15th General Election is the most important general election in the nation’s history as it is the last chance  to  save Malaysia from being a second-rate mediocre country

(Versi BM)

The 15th General Election on November 19, 2022 is the most important general election in the nation’s 65-year history.

This is because it is the last chance to save Malaysia from being a second-rate mediocre country and instead of deteriorating to become a third-class failed state like Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe by Malaysia Centennial, fulfil our potential to become a great world-class plural nation.

I have devoted 57 years of my life to Malaysian politics, including 15 months in Muar at the Muar Detention Centre in 1969-70, but I have not given up on the Malaysian Dream where all Malaysians, regardless of whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Dayaks, or whether Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, can find a better and more fulfilling life in Malaysia – whether political, economic, social or in the environment field.

We have not fulfilled our Malaysian Dream in the last six decades.

Instead of we have lost out economically to one country after another – Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Vietnam. Unless we buck up, we will lose out to more countries.

We must recognise that Malaysia is in deep trouble, reflected from the value of our Malaysian ringgit, when we were one Malaysian Ringgit to one Singapore dollar in 1965 but which has devalued to one Singapore Dollar to 3.345 Malaysian Ringgit.

Is it because Singapore has more talents and skills than Malaysia? It cannot be so, because Singapore is great today because of Malaysian talents and skills who have gone to the island republic to make a living!

Why can’t they stay in Malaysia to make Malaysia great and to realise the Malaysian Dream for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region?

When Transparency International (TI) started its annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI) in 1995, we were way ahead of China, India and Indonesia.

Since then, China, India and Indonesia have closed the gap of a clean and honest government, and it is likely that China will overtake Malaysia in the TI CPI in this decade, and India and Indonesia will overtake Malaysia in the next decade.

Sultan Nazrin of Perak’s warning last month to Malaysians not to be in denial and not to perform “mental acrobatics to deny the existence of the corruption ‘elephant’ that is vividly happen in front of our eyes” is most apt and timely.

This is because we are at the point where Malaysians must decide whether to unite to save the country from the catastrophe of corruption and kleptocracy or surrender to corruption and allow the country to be a failed and rogue state and a kleptocratic regime.

In the first annual TI CPI in 1995, Malaysia was the top OIC country, but in the 2021 TI CPI, we have lost out of five OIC countries, namely United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Brunei, Oman and Saudi Arabia.

Will UMNO President, Zahid Hamidi, Bersatu President, Muhyiddin Yassin and PAS President, Hadi Awang agree that the next 2022 TI CPI report, which will be released next January, will be even worse than the 22 months of TI CPI under Pakatan Harapan Government?

Why is this so? Is it the fault of BN, PN or PH?

I ask all Malaysians to ask themselves two questions when they cast their vote on Nov. 19, 2022: firstly, whether Malaysia can be saved; and secondly, whether Malaysia is worth saving.

Malaysia is still “save-able” and worth saving. If Malaysia is not save-able or not worth saving, then that is the end of the story,.

But Malaysia has not reached the stage of a totally broken, divided and failed nation although we have fallen considerably from our expectations of a world-class great plural nation.

Malaysia is at the confluence of the four great civilisations in the world – Malay/Islamic, Chinese, Indian and Western.

Can Malaysia leverage on the best values and virtues of these four great civilisations to make Malaysia, using the words of Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman, “a beacon of light in the difficult and distracted world”?

If we can do so, Malaysia can still be a great world-class plural nation and save the country from being a kleptocracy, kakistocracy, a failed and rogue state in the next three to four decades.

This is the challenge of the 15th General Election on 19th November 2022.

(Speech by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang at the Muar DAP Dinner to announce DAP candidates for the parliamentary seats of Bakri, Labis and Ayer Itam on Thursday, 27th October 2022)

Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 adalah PRU yang paling penting dalam sejarah negara memandangkan ia adalah peluang terakhir untuk menyelamatkan dan menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara majmuk yang hebat menjelang ulang tahun ke-100 negara dan bukannya sebuah negara biasa atau menjadi sebuah negara gagal seperti Sri Lanka dan Zimbabwe

Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 pada 19 November 2022 ini adalah pilihan raya umum yang paling penting dalam 65 tahun sejarah negara.

Perkara ini adalah kerana PRU ini merupakan peluang terakhir untuk menyelamatkan dan menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara majmuk hebat bertaraf dunia menjelang ulang tahun ke-100 negara kita dan bukannya membiarkan Malaysia menjadi hanya satu lagi negara yang biasa sahaja, atau lebih buruk lagi, sebuah negara gagal seperti Sri Lanka dan Zimbabwe.

Saya telah mengorbankan 57 tahun kehidupan saya demi politik Malaysia, termasuklah 15 bulan di Muar dalam Pusat Tahanan Muar dari tahun 1969 sehingga 1970, tetapi saya tidak berputus asa dengan Impian Malaysia, di mana semua rakyat Malaysia, tanpa mengira sama ada Melayu, Cina, India, Kadazan, atau Dayak, sama ada Islam, Buddha, Hindu, Kristian, boleh mendapat kehidupan yang lebih baik dan bermakna di Malaysia – baik dari segi politik, ekonomi, sosial, atau alam sekitar.

Kita belum memenuhi Impian Malaysia kita dalam enam dekad yang lepas.

Sebaliknya, kita telah ditinggalkan dari segi ekonomi di belakang satu demi satu negara – Taiwan, Singapura, Korea Selatan, Hong Kong, dan Vietnam. Melainkan kita berubah, kita akan terus ditinggalkan di belakang lebih banyak negara lain.

Kita perlu mengiktiraf yang Malaysia kini berada dalam masalah, yang dapat dilihat dari nilai Ringgit Malaysia, di mana sebelum ini satu Ringgit Malaysia bernilai bersamaan dengan satu Dolar Singapura pada tahun 1965, kini telah hilang nilainya sehingga satu Dolar Singapura bersamaan dengan 3.345 Ringgit Malaysia.

Adakah perkara ini terjadi kerana Singapura mempunyai lebih banyak pekerja berbakat berbanding Malaysia? Tidak mungkin, kerana Singapura hebat pada hari ini dari usaha bakat Malaysia yang telah ke negara pulau itu untuk mencari rezeki!

Mengapa mereka memilih untuk tidak berada di Malaysia untuk menjadikan Malaysia hebat dan merealisasikan Impian Malaysia untuk semua rakyat Malaysia, tanpa mengira kaum, agama, atau kawasan?

Semasa Transparency International (TI) mula menerbitkan Indeks Persepsi Rasuah (CPI) pada tahun 1995, kita berada jauh di hadapan China, India, dan Indonesia.

Sejak daripada tahun 1995, China, India, dan Indonesia terus menerus merapatkan jurang dengan sebuah kerajaan yang bersih dan jujur, dan besar kemungkinan China akan mengatasi kedudukan Malaysia dalam carta TI-CPI dalam dekad ini, manakala India dan Indonesia mungkin akan memintas kedudukan Malaysia dalam dekad yang akan datang.

Sultan Perak, Sultan Nazrin Shah, memberikan amaran pada bulan lepas kepada rakyat Malaysia untuk terus tidak cuba menafikan dan tidak “bersilat dengan segala helah untuk menafikan kewujudan ‘gajah’ rasuah yang nyata yang berlaku di depan mata kita” datang pada waktu yang amat tepat dan bersesuaian.

Ini kerana kita sedang berada di titik di mana rakyat malaysia perlu memutuskan sama ada kita mahu bersatu untuk menyelamatkan negara dari bencana rasuah dan kleptokrasi atau menyerah kalah dan membiarkan negara kita menjadi sebuah negara gagal dan sebuah rejim kleptokrat.

Dalam TI-CPI yang pertama pada tahun 1995, Malaysia adalah negara OIC yang berada di tempat teratas, tetapi setakat TI-CPI 2021, kita telah ditinggalkan di belakang lima negara OIC, iaitu, Emiriah Arab Bersatu, Qatar, Brunei, Oman, dan Arab Saudi.

Adakah Presiden UMNO, Zahid Hamidi, Presiden Bersatu, Muhyiddin Yassin, dan Presiden PAS, Hadi Awang, bersetuju yang laporan TI-CPI 2022 yang bakal diterbitkan pada bulan Januari yang akan datang akan menunjukkan prestasi yang lebih buruk berbanding dengan angka TI-CPI semasa 22 bulan di bawah pentadbiran Pakatan Harapan?

Mengapakah begini? Adakah ia salah BN, PN, atau PH?

Saya minta semua rakyat Malaysia untuk bertanya diri mereka dua soalan apabila mereka membuang undi pada 19 November 2022; pertama, sama ada Malaysia masih boleh diselamatkan; dan kedua, sama ada Malaysia patut diselamatkan.

Malaysia masih “boleh diselamatkan” dan patut diselamatkan. Sekiranya Malaysia tidak dapat diselamatkan dan tidak berbaloi untuk diselamatkan, maka itulah penghujung ceritanya.

Namun, Malaysia masih belum mencapai tahap negara berpecah belah dan gagal walaupun kita telah ketinggalan agak terkebelakang dari jangkaan kita untuk menjadi sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia.

Malaysia adalah titik pertemuan empat tamadun hebat dunia – Melayu/Islam, Cina, India, dan Barat.

Bolehkah Malaysia menggunakan nilai-nilai terbaik dari empat tamadun hebat ini untuk menjadikan Malaysia “sinar cahaya dalam dunia yang sukar dan terganggu” seperti yang dikatakan oleh Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman?

Sekiranya kita boleh berbuat demikian, Malaysia masih berpeluang untuk menjadi sebuah negara majmuk hebat bertaraf dunia dan kita boleh menyelamatkan Malaysia dari menjadi sebuah kleptokrasi, kakistokrasi, dan negara gagal dalam tiga ke empat dekad yang akan datang.

Inilah cabaran kita dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 pada 19 November 2022 ini.

(Ucapan veteran DAP Lim Kit Siang semasa pengumuman calon DAP untuk kerusi parlimen Bakri, Labis, dan Ayer Itam di majlis makan malam DAP Muar pada hari Khamis, 27 Oktober 2022)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 28 October 2022, 7:03 am and is filed under
GE15
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Has Ismail Sabri any answer to the query by Mahathir why no action was  taken against former Attorney-General Apandi abetting the 1MDB scandal

(Versi BM)

Caretaker Prime Minister Ismail Sabri said in his recent speech in Bagan Datuk that he had instructed the Attorney-General Idrus Harun to take action against former Attorney-General Tommy Thomas under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), defamation law and others and that he had declassified the report on the investigation into Thomas’ book, “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”, so it can be used as political “bullets” to attack Pakatan Harapan.

A week later, former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad questioned the lack of action taken against former attorney-general Apandi Ali over his abetting of the 1MDB scandal as it was during Ismail Sabri’s time as Prime Minster that Apandi Ali (May 23, 2022) lost his defamation suit against me.

Mahathri said it is very strange that until now there had been no investigation or action taken against Apandi.

Mahathri said: “Apandi made mistakes when he was attorney-general before Tommy Thomas. The mistake of releasing (former PM) Najib (Abdul Razak) from any legal action clearly points to Apandi being involved in covering up the 1MDB scandal, given that Najib is now in prison.”

What is Ismail Sabri’s response to Mahathir’s query?

Mahathir referred to the High Court judgment by Justice Azimah Omar that rejected the former attorney-general’s defamation suit against me.

Justice Azimah concluded that Apandi, among others, is a person who did not speak the truth.

Mahathir said in her judgment, the judge also expressed the court’s disgust at how despicable Apandi’s contradicting, evasive and fraudulent statements were.

Over to Ismail Sabri to explain why UMNO leaders, inside and outside the government, are still trying to deny and cover up the 1MDB scandal, described as “kleptocracy at its worst” by an US Attorney-General.

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Penang on Saturday, 29 October 2022)

Adakah Ismail Sabri mempunyai jawapan kepada persoalan Mahathir yang bertanya mengapa tiada tindakan diambil terhadap bekas Peguam Negara Apandi yang bersubahat dalam skandal 1MDB

Perdana Menteri sementara, Ismail Sabri, mengatakan dalam ucapannya baru-baru ini di Bagan Datuk yang dia telah mengarahkan Peguam Negara, Idrus Harun, untuk mengambil tindakan terhadap bekas Peguam Negara, Tommy Thomas, di bawah peruntukan Akta Rahsia Rasmi dan undang-undang lain dan bahawa dia telah menyahrahsia laporan siasatan terhadap buku Thomas yang bertajuk, “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”, supaya laporan ini dapat digunakan sebagai “peluru” politik untuk menyerang Pakatan Harapan.

Seminggu kemudian, bekas Perdana Menteri, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, telah mempersoalkan mengapa tiada tindakan diambil terhadap bekas Peguam Negara, Apandi Ali, kerana bersubahat dalam skandal 1MDB memandangkan semasa Ismail Sabri menjadi Perdana Menteri Apandi Ali telah kalah saman malunya (23 Mei 2022) terhadap saya.

Mahathir mengatakan, sangat pelik sehingga hari ini masih tidak ada siasatan atau tindakan yang telah diambil terhadap Apandi.

Mahathir mengatakan: “Apandi membuat kesilapan apabila dia menjadi peguam negara sebelum Tommy Thomas. Kesilapan dalam melepaskan (bekas PM) Najib (Abdul Razak) dari sebarang tindakan undang-undang yang jelas menunjukkan Apandi terlibat dalam menutup skandal 1MDB, memandangkan Najib kini berada dalam penjara.”

Apakah respon Ismail Sabri terhadap pertanyaan Mahathir ini?

Mahathir merujuk kepada keputusan Mahkamah Tinggi oleh Hakim Azimah Omar yang menolak saman malu bekas peguam negara tersebut terhadap saya.

Hakim Azimah memutuskan yang Apandi, antaranya, adalah seseorang yang tidak bercakap benar.

Mahathir mengatakan, dalam penghakimannya, hakim turut menzahirkan rasa jijik mahkamah dengan kenyataan Apandi yang bertentangan, mengelak-elak, dan penuh penipuan.

Kini Ismail Sabri perlu menjelaskan mengapa para pemimpin UMNO, di dalam dan di luar kerajaan, masih cuba untuk menafikan dan menutup skandal 1MDB yang digambarkan sebagai “kleptokrasi dalam bentuk yang terburuk” oleh Peguam Negara AS.

(Kenyataan media veteran DAP Lim Kit Siang di Pulau Pinang pada hari Sabtu, 29 Oktober 2022)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 29 October 2022, 2:50 pm and is filed under
Financial Scandals
,
Law & Order
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Challenge to Bagan and Penang, as the first front-line state for the  Malaysian Dream,  to secure  the highest voter turn-out in the country in the 15GE

(Versi BM)

Twenty-seven years ago, I called on the voters of Bagan in the Bagan by-election to write history and make Bagan the “Bandar Democracy” by giving the DAP by-election candidate Lim Hock Seng a 5,000-vote majority as his predecessor, the DAP leader P. Patto had won Bagan parliamentary constituency in the April 1995 general election with a very slim majority and unfortunately passed away.

At the time, for the DAP to secure a 5,000-vote majority was regarded as “wild and impossible” by both friend and foe, but the Bagan voters decided that even a 5,000-majority was not enough for Bagan to create history and lay claim to the title of “Bandar Democracy”. They rallied to give the DAP a majority which is more than twice the 5,000-majority I had asked for. The majority was 11,802.

Now Bagan has a new challenge.

The greatest fear in the 15th General Election is a low voter turn-out on Polling Day on 19th November 2022.

I challenge Bagan and Penang, as the first front-line state for the Malaysian Dream where is justice, freedom, equality, prosperity and better life for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, to again create history by securing the highest voter turn-out in the country in the 15th General Election – both for a parliamentary constituency and for a state.

This will not be an easy task as there are 21 million voters in this general election, with those between 18-21 years old and voting for first time, accounting for 1.4 million, together with the problem of the general election being held in the monsoon season of heavy rain and serious floods.

There are four candidates for the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia – Anwar Ibrahim from Pakatan Harapan, Zahid Hamidi from UMNO and Barisan Nasional, Muhyiddin Yassin and Hadi Awang from Perikatan Nasional.

From the four, the best suitable and qualified is Anwar Ibrahim, who appreciates the diversity in Malaysia and the need to unite Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, if Malaysia is to fulfil her potential as a great world-class plural nation.

The other three candidates are poor choices – Zahid who wants to win the 15th general election to free UMNO and Barisan Nasional leaders from being charged in court and being sent to jail for corruption and the unstated objective to allow Najib Razak to walk out of Kajang Prison as a free man without serving his 12-year jail sentence and paying his RM210 million fine.

Muhyiddin was the main protagonist in the Sheraton Move political conspiracy which toppled the elected Pakatan Harapan government and brought in an illegal, undemocratic, unconstitutional and backdoor government while Hadi has brought shame to Islam in Malaysia by saying the most shocking things – for instance alleging that the DAP is communist.

Is Hadi saying that the Penang State Government had been a communist state government for the last 14 years since 2008?

The 15th General Election will see an unprecedented cyber warfare in Malaysia with a lot of lies, fake news and false information in the social media.

For instance, the DAP National Chairman, Lim Guan Eng, is alleged to have said he was not a Chinese when he was the Finance Minister.

Guan Eng never said such a thing. I don’t think anyone in Malaysia will say he is a not a Chinese, Malay, Indian, Kadazan or Iban. What DAP wants – and this is the core of the Malaysian Dream – is that while we are Malays, Chinese, Indians , Kadazan or Iban, we have a common identity as Malaysians and we must be Malaysian First.

Guan Eng was saying that as Finance Minister, he will look after all Malaysians, regardless race, but this has been twisted to Guan Eng saying he is a not a Chinese.

Malaysians must be aware of the lies, fake news and false information that will be disseminated through the social media in the 15th General Election.

(Speech by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang at the launching of the Bagan DAP election machinery on Saturday, 29th October 2022 at 9 pm)

Cabaran kepada Bagan dan Pulau Pinang sebagai negeri barisan hadapan untuk Impian Malaysia, untuk mendapatkan jumlah keluar mengundi tertinggi dalam negara dalam PRU15

Dua puluh tujuh tahun yang lepas, saya menyeru pengundi Bagan dalam Pilihan Raya Kecil Bagan untuk melakar sejarah dan menjadikan Bagan “Bandar Demokrasi” dengan memberikan calon DAP, Lim Hock Seng, majoriti 5,000 undi memandangkan pendahulunya, pemimpin DAP P. Patto, telah menang kerusi parlimen bagan dalam Pilihan Raya Umum April 1995 dengan majoriti tipis dan malangnya meninggal dunia.

Pada masa itu, untuk DAP mendapatkan majoriti 5,000 undi dianggap sebagai satu perkara yang luar biasa dan mustahil baik oleh rakan-rakan DAP mahupun musuh DAP. Tetapi para pengundi Bagan memutuskan bahawa 5,000 undi adalah tidak cukup untuk Bagan melakar sejarah dan menuntut gelaran “Bandar Demokrasi”. Mereka berusaha untuk memberikan lebih dari dua kali daripada majoriti 5,000 undi yang saya minta. Angka majoriti yang diperolehi dalam pilihan raya kecil ini adalah 11,802.

Kini, Bagan berhadapan dengan cabaran baharu.

Kebimbangan terbesar dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 adalah kadar keluar mengundi yang rendah pada Hari Mengundi, 19 November 2022.

Saya mencabar Bagan dan Pulau Pinang sebagai negeri barisan hadapan untuk Impian Malaysia, di mana keadilan, kebebasan, kesaksamaan, kemakmuran, dan kehidupan yang lebih baik terjamin untuk semua rakyat Malaysia, tanpa mengira kaum, agama, mahupun kawasan, untuk mencipta sejarah dengan mendapatkan jumlah keluar mengundi tertinggi dalam negara dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 – untuk kedua-dua kerusi parlimen dan Dewan Undangan Negeri.

Perkara ini tidak akan menjadi satu perkara yang mudah, memandangkan terdapat 21 juta orang pengundi dalam pilihan raya umum ini, dengan hampir 1.4 juta pengundi yang berusia di antara 18-21 tahun yang mengundi buat kali pertama, bersama dengan masalah yang muncul apabila pilihan raya diadakan semasa musim tengkujuh, di mana terdapat risiko hujan lebat dan bencana banjir.

Terdapat empat orang calon Perdana Menteri ke-10 untuk Malaysia – Anwar Ibrahim dari Pakatan Harapan, Zahid Hamidi dari UMNO dan Barisan Nasional, Muhyiddin Yassin dan Hadi Awang dari Perikatan Nasional.

Daripada keempat-empat calon ini, calon terbaik yang paling sesuai dan layak adalah Anwar Ibrahim, seorang calon yang memahami dan menghargai kepelbagaian di Malaysia dan keperluan untuk menyatukan rakyat Malaysia tanpa mengira kaum, agama, atau kawasan untuk memenuhi potensi negara kita sebagai sebuah negara majmuk hebat yang bertaraf dunia.

Tiga calon yang lain ini adalah pilihan yang tidak baik – Zahid yang mahu menang pilihan raya umum ke-15 untuk membebaskan para pemimpin UMNO dan Barisan Nasional dari didakwa dan dipenjarakan atas kesalahan rasuah, serta matlamat tersirat untuk membebaskan Najib Razak dari Penjara Kajang tanpa menjalani hukuman penjara 12 tahunnya dan membayar denda RM210 jutanya.

Muhyiddin pula adalah protagonis utama konspirasi Langkah Sheraton yang telah menumbangkan kerajaan Pakatan Harapan dan membawa masuk kerajaan pintu belakang yang tidak sah dan tidak demokratik, manakala Hadi pula telah mencemarkan nama Islam di Malaysia dengan mengatakan perkara-perkara yang mengejutkan – misalnya kononnya DAP ini komunis.

Adakah Hadi cuba untuk mengatakan yang Kerajaan Negeri Pulau Pinang ini sebuah kerajaan negeri komunis dalam 14 tahun yang lepas sejak 2008?

Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 ini akan menyaksikan perang siber pada skala yang belum pernah dilihat sebelum ini dengan kebanjiran penipuan, berita palsu, dan fitnah di media sosial.

Misalnya, Pengerusi Kebangsaan DAP, Lim Guan Eng, telah dituduh sebagai mengatakan bahawa dia bukan seorang Cina ketika dia menjadi Menteri Kewangan.

Guan Eng tidak pernah berkata seperti itu. Saya tidak rasa ada siapa-siapa di Malaysia yang akan katakan mereka bukan Cina, Melayu, India, Kadazan, atau Iban. Apa yang DAP mahu – dan inilah teras Impian Malaysia – adalah walaupun kita masing-masing adalah orang Melayu, Cina, India, Kadazan, atau Iban, kita mempunyai identiti bersama sebagai rakyat Malaysia dan kita mesti mengutamakan identiti Malaysia ini.

Guan Eng mengatakan bahawa sebagai Menteri Kewangan, dia akan menjaga kepentingan semua rakyat Malaysia, tanpa mengira kaum, namun perkara ini telah diputar belit kepada kononnya Guan Eng mengatakan yang dia bukan seorang Cina.

Rakyat Malaysia perlu sedar mengenai penipuan, berita palsu, dan fitnah yang akan membanjiri media sosial dalam tempoh Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15.

(Ucapan veteran DAP Lim Kit Siang semasa pelancaran jentera pilihan raya DAP Bagan pada hari Sabtu, 29 Oktober 2022, jam 9 malam)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 30 October 2022, 8:30 am and is filed under
GE15
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Hope that the five constituencies  I have represented as MP  in my 57 years in Malaysian politics will be strong bases to preach the Malaysian Dream for Malaysia to become a world-class great plural nation in another three or four decades

(Versi BM)

In my 57 years in Malaysian politics, I have stood for election in five states in Malacca, Selangor, Penang, Perak and Johore – all in pursuit of the Malaysian Dream for Malaysia to be a great world-class plural nation which could in Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman’s words be “a beacon of light in a difficult and distracted world”.

I hope that the five constituencies which I have represented as Member of Parliament in the last six decades – Kota Melaka, Petaling in Selangor, Tanjong in Penang, Ipoh Timur in Perak and Iskandar Puteri in Johore – will be strong bases to preach the Malaysian Dream where there is unity in diversity with everyone regarding himself as “Malaysian First” be they Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Dayaks or Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Taoists, whether from Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah or Sarawak.

Malaysia has potential to be among the best countries in the world, as we are at the confluence of four great civilisations – Malay/Islamic, Chinese, Indian and Western – but we have not been able to leverage on the best values and virtues of the four great civilisations and have lost our way in the last six decades of nation-building.

We started well in the early days of our nation, writing into the Constitution and the Rukun Negara the nation-building principles which if followed will make Malaysia a great world-class plural nation – constitutional monarchy, separation of powers, the rule of law, parliamentary democracy, an independent judiciary, good governance, public integrity with minimal corruption, respect for human rights and unity in diversity in a multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious nation.

But we took a wrong turn in nation-bu8lding and instead of becoming a first-class great nation, we have become a second-class mediocre country which, if not checked, will deteriorate to become a third-class failed and rogue state like Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in three or four decades’ time.

We have lost out to Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Vietnam and unless we buck up, we will lose to more nations.

In 1965, one Singapore dollar is equal to one Malaysian ringgit. Today, one Singapore dollar is equal to 3.345 Malaysian ringgit.

When Transparency International (TI) started its annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI) series in 1995, we were far ahead of China, India and Indonesia in having a clean, honest and least corrupt government; but China will overtake Malaysia by the end of this decade, and India and Indonesia will overtake Malaysia in the next decade, if political leaders continue to tell lies and deny the 1MDB scandal is “kleptocracy at its worst” with rampant corruption in public life.

Our schools and universities were among the top ones in the world but they have deteriorated steadily, with Malaysia in the bottom one-third of the countries in the world in international assessment of science and mathematics.

I asked Malaysian voters to ask two questions before :Polling Day on November 19, 2022: whether Malaysia can be saved and whether it is worth saving Malaysia.

If Malaysia is not save-able or not worth saving, then that is the end of the story.

But Malaysia is still “save-able” and worth saving.

Malaysia has not reached the stage of a totally broken, divided and failed nation like Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe although we have fallen considerably from our expectations of a world-class great plural nation.

But this salvation effort will take not one or five years or one general election, but decades and several general elections. But we must start now.

I call on the voters of the five parliamentary constituencies I have represented as Member of Parliament – Kota Melaka, Petaling, Tanjong, Ipoh Timur and Iskandar Puteri – to play a leading role in this national campaign to Save Malaysia to become a great world-class plural nation recognised by the world as one of the best countries in the world – instead of being mocked and despised as being a kleptocracy, kakistocracy and an impending failed state.

(Speech by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang at the DAP Iskandar Puteri dinner to announce second batch of Johor candidates on Sunday, 30th October 2022)

Harapan supaya lima kerusi yang saya pernah wakili sebagai Ahli Parlimen sepanjang 57 tahun saya menceburi politik Malaysia akan menjadi kubu kuat Impian Malaysia untuk menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara majmuk hebat bertaraf dunia dalam tiga ke empat dekad yang akan datang

Dalam 57 tahun kegiatan politik saya, saya telah bertanding di lima negeri, Melaka, Selangor, Pulau Pinang, Perak, dan Johor – semuanya untuk mengejar Impian Malaysia untuk Malaysia menjadi sebuah negara majmuk yang hebat, yang berjaya memenuhi cita-cita Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, untuk Malaysia menjadi “sinar cahaya dalam dunia yang sukar dan terganggu”.

Saya berharap, lima kawasan parlimen yang pernah diwakili saya dalam enam dekad yang lepas – Kota Melaka, Petaling di Selangor, Tanjong di Pulau Pinang, Ipoh Timur di Perak, dan Iskandar Puteri di Johor – akan menjadi kubu kuat untuk menyebarkan cita-cita Impian Malaysia, di mana terdapatnya perpaduan dalam kepelbagaian, di mana semua orang melihat diri mereka pertamanya sebagai rakyat Malaysia, walaupun mereka adalah orang Melayu, Cina, India, Kadazan, Dayak, atau Islam, Buddha, Hindu, Kristian, Sikh, Tao, sama ada mereka dari Semenanjung, Sabah, atau Sarawak.

Malaysia mempunyai potensi untuk menjadi di antara negara terbaik di dunia, memandangkan kita berada di titik pertemuan empat tamadun hebat dunia – Melayu/Islam, Cina, India, dan Barat – tetapi kita masih belum berjaya menggunakan nilai-nilai terbaik dari keempat-empat tamadun ini dan telah tersesat jalan dalam usaha pembinaan negara bangsa dalam enam dekad yang lepas.

Kita bermula dengan baik dalam hari-hari awal negara kita, di mana prinsip-prinsip pembinaan negara bangsa yang baik telah diterapkan dalam Perlembagaan dan Rukun Negara, yang mana sekiranya diikuti, akan menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara majmuk hebat yang bertaraf dunia – prinsip-prinsip negara beraja berperlembagaan, doktrin pemisahan kuasa, kedaulatan undang-undang, demokrasi berparlimen, badan kehakiman yang bebas, tadbir urus yang baik, integriti awam dengan rasuah yang minima, hormat terhadap hak asasi manusia, dan perpaduan dalam kepelbagaian dari masyarakat majmuk berbilang kaum, bahasa, budaya, dan agama.

Namun, kita telah tersilap langkah dalam usaha pembinaan negara dan sebaliknya menjadi negara yang biasa-biasa sahaja, yang mana jika tidak diperbetulkan, kita akan terus merosot menjadi negara gagal seperti Sri Lanka dan Zimbabwe dalam masa tiga ke empat dekad yang akan datang.

Kita telah ditinggalkan di belakang Taiwan, Singapura, Hong Kong, Korea Selatan, dan Vietnam, dan melainkan kita berubah, kita akan terus ditinggalkan di belakang lebih banyak negara-negara lain lagi.

Pada tahun 1965, satu Dolar Singapura adalah bersamaan dengan satu Ringgit Malaysia. Kini, satu Dolar Singapura bersamaan dengan 3.345 Ringgit Malaysia.

Semasa Transparency International (TI) mula menerbitkan Indeks Persepsi Rasuah (CPI) pada tahun 1995, kita berada jauh di hadapan China, India, dan Indonesia dengan kerajaan yang bersih, jujur, dan kurang korup; tetapi China dijangka mengatasi kedudukan Malaysia menjelang penghujung dekad ini, manakala India dan Indonesia pula dijangka mengatasi kedudukan Malaysia dalam dekad yang akan datang, sekiranya para pemimpin politik dalam negara kita terus menerus menipu dan cuba menafikan yang skandal 1MDB ini adalah “kleptokrasi dalam bentuk yang terburuk” dengan rasuah yang berleluasa dalam kehidupan harian.

Sekolah-sekolah dan universiti-universiti kita merupakan antara yang terbaik di dunia, namun kedudukannya terus merosot, dengan Malaysia kini berada dalam sepertiga terendah carta penilaian sains dan matematik antarabangsa.

Saya telah meminta para pengundi di Malaysia untuk bertanya dua soalan pada Hari Mengundi, 19 November 2022: sama ada Malaysia boleh diselamatkan dan sama ada berbaloi untuk diselamatkan.

Sekiranya Malaysia tidak boleh atau tidak berbaloi diselamatkan, maka itulah pengakhiran kisahnya.

Namun, Malaysia masih boleh diselamatkan dan patut diselamatkan.

Malaysia belum mencapai tahap sebuah negara yang rosak, gagal, dan berpecah belah sepenuhnya seperti Sri Lanka atau Zimbabwe, walaupun kita telah gagal untuk mencapai cita-cita untuk menjadi sebuah negara majmuk hebat bertaraf dunia.

Namun usaha ini bukanlah satu usaha jangka pendek yang mengambil masa satu atau lima tahun, sebaliknya, usaha jangka panjang yang memakan masa berdekad lamanya dan melangkaui beberapa kitaran pilihan raya umum. Tetapi, kita perlu mula sekarang.

Saya menyeru kepada para pengundi di lima kawasan parlimen yang pernah saya wakili sebelum ini sebagai seorang Ahli Parlimen – Kota Melaka, Petaling, Tanjong, Ipoh Timur, dan Iskandar Puteri – untuk memainkan peranan utama dalam kempen nasional untuk menyelamatkan dan menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara majmuk hebat bertaraf dunia yang diiktiraf di seluruh dunia sebagai salah satu negara yang terbaik – bukannya dihina dan dibenci sebagai sebuah kleptokrasi, kakistokrasi, atau negara yang bakal gagal.

(Ucapan veteran DAP Lim Kit Siang semasa majlis makan malam DAP Iskandar Puteri untuk mengumumkan kelompok kedua calon-calon Johor pada hari Ahad, 30 Oktober 2022)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 31 October 2022, 2:40 pm and is filed under
GE15
,
nation building
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Three scenarios for the 15GE

(Versi BM)

There are three scenarios for the 15th General Election on Nov. 19, 2022.

Firstly, UMNO and Barisan Nasonal win the 15GE and forms the Federal Government of Malaysia. Although UMNO and BN claim that they are the favourites to win the 15GE, I think the outcome is likely to be quite different.

Secondly, no coalition wins a majority and the country enters a very confused and chaotic situation post-Nov. 19.

Thirdly, Paiatan Harapan wins the 15GE and Anwar Ibrahim becomes the 10th Prime Minister

The third scenario is the best for the country for of all the candidates for the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia, only Anwar is the best candidate as he is the only one who accept the fact that Malaysia is a plural society, and the diversity of language, religion and culture is an asset for Malaysia and not a liability.

Anwar is the only candidate for the 10th Prime Minister who can stop the decline of Malaysia from a great world-class nation to a second-class mediocre country, which threatens to become a third-class failed state like Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in The 15GE is an election for form the Federal govrenrment in Putrajaya, and not to form the Sabah state government in Kota Kinabalu.

Zahid said the 15GE is the mother of all elections and will decide whether UMNO and Barisan Nasional leaders will be charged in court for corruption and sent to jail. If Zahid Hamidi becomes the Prime Minister, then Najib Razak will walk out of Kajang and there will be more scandals like the mega 1MDB scandal

Muhyiddin is the person who led the Sheraton Move conspiracy, which ended in 22 months the hopes and aspirations of Malaysians to build a new Malaysia in five years, where Malaysia can become one of the best countries in the world.

Hadi Awang, on the other hand has brought shame to islam in Malaysia, when he is prepared to say the most ridiculous lies and untruths, like the DAP is communist. Is Hadi seriously suggesting that the Penang State Government since 2008 was a communist government?

The 15GE is an election for form the Federal govrenrment in Putrajaya, and not to form the Sabah state government in Kota Kinabalu.

Warisan has the right to name candidates and contest in Peninsular Malaysia although I think most of the Warisan candidates in Peninsular Malaysia are likely to lose their deposits.

However, Shafie Apdal is not a candidate for the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia.

(Speech by DAP veteran at the DAP launching of the 15GE machinery and the announcement of the Sabah DAP Parliamentary candidates in Kota Kinabalu on Monday, 31st October 2022)

Tiga senario untuk PRU15

Terdapat tiga senario untuk Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 pada 19 November 2022 ini.

Pertama, UMNO dan Barisan Nasional menang PRU15 dan membentuk Kerajaan Persekutuan Malaysia. Walaupun UMNO dan Barisan Nasional mendakwa yang mereka adalah pilihan rakyat untuk memenangi PRU15, saya percaya keputusannya kelak berbeza.

Kedua, tidak ada mana-mana gabungan mendapat majoriti dan negara kita terhumban ke dalam satu situasi yang mengelirukan dan kucar-kacir selepas 19 Nov.

Ketiga, Pakatan Harapan menang PRU15 dan Anwar Ibrahim menjadi Perdana Menteri ke-10.

Senario ketiga ini adalah senario yang terbaik untuk negara kerana daripada semua calon-calon Perdana Menteri yang ada, hanya Anwar yang terbaik kerana dia menerima bahawa Malaysia terbentuk daripada sebuah masyarakat majmuk dan kepelbagaian bahasa, agama, dan budaya adalah satu aset untuk Malaysia dan bukannya satu liabiliti.

Anwar adalah satu-satunya calon Perdana Menteri ke-10 yang boleh menghentikan kemerosotan negara dari sebuah negara bertaraf dunia kepada sebuah negara gagal seperti Sri Lanka atau Zimbabwe.

Zahid telah mengatakan yang PRU15 ini adalah ibu kepada segala pilihan raya yang akan menentukan sama ada para pemimpin UMNO dan Barisan Nasional akan didakwa di mahkamah dan dihantar ke penjara. Sekiranya Zahid Hamidi menjadi Perdana Menteri, maka Najib Razak akan berjalan bebas dari Penjara Kajang dan pastinya akan ada lebih banyak skandal-skandal seperti skandal 1MDB.

Muhyiddin pula adalah individu pemimpin konspirasi Langkah Sheraton yang menamatkan harapan dan aspirasi rakyat Malaysia — untuk membina semula Malaysia Baharu dalam tempoh lima tahun supaya Malaysia dapat menjadi salah satu dari negara yang terbaik di dunia — selepas hanya 22 bulan.

Hadi Awang pula adalah individu yang telah mencemarkan nama Islam di Malaysia apabila dia sanggup mengatakan penipuan dan fitnah yang tidak masuk akal, seperti kononnya DAP adalah komunis. Adakah Hadi benar-benar cuba mengatakan yang kerajaan negeri Pulau Pinang sejak tahun 2008 ini sebuah kerajaan komunis?

PRU15 ini adalah pilihan raya untuk membentuk kerajaan di Putrajaya dan bukannya satu pilihan raya untuk membentuk kerajaan negeri Sabah di Kota Kinabalu.

Warisan berhak untuk menamakan calon-calon mereka dan bertanding di Semenanjung Malaysia, walaupun saya percaya ramai daripada calon-calon Warisan ini bakal kehilangan deposit mereka.

Namun begitu, Shafie Apdal bukanlah salah seorang dari calon Perdana Menteri ke-10 Malaysia.

(Ucapan veteran DAP Lim Kit Siang semasa majlis pelancaran jentera PRU15 dan pengumuman calon Parlimen DAP Sabah di Kota Kinabalu pada hari Isnin, 31 Oktober 2022)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 31 October 2022, 6:43 pm and is filed under
GE15
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Anwar is the best and most suitable candidate for the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia – better than Zahid, Muhyiddin and Hadi Awang while Shafie Apdal is not a candidate at all

(Versi BM)

Anwar Ibrahim is the best and most suitable candidate for the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia – better than the other candidates, whether Zahid Hamidi of UMNO-Barisan Nasional coalition, Muhyiddin Yassin or Hadi Awang of the Perikatan Nasional.

He is the most qualified to end Malaysia’s decline to be a second-rate mediocre country to fulfil Malasia’s potential to be among the best countries in the world – a great world-class plural nation which is the confluence of four great civilisations in the world.

There are only four candidates to be the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Although UMNO and Barisan Nasiobal coalition are using Ismail Sabri as the “poster boy” in the 15th General Election, I do not think that Ismail Sabri is himself convinced that he will be the Prime Mihister if UMNO and Barisan Nasional wins the 15th General Election.

Zahid wants to make Malaysia into an international outcast. Malaysia became an international joke when the whole world regards the monstrous 1MDB financial scandal as “kleptocracy at its worst” but not in Malaysia under UMNO-Barisan Nasional rule. Malaysia will become a bigger international joke when the mastermind of the 1MDB scandal, Najib Razak, walks out of Kajang Prison a free man without fully serving his 12-year jail sentence and paying his RM210 million fine.

Muhyiddin Yassin is responsible for the backdoor government which toppled the democratically-elected Pakatan Harapan government in 22 months while the PAS President Hadi Awang could say the wildest lies and falsehoods, the latest of which is that DAP is communist.

Is Hadi suggesting that former PAS leaders like Fadzil Noor and Nik Aziz were so unIslamic and communistic as to co-operate with DAP in their times?

The 15th General Election is a parliamentary election which decides who is going to be the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia and form the Federal government in Putrajaya.

Although the WARISAN will the fielding candidates in Peninsular Malaysia, its President, Shafie Apdal is not a candidate for the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia. I do not question the right of ‘WARISAN to field candidates in Peninsular Malaysia, although their candidates in Peninsular Malaysia will be fighting to save or lose their deposits.

It is important that the voters of Sabah understand that the election on Nov. 19, 2022 is a parliamentary election to choose the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia and form the Federal Government in Putrajaya, and not to choose the Sabah Chief Minister or to choose the Sabah state government.

I call on every voter in Sabah to vote for Anwar Ibrahim to be the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia, and not for Zahid, Muhyiddin or Hadi, as he is the only Prime Ministerial candidate who appreciate that Malaysia is a plural society with many races, languages, religions and cultures which is asset and not a liability for Malaysia to be a great world-class plural nation.

(Speech by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang at the Pakatan Harapan announcement of Sabah PH candidates by Anwar Ibrahim in Tuaran, Sabah on Sunday, 31st October 2022)

Anwar adalah calon Perdana Menteri ke-10 yang paling sesuai dan terbaik untuk Malaysia – lebih baik dari Zahid, Muhyiddin, atau Hadi Awang, manakala Shafie Apdal bukan seorang calon sekalipun

Anwar Ibrahim adalah calon Perdana Menteri ke-10 yang paling sesuai dan terbaik untuk Malaysia – lebih baik dari calon-calon lain, sama ada Zahid Hamidi dari UMNO-Barisan Nasional, Muhyiddin Yassin atau Hadi Awang dari Perikatan Nasional.

Dialah yang paling layak untuk menghentikan kemerosotan Malaysia – yang telah menyebabkan negara kita menjadi negara biasa-biasa kelas kedua – untuk memenuhi potensi Malaysia menjadi salah satu negara yang terbaik di dunia, sebuah negara majmuk bertaraf dunia yang merupakan titik pertemuan empat tamadun hebat dunia.

Hanya ada empat orang calon untuk menjadi Perdana Menteri Malaysia yang ke-10.

Walaupun gabungan pilihan raya UMNO dan Barisan Nasional masih menggunakan Ismail Sabri sebagai “poster boy” mereka untuk Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15, saya tidak rasa Ismail Sabri sendiri yakin yang dia akan menjadi Perdana Menteri sekiranya UMNO dan Barisan Nasional menang dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15.

Zahid mahu menjadikan Malaysia sampah masyarakat di peringkat antarabangsa. Malaysia telah menjadi bahan jenaka seluruh dunia dengan skandal kewangan 1MDB sebelum ini, di mana negara kita digelar sebagai “kleptokrasi dalam bentuk yang terburuk”, walaupun di Malaysia yang diperintah UMNO-BN ketika itu, perkara ini tidak didedahkan. Malaysia akan menjadi bahan ketawa yang lebih buruk lagi apabila orang disebalik skandal 1MDB ini, Najib Razak, berjalan bebas dari Penjara Kajang tanpa menjalani hukuman penjara 12 tahun dan denda RM210 jutanya.

Muhyiddin pula bertanggungjawab terhadap konspirasi Langkah Sheraton yang kerajaan Pakatan Harapan yang diundi secara sah selepas hanya 22 bulan, manakala presiden PAS, Hadi Awang, pula boleh mengeluarkan penipuan dan fitnah yang langsung tidak masuk akal, seperti mengatakan DAP komunis baru-baru ini.

Adakah Hadi mengatakan pemimpin-pemimpin lepas PAS seperti Fadzil Noor dan Nik Aziz juga tidak Islamik dan bersifat komunis kerana bekerjasama dengan DAP?

Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 ini adalah pilihan raya parlimen yang akan menentukan siapa yang menjadi Perdana Menteri Malaysia yang ke-10 dan siapa yang akan membentuk Kerajaan Persekutuan di Putrajaya.

Walaupun Warisan akan meletakkan calon di Semenanjung Malaysia, Presidennya, Shafie Apdal, bukanlah salah seorang calon Perdana Menteri ke-10. Saya tidak persoalkan hak Warisan untuk meletakkan calon di Semenanjung walaupun calon-calon mereka di Semenanjung akan bergelut untuk tidak kehilangan deposit mereka.

Penting untuk para pengundi di Sabah faham yang pilihan raya pada 19 November 2022 ini adalah pilihan raya parlimen untuk memilih Perdana Menteri Malaysia yang ke-10 dan memilih pihak yang membentuk Kerajaan Persekutuan di Putrajaya, bukannya pilihan raya untuk memilih Ketua Menteri Sabah atau membentuk Kerajaan Negeri Sabah.

Saya menyeru setiap pengundi di Sabah untuk mengundi untuk menjadikan Anwar Ibrahim sebagai Perdana Menteri Malaysia yang ke-10, bukan Zahid, Muhyiddin, atau Hadi, kerana hanya dia seorang sahaja calon Perdana Menteri yang memahami dan menghargai hakikat bahawa Malaysia adalah sebuah negara majmuk dengan pelbagai kaum, bahasa, agama, dan budaya, yang merupakan satu aset untuk kita semua dan bukannya satu liabiliti untuk menjadikan Malaysia sebuah majmuk hebat yang bertaraf dunia.

(Ucapan veteran DAP Lim Kit Siang semasa pengumuman calon Pakatan Harapan Sabah oleh Anwar Ibrahim di Tuaran, Sabah, pada hari Ahad, 31 Oktober 2022)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 1 November 2022, 6:57 am and is filed under
GE15
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Malaysia needs a “Ketuanan Malaysia” policy if Malaysia is to become a great world-class plural nation

(Versi BM)

Malaysia needs a “Ketuanan Malaysia” and not a “Ketuanan Melayu” policy if Malaysia is to become a great world-class plural nation.

Firstly, Ketuanan Melayu policy is just a camouflage for UMNO-putras using the name of bumiputras to become indecently wealthy and privileged while the poor Malays and the real bumiputeras continue to be poor and backward.

Secondly, it is contrary to the original nation-building principles of Malaysia that every citizen in Malaysia, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Dayaks, are equal Malaysian citizens and that there is no first-class, second-class or third-class citizens.

The 15th General Election in Malaysia is taking on some characteristics of the United States presidential election system, because Malaysian voters will be voting for the person who is going to be the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Of the four candidates for the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia, only Anwar Ibrahim is committed to make Malaysia a great world-class plural nation by implementing a “Ketuanan Malaysia” instead of a “Ketuanan Melayu” policy.

Anwar is “Malaysian first” and all political leaders in a great world-class Malaysian nation must be “Malaysian first”.

The other candidates to be the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia, the UMNO President Zahid Hamidi, the Bersatu President Muhyiddin Yassin and the PAS President Hadi Awang are responsible for the decline of Malaysia from one of the best countries in the world into a second-rate mediocre country, with our politics, economics, education and other natjon-building policies becoming worse and worse.

What is worse, we have become the butt of jokes in the world because of the 1MDB scandal and will become a greater butt of jokes in the world if Najib Razak can walk free from Kajang Prison without serving in full his sentence of 12 years’ jail and pay the RM210 million fine.

We have lost to Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Vietnam, and we continue to decline, we will lose out to more and more countries.

In 1965, one Malaysian ringgit is equal to one Singapore dollar. Today, one Singapore dollar equal to 3.345 Malaysian Ringgit.

If this is not the mark of Malaysia’s decline, I do not know the meaning of “decline”.

Zahid, Muhyiddin and Hadi are among those responsible for Malaysia’s decline. Only Anwar can restore Malaysia’s original nation-building principles and make Malaysia great again.

I understand that WARISAN will be fielding 27 parliamentary candidates in Peninsular Malaysia.

We in DAP want to work and co-operate with WARISAN to build Malaysia into a great world-class plural nation, but WARISAN has spurned our offer of co-operation.

I only hope that WARISAN’s adventure in the 15th GE in Peninsular Malaysia will not be like their outing in Johore state general election, where it fielded six candidates and all six lost their deposits.

(Speech by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Papar in support of Pakatan Harapan candidate for Papar, Henry Shim on Tuesday, 1st November 2022 at 9 a.m)

Malaysia memerlukan dasar “Ketuanan Malaysia” sekiranya hendak menjadi negara majmuk hebat bertaraf dunia

Malaysia memerlukan dasar “Ketuanan Malaysia” dan bukannya “Ketuanan Melayu” sekiranya hendak menjadi negara majmuk hebat bertaraf dunia.

Pertamanya, dasar Ketuanan Melayu hanyalah satu helah golongan UMNO-putra untuk mengayakan diri mereka secara melampau sambil orang-orang Melayu dan Bumiputera yang lain terus miskin dan ketinggalan.

Kedua, dasar ini bertentangan dengan prinsip asas pembinaan negara Malaysia, di mana setiap rakyat Malaysia, sama ada Melayu, Cina, India, Kadazan, atau Dayak, adalah sama-sama rakyat Malaysia, bahawa tidak ada beza rakyat kelas pertama, kelas kedua, atau kelas ketiga.

Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 di Malaysia sedikit sebanyak sudah mengambil ciri-ciri pilihan raya presiden seperti di Amerika Syarikat, kerana rakyat Malaysia kini akan memilih siapa yang akan menjadi Perdana Menteri Malaysia yang ke-10.

Daripada empat orang calon Perdana Menteri ke-10 ini, hanya Anwar Ibrahim sahaja yang komited untuk menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara majmuk hebat bertaraf dunia dengan melaksanakan dasar “Ketuanan Malaysia” dan bukannya “Ketuanan Melayu”.

Anwar pertamanya adalah seorang rakyat Malaysia, “Malaysian First”, dan semua pemimpin politik dalam negara Malaysia yang hebat perlulah seorang “Malaysian First”.

Calon-calon Perdana Menteri ke-10 yang lain, Presiden UMNO Zahid Hamidi, Presiden Bersatu Muhyiddin Yassin, atau Presiden PAS Hadi Awang, semua bertanggungjawab menyebabkan kemerosotan Malaysia dari salah satu negara terbaik di dunia kepada negara yang kini biasa-biasa sahaja, dengan politik, ekonomi, pendidikan, dan pelbagai dasar-dasar pembinaan negara terus menjadi semakin teruk.

Apa yang lebih buruk lagi, kita telah menjadi bahan jenaka dunia kerana skandal kewangan 1MDB dan akan menjadi bahan ketawa yang lebih buruk lagi sekiranya Najib Razak berjalan bebas dari Penjara Kajang tanpa menjalani hukuman penjara 12 tahun dan membayar denda RM210 jutanya.

Kita telah ditinggalkan di belakang Taiwan, Singapura, Hong Kong, Korea Selatan, dan Vietnam, dan kita terus merosot dan bakal ditinggalkan di belakang lebih banyak negara.

Pada tahun 1965, satu ringgit Malaysia bersamaan dengan satu dolar Singapura, kini satu dolar Singapura bersamaan dengan 3.345 ringgit Malaysia.

Sekiranya perkara ini tidak menunjukkan kemerosotan Malaysia, saya tidak tahu apa lagi yang boleh menunjukkan “kemerosotan”.

Zahid, Muhyiddin, dan Hadi adalah antara mereka yang menyumbang kepada kemerosotan ini. Hanya Anwar sahaja yang boleh mengembalikan Malaysia kepada prinsip pembinaan negara kita yang asal dan menjadikan Malaysia kembali hebat.

Saya faham yang Warisan akan meletakkan 27 orang calon parlimen di Semenanjung Malaysia.

Kami di DAP mahu bekerjasama dengan Warisan untuk membina Malaysia menjadi sebuah negara majmuk hebat bertaraf dunia, namun Warisan telah menolak tawaran kerjasama ini.

Saya hanya mampu berharap yang cubaan Warisan dalam PRU15 di Semenanjung Malaysia tidak akan menjadi seburuk cubaan mereka dalam pilihan raya negeri Johor, di mana mereka meletakkan enam orang calon dan keenam-enam mereka semua telah hilang deposit.

(Ucapan veteran DAP Lim Kit Siang di Papar sebagai tanda sokongan kepada calon Pakatan Harapan untuk Papar, Henry Shim, pada hari Selasa, 1 November 2022 pada jam 9 pagi)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 1 November 2022, 12:26 pm and is filed under
GE15
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


15th GE election mood hotting up but  Pakatan Harapan must reignite hope among Malaysians to generate a political tsunami on Polling Day on Nov. 19 to  pave the way for Malaysia to fulfill her potential to become a great world-class plural nation

(Versi BM)

The 15th General Election mood is hotting up but Pakatan Harapan must reignite hope among Malaysians to generate a political tsunami on Polling Day on November 19, 2022 to pave the way for Malaysia to fulfil her potential to become a great world-class plural nation – in the midst of heavy rain and serious flooding during the campaign.

The various political parties are unveiling their candidates list but will all the 15GE candidates agree that the nation had fallen from the Malaysian Dream of a great world-class plural nation to become a second-rate mediocre country and that the 15GE is the occasion for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region to unite as Malaysians so that Malaysia does not continue to straggle behind other countries and end up as a failed and rogue state, a kleptocracy and kakistocracy by Malaysia’s Centennial in another four decades?

Will all 15GE candidates agree that Malaysian is still save-able and worth saving?

At the launching of the Sabah DAP election machinery in Kota Kinabalu, I spoke of the three scenarios for the 15th General Election: one, where UMNO and Barisan Nasional win the 15GE and forms the Federal Government of Malaysia; secondly, no coalition wins a majority and the country enters a very confused and chaotic situation post-Nov. 19; and thirdly, Pakatan Harapan wins the 15GE and Anwar Ibrahim becomes the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The three weeks since the dissolution of Parliament on Oct. 10 have seen a sea-change in the political mood of the country, and even those who at first are indifferent or disenchanted with politics since the Sheraton Move are beginning to realise that six decades of racial programming cannot be changed overnight in the democratic process and that Rome was not built in a day.

I myself am not satisfied with the change and reforms that was achieved in 22 months of Pakatan Harapan government before it was toppled by the undemocratic, unconstitutional “backdoor” Sheraton Move political conspiracy, but nowhere in the world could a government fulfill in 22 months a campaign promise for five years.

A government could be slow in the first half a five-year programme to bring about reforms and institutional change, but this pace of change and reform could be speeded up in the second half of the five-year programme.

The greatest challenge of the 15GE is the toxic politics of lies, falsehoods, race and religion.

PAS President, Hadi Awang accuses the DAP as communist as well as being anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-Royalty alleging that the DAP was behind the move to ratify International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and Rome Statute in the first few months of the Pakatan Harapan government in 2018.

In actual fact, DAP leaders knew nothing about the speech of the then Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2018 about the ratification ICERD and Rome Statute.

The Foreign Minister at the time, Saifuddin Abdullah has said that P. Waythamoorthy was the “lead” minister handing ICERD in 2018 which Waythamoorthy vehemently denied, calling Saifuddin’s explanation a “blatant lie” and an “insult to the people’s intelligence”.

We have yet to know the truth of the ICERD episode in 2018.

Furthermore, Hadi is unable to explain how Islam is undermined in the 55 of 57 Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) nations which had ratified ICERD or how the monarchical system is damaged in 36 of 38 countries which have monarchical systems which had ratified ICERD.

I do not know whether Hadi is accusing the DAP-led Penang government since 2008 as a “communist” government in looking after the interests of all races and religions – in fact, Malays and Islam received better treatment under the DAP-led Penang state government than under the previous Barisan Nasional rule.

If Malaysia is to fulfill her potential to be great world-class plural nation, as we are at the confluence of four great civilisations – Malay/Islamic, Chinese, Indian and Western – we must get all Malaysians to think as Malaysians.

From my 57 years of political experience, there is no anti-Malay, anti-Chinese, anti-Indian, anti-Kadazan or anti-Dayak or anti-Islam, anti-Buddhist, anti-Hindu or anti-Christian sentiments on the ground, although some political parties are trying to drum up the sentiments that the Malays and Islam in Malaysia are under threat.

Let all Malaysians be pro-Malaysia – every citizen must be pro-Malaysian Malay, pro-Malaysian Chinese, pro-Malaysian Indian, pro-Malaysian Kadazan, pro-Malaysian Dayak as well as pro-Malaysian Islam, pro-Malaysian Buddhist, pro-Malaysian Hindu and pro-Malaysian Christian in fulfilment of the Malaysian Dream for Malaysia to be a great world-class plural nation.

I said there is a change in political mood in the last three weeks since the dissolution of Parliament on Oct. 10, and the third scenario of Pakatan Harapan returning to Putrajaya and Anwar Ibrahim becoming the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia is gaining ground.

The question and challenge is whether Pakatan Harapan can reignite hope among Malaysians to generate a political tsunami on Polling Day on November 19, 2022 to pave the way for Malaysia to fulfil her potential to become a great world-class plural nation.

(Speech by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang at the launching of the Sandakan DAP election machinery on Tuesday, 1st November 2022 at 9 pm)

Semangat untuk PRU15 semakin membara namun Pakatan Harapan perlu terus menyalakan harapan dalam kalangan rakyat Malaysia untuk mencipta tsunami politik pada Hari Mengundi 19 November kelak untuk membolehkan Malaysia memenuhi potensinya menjadi negara majmuk hebat bertaraf dunia

Semangat untuk Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 semakin membara, namun Pakatan Harapan perlu terus menyalakan harapan dalam kalangan rakyat Malaysia untuk mencipta tsunami politik pada Hari Mengundi 19 November kelak untuk membolehkan Malaysia memenuhi potensinya menjadi negara majmuk hebat bertaraf dunia – walaupun ketika negara sedang berhadapan dengan musim hujan lebat dan bencana banjir ketika tempoh berkempen.

Pelbagai parti-parti politik sedang mendedahkan senarai calon-calon mereka, namun adakah semua calon-calon ini akan bersetuju yang negara kita telah terpesong dari Impian Malaysia untuk menjadi sebuah negara majmuk bertaraf dunia dan sebaliknya menjadi hanya sebuah negara biasa-biasa sahaja dan adakah calon-calon ini bersetuju yang PRU15 inilah peluang untuk semua rakyat Malaysia, tanpa mengira kaum, agama, atau kawasan, untuk bersatu sebagai rakyat Malaysia supaya negara kita tidak terus ketinggalan di belakang negara-negara lain atau lebih buruk lagi, berakhir sebagai sebuah negara gagal, kleptokrasi, dan kakistokrasi menjelang ulang tahun ke-100 negara dalam empat dekad dari sekarang?

Adakah semua calon-calon PRU-15 bersetuju yang Malaysia masih boleh dan patut diselamatkan?

Semasa pelancaran jentera pilihan raya DAP Sabah di Kota Kinabalu, saya bercakap mengenai tiga senario untuk Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15: one, di mana UMNO dan Barisan Nasional menang dalam PRU-15 dan membentuk Kerajaan Persekutuan Malaysia; kedua, tidak ada mana-mana gabungan politik menang majoriti dan negara kita memasuki situasi pasca pilihan raya yang mengelirukan; dan ketiga, Pakatan Harapan menang dalam PRU-15 dan Anwar Ibrahim menjadi Perdana Menteri Malaysia yang ke-10.

Tiga minggu selepas pembubaran Parlimen pada 10 Oktober telah menyaksikan perubahan semangat politik dalam negara, dan mereka yang pada mulanya tidak peduli atau telah lelah dengan politik selepas Langkah Sheraton kini sudah sedar yang enam dekad politik perkauman tidak dapat diubah dalam satu hari melalui proses demokratik, bahawa Rom tidak dibina dalam sehari.

Saya sendiri tidak berpuas hati dengan perubahan dan reformasi yang dicapai dalam 22 bulan pentadbiran Pakatan Harapan sebelum kerajaan PH ditumbangkan oleh konspirasi politik Langkah Sheraton yang tidak demokratik dan tidak sah, tetapi tidak ada mana-mana di dunia di mana janji pilihan raya untuk penggal lima tahun dapat dilaksanakan sepenuhnya hanya dalam 22 bulan.

Sesebuah kerajaan mungkin perlahan dalam setengah pertama penggal lima tahunnya untuk membawa reformasi dan perubahan institusi tetapi perkara ini dapat dipercepatkan dalam setengah kedua penggal lima tahunnya.

Cabaran terbesar dalam PRU-15 adalah politik toksik yang berasaskan penipuan, fitnah, dan sentimen perkauman serta keagamaan.

Presiden PAS, Hadi Awang, telah menuduh DAP sebagai komunis dan juga anti-Melayu, anti-Islam, dan anti-Raja, menuduh yang DAP berada di sebalik usaha untuk meratifikasi Konvensyen Antarabangsa Penghapusan Diskriminasi Perkauman (ICERD) dan Statut Rom dalam beberapa bulan pertama pentadbiran Pakatan Harapan pada tahun 2018.

Sebenarnya, para pemimpin DAP tidak tahu apa-apa pun mengenai ucapan Perdana Menteri ketika itu, Mahathir Mohamad, di Perhimpunan Agung Pertubuhan Bangsa-bangsa Bersatu pada bulan September 2018 yang bercakap mengenai ratifikasi ICERD dan Statut Rom.

Menteri Luar Menteri ketika itu, Saifuddin Abdullah, telah mengatakan yang P. Waythamoorthy adalah menteri yang “mengetuai” isu ICERD pada tahun 2018, satu perkara yang telah dinafikan keras oleh Waythamoorthy dengan mengatakan tuduhan Saifuddin sebagai satu pembohongan besar dan penghinaan terhadap kebolehan berfikir rakyat.

Kita masih belum mengetahui kebenaran di sebalik episod ICERD pada tahun 2018 ini.

Tambahan lagi, Hadi masih tidak dapat menjelaskan bagaimana martabat Islam tergugat di 55 dari 57 negara Pertubuhan Kerjasama Islam (OIC) yang telah meratifikasi ICERD atau bagaimana sistem monarki di 36 dari 38 negara yang telah meratifikasi ICERD terjejas.

Saya tidak tahu sama ada Hadi menuduh kerajaan Pulau Pinang pimpinan DAP sejak tahun 2008 sebagai “komunis” kerana menjaga kepentingan semua kaum dan agama – malah, orang Melayu dan Islam menerima layanan yang lebih baik di bawah kerajaan negeri Pulau Pinang pimpinan DAP berbanding dengan di bawah kerajaan Barisan Nasional sebelum ini.

Sekiranya Malaysia ingin memenuhi potensinya menjadi sebuah negara majmuk hebat bertaraf dunia, memandangkan kita berada di titik pertemuan empat tamadun hebat dunia – Melayu/Islam, Cina, India, dan Barat – kita perlu gerakkan semua orang untuk berfikir sebagai Rakyat Malaysia.

Daripada pengalaman politik saya selama 57 tahun, tidak ada sentimen anti-Melayu, anti-Cina, anti-India, anti-Kadazan, atau anti-Dayak, atau anti-Islam, anti-Buddha, anti-Hindu, atau anti-Kristian di lapangan, walaupun sesetengah parti-parti politik mencuba untuk menghidupkan sentimen kononnya orang Melayu dan Islam di Malaysia sedang terancam.

Marilah kita semua rakyat Malaysia menjadi pro-Malaysia – setiap orang perlu menjadi orang Melayu, Cina, India, Kadazan, atau Dayak yang pro-Malaysia, dan juga orang Islam, Buddha, Hindu, atau Kristian yang pro-Malaysia, untuk memenuhi Impian Malaysia menjadi negara majmuk hebat bertaraf dunia.

Saya telah katakan yang terdapat perubahan sentimen politik dalam tiga minggu yang lepas sejak pembubaran Parlimen pada 10 Oktober, dan senario ketiga di mana Pakatan Harapan kembali ke Putrajaya dengan Anwar Ibrahim menjadi Perdana Menteri Malaysia yang ke-10 semakin hampir menjadi kenyataan.

Persoalan dan cabarannya sekarang adalah sama ada Pakatan Harapan dapat menyalakan semula harapan dalam kalangan rakyat Malaysia untuk mewujudkan tsunami politik pada Hari Mengundi pada 19 November 2022 untuk membuka jalan untuk Malaysia memenuhi impiannya menjadi sebuah negara majmuk hebat yang bertaraf dunia.

(Ucapan veteran DAP Lim Kit Siang semasa pelancaran jentera pilihan raya DAP Sandakan pada hari Selasa, 1 November 2022, jam 9 malam)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 3 November 2022, 6:34 am and is filed under
GE15
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Challenge to Penang, as the first front-line state for the  Malaysian Dream,  to secure  the highest voter turn-out in the country in the 15GE

The greatest fear in the 15th General Election is a low voter turn-out on Polling Day on 19th November 2022.

I challenge Penang, as the first front-line state for the Malaysian Dream where is justice, freedom, equality, prosperity and better life for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, to again create history by securing the highest voter turn-out in the country in the 15th General Election – both for a parliamentary  constituency for Jelutong and for a state.

This will not be an easy task as there are 21 million voters in this general election, with those between 18-21 years old and voting for first time, accounting for 1.4 million, together with the problem of the general election being held in the monsoon season of heavy rain and serious floods.

There is a survey that says that the voter turnout on Polling Day will be very low, lower than in previous general elections, and lower than in the Malacca and Johor state general elections. This is bad news.

Let it be the task of every voter to tell their neighbours and friends that they must vote on Polling Day to make a decision that will affect their children and children’s children in terms of politics, economics, education, employment, health, housing, environment and culture.

We want Malaysia to be among the best countries in the world, and not to be a second-rate mediocre country after six decades, or a failed state like Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe when Malaysia celebrates our Centennial in another four decades.

I was in Papar in Sabah a few days ago and one resident said he had visited and admired Penang.  Penang is admired by other regions in Malaysia as a model state and it should continue as a model for rest of the country.

At the launching of the Sabah DAP election machinery in Kota Kinabalu, I spoke of the three scenarios for the 15th General Election:  one, where UMNO and Barisan Nasional win the 15GE and forms the Federal Government of Malaysia; secondly,  no coalition wins a majority and the country enters a very confused and chaotic situation post-Nov. 19; and thirdly, Pakatan Harapan wins the 15GE and Anwar Ibrahim becomes the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The three weeks since the dissolution of Parliament on Oct. 10  have seen a sea-change in the political mood of the country, and even those who at first are indifferent or disenchanted with politics since the Sheraton Move are beginning to realise that six decades of racial programming cannot be changed overnight in the democratic process and that Rome was not built in a day.

One significant difference in this sea-change in the political mood of the country of the last three weeks  is the lessening of the possibility of the first option – i.e. UMNO and Barisan Nasional winning the 15GE and forming the Federal Government; and the heightening of  the possibility of the third option, i.e. Pakatan Harapan winning the 15GE and returning to Putrajaya, with Anwar Ibrahim becoming the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Our greatest challenge in the 15th General Election mood is to  reignite hope among Malaysians that instead  of deteriorating into a failed and rogue state, with the greatest kleptocracy in the world, we could  generate a political tsunami that Malaysia is still save-able and worth saving on Polling Day on November 19, 2022 to become a great world-class plural nation – in the midst of heavy rain and serious flooding during the campaign.

From my 57 years of political experience, there is no anti-Malay, anti-Chinese, anti-Indian, anti-Kadazan or anti-Dayak or anti-Islam, anti-Buddhist, anti-Hindu or anti-Christian sentiments on the ground, although some political parties are trying to drum up the sentiments that the Malays and Islam in Malaysia are under threat.

Let all Malaysians be pro-Malaysia – every citizen must be pro-Malaysian Malay, pro-Malaysian Chinese, pro-Malaysian Indian, pro-Malaysian Kadazan, pro-Malaysian Dayak as well as pro-Malaysian Islam, pro-Malaysian Buddhism, pro-Malaysian Hinduism  and pro-Malaysian Christianity  in fulfilment of the Malaysian Dream for Malaysia to be a great world-class plural nation.

(Speech by DAP  veteran Lim Kit Siang in Penang at the launching of the Jelutong DAP election machinery on Thursday, 3rd November 2022 at  7 pm)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 3 November 2022, 5:57 pm and is filed under
GE15
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Lets make Malaysia great again

(Versi BM)

I am writing this Open Letter to all candidates to the 15th General Election as it is likely to be the most important general election in Malaysian history.

Tomorrow is Nomination Day for the 15GE.

I ask all candidates to unite on one message: Lets make Malaysia great again.

In the past 65 years of nationhood, we have strayed from the original nation-building principles of our founding fathers as embedded in the Malaysian Constitution and the Rukun Negara.

We had aspired, in the words of Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, to be a “beacon of light to a difficult and distracted world” but in the last six decades, we contributed to the darkness in the world.

UMNO veteran and political secretary to the first Penang Chief Minister, Tan Sri Yusoff Latiff is fond of reminiscing that when the late Tunku Abdul Rahman took over the UMNO leadership from Onn Jaafar in 1951, the party had no money, and Tunku sold his house in Penang to fund the running of UMNO.

But today, we do not have an UMNO President who had to sell his house to fund the running of UMNO. Instead, we have the international spectacle of nearly 300 boxes of designer handbags and dozens of bags filled with cash and jewellery among the items taken away by police in raids at properties linked to a former UMNO President who was also Prime Minister – which contained RM114 million in cash in 26 currencies and Birkin handbags each worth up to hundreds of thousands of dollars!

The first four UMNO Presidents, Onn Jaafar, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Razak Hussein and Hussein Onn would never have made the brutally frank speech which the current UMNO President, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, made at the MIC Assembly on the day Parliament was dissolved – that the 15GE was to save UMNO and Barisan Nasional “Court Clusters” from being charged in court for corruption and being sent to jail.

None of the first four UMNO Presidents would countenance Malaysia becoming a kleptocracy with its infamy world-wide, let alone “kleptocracy at its worst”!

Razak Hussein “swimming pool” is now famous because of the recounting of his youngest son, Nazir, who recalled his father, with eyebrows raised, asking: “How would it look if the Prime Minister spent public money on building a swimming pool for his family?”

In 1979, at the UMNO General Assembly, the then Prime Minister, Hussein Onn warned that Malaysia will be destroyed if its leaders were “dishonest, untrustworthy and corrupt” and expressed the hope that the Bank Rakyat scandal would be a “bitter lesson to other government institutions and agencies including companies and subsidiaries set up by the Government”.

But from a RM100 million Bank Rakyat scandal in 1979, we have ballooned to a RM50 billion 1MDB scandal three decades later as well as many other mega scandals, including the latest, the RM9 billion littoral combatant ships (LCS) scandal.

The original founding fathers like Tan Cheng Lock, Tan Siew Sin and V.T. Sambanthan would never countenanced Malaysia becoming a “kleptocracy”, let alone “kleptocracy at its worst” and included in the ranks of world kleptocrats like Marcos of Philippines and Suharto of Indonesia. It is unimaginable that they would not have spoken to denounce the 1MDB scandal.

Wikipedia defines “kleptocracy” as a a government whose corrupt leaders use political power to expropriate the wealth of the people and land they govern, typically by embezzling or misappropriating government funds at the expense of the wider population.

It is no different from “Thievocracy” which literally means the rule by thievery and is a term used synonymously to kleptocracy.

In a kleptocracy, corrupt politicians enrich themselves secretly outside the rule of law, through kickbacks, bribes, and special favors, or they simply direct state funds to themselves and their associates.

In the 14th General Election, kleptocracy referred to one person and to the 1MDB scandal.

In the 15th General Election, kleptocracy refers to more than one person and more than the 1MDB mega financial scandal.

Malaysia has lost its way.

We must reset and find our way back to the original nation-building principles of our founding fathers or we will stray further away until we end up as a failed and rogue state like Sri Lanka or Zimbabwe during Malaysia’s Centennial in another four decades.

Let us return to the original nation-building principles of our founding fathers– constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy, separation of powers, rule of law, an independent judiciary, good governance, public integrity with minimum corruption, meritocracy, respect for human rights and national unity and harmony from our multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural diversity.

We have lost out economically to one country after another – Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Vietnam. Unless we buck up, we will lose out to more countries.

We must recognise that Malaysia is in deep trouble, reflected from the value of our Malaysian ringgit, when we were one Malaysian Ringgit to one Singapore dollar in 1965 but which has devalued to one Singapore Dollar to 3.345 Malaysian Ringgit.

When Transparency International (TI) started its annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI) in 1995, we were way ahead of China, India and Indonesia.

Since then, China, India and Indonesia have closed the gap of a clean and honest government, and it is likely that China will overtake Malaysia in the TI CPI in this decade, and India and Indonesia will overtake Malaysia in the next decade.

Malaysia is still save-able and worth saving.

Let all candidates pledge that they will do their utmost to prevent Malaysia from becoming a Sri Lanka or Zimbabwe by Malaysia’s Centennial to fulfil Malaysia’s potential to be a great world-class plural nation and fully restore Sabah and Sarawak’s status based on Malaysia Agreement 1963.

Finally, I ask Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to decline nomination as candidate in the 15th General Election.

Let the fulfilment of the Malaysian Dream to be a great world-class plural nation be on the shoulders of younger Malaysians.

Furthermore, let Bagan Datuk be a straight fight between kleptocracy versus rakyat of Malaysia.

(An Open Letter to all 15GE candidates by Parliamentary veteran Lim Kit Siang in Penang on Friday, 4th November 2022)

Mari jadikan Malaysia hebat sekali lagi

Saya menujukan surat terbuka ini kepada semua calon-calon dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 memandangkan pilihan raya umum ini besar kemungkinan menjadi pilihan raya umum yang paling penting dalam sejarah Malaysia.

Esok adalah hari Penamaan Calon untuk PRU15.

Saya meminta semua calon-calon untuk bersatu di belakang satu mesej: Mari jadikan Malaysia hebat sekali lagi.

Dalam 65 tahun selepas penubuhan negara kita, kita telah terpesong dari prinsip pembinaan negara yang diterapkan oleh tokoh kemerdekaan negara dalam Perlembagaan Malaysia dan Rukun Negara.

Kita pernah beraspirasi, seperti yang dikatakan oleh Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, untuk menjadi “sinar cahaya dalam dunia yang sukar dan terganggu” tetapi dalam enam dekad yang lepas, kita sebaliknya menyumbangkan kegelapan dalam dunia.

Veteran UMNO yang juga merupakan setiausaha politik kepada Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang yang pertama, Tan Sri Yusoff Latiff, selalu suka mengenang kembali detik ketika arwah Tunku Abdul Rahman mengambil alih pimpinan UMNO dari Onn Jaafar pada tahun 1951, di mana ketika itu parti tersebut tidak ada wang, dan Tunku telah menjual rumahnya di Pulau Pinang untuk membiayai urusan UMNO.

Tetapi hari ini, kita tidak ada Presiden UMNO yang terpaksa menjual rumahnya untuk membiayai perbelanjaan UMNO. Sebaliknya, negara kita menjadi bahan berita antarabangsa apabila hampir 300 kotak bag tangan mewah dan berdozen-dozen beg yang berisi dengan wang tunai dan barang kemas dibawa pergi oleh pihak polis dalam serbuan ke kediaman yang berkaitan dengan bekas Presiden UMNO yang juga merupakan Perdana Menteri – serbuan yang merampas kira-kira RM114 juta wang tunai dalam 26 matawang asing dan beg tangan Birkin yang mana setiap satunya bernilai sehingga ratusan ribu dolar!

Empat Presiden UMNO yang terawal, Onn Jaafar, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Razak Hussein, dan Hussein Onn, tidak akan sama sekali membuat kenyataan terus-terang yang dibuat oleh Presiden UMNO hari ini, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, yang dibuatnya di Perhimpunan MIC pada hari Parlimen dibubarkan – bahawa PRU15 diadakah untuk menyelamatkan “Kluster Mahkamah” UMNO dan Barisan Nasional dari didakwa di mahkamah atas tuduhan rasuah dan dipenjarakan.

Tidak ada seorang pun dari empat Presiden terawal UMNO ini akan membiarkan Malaysia dikenali di seluruh dunia sebagai sebuah kleptokrasi di seluruh dunia, apatah lagi membiarkan Malaysia dikenali sebagai “kleptokrasi dalam bentuk yang terburuk”!

Kisah “kolam renang” Razak Hussein kini terkenal selepas diceritakan oleh anak bongsunya, Nazir, yang memberitahu, bapanya, dengan mengangkat keningnya, bertanya kepada mereka: “Bagaimanakah rupanya sekiranya Perdana Menteri membelanjakan wang awam untuk membina sebuah kolam renang untuk keluarganya?”

Pada tahun 1979, semasa Perhimpunan Agung UMNO, Perdana Menteri ketika itu, Hussein Onn, memberikan amaran yang Malaysia akan hancur sekiranya pemimpinnya “tidak jujur, tidak boleh dipercayai, dan korup” dan menyatakan harapan supaya skandal Bank Rakyat ketika akan menjadi “pengajaran pahit kepada institusi dan agensi kerajaan yang lain termasuklah syarikat dan anak syarikat yang dibentuk oleh Kerajaan”.

Namun, dari skandal Bank Rakyat yang melibatkan RM100 juta pada 1979, masalah kita semakin membarah sehinggalah kepada skandal 1MDB yang melibatkan RM50 billion tiga dekad kemudian, bersama dengan pelbagai skandal mega yang lain seperti yang paling baharu, skandal kapal tempur pesisir (LCS) yang melibatkan RM9 billion.

Tokoh-tokoh kemerdekaan seperti Tan Cheng Lock, Tan Siew Sin, dan V. T. Sambanthan tidak akan membiarkan Malaysia menjadi sebuah “kleptokrasi”, apatah lagi “kleptokrasi dalam bentuk yang terburuk” dan disamakan dengan para kleptokrat lain di dunia seperti Marcos dari Filipina dan Suharto dari Indonesia. Tidak dapat dibayangkan untuk mereka berdiam diri dan tidak mengecam skandal 1MDB.

Wikipedia mendefinisikan “kleptokrasi” sebagai sebuah kerajaan yang di mana pemimpin korupnya menggunakan kuasa politik untuk menjarah kekayaan negara dan tanah yang ditadbir, biasanya dengan menyeleweng atau salah urus dana kerajaan dengan merugikan rakyat.

Perkara ini tidak ada bezanya dengan “Thievocracy” yang merupakan pemerintahan melalui pencurian dan digunakan sebagai sinonim kepada kleptokrasi.

Dalam sebuah kleptokrasi, ahli politik korup akan mengayakan diri mereka di luar batasan undang-undang, melalui sogokan, rasuah, dan pilih kasih, atau mereka mungkin akan terus memberikan dana negara kepada diri sendiri dan rakan-rakan mereka.

Dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-14, kleptokrasi merujuk kepada satu orang dan skandal 1MDB.

Dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15, kleptokrasi merujuk kepada lebih dari satu orang dan lebih dari skandal mega 1MDB.

Malaysia telah tersesat jalan.

Kita perlu tetapkan semula hala tuju kita dan kembali kepada prinsip yang ditetapkan oleh tokoh kemerdekaan – negara beraja perlembagaan, demokrasi berparlimen, pemisahan kuasa, kedaulatan undang-undang, badan kehakiman yang bebas, tadbir urus yang baik, integriti awam dengan rasuah yang minima, meritokrasi, hormat terhadap hak asasi manusia, dan perpaduan negara dan keharmonian dari masyarakat majmuk pelbagai kaum, bahasa, agama, dan budaya.

Kita telah ditinggalkan di belakang satu demi satu negara dari segi ekonomi – Taiwan, Singapura, Korea Selatan, Hong Kong, dan Vietnam. Melainkan kita bangkit semula, kita akan ditinggalkan di belakang lebih banyak negara lagi.

Kita perlu sedar yang Malaysia berada dalam masalah, yang dapat dilihat dari nilai Ringgit Malaysia kita, di mana pada suatu ketika dahulu, satu Ringgit Malaysia bersamaan dengan satu Dolar Singapura, kini satu Dolar Singapura sudah bersamaan dengan RM3.345.

Semasa Transparency International (TI) mula menerbitkan Indeks Persepsi Rasuah (CPI) pada tahun 1995, kita berada jauh di hadapan China, India, dan Indonesia.

Sejak daripada era ini, China, India, dan Indonesia terus menerus merapatkan jurang mereka dengan mempunyai kerajaan yang bersih dan jujur, dan besar kemungkinan China akan mengatasi kedudukan Malaysia dalam TI-CPI dalam dekad ini, manakala India dan Indonesia akan mengatasi kedudukan Malaysia dalam dekad yang akan datang.

Malaysia masih boleh diselamatkan dan patut diselamatkan.

Marilah semua calon-calon berjanji untuk melakukan sebaik mungkin untuk mengelakkan Malaysia menjadi satu lagi Sri Lanka atau Zimbabwe menjelang ulang tahun ke-100 negara, supaya Malaysia dapat memenuhi potensinya untuk menjadi sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia dan mengembalikan status Sabah dan Sarawak sepenuhnya seperti mana yang termaktub dalam Perjanjian Malaysia 1963.

Akhir sekali, saya minta Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad dan Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah untuk menolak penamaan sebagai calon dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15.

Serahkan usaha untuk memenuhi Impian Malaysia untuk menjadi sebuah negara majmuk hebat bertaraf dunia kepada golongan anak muda di Malaysia.

Tambahan lagi, Bagan Datuk patut menjadi pertarungan satu lawan satu di antara kleptokrasi dan rakyat Malaysia.

(Surat Terbuka kepada semua calon-calon PRU15 dari veteran parlimen Lim Kit Siang di Pulau Pinang pada hari Jumaat, 4 November 2022)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 4 November 2022, 7:18 am and is filed under
GE15
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


MPs must be long-distance runners, by relay or otherwise,  in pursuit of the dream of a better Malaysia for our children and  children’s children

I contested the Bukit Bendera parliamentary constituency in the 10th General Election on Nov. 29, 1999 and  was defeated – the first time I was defeated since I took part in parliamentary elections in 1969.

The Barisan Alternative of DAP, KeAdilan, PAS and PRM failed in its objective to end the UMNO/BN political hegemony by ending its two-thirds majority in Parliament!

I resigned as DAP Secretary-General, a post which I had held for 30 years from 1969-1999 when I was detained in Muar during my first Internal Security Act arrest, and spent two months to get public feedback and mulling as to whether I have outlived my political usefulness or whether I should continue in the frontline in the democratic battle for justice, freedom, equality, educational excellence, human rights and national unity out of our multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural diversity.

On 13th February 2000, I announced that I would soldier on in the frontline and continue my commitment in pursuit of the Malaysian Dream in the cause of a new Malaysia of justice, freedom, democracy and good governance.

It was the right decision or I would not be in the frontline not only to end the UMNO/BN political hegemony, but bring about  the “political miracle” of the toppling of  UMNO/BM government and its replacement by a Pakatan Harapan government on May 9, 2018.

But before Pakatan Harapan government could deliver on all its election pledges of change and institutional reform, it was toppled by the undemocratic, unconstitutional and illegal Sheraton Move political conspiracy, which produced two “backdoor” unconstitutional governments of Muhyiddin Yassin and Ibrahim Sabri.

There are now complaints that not all the election pledges of Pakatan Harapan were implemented in 22 months before its fall.

I myself am not happy with the pace of delivery of the 22-month  Pakatan Harapan Government, but nowhere in  the world is there a government which  could achieve in 22 months what was promised for five years.

A government could be slow in the first half a five-year programme to bring about reform and institutional change, but this pace of change and reform could be speeded up in the second half of the five-year programme.

I saw the then Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad in mid-2019 to impress on him the need to fulfil the Pakatan Harapan election pledges and that if there are election pledges which could not  be implemented, the Pakatan Harapan should be frank with the electorate and publicly explain the reasons.

I was sure that the electorate would be reasonable and would understand the frankness. Mahathir agreed.

I had  hoped to see the Prime Minister in the mid-term (when Anwar Ibrahim would have taken over) on the fulfilment of the Pakatan Harapan election pledges, but in February 2020, the Sheraton Move political conspiracy toppled the Pakatan Harapan government after 22 months.

I had thought after the Pakatan Harapan Presidential  Council Meeting on February 21, 2020 (where Mahathir promised to step down as Prime Minister after APEC meeting at the end of  2020) would resolve all the uncertainties but it became a different story when the Sheraton Move conspiracy took place after the Pakatan Harapan Presidential Council meeting.

One effect of the Sheraton Move is the disappointment, disillusionment, despondency and even hopelessness of voters with the democratic process as they had hoped that the miraculous  change of government in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018 would bring about far-reaching change and reform.

But what were promised was for five years and we had only 22 months. In the initial period, the Pakatan Harapan government encountered opposition, resistance to new ideas, and even sabotage – like the DAP wanted to go against the Malays, Islam and the Royalty by demanding the ratification of ICERD when DAP Ministers and leaders knew nothing about it.

We are running a democratic process and we cannot chop the heads like in a revolution those  who do not execute the new government’s instructions.  Time must be taken to explain that the new government’s ideas and policies were good for the country.

Members of Parliament  must be long-distance runners, by relay or otherwise,  in pursuit of the dream of a better Malaysia for our children and  children’s children – for the  Malaysian Dream to become a great world-class plural nation, whether in politics, economics, employment, education, health, housing, culture or sports.

I believe all Malaysians, regardless of whether they are Malays, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan, Dayak or Muslims, Buddhiests, Hindus, Christians,  have a common objective – they shed tears, sweat and even blood to ensure that their children and children’s children have a better life in Malaysia.

This is the core of the Malatysian Dream for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region.

We must develop this long-term vision among Malaysians.

I am now 81 years old. Although I am withdrawn from front-line politics, I still believe in the Malaysian Dream and will use every ounce of my energy in pursuit of the Malaysian Dream.

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang when accompanying Pakatan Harapan candidate for Bukit Bendera, Syerleena Abdul Rashid on a visit to Rifle Range flats in the company of former MP for Bukit Bendera, Wong Hong Wai and Penang State Assemblyman  for Pulau Tikus, Lee Chun Kit on Friday, 4th November 2022 at 5 pm)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 4 November 2022, 7:48 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
GE15
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Call on Penang voters to lead Malaysian voters to make Malaysia among the best in the world and not a failed and rogue state like a kleptocracy on Malaysia Centennial in another four decades

This is the first time I am outside a general election nomination centre for 53 years since 1969.

While waiting for the completion of the nomination process for the Pakatan Harapan candidate for Tanjong, my daughter Lim Hui Ying,  I thought about the future of Malaysia.

In my 57 years in Malaysian politics, I have stood for parliamentary  election in five states in Malacca, Selangor, Penang, Perak and Johore – all in pursuit of the Malaysian Dream for Malaysia to be a great world-class plural nation which could in Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman’s words be “a beacon of light in a difficult and distracted world”.

I call on the voters in  the five constituencies which I have represented as Member of Parliament in the last six decades – Kota Melaka (1969-78, 1982-86),  Petaling in Selangor (1978-1982), Tanjong in Penang (1986-1999), Ipoh Timur in Perak (2004-2013) and  Gelang Patah (2013-2018) Iskandar Puteri (2018 – 2022)  in Johore – to be strong bases to spread the message of  the Malaysian Dream where there is unity in diversity with everyone regarding himself as “Malaysian First” be they Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Dayaks or Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Taoists, whether from Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah or Sarawak.

PAS President Hadi Awang said Malaysian Dream is to forget we are Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Dayaks or Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Christians.

Hadi is very wrong. Bangsa Malaysia does not ask Malaysians to forget or extinguish their ethnic identities as Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Dayaks or give up their religious identities as Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and Christians, but to celebrate their diverse racial and religious identities with an overarching common identity as Malaysians First.

Bangsa Malaysia means the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans and Dayaks in Malaysia  are closer to each other than with their counterparts in other countries.

Malaysia has potential to be among the best countries in the world, as we are at the confluence of four great civilisations – Malay/Islamic, Chinese, Indian and Western – but we have not been able to leverage on the best values and virtues of the four great civilisations and have lost our way in the last six decades of nation-building.

We started well in the early days of our nation, writing into the Constitution and the Rukun Negara the nation-building principles which if followed will make Malaysia a great world-class plural nation – constitutional monarchy, separation of powers, the rule of law, parliamentary democracy, an independent judiciary, good governance, public integrity with minimal corruption, respect for human rights and unity in diversity in a multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious nation.

But we took a wrong turn in nation-building and instead of becoming a first-class great nation, we have become a second-class mediocre country which, if not checked, will deteriorate to become a third-class failed and rogue state like Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in three or four decades’ time.

I ask  Malaysian voters to ask two questions before Polling Day on November 19, 2022 – whether Malaysia can be saved and whether it is worth saving Malaysia.

If Malaysia is not save-able or not worth saving, then that is the end of the story.

But Malaysia is still “save-able” and worth saving. Malaysia has not reached the stage of a totally broken, divided and failed nation like Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe although we have fallen considerably from our expectations of a world-class great plural nation.

But this salvation effort will take not one or five years or one general election, but decades and several general elections.

But we must start now.

I call on the voters of the five parliamentary constituencies I have represented as Member of Parliament – Kota Melaka, Petaling, Tanjong, Ipoh Timur and Iskandar Puteri – to play a leading role in this national campaign to Save Malaysia to become a great world-class plural nation recognised by the world as one of the best countries in the world instead of being mocked and despised as being a kleptocracy, kakistocracy and an impending failed state.

I particularly call on  Penang voters to lead Malaysian voters to make Malaysia among the best in the world and not a failed and rogue state like a kleptocracy on Malaysia Centennial in another four decades.

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang at the Tanjong Nomination Centre  in Dewan Sri Pinang, Penang on Saturday, November 5, 2022)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 5 November 2022, 12:11 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
GE15
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


I have never proposed any candidate for high office  to Mahathir when he was Prime Minister in the 22 months of Pakatan Harapan government

The assurance by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that the DAP would not be in  control of Pakatan Harapan if the coalition under his watch  wins the coming polls shows both  the degree of toxic politics of race and religion which had been disseminated in the current 15th general election campaign and the likelihood that Anwar Ibrahim will be the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The DAP had been accused of controlling Pakatan Harapan when it was in government for 22 months from the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018.

PAS President, Hadi Awang even accused the DAP of trying to remove the special position of Islam as well as the privileges of the Malays and Bumiputra in the country by pushing for the ratification of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) in the early months of Pakatan Harapan government in 2018, when in actual fact, DAP Ministers and leaders were completely surprised by the then Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad’s speech on the proposed ratification of ICERD  at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2018.

This has been collaborated by the then Foreign Minister, Saifuddin Abdulah who blamed P. Waythamoorthy as the “lead” Minister handling ICERD in 2018. This has been denied by Waythamoorthy and the truth has yet to be fully  revealed.

But the issue of the  ICERD  ratification in 2018 is  about truth and lies. Should political leaders be disseminating lies, untruths and false information?

I have been accused for the appointment of Tommy Thomas as Attorney-General and Richard Malanjum as Chief Justice. I approve of their appointments but I have never  proposed any candidate for high office  to Mahathir when he was Prime Minister in the 22 months of Pakatan Harapan government.

It is a reflection of the challenges of information age, where lies, fake news  and disinformation abound,  that I was accused in non-Malay areas as a puppet of Mahathir in those 22 months of Pakatan Harapan government while Mahathir was accused of being my puppet in Malay circles.

There is no  truth in these lies, for both Mahathir and I are nobody’s puppet.

I have said that the three weeks since the dissolution of Parliament on Oct. 10 have seen a sea-change in the political mood of the country, and even those who at first are indifferent or disenchanted with politics since the Sheraton Move are beginning to realise that six decades of racial programming cannot be changed overnight in the democratic process and that Rome was not built in a day.

I myself am not satisfied with the change and reform that was achieved in 22 months of Pakatan Harapan government before it was toppled by the undemocratic and unconstitutional “backdoor” Sheraton Move political conspiracy, but nowhere in the world could a government fulfil in 22 months a campaign promise for five years.

This change in mood is confirmed by a Merdeka Centre survey that shows that UMNO/Barisan Nasional is trailing behind Pakatan Harapan in a close second in voters’ preference in the 15th general election.

This has spawned a new scare story  about a “dominant” DAP in Pakatan Harapan and a Chinese Prime Minister.

DAP was never  “dominant” in the 22-month Pakatan Harapan government as shown by the Pakatan Harapan Cabinet of  28 Ministers where the DAP was  overshadowed in the distribution of  seven PKR Ministers, six Bersatu  Ministers, six  DAP Ministers, five Amanah Ministers, three  Warisan  Ministers and one MAP Minister.

The DAP had never aspired to have a Chinese or non-Malay Prime Minister, although the Malaysian  Constitution states very explicitly that any Malaysian can be a Prime Minister.

United Kingdom is having an ethnic Indian Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak and even  the United States has taken 200 years for Barack Obama to be the first black President in the United States but I do not expect to see a non-Malay Prime Minister in Malaysia in this century.

What else are the  cybertroopers and propagandists of hate, lies and falsehood incapable of cooking up?

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Penang on Saturday, November 5, 2022)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 5 November 2022, 7:48 am and is filed under
DAP
,
PH Government
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.