi Ahli Parlimen (untuk Bandar Melaka) pada tahun 1969 ketika saya berumur 28 tahun.

Tiga perkara telah berlaku semasa saya ditahan buat kali pertama dibawah Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA) di pusat tahanan Muar. Pertama, saya memulakan pengajian undang-undang di University of London (External) dan saya telah dipanggil ke bar di Lincoln’s Inn, London. Kedua, saya telah belajar untuk membaca dan menulis jawi dengan sendiri. Tetapi, perkara yang ketiga inilah yang telah mengubah hidup saya, mengenai integriti dan kesetiaan kepada prinsip — kata-kata seorang patriot berbangsa Cina:

Siapakah yang boleh mengelakkan kematiannya sejak permulaan zaman?

Biarlah hati saya cekal dengan perjuangan supaya diingati sepanjang zaman.

Malaysia adalah satu titik pertembungan empat tamadun hebat dunia — tamadun Islam, Cina, India, Barat. Saya sentiasa percaya dengan kebolehan Malaysia untuk memanfaatkan nilai-nilai terbaik daripada setiap tamadun ini untuk membina sebuah bangsa dan negara Malaysia — yang boleh dijadikan contoh kepada dunia sebagai bukti kejayaan Perikatan Peradaban.

(Ucapan Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di majlis pembukaan pertandingan debat Piala Lim Kit Siang di Skudai pada hari Sabtu 31 Ogos 2019 jam 12 tengahari)

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

On my way to this programme, I thought of my youth.

Because of the advent of the Internet, it is possible to do a quick search and I found the editorial I wrote 62 years ago when I as editor of Form III A class magazine, “Light”, in  Batu Pahat High School.

In this editorial in 1957, I said:

“Now Malaya has become a young nation and she is taking her rightful place and her part of responsibility in this strife-full world. She must accept and overcome all challenges and, one day, be counted among the greatest of the great. However, the great men of today who hold the steering-wheel of the country cannot be with us always.

“We, the youths of today, are the leaders of tomorrow, who will take the helm and navigate the Ship of State to Utopia or Doom. We must now prepare ourselves to ‘serve to lead’. Let us not while away our time in meaningless pastimes and waste away precious moments.

“The role of youth in Independent Malaya is now more pressing and difficult for the inexperienced shoulders of the youth of this generation. We will be the first true independent shoulders to bear this responsibility. Let us then work with greater zeal and will, that our standard be not flying at half-mast, so that the whole world may say that the youths of Malaya, our youths, have not been wasted.

“However, to accomplish this in this new nation with a cosmopolitan population, we must bear in mind that co-operation between the different races is of paramount importance.”

That was what I wrote when I was 16 years old.

For the rest of my life, I had always been guided by this principle– the paramount importance of inter-racial understanding, tolerance and harmony in multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious Malaysia.

I have various programmes in Iskandar today to mark the 62nd Merdeka Day celebrations, apart from this Lim Kit Siang Cup Young Malaysians debate tournament. Early morning, I flagged off the 62nd Merdeka Day Run in Kangkar Pulai which was participated by some 2,000 people.  There was also the  Pesta Bola which was participated by   32 teams from the surrounding Malay kampongs as well as the 62nd Merdeka Day Convoy of Motor-Bikes in Iskandar Puteri.

From my interactions with Malaysians on the ground, whether Malays, Chinese or Indians in these 62nd Merdeka Day celebrations, it is clear that the social media Malaysia is entirely different from real-life Malaysia.

The perception created by the social media is a Malaysia which has never  been more polarised in racial and religious terms in the nation’s history, as if the country is teetering on the verge of violent race and religious relations if the highly-orchestrated mountain of  fake news and hate speech which dominate the social media to incite suspicion, distrust, fear and hate pitting race against race and religion against religion is not immediately curbed.

Instead of  inter-racial animosity, distrust, fear and hatred, I find on the ground only goodwill, understanding, harmony and tolerance among Malaysians, whether  Malays[LKS1] , Chinese or Indians.

It is imperative that the government must not allow fake news and hate speech on the social media to  distort and poison inter-racial and inter-religious relations and strong and firm action to stop fake news and hate speech which incite inter-racial and inter-religious suspicion, distrust, fear and hatred must be  the top priority of the government-of-the-day.

I will give one example of the danger of such fake news and hate speech.

Recently,  the  Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) system malfunctions were used to spread alarm and fear that three million Chinese nationals have entered the country, changing the demography in the country, when there is completely no basis for such fake news as the process of inspecting the entry of foreigners was conducted by the Immigration Department manually, and all visitors had to follow terms according to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).

If three million Chinese nationals had entered in the three days of the KLIA system breakdown, it would mean an average of one million Chinese national passengers landing in KLIA  a day – making the KLIA the busiest airport in the world!

This  would mean over 10,000 aircrafts landing in one day – which is a clear impossibility.

Fake news and hate speech is no respector of truth or facts and this is why Malaysians should develop greater social media literacy so that they do not  easily succumb to lies and falsehoods of the pedlars of fake news and hate speech.

Youths are an important national asset, more so after the amendment to the Constitution to lower the voting age form 21 to 18 years.

I became Secretary-General of Singapore National Union of Journalists in 1962 when I was 21 years, plunged full-time into Malaysian politics at the end of 1965 when I was 24 and elected as Member of Parliament (Bandar Melaka) in 1969 when I was 28.

Three things happened during my first Internal Security Act detention in the Muar detention centre. First I started on law studies, which  gave me a law degree with the University of London (external) and I was later called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn, London.  Second, I taught myself to read and write Jawi. But it  was the third event which moulded my whole life, about integrity and loyalty to principle –  the saying of the great  Chinese patriot, Wen Tianxiang:

Who can avert his death since time immemorial?

Let my heart remain true to shine in the annals.

Malaysia is the confluence of four great civilisations in the world – Islamic, Chinese, Indian and Western. I always believe that Malaysia must be able to leverage on the  best values and virtues or these four great civilization to build a great Malaysian nation and civilization  – that we should be an showcase to the world of the success of the  Alliance of Civilisations and not a failure as a result of the Clash of  Civilisations.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at the opening of the Third Lim Kit Siang Cup Young Malaysians debate tournament in Skudai on Saturday, August 31, 2019 at 12 noon)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 31 August 2019, 4:10 pm and is filed under
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Malaysians who want Malaysia to be an example to the world of the success of Alliance of Civilisations instead of being a failure because of Clash of Civilisations  should come together to make a success of this  objective, regardless of their political antecedents

I was at the Subang International Airport this morning waiting for my flight to be called when a Malaysian joined me at one of the waiting benches, and  asked me  what I thought would be the future of Malaysia.

I did not know who this person was, but I responded, saying that it reminded me of the opening paragraph of Charles Dickens’s “”A Tale of Two Cities” –

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair”.

I said Malaysia seemed to be caught by this paradox on the occasion of the 62nd Merdeka Day – best of times, worst of times; light and darkness; hope and despair.

But the “social media” Malaysia, dominated by fake news and hate speech particularly in the past two months to incite suspicion, distrust, fear and hatred in each community against other communities, seeking to create the psychosis among the Malays, Chinese and Indians that they are all individually facing an existential threat from other ethnic groups is completely different from real-life Malaysia.

I said I had various 62nd Merdeka Day programmes in Iskandar Puteri yesterday, from the flagging off of the  62nd Merdeka Day Run in Kangkar Pulai involving some 2,000 people in the morning, to the Lim Kit Siang Cup Young Malaysians debate tournament, the  62nd Merdeka Day Convoy of Motor Bikes in Iskandar Puteri and 62nd Merdeka Day Pesta Bola involving 32 teams from the surrounding Malay kampongs and which ended only at 8.30 pm last night, and  I found from my  interactions with Malaysians on the ground, whether Malays, Chinese or Indians, that “real-life Malaysia” is  completely different from  “social media Malaysia” .

Instead of  inter-racial animosity, distrust, fear and hatred, I find on the ground only goodwill, understanding, harmony and tolerance among Malaysians, whether  Malays= , Chinese or Indians.

I told this Malaysian that  it is imperative that the government must not allow fake news and hate speech a field day on the social media to incite suspicion, doubt, distrust and hatred among the different communities and to generate the baseless fear that each community is facing an existential threat with regard to its ethnicity, rights, religion and culture.

I will like to know who will oppose steps to check fake news and hate speech designed to incite inter-racial and inter-religious suspicion, distrust, fear and hatred as to jeopardise  inter-racial and inter-religious goodwill, harmony and relations?

In fact in many case,  fake news and hate speech to incite suspicion, distrust, fear and hatred  among races and religtions are just generated by machines and bots!

One counter will be to require the pedlars of fake news and hate speech to identify themselves, and not to be nameless and faceless behind anonymous posts.

There  was recently an anonymous post on the social media circulating a purported audio from Betty Chew, wife of Lim Guan Eng, DAP Secretary-General and Finance Minister denouncing the  Malays and Islam.  But who will know that  the voice in the audio was not Betty Chew’s voice?

As I told this Malaysian, there  are killings and wars in other countries although they are from the same ethnicity, speaking the same language and from the  same religion.

My hope is to see Malaysia able to show the world  it is  an example of the success of the Alliance of Civilisations, as we are the confluence of four great civilisations of the world – Islamic, Chinese, Indian, Western – instead of being a failure because of the Clash of Civilisations.

This person agreed. I subsequently found this person was at one time an important personality of the previous government.

From my airport encounter this morning, I call on all Malaysians who want Malaysia to be an example to the world of the success of Alliance of Civilisations instead of being a failure because of Clash of Civilisations  to come together achieve the success of this objective, regardless of their political antecedents.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, Sept.1, 2019)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 1 September 2019, 2:43 pm and is filed under
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Shocking that some Opposition leaders who were formerly in government are defying royal advice  about fake news and hate speech and totally reckless about jeoparding national unity in Malaysia

I am shocked and surprised that some Opposition leaders who were formerly in government are defying royal advice about fake news and hate speech and totally reckless about jeopardising national unity in Malaysia.

I would advise these Opposition leaders, who were formerly government leaders, to repent and to heed the advice of the various Rulers and play their part to curb fake news and hate speech dominating the social media.

The Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah for instance had said that after 62 years of achieving independence, the act of instilling the feeling of hatred between the races and religions was being committed more often.

He expressed his concern that the political climate in the country after the 14th general election was getting hotter through acts carried out by political leaders.

He said various provocations, which were extreme in nature, were being made, including disseminating slander through social media and insulting Islam and the various religions in the country.

He  warned that such acts were like setting up time bombs which were waiting for the right time to explode.

Sultan Nazrin said that the true facts and authenticity of the news concerned are not important, since emotions play a bigger role in influencing people, including the learned, to the extent that their minds are being poisoned and possessed.

Every incident from crimes on the road to the disciplinary action of teachers in schools or employers at the workplace, the colour of leaders’ attire, errors in raising the national flag, and changes in school curriculum were being negatively interpreted according to racial and religious dimensions.

Describing such situations as “very unhealthy”, placing the nation in a dangerous and worrying situation, Sultan Nazrin stressed that the majority of Malaysians love peace and are becoming  “more restless and fearful”.

Sultan Nazrin said the heated climate must be immediately brought down, and the acts of instilling racial feelings and spreading the feelings of enmity between the religions must be stopped without delay.

The Selangor ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah also  reminded Malaysians not to easily believe fake and slanderous news on the social media that can jeopardise the country’s peace and security.

He said every citizen should have a responsibility to avoid any form of conflict and disunity arising from negative elements of some parties, aimed at destroying the nation’s unity that had been built over the years.

The Selangor Sultan advised Malaysians  in conjunction with the 62nd National Day Celebrations: “Practice tolerance and strive to understand each other, and at the same time, celebrate the differences in customs, culture, and religion so we can continue to live in an atmosphere of independence in the real meaning of the word.”

Will the Opposition leaders, especially those who were formerly government leaders, respond patriotically to these royal calls and support strong actions against fake news and hate speech in the social media, especially those designed to incite suspicion, doubt, distrust and hatred among the different communities so as  to generate the baseless fear that each community is facing an existential threat with regard to its ethnicity, rights, religion and culture?

The former important personality of the previous government whom I met at the Subang Airport while waiting for my flight yesterday agreed with me that fake news and hate speech to incite suspicion, distrust, fear and hatred among the races and religions must be curbed, if Malaysia is not to become a failed and rogue state.

Will Opposition leaders who were formerly leaders of the previous government prove that they are decent and patriotic Malaysians by responding positively to these royal calls, even if it means breaking from former government leaders who are only interested in a launching a movement for a klepto-theocracy in Malaysia, using fake news and hate speech to pit race against race, religion against relitgion?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Monday, Sept. 2, 2019)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 2 September 2019, 9:15 am and is filed under
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Don’t deregister UMNO – let it self-destruct!

Jangan batalkan pendaftaran UMNO — biarlah ia musnah dengan sendiri!

Saya bersetuju dengan Ahli Parlimen DAP Kepong Lim Lip Eng yang mana kerajaan tidak sepatutnya membatalkan pendaftaran UMNO kerana kesalahan para pemimpinnya. Namun begitu, politik kotor parti tersebut haruslah dibendung.

Saya percaya bahawa kerajaan Pakatan Harapan harus mengambil kedudukan yang lebih tinggi dan berikan ruang dan masa untuk UMNO memperbetulkan salahlakunya.

Sepanjang lima tahun di antara 2013 sehingga 2018, DAP pernah menghadapi situasi yang sama di mana Kabinet Najib mempertimbangkan pembubaran secara haram parti ini berdasarkan pelbagai tuduhan yang dibuat-buat.

Dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 yang berlangsung pada 5 Mei 2013 yang lalu, rejim Najib hanya berubah fikiran pada saat terakhir daripada keputusan untuk mengharamkan penggunaan simbol roket DAP pada PRU tersebut.

Sebelum PRU14, rejim Najib merasakan sangat yakin dengan kebolehan mereka untuk memenangi sehingga ⅔ kerusi Parlimen sehingga mereka memutuskan untuk tidak menggantung pendaftaran DAP — yang berasaskan tuduhan kononnya pilihan raya dalaman parti pada Disember 2012 dilaksanakan dengan cara yang tidak demokratik dan melanggar undang-undang — dan sebaliknya memilih untuk mengharamkan Parti Bersatu yang baru ditubuhkan.

Ugutan penggantungan pendaftaran selama lima tahun tersebut merupakan satu penyalahgunaan kuasa yang sangat jelas sekali dan tidak sepatutnya berlaku dalam sebuah negara yang mengamalkan demokrasi, urus tadbir yang baik dan kedaulatan undang-undang.

Tidak ada negara dalam dunia ini di mana Pendaftar Pertubuhannya memaklumkan sebuah parti politik bahawa pilihan raya parti peringkat kebangsaannya yang dijalankan lebih daripada empat tahun yang lepas itu tidak sah lalu memaksa parti tersebut untuk mengadakan satu pilihan raya parti yang baru.

Terdapat juga cadangan daripada mereka yang rapat dengan Najib yang mencadangkan supaya saya bersara daripada politik bagi menghentikan segala malapetaka ini.

Saya percaya bahawa dendam tidak mempunyai tempat dalam politik dan saya berharap ahli-ahli dan pemimpin UMNO tidak perlu menghadapi seksaan “hukuman mati” yang dihadapi oleh ahli-ahli dan pemimpin DAP selama lima tahun sebelum PRU14.

Di dalam sebuah demokrasi, biarlah pengundi yang memilih sama ada mereka berhasrat untuk menghumban sesebuah parti politik itu ke dalam tong sampah.

Kerana inilah saya bersetuju dengan Lim Lip Eng — jangan batalkan pendaftaran UMNO tapi biarlah ia musnah dengan sendirinya memandangkan UMNO kini berada dalam peringkat lanjut proses memusnahkan dirinya apabila ia melancarkan kempen klepto-teokrasi bersama dengan PAS.

UMNO telah hilang kegemilangannya, di mana ia dilihat sebagai juara golongan Bumiputera, kini UMNO telah hilang arah tujuannya apabila ia mengabaikan perjuangan untuk menaikkan taraf hidup orang Melayu dan memilih untuk hanya mengkayakan kroni UMNOPutera dan menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara model kleptokrasi global.

Inilah sebabnya kenapa Presiden UMNO sedang menghadapi 87 tuduhan rasuah dan digelar sebagai Raja Tuduhan Rasuah, dan bekas Presiden UMNO sendiri menghadapi 42 tuduhan rasuah, dengan Setiausaha Agung parti tersebut juga bakal menghadapi perbicaraan rasuahnya yang tersendiri — bersama dengan ramai lagi pimpinan UMNO yang menghadapi tuduhan masing-masing.

Dengan segala pertuduhan ini, mereka melancarkan kempen “MALU APA BOSSKU” tanpa sekelumit rasa malu sekalipun!

Semasa saya sedang menunggu penerbangan saya di Lapangan Terbang Subang pada hari Ahad, saya terserempak dengan seorang pemimpin UMNO yang bersetuju dengan saya mengenai semua isu rasuah tersebut tetapi beliau tidak bersetuju dengan saya mengenai perkara lain.

Saya berfikir sejenak mengenai komen beliau memandangkan beliau merupakan seorang Menteri di dalam Kabinet Pertama Najib di antara tahun 2009 sehingga 2013.

Walaupun beliau boleh untuk mengaku tidak mengetahui mengenai skandal 1MDB memandangkan skandal tersebut hanya muncul secara besar-besaran mulai tahun 2015, UMNO tidak ada melakukan apa-apa langsung sepanjang 18 bulan yang sudah berlalu sejak PRU14 untuk mengutuk dan menjauhkan dirinya daripada skandal 1MDB dan memohon maaf kepada negara kerana menjatuhkan maruah negara kepada sebuah kleptokrasi global.

Jika beliau terpilih untuk menyertai Kabinet kedua Najib, adakah beliau akan menjadi seperti Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah yang baru-baru ini menyatakan kepada mahkamah yang beliau telah menyembunyikan kebenaran mengenai skandal 1MDB semasa peletakan jawatan Menteri beliau pada bulan Jun 2016 demi menjaga reputasi Perdana Menteri semasa itu, atau adakah beliau akan menjadi seperti Muhyiddin Yassin yang dipecat daripada jawatan Timbalan Perdana Menteri beliau pada bulan Julai 2015 kerana menolak untuk mengikut arahan Najib mengenai skandal 1MDB?

Perdana Menteri Tun Dr Mahathir telah menimbulkan beberapa persoalan mengenai soal kewangan UMNO, selepas UMNO dilaporkan menjual saham-sahamnya di dalam syarikat media dan UMNO kini kembali kaya sehingga dilaporkan oleh sesetengah media sebagai mempunyai lebih daripada RM2 bilion.

Adakah perkara ini berkait dengan kenaikan kadar aktiviti media sosial dalam dua bulan yang lepas yang cuba untuk mewujudkan satu persepsi di mana Malaysia kini menghadapi satu krisis dalam pembinaan negara dengan hubungan antara kaum dan agama yang semakin tegang, sehingga wujudnya satu kempen untuk memboikot produk bukan bumiputera.

Di sebalik latar belakang perbicaraan bekas Perdana Menteri negara, kita dapat lihat kerja-kerja jutaan wang ringgit yang dibelanjakan untuk menguasai ruang media sosial.

Tanpa sebarang ragu-ragu lagi, ini adalah satu perkara yang berkepentingan awam, terutamanya dengan pemimpin UMNO yang dahulunya pemimpin kerajaan secara terang-terangan melawan titah nasihat diraja mengenai berita palsu dan hasutan jahat dan cubaan merosakkan perpaduan negara.

Malah, seorang bekas Mentri Besar juga telah mempersoalkan dakwaan ketegangan antara kaum di dalam negara, dengan mengatakan yang situasi di peringkat akar umbi sedang aman harmoni, tanpa berlakunya situasi di mana “orang Melayu menindas orang Cina dan sebaliknya”.

Mungkin beliau tidak memahami apa yang saya cuba sampaikan apabila saya katakan Malaysia dalam “dunia sebenar” kelihatan amat berbeza dengan Malaysia dalam “media sosial” yang digambarkan sebagai berada di dalam polarisasi yang terburuk yang pernah dilihat dalam sejarah negara.

Jika dilihat di Malaysia “media sosial”, negara ini kelihatan seakan-akan menunggu masa sahaja sebelum menjunam ke dalam kancah keganasan antara kaum dan agama yang dijana oleh bergunung berita palsu dan hasutan jahat yang disebarkan sepanjang dua bulan yang lepas untuk menghasut syak wasangka, kebencian dan ketakutan.

Saya telah katakan berkali-kali yang ini adalah satu gambaran yang tidak benar mengenai Malaysia, turun ke peringkat akar umbi dan kita dapat lihat yang rakyat Malaysia hidup dalam aman damai dan harmoni tanpa sebarang syak wasangka, kebencian, mahupun ketakutan antara satu kaum dengan yang lain.

Jadi siapakah yang mencipta gambaran palsu Malaysia “media sosial” ini?

Mereka adalah orang yang sama berkaitan dengan kempen untuk memboikot produk bukan bumiputera.

Saya nasihatkan kepada bekas Mentri Besar tersebut, yang kini menghampiri dekad ketujuh untuk menyedari yang rakyat Malaysia tidaklah terlalu naif untuk mempercayai penafiannya, dan beliau bersama-sama dengan sekutunya di dalam UMNO dan PAS sepatutnya cuba untuk memahami dan bermuhasabah diri dengan apa yang telah dititahkan oleh baginda Yang di Pertuan Agong, Sultan Perak, dan Sultan Selangor baru-baru ini mengenai isu perpaduan negara, berita palsu, dan hasutan jahat.

Sultan Perak Sultan Nazrin Syah bertitah baru-baru ini bahawa selepas 62 tahun mencapai kemerdekaan, perbuatan untuk menghasut kebencian di antara kaum dan agama masih berlaku dengan kerap.

Baginda berkata, pelbagai provokasi yang bersifat ekstrem telah dibuat, termasuklah melalui penyebaran fitnah melalui media sosial dan penghinaan Islam dan agama-agama lain di dalam negara ini, baginda memberikan amaran bahawa perbuatan seperti ini adalah seperti memasang suatu bom yang hanya menunggu masa untuk meletup.

Sultan Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah juga telah memperingatkan rakyat Malaysia untuk tidak mudah mempercayai berita palsu dan fitnah yang disebarkan di media sosial yang boleh merosakkan keamanan dan keselamatan negara.

Yang di Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah juga telah bertitah bahawa Islam menggalakkan keamanan dan hubungan yang baik di dalam masyarakat, yang sepatutnya ditekankan di kalangan rakyat untuk memupuk perpaduan.

Baginda berharap untuk melihat negara ini mencapai satu penghijrahan kepada semangat toleransi dan kerjasama yang lebih baik di antara rakyat yang pelbagai kaum yang merupakan kekuatan negara ini.

Sudah tentu sekali, segala kempen boikot, berita palsu, dan fitnah yang belegaran di media sosial ini berlawanan dengan penghijarahan kepada semangat toleransi, kerjasama, dan perpaduan yang dikatakan oleh baginda.

Adakah bekas Mentri Besar ini mendengar titah Yang di Pertuan Agong dan Sultan Negeri Perak dan Selangor ini?

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Gelang Patah pada hari Selasa 3 September 2019)

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

I agree with the DAP MP for Kepong, Lim Lip Eng that the government should not deregister UMNO despite the wrongdoings of some of its leaders although  the party’s dirty politics must  be reined in.

Let the Pakatan Harapan government act magnanimously by giving UMNO ample time to rectify its wrongdoings.

For five years from 2013 to 2018,  based on trumped-up charges, DAP was on the razor’s edge as the kitchen cabinet of the then Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, weighed  the pros and cons of illegally deregistering DAP.

In the 13th General Election on May 5, 2013, it was only  in the last minute that the Najib regime backed off from the decision to ban the use of the DAP symbol, the Rocket, in the general election.

Just before the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018, the Najib regime was so confident of winning big in the general election and even regaining two-thirds parliamentary majority because of its multi-billion ringgit 1MDB scandal  that  it decided against implementing  the five-year death sentence on DAP,  based on the  false claim that the DAP had in December 2012 undemocratically and illegally elected its Central Executive Committee,  and targeted newly-established Bersatu instead by banning it.

The five-year ordeal of the death sentence hanging over  the DAP was a gross abuse of power and  should never have happened in a country which practised democracy, good governance and the rule of law.

Where in the world, for instance,  is there a  Registrar of Societies who  informed  a political party that its national party election over four years ago was illegal and forced it to hold fresh party elections?

There  was even a suggestion from the  Najib “inner circle” that the price to end the DAP’s deregistration ordeal was for me to retire from politics.

Revenge and vendetta have no place in politics, and I do not wish on UMNO leaders and members the “death sentence” ordeal which DAP leaders and members had suffered for five years before the 14th General Election.

In a democracy, let voters decide whether a political party should be dumped into  the rubbish bin.

This is why I agree with Lip Eng – don’t deregister UMNO but let it self-destruct and UMNO is in  an advanced stage of self-destruction as it seeks to launch a campaign for a klepto-theocracy with PAS.

UMNO has seen better days, when it was equated with the cause of the  Malays but  it  lost its raison d’etre  when  instead of working for the advancement of Malay bumiputeras it  served only the interests of UMNOputras and turned Malaysia into a global kleptocracy.

This is why the former UMNO President has 42 corruption charges, the current UMNO President as the “King of corruption charges” himself facing 87 corruption charges, while the UMNO Secretary-General is soon beginning on his own corruption trial – together with a bevy of other  top UMNO leaders with their own  separate corruption charges.

And yet there could be a shameless campaign named “MALU APA BOSSKU”!

While I was at the Subang Airport on Sunday waiting for my flight, I met a top UMNO leader who  said that while he agreed with me on the corruption issue he did not agree with me on other matters.

I mulled over his comments as he  was a Minister in  the first Najib Cabinet from 2009-2013.

Although  he could claim ignorance about the 1MDB scandal  while he was a Cabinet member, as it was only in  2015 that the 1MDB scandal became  a regular staple of international mass media coverage, UMNO had done nothing in the past 18 months since the 14th General Election on  May 9, 2018  to condemn the 1MDB scandal, dissociate itself from it  and to apologise to the nation for transforming Malaysia into a global kleptocracy.

Had he been in the second Najib  Cabinet, will  he be like Ahmad Husni Mohmamad Hanadzlah who recently told the court that he had not spoken the truth about the 1MDB scandal when he resigned as a Minister in June 2016  as he wanted to protect the Prime Minister’s reputation or will he be like Muhyiddin Yassin  who was sacked as Deputy Prime Minister in July 2015  for refusing to toe Najib’s line on the 1MDB scandal?

The Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad raised questions over Umno’s financial standing after the UMNO reportedly sold off its stake in several media companies recently, with UMNO again  becoming rich with a media reporting that UMNO is flushed with RM2 billion.

Is this  linked to the unusually hectic pace of social media activity in the past two months as to create the false reality that Malaysia is facing a nation-building crisis with tense race and religious relations which included a call to  boycott  non-bumiputera products.

In the ongoing corruption  trial of the former Prime Minister, we hear testimony of millions of ringgit spent to dominate  the social media.

This is unquestionably an issue of public importance, especially with UMNO leaders who were formerly government leaders defying royal advice about fake news and hate speech and being totally reckless about jeopardising national unity in Malaysia.

A former Mentri Besar even questioned the  claim of heightened racial tension in the country, saying the situation on the ground was harmonious where “Malays were not oppressing the Chinese, and the Chinese were not oppressing the Malays or Indians”.

He probably did not understand what I meant when I said that the “real life” Malaysia is very different from ”social media” Malaysia, which conveyed the picture of a Malaysia that is never been more polarised in racial and religious terms in the nation’s history.

According to the “social media” Malaysia,  the country is teetering on the verge of violent race and religious relations sitting atop a  highly-orchestrated mountain of fake news and hate speech in the last two months to incite inter-racial and inter-religious suspicion, distrust, fear and hate pitting race against race and religion against religion.

I have said many times that  this is a false picture of Malaysia, as  instead of inter-racial and inter-religious animosity, distrust, fear and hatred, on the ground whether in Iskandar Puteri or elsewhere in the country, there is  only goodwill, understanding, harmony and tolerance among Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese or Indians.

Who is creating this false picture on the  “social media” Malaysia?

These are the very people associated with the campaign to boycott non-bumiputera products.

I would advise this former Mentri Besar, a sexagenarian pretending to be a vicenarian, that Malaysians are not  so naïve as to believe his denials and that  he and his associates  in UMNO and PAS should  understand  what the Yang di Pertuan Agong and the Sultans of Perak and Selangor have been  saying   recently  on the issues of national unity,  fake news and hate speech.

The Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah said that after 62 years of achieving independence, the act of instilling the feeling of hatred between the races and religions was being committed more often.

He said various provocations, which were extreme in nature, were being made, including disseminating slander through social media and insulting Islam and the various religions in the country, warning that such acts were like setting up time bombs which were waiting for the right time to explode.

The Selangor ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah also reminded Malaysians not to easily believe fake and slanderous news on the social media that can jeopardise the country’s peace and security.

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah said Islam encourages and promotes peace and good relationships within society, which should be emphasised among the people to strengthen unity.

He hoped to see   the country  achieve a higher form of hijrah through the spirit of tolerance and cooperation among people from various races, which is the strength of the country’s unity.

Surely, the boycott of non-bumiputera products and the tons of fake news and hate speech pumped into the social media are totally  contradictory to the  higher form of hijrah to promote the spirit of tolerance, co-operation and national unity in Malaysia!

Is this former Mentri Besar listening to  the Yang di Pertuan Agong and the Sultans of Perak and Selangor?

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

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 3 September 2019, 8:09 am and is filed under
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All Malaysians must speak up for national unity and condemn fake news and hate speech designed to spark inter-racial and inter-religious doubt, suspicion, animosity, fear and hate

In the past two months,
“social media Malaysia”
seems to have a developed a life of its own  – giving a false picture that centrifugal forces in Malaysia are having an upper-hand and tearing Malaysia apart as a result of the worst racial and religious polarisation in the nation’s history.

But this is a false picture of the real Malaysia.

The 62nd Merdeka Day on August 31 was not only celebrated in the federal capital and the various state capitals by the “big shots”, but for the  first time in  a very long while in  the nation’s history by ordinary Malaysians in small towns and villages all over the country.

In the Iskandar Puteri parliamentary constituency, for instance, I flagged off in the morning the 62nd Merdeka Day Run in Kangkar Pulai which was participated by some 2,000 people, opened a debate tournament, flagged off a 62nd Merdeka Day Convoy of Motor Bikes and officiated  a day-long 62nd Merdeka Day Pesta Bola participated by 32 teams from the surrounding Malay kampongs.

Instead of inter-racial and inter-religious doubt, suspicion, distrust, animosity, fear and hatred, as propagated by “social media Malaysia”, I find on the ground only goodwill, understanding, harmony and tolerance among Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese or Indians.

I call on Malaysians regardless of race and religion to prove “Social media Malaysia” wrong,  that it is giving a false picture  that centrifugal forces in Malaysia are  having an upper-hand and  tearing Malaysia apart as a result of worst racial and religious polarisation in nation’s history.

I received two letters yesterday, full of venom and invectives which seem to have become the vocabulary the pedlars of fake news and hate speech on the Malaysian social media.

One, in Chinese,  accused me of being among other things  a “running dog”, “charlatan” and  “shameless political cheat” while the other, in English, addressed me as YB Ular “Osama Lim KS bin Abdullah”, accused me of being a “running dog”, “Chinese traitor”, “Malaysian conman” and “Dr. M’s filthiest parasite”.

This is quite a change-over, as for the past half century, I had been falsely accused of being anti-Malay, anti-Islam, and being a Christian,  a communist even  a relative of Chin Peng!  I was even accused of being Mahahir’s “puppet-master”. Now I have become a “running dog” and a “charlatan” betraying Chinese and non-Muslim rights and interests.

But this is the stuff of fake news and hate speech to incite inter-racial and inter-religion suspicion, doubt, animosity, fear and hate in Malaysia.

Only a few days ago, this canard appeared in a local Facebook:

“Dikatakan Lim Kit Siang lahir di Fujian dan datang ke Tanah Melayu dalam usia 16 tahun. Namun Lim Kit Siang mengatakan dia lahir di Batu Pahat, Johor;

“Tetapi tak pernah menunjukkan bukti di lahir di Tanah Melayu.”

It is such  fake news  and hate speech which dominate the social media in the last two months to incite doubt, suspicion, animosity, fear and hate in plural Malaysia by pitting race against race and religion against religion, which are responsible for the ridiculous situation where  each ethnic group  believes that it is facing an existential threat of its ethnicity, religion and culture.

If this spiral  of fake news and hate speech to incite doubt, suspicion, animosity, fear and hatred against other races, religions and cultures is not stopped, it could have only one end – racial and religious conflagration in Malaysia.

A recent example is the social media call to boycott non-Muslim products.

As the confluence of four  great civilisations of the world – Malay/Islamic, Chinese, Indian and West – we should leverage on the best values and virtues of these civilisations so that Malaysia can be a showcase to the world of the success of the Alliance of Civilisations instead of being a failure from the Clash of Civilisations.

Malaysians should unite  and compete with the rest of the world, instead of fighting among ourselves.

We are engaged in a  battle for the soul of Malaysia, whether we are committed to the objective of a New Malaysia to become a top world-class nation of unity, freedom, justice, excellence and integrity or whether we allow fake news and hate speech to pit race against race and religion and religion, forcing  every Malaysian  to return  to their respective ethnic shells and reduce Malaysia to a failed and rogue state and a klepto-theocracy.

The Yang di Pertuan Agong and the Sultans of Perak and Selangor have stressed the importance of national unity and the perils of fake news and hate speech.

All Malaysians must speak up for national unity and condemn fake news and hate speech designed to create inter-racial and inter-religious doubt, suspicion, animosity, fear and hate.

Just as the 14th General Election result of  May 9, 2018 shocked Malaysians and the world in its historic importance reflecting great vision and  courage of ordinary Malaysians, I am optimistic that the majority of Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, would want Malaysia to be a top world-class nation in unity, freedom, justice, excellence and integrity instead of becoming a failed and rogue state and a klepto-theocracy.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Wednesday, 4th September 2019)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 4 September 2019, 3:00 pm and is filed under
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Can Malaysia be rid of corruption, religious bigotry and  racial extremism which are the prerequisites to become a top world-class nation or condemned to mediocrity and worse, a failed, rogue state and a klepto-theocracy?

We are still in the interregnum between Merdeka Day on August 31 and Malaysia Day on September 16, which should be period when Malaysians should mull  the fate and future of the country, whether we can be rid of corruption, religious bigotry and racial extremism as  the perquisites to become a top world-class nation  of unity, freedom, justice, excellence and integrity or condemned to mediocrity and worse, a failed and rogue state and a klepto-theocracy.

These thoughts came to me when I read the latest poem by the 83-year-old former top civil servant, Tan Sri Alwi Jantan on the 62nd Merdeka Day, viz:

A Call To Unity

Where are my brothers and sisters,

Who together built this nation.

There are still outstanding matters

Needing our urgent attention.

Let’s rid of religious bigotry,

And racial extremism,

Of corruption and adversity,

Abuse of power and cronyism.

Let us condemn hate speeches,

And any divisive action,

Let’s get rid of foreign preachers

Who would stir up racial tension.

We need to rebuild our power

In our cultural diversity,

And together we strive for

Racial harmony and unity.

Only then can we rest assured

Our nation has prospered.

Born in Dungun, Terengganu on 16th April 1935, Alwi had a long civil service career belonging to the first Merdeka generation of public servants, starting in the civil service in August 1958, and who went on to serve as Director-General of National Archives and Library Malaysia in 1971; Selangor State Secretary (1972-76); Secretary-General of three Ministries, namely Local Government and Federal Territory, Health and Agriculture; Deputy Secretary-General of Prime Minister’s Department (1981-1984), ending his public service career as Director-General of Public Services Department (PSD) (1987-1990).

Alwi’s mournful poem “Cry my Beloved Country”, which rang  in the New Year of 2017 for a very troubled Malaysia, was  the plaintive cry of all patriotic Malaysians who loved Malaysia and grievously hurt at the harm we had done to ourselves.

CRY MY BELOVED COUNTRY

When I grew up in the kampong,

Life was sublime bonding was strong.

I had many friends young and old,

Rich and poor were all in the fold.

As I grew up I moved out of town

To study in a world I hadn’t known.

To part from friends was not easy,

It was for my future they say.

I was sent to the Malay College,

A school built for the privileged.

Life had become quite hectic,

To meet the school’s objective.

From school I was sent to varsity,

Located in Singapore city.

An institute with melting pot

Of all races, the whole lot.

I studied for new skills to acquire

Which four long years would require.

The country was approaching independence,

We wanted to be part of the new nation.

Our leaders laid the foundation

For a multi-racial nation.

We strived and toiled to make it happen.

Everyone was united then.

Alas, now that I have retired,

I see the country being squandered.

Race and religion are touted,

Law and order are flouted.

The economy is in tatters

From which everyone suffers.

Ya Allah, give us compassion,

Show us the way to salvation.

Cry my beloved country.

O, what will the future be.

Alwi Jantan,

Perth, 1st January 2017

But Alwi sprang back, like all resilient Malaysians within the same month,  to dare to hope and dream again for a better Malaysia, with the following poem:

MY DREAM

Do I see rainbow in the sky

With droves of birds flying by?

Do I see a lush greenery

Flora and fauna of sheer beauty?

Do I see rich traditions

From ancient civilisations?

Do I see children playing together

Of various races and gender?

Do I see a true democracy

With freedom of speech and assembly?

Do I see honest leaders

The nation’s burden on their shoulders?

Do I see neither corruption

Nor radical race and religion?

Do I see high integrity

No abuse of power and authority?

Do I see great prosperity

People living in peace and harmony?

Do I see a progressive nation

The love and pride of everyone?

This is only my dream, my friend.

But I’ll dream to the very end.

Kuala Lumpur

20th January 2017
.

In November 2017, he issued a “clarion call” to Save Malaysia, with the following poem:

THE CLARION CALL

Where are my brothers and sisters,

My friends of yester years?

Who together built this nation

With a democratic constitution?

The time has come for us to rise

In unison and in one voice

To save our beloved nation

For our future generations.

We have to fight against corruption,

And call for clean administration.

We have to fight against nepotism,

And abuse of power and cronyism.

We have to install good governance,

And law and order maintenance.

We have to fight religious bigotry,

And preserve racial unity.

We have to get rid of corrupt leaders

As well as their boot lickers.

We have to remove kleptoracy,

And re-establish true democracy.

Only then can the future be assured,

And our progress be measured

As a multi-racial country

Living in peace and harmony.

Kuala Lumpur

23rd November 2017

In early 2018, Alwi Jantan continued to root for democracy, change and reform in Malaysia  and composed the following poem:

WE THE G25

We seek true democracy,

Envisioned by our founding fathers.

We seek multi-racial harmony,

Religious freedom and equal genders.

We condemn kleptocracy,

Corruption and nepotism,

Racial and religious bigotry,

Power abuse and cronyism.

We call for good governance,

And maintenance of law and order,

Free from political interference,

And power and influence vender.

We promote justice and mercy.

For national unity we strive.

We speak for the silent majority.

We are members of G25.

Kuala Lumpur

10th January 2018

Alwi Jantan’s hope and dream and those of patriotic Malaysians came true when Malaysians in the 14th General Election shocked themselves and the world with a historic decision bringing about a peaceful and democratic transition of power in Putrajaya and gave the country a second chance to rebuild a New Malaysia.

This joy, pride and hope was  very well expressed in a poem composed by Alwi Jantan a week after the watershed and historic 14GE:

REJOICE MY BELOVED COUNTRY

Rejoice o rejoice, victory is ours.

Let’s rebuild our beloved country.

The pride of our founding fathers,

For the benefit of all and sundry.

Let’s cleanse the administration

Of the corrupt and greedy.

Let’s rid of racial discrimination

And religious bigotry.

Let’s reestablish good governance

And remanage the economy.

Let’s reinforce law and order maintenance

And an independent judiciary.

Let there be freedom again

Of expression and assembly.

Only then will we regain

The fruits of our victory.

Alwi Jantan

16th May 2018

Eighteen months after the historic decision of May 9, 2018, Quo Vadis Malaysia?

Malaysia is at the crossroads – to go forwards or to go backwards.

The 14GE mandate, despite all the undemocratic hurdles and lopsided playing-field, was very clear – to reset nation-building policies and directions for the fulfilment of the Malaysian Dream to be a top world-class nation which is “a beacon of light to a disturbed and distracted world” and not a failed, rogue, kakistocratic and kleptocratic state!

When he was Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razal unleashed the most irresponsible, vicious and toxic politics of race, religion, hate, fear and lies in Malaysian history, utterly reckless of its divisive, provocative and polarizing character to tear asunder a fragile plural society comprising of diverse races, religions, languages and cultures!

In his last months as Prime Minister, Najib was responsible for lies, fake news and false information – particularly when he said  on the eve of the 14GE, that there were no Malays at Pakatan Harapan rallies, that the tens of thousands who gathered to hear Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in Langkawi, Gombak, Jerlun, Batu Katil, Putrajaya, Lembah Pantai, Pandan, Kuantan and Wangsa Maju were DAP supporters “bussed in” by DAP, when the Special Branch knew that in the 52-year history of DAP, we have never bussed anyone to any DAP or Pakatan function.

The use of the fake news and hate speech to bring about a toxic politics of race, religion is not a new phenomenon in Malaysian politics, except that in the last two months, it has reached new heights capable to far-reaching consequences to destroy national unity and inter-racial and inter-religious harmony in Malaysia.

There is great urgency that the Pakatan Harapan Government  re-state the fundamental  principles laid down by our forefathers in the Merdeka Constitution 1957 , Malaysia Constitution 1963 and Rukunegara  to lay the basis to rebuild a new Malaysia of harmony, excellence and quality, setting the country with confidence and certainty into a new future to be, in the words of Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman, “a beacon of light in a distracted and disturbed world”!

Every ethnicity must come out of the  fear and hate arising from the  false belief that  that it is facing an existential threat – for if every community, ethnicity and culture is facing an existential threat, who is creating all these threats to all the communities, ethnicities and cultures in the country?

Let us have the  commitment for Malaysia to be a showcase to the world of the success of Alliance of Civilisations.

As Malaysia is the confluence of four great civilisations of the world, Malay/Islamic, Chinese, Indian and Western, let us come  out of our  ethnic shells and enclaves, interact, appreciate and accept the virtues and best values of each other’s ethnicity, culture and civilisation and not to fall victim to desperados who only want to engender and incite suspicion, distrust, fear and hatred – by pitting race against race, religion against religion, culture against culture and civilisation against civilisation.

The report that famed Malaysian cartoonist, Zulkiflee SM Anwarul Haque, or better known as Zunar, has left his school chat group because racism that laced much of the conversation was too revolting for him to stomach should be an example to all Malaysians – that we are all Malaysians, although we are also  Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Thursday, 5th September 2019)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 5 September 2019, 11:21 am and is filed under
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A lesson on Malaysian national identity

Sebuah pengajaran tentang identiti nasional Malaysia

Kejadian malang dan menyedihkan di Stadium Gelora Bung Karno di Jakarta malam tadi — di mana tiga rakyat Malaysia telah tercedera selepas peminat bola sepak Malaysia dibaling dengan objek logam dan botol air dan gas pemedih mata selepas Harimau Malaya menjaringkan gol kemenangan terhadap Indonesia dalam Perlawanan Kumpulan C Kelayakan Piala Dunia Zon Asia — dapat memberikan kita pengajaran penting tentang identiti nasional Malaysia.

Pengajaran ini amat berguna dan tepat pada masanya kerana sejak dua bulan lalu, media sosial Malaysia dikuasai oleh berita palsu dan ucapan kebencian yang melaga-lagakan kaum dengan kaum dan agama dengan agama, malah membangkitkan prasangka antara kaum dan agama, rasa sangsi, permusuhan, ketakutan dan kebencian bagi mewujudkan fobia bahawa setiap etnik kononnya berdepan krisis eksistensial budaya dan pegangannya.

Ia merupakan suatu peringatan bahawa orang Melayu, Cina dan India di Malaysia, yang merupakan anak watan Malaysia, mempunyai banyak persamaan antara satu sama lain berbanding orang Indonesia di Indonesia, orang Cina di China dan orang India di India.

Adalah suatu tindakan yang tidak bertanggungjawab dan bersifat jahat untuk sesuatu pihak cuba menuduh bahawa kononnya orang India di Malaysia lebih menyokong Perdana Menteri India Narendra Modi daripada Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, begitu juga dengan dakwaan bahawa orang Melayu kononnya menganggap Joko Widodo atau Jokowi sebagai Presiden mereka atau orang Cina di Malaysia menganggap Xi Jinping sebagai Presiden mereka sedangkan semua rakyat Malaysia taat dan setia kepada Yang di-Pertuan Agong, sistem monarki berpelembagaan dan Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

Saya masih ingat pertemuan dengan Dr Mahathir Mohamad pada September tahun lalu, di mana beliau terkenang mengenai lawatan kerja pertamanya ke China sebagai Perdana Menteri kerajaan Pakatan Harapan pada bulan sebelumnya, di mana terdapat ramai rakyat Malaysia bertemu dengan beliau dalam satu perjumpaan di Beijing, termasuklah mereka yang telah menetap di negara China selama lebih daripada 10 tahun.

Saya menyatakan kepada beliau bahawa orang Cina Malaysia ini bukan orang Cina China dan walaupun mereka telah bekerja di China untuk tempoh 10 atau 20 tahun, jiwa dan hati mereka tetap pada Malaysia, kerana mereka tetap menjadi rakyat Malaysia, menganggap Malaysia adalah rumah mereka, dan bukannya China.

Pun begitu, sejak dua bulan yang lalu, media sosial memberikan gambaran yang salah tentang Malaysia, kononnya negara ini kini diambang perpecahan kaum dan agama, dengan berita palsu dan ucapan kebencian disebarkan secara meluas menjadi-jadi untuk mengipas bara api perkauman dan keagamaan dengan membuatkan setiap etnik membenci etnik lain hanya kerana khabar-khabar angin palsu yang tidak berasas bahawa mereka kononnya berdepan krisis eksistensial — sedangkan apa yang berlaku di peringkat akar umbi menyerlahkan suasana yang sebaliknya di mana rakyat pelbagai kaum kekal hidup dengan semangat muhibah, persefahaman, toleransi dan harmoni.

Tetapi, jika racun berita palsu dan ucapan kebencian ini tidak ditangani, kehidupan realiti Malaysia akan turut teracun dan terikut-ikut dengan suasana “media sosial Malaysia” yang toksik, menjerumuskan negara ke dalam lembah perpecahan antara kaum dan agama.

Kabinet harus diberikan pujian atas usaha mereka menolak agenda gerakan boikot barangan keluaran orang bukan Islam dan mengajak semua rakyat menyokong barangan buatan Malaysia.

Kita tidak harus termakan umpan pihak yang mahu melihat Malaysia berpecah, yang mencari-cari jalan untuk menghasut rakyat Malaysia supaya berpecah-belah.

Ini sebabnya mengapa rakyat Malaysia harus berusaha untuk mencapai perpaduan, kesefahaman dan keharmonian di kalangan rakyat Malaysia dan meninggalkan permusuhan dan perpecahan antara kita.

Mereka yang menyokong bahawa orang Islam harus undi dan sokong pemimpin Islam sahaja, meskipun mereka korup bukan sahaja menentang ajaran Islam, malah melakukan perkara yang bertentangan dengan Perlembagaan Malaysia dan lima prinsip Rukun Negara khususnya “Kedaulatan Undang-undang” serta “Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan”.

Justeru itu, adalah menjadi kebimbangan apabila terdapat pengumuman beberapa hari yang lalu yang berlawanan dengan penekanan terhadap perpaduan nasional, sebaliknya berpotensi mewujudkan perpecahan yang lebih besar, yang mana perlu dipertimbangkan semula.

Saya bersetuju bahawa perbuatan berdoa bersama penganut berlainan agama di atas satu pentas yang sama bukanlah satu cubaan untuk mencapur-adukkan agama. Sebaliknya, perbuatan ini adalah untuk mencari semangat solidariti dan persaudaraan sesama manusia atas nama cinta, belas kasihan dan keadilan bersama.

Baru-baru ini, masyarakat pelbagai agama di Malaysia bersama-sama berdoa bagi memperingati tragedi MH370 dan MH17, dan tragedi serangan keganasan di New Zealand dan Sri Lanka.

Sebagai sebuah negara yang menjadi tempat tertumpunya empat tamadun agung dunia – Melayu/Islam, Cina, India dan Barat – kita haruslah memanfaatkan nilai-nilai terbaik daripada setiap tamadun ini untuk membina sebuah bangsa dan negara Malaysia — yang boleh dijadikan contoh kepada dunia sebagai bukti kejayaan Perikatan Peradaban.

Yang di-Pertuan Agong dan Sultan Perak serta Sultan Selangor dalam titahnya menekankan kepentingan perpaduan nasional dan risiko penyebaran berita palsu dan ucapan kebencian.

Marilah semua rakyat Malaysia mempertahankan perpaduan nasional dan mengutuk penyebaran berita palsu dan ucapan kebencian yang direka untuk mewujudkan prasangka, rasa curiga, permusuhan, ketakutan dan kebencian antara kaum dan agama.

(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Gelang Patah pada Jumaat, 6 September 2019)

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

The  unfortunate and deplorable incident at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta last night when three Malaysians were injured, tear gas fired and  Malaysian football fans  pelted with metal objects and water bottles after Harimau Malaya scored a stunning victory over Indonesia in the Asian Zone Group C match of the World Club 2022 Qualifiers is a lesson on Malaysian national identity.

The lesson is particularly timely and salutary when for the past two months, the Malaysian  social media was dominated by  fake news and hate speech pitting race against race and religion against religion inciting inter-racial and inter-religious doubt, suspicion, animosity, fear and hate  to create the phobia that each ethnicity is facing an existential threat to its values and culture.

It is a  reminder that Malays, Chinese and Indians in Malaysia, who are  citizens of Malaysia,  have more in common with each other than with the Indonesians in Indonesia, the Chinese in China or the Indians in India.

It is sheer mischief and evil for a foreigner to suggest that Indian Malaysians are more supportive of Indian Prime Minister Narendran Modi than Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, just as it is equally mischievous and evil  for anyone to suggest that the Malays regard Joko Widodo or Jokowi as their President or the Chinese Malaysians regard Xi Jinping as their President when all Malaysians are loyal to the Yang di Pertuan Agong, the system of constitutional monarchy and the institutions of state as set out in the Malaysian Constitution.

I remember my meeting with the Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in September last year, who was recounting his successful  first trip to China the previous month as the Pakatan Harapan Prime Minister and that  many Malaysians met him at a gathering in Beijing, including those who had been in China for ten or more years.

I pointed out  that these were Malaysian Chinese and not China Chinese, and though they had worked in China for ten or 20 years, their heart and soul had all along been with Malaysia, as they continued to be Malaysians, regarding Malaysia  and not China as their home.

Unfortunately in the past two months, the social media has presented a false picture of Malaysia as if the country is on the verge of a racial and religious conflagration, with an unprecedented intensity of fake news and hate speech calculated to raise racial and religious temperatures with each ethnicity hating other ethnicities because of the  implanted but baseless fear  that it is facing an existential threat – when this is completely false and not reflected by the inter-racial and inter-religious  goodwill, understanding, tolerance and harmony on the ground.

But if the venom from the fake news and hate speech to incite inter-racial and inter-religious   doubt, suspicion, antagonism, fear and hate is not checked, then the real-life Malaysia could  be sufficiently poisoned to mirror the “social media Malaysia”, plunging the country into a major inter-racial and inter-religious conflagration.

The Cabinet must be commended for providing the lead in rejecting calls of a boycott on products made by non-Muslims and instead calling on citizens to support Malaysian-made goods.

We must not succumb to the wiles and machinations of those who want  to see Malaysians more divided than united,  seeking new ways to divide Malaysians and poison inter-racial and inter-religious relations.

This is why  Malaysians must always  strive to achieve greater unity, understanding and harmony  among Malaysians  instead of creating more division and  disunity among Malaysians.

Those who advocate that Muslims must  vote and support Muslim leaders even if they are corrupted not only goes  against the teachings of Islam, but go against the Malaysian Constitution and the five Rukunegara principles especially “The Rule of Law” and “Good Behaviour and Morality”.

It is a matter of concern that  have been  announcements in the past few days which  militate against this emphasis on  national unity and are   creating greater division, which calls  for reconsideration.

I agree that inter-faith prayers are not about mixing religions but are merely about human fraternity coming together in solidarity to seek universal values of love, compassion and justice.

There had recently  been many instances of religious communities in Malaysia coming together in solidarity prayers, like the MH370 and MH17 air tragedies, as well as the violent attacks in New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

As the confluence of four  great civilisations of the world – Malay/Islamic, Chinese, Indian and West – we should leverage on the best values and virtues of these civilisations so that Malaysia can be a showcase to the world of the success of the Alliance of Civilisations instead of being a failure from the Clash of Civilisations.

The Yang di Pertuan Agong and the Sultans of Perak and Selangor have stressed the importance of national unity and the perils of fake news and hate speech.

Let all Malaysians stand  up for national unity and condemn fake news and hate speech designed to create inter-racial and inter-religious doubt, suspicion, animosity, fear and hate.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Friday, 6th September 2019)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 6 September 2019, 12:14 pm and is filed under
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