Hamzah Zainudin has failed the Agong test to ensure political stability for the next five years to allow the country to unite a very polarised plural nation, and to reset and return to the original nation-building principles to become a first-rate world-class nation

(Versi BM)

The Parliamentary Opposition Leader, Hamzah Zainudin, has failed the Agong test to ensure political stability for the next five years to allow the country to unite a very polarised plural nation, and to reset and return to the original nation-building principles to become a first-rate world-class nation.

The minimum that Hamzah could do was to give an undertaking that Anwar Ibrahim would be the last Prime Minister the 16th Yang di Pertuan Agong will swear in before the end of his five-year reign next January, as the 16th Yang di Pertuan Agong will go down in history of having to work with four Prime Ministers during his reign.

Apart from the 16th Yang di Pertuan Agong, no other Yang di Pertuan Agong had to work with more than two Prime Ministers.

Will there be a fifth Prime Minister the 16th Yang di Pertuan Agong has to work with before the end of his five-year reign next January?

The maximum that Hamzah could have done was to give an assurance in Parliament that there would be no change of Prime Minister for the next five years, and that Anwar Ibrahim will be able to serve the full five-year term as the 10th Prime Minister.

But Hamzah could not pass the minimum or the maximum test of the Yang di Pertuan Agong and could only give an amorphous statement that the Opposition would play the check and balance role in Parliament.

But this understandable, as Hamzah is not the real power in Perikatan Nasional, who is the Bersatu President, Muhyiddin Yassin, and the PAS President, Hadi Awang.

For the first time in the history of Malaysia, there is a lame-duck Opposition Leader in Parliament.

Hamzah should refer to Muhyiddin and Hadi to get their consent so that he could pass the Yang di Pertuan Agong’s test, whether at the the minimum or maximum level.

The Yang di Pertuan Agong had called on all Malaysians to “open their hearts” to the results of last November’s 15th general election — to form a stable government to guarantee political stability and generate economic growth, working on issues such as the cost of living, including subsidies for the people, and anti-corruption?

What is Perikatan Nasional’s response reflecting the position of both Muhyiddin and Hadi?

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on Wednesday, 15th February 2023)

Hamzah telah gagal dengan ujian Agong untuk menjamin kestabilan politik dalam lima tahun yang akan datang untuk menyatukan masyarakat majmuk yang terpolarisasi dan untuk mengembalikan negara kita kepada prinsip asal pembinaan negara untuk menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia

Ketua Pembangkang, Hamzah Zainuddin, telah telah gagal dengan ujian Agong untuk menjamin kestabilan politik dalam lima tahun yang akan datang untuk menyatukan masyarakat majmuk yang terpolarisasi dan untuk mengembalikan negara kita kepada prinsip asal pembinaan negara untuk menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia.

Sekurang-kurangnya, Hamzah patut memberikan persetujuan bahawa Anwar Ibrahim akan menjadi Perdana Menteri yang terakhir yang mengangkat sumpah jawatannya di hadapan Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di Pertuan Agong ke-16 sebelum penggal pemerintahan baginda berakhir pada bulan Januari tahun hadapan, memandangkan baginda sudah pun dicatatkan dalam sejarah dengan mempunyai empat orang Perdana Menteri sepanjang tempoh pemerintahannya.

Selain daripada Yang di Pertuan Agong yang ke-16, tidak ada mana-mana Yang di Pertuan Agong yang lain yang perlu bekerja dengan lebih dari dua orang Perdana Menteri.

Adakah akan ada Perdana Menteri kelima untuk Yang di Pertuan Agong ke-16 sebelum tamat penggal pemerintahan baginda pada tahun hadapan?

Perkara paling besar yang dapat dibuat oleh Hamzah pula adalah dengan memberikan jaminan di Parlimen bahawa tidak akan ada pertukaran Perdana Menteri untuk lima tahun yang akan dan Anwar Ibrahim dapat berkhidmat untuk sepenuh tempoh penggal lima tahunnya.

Tetapi, Hamzah gagal untuk melepasi baik ujian kecil atau besar dari Yang di Pertuan Agong, sebaliknya hanya dapat memberikan kenyataan yang samar-samar yang pihak Pembangkang akan memainkan peranan semak imbangnya di Parlimen.

Namun, perkara ini boleh difahami, memandangkan Hamzah tidak memegang kuasa sebenar dalam Perikatan Nasional. Sebaliknya kuasa ada dengan Presiden Bersatu, Muhyiddin Yassin dan Presiden PAS, Hadi Awang.

Untuk buat pertama kali dalam sejarah Malaysia, kita ada Ketua Pembangkang yang lemah di Parlimen.

Hamzah patut merujuk kepada Muhyiddin dan Hadi untuk mendapatkan persetujuan mereka untuk melepasi ujian yang diberikan oleh Yang di Pertuan Agong, sama ada untuk memberi jaminan minima sehingga tamat penggal pemerintahan baginda atau untuk memberi jaminan penuh sehingga tamat penggal Parlimen ke-15.

Yang di Pertuan Agong telah menyeru kepada semua rakyat Malaysia untuk “membuka hati mereka” terhadap keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 yang berlangsung pada bulan November tahun lepas — untuk membentuk kerajaan yang stabil yang dapat memberikan kestabilan politik, menjana pertumbuhan ekonomi, menyelesaikan isu-isu seperti kos sara hidup, subsidi untuk rakyat, dan usaha membanteras rasuah.

Apakah respons Perikatan Nasional yang mencerminkan pendirian Muhyiddin dan Hadi?

(Kenyataan Media veteran DAP Lim Kit Siang di Petaling Jaya pada hari Rabu, 15 Februari 2023)

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The real power behind the Opposition Leader has spoken: it’s a declaration of war as Muhyiddin has completely ignored the Yang di Pertuan Agong’s wishes that he will not swear in another Prime Minister before his five-year reign ends next January

(Versi BM)

The real power behind the Parliamentary Opposition Leader has spoken — it’s a declaration of war as the the Bersatu President Muhyiddin Yassin has completely ignored the 16th Yang di Pertuan Agong’s wishes that he will not have to swear in another Prime Minister before his five-year reign ends next January.

Yesterday, I criticised the Opposition Leader Hamzah Zainudin for failing the Agong’s test to ensure political stability for the next five years to allow the country to unite a very polarised plural nation, and to reset and return to the original nation-building principles to become a first-rate world-class nation.

I said that Hamzah failed both the minimum test, to give an undertaking that Anwar Ibrahim would be the last Prime Minister the 16th Yang di Pertuan Agong will swear in before the end of his five-year reign next January, and the maximum test, an undertaking that there would be no change of Prime Minister for the next five years, and that Anwar Ibrahim will be able to serve the full five-year term as the 10th Prime Minister.

Now the reason for Hamzah failing both the minimum and maximum tests is clear — for Muhyiddin’s speech was a declaration of war indicating that he will not be restrained by the Yang di Pertuan Agong’s Royal Address at the Opening of the 15th Parliament on Monday from enacting another Sheraton Move political conspiracy to usher in a “backdoor” Prime Minister again.

In his jingoistic speech, Muhyiddin was confident of the “green wave” phenomenon, echoing Perikantan Nasional (PN) leaders who said PN could capture Selangor state government, and that PN has a 50-50 chance to capture Negeri Sembilan in the state general elections of Penang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu to be held in June or July this year.

One PN leader even said PN could capture 33 out of 36 state assembly constituencies in Kedah in the upcoming state general election, apart from Kota Darul Aman, Bakar Arang, and Sidam, and that the PN would have a clean sweep of all the seats in Kelantan and

Terengganu.

All that is necessary to prove that there is no such thing as an irresistible “green tide” phenomenon to transform Malaysia into a theocratic state is to prove five things:

That PN could not capture the Selangor state government;

That PN could not capture the Negeri Sembilan State government;

That the Pakatan Harapan, and Barisan Nasional coalitions which formed the Anwar unity government could win more than three state assembly seats in Kedah;

Break the PN monopoly of all seats in Kelantan;

Break the PN monopoly of all seats in Terengganu.

It is clear from Muhyiddin’s speech in Parliament yesterday, PN wants the six state general elections to be a mini-Parliamentary election, where an overwhelming PN victory will be the basis for another Sheraton Move political conspiracy to topple Anwar Ibrahim as the 10th Prime Minister.

Muhyiddin wants the 16th Yang di Pertuan Agong to work with five Prime Ministers in five years from 2019 to 2024 but the decision will be in the hands of the voters in six states in their general elections in June or July and not in Muhyiddin’s hands.

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on Thursday, 16th February 2023)

Kuasa sebenar di sebalik Ketua Pembangkang sudah bersuara — dengan pengisytiharan perang apabila Muhyiddin mengabaikan hasrat Yang di Pertuan Agong untuk baginda tidak perlu melantik seorang lagi Perdana Menteri sebelum tamat penggal pemerintahan lima tahun baginda pada bulan Januari hadapan

Kuasa sebenar di sebalik Ketua Pembangkang sudah bersuara — dengan pengisytiharan perang apabila Presiden Bersatu, Muhyiddin Yassin, mengabaikan hasrat Yang di Pertuan Agong untuk baginda tidak perlu melantik seorang lagi Perdana Menteri sebelum tamat penggal pemerintahan lima tahun baginda pada bulan Januari hadapan.

Semalam, saya mengkritik Ketua Pembangkang, Hamzah Zainudin, kerana gagal dalam ujian Agong untuk memastikan kestabilan politik untuk lima tahun yang akan datang untuk memberi ruang kepada penyatuan negara majmuk yang terpolarisasi dan untuk mengembalikan Malaysia kepada prinsip asal pembinaan negara untuk menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia.

Saya telah katakan yang Hamzah telah gagal untuk memberi aku janji bahawa Anwar Ibrahim akan menjadi Perdana Menteri terakhir yang dilantik oleh Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di Pertuan Agong ke-16 sebelum berakhirnya penggal pemerintahan lima tahun baginda pada Januari depan, atau berjanji bahawa tidak akan ada pertukaran Perdana Menteri untuk lima tahun akan datang dan bahawa Anwar Ibrahim akan dapat berkhidmat sepenuh penggal lima tahunnya sebagai Perdana Menteri yang ke-10.

Kini, punca kegagalan Hamzah dengan ujian ini sudah jelas — ucapan perbahasan Muhyiddin semalam adalah satu pengisytiharan perang yang menunjukkan bahawa dia tidak akan dihalang oleh Titah Diraja Yang di Pertuan Agong dalam Istiadat Pembukaan Parlimen ke-15 pada hari Isnin daripada merancang satu lagi konspirasi politik seperti Langkah Sheraton untuk membawa masuk seorang lagi Perdana Menteri “pintu belakang”.

Dalam ucapan perbahasannya, Muhyiddin yakin dengan fenomena “gelombang hijau”, mengulangi apa yang dikatakan oleh para pemimpin Perikatan Nasional (PN) yang mengatakan PN boleh menawan kerajaan negeri Selangor dan PN mempunyai peluang 50-50 untuk menawan Negeri Sembilan dalam pilihan raya umum negeri yang bakal diadakan di Pulau Pinang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan, dan Terengganu pada bulan Jun atau Julai tahun ini.

Malah seorang pemimpin PN mengatakan yang PN boleh menawan 33 daripada 36 kawasan Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Kedah pada pilihan raya umum negeri akan datang — selain Kota Darul Aman, Bakar Arang, dan Sidam, PN dikatanya akan menyapu bersih semua kerusi di Kelantan dan Terengganu.

Apa yang diperlukan untuk membuktikan bahawa tidak wujud fenomena “gelombang hijau” yang tidak dapat dilawan yang bakal mengubah Malaysia menjadi sebuah teokrasi adalah lima perkara seperti berikut:

PN gagal menawan kerajaan negeri Selangor;

PN gagal menawan kerajaan Negeri Sembilan;

Gabungan Pakatan Harapan dan Barisan Nasional yang membentuk kerajaan perpaduan Anwar boleh memenangi lebih daripada tiga kerusi DUN di Kedah;

Pecahkan monopoli semua kerusi yang dimiliki PN di Kelantan;

Pecahkan monopoli semua kerusi yang dimiliki PN di Terengganu.

Jelas dari ucapan perbahasan Muhyiddin di Parlimen semalam, yang PN mahu enam pilihan raya negeri ini menjadi seperti pilihan raya umum mini, di mana kemenangan besar PN akan menjadi asas kepada satu lagi konspirasi politik seperti Langkah Sheraton untuk menumbangkan Perdana Menteri ke-10, Anwar Ibrahim.

Muhyiddin mahu Yang di Pertuan Agong ke-16 untuk terpaksa bekerja dengan lima orang Perdana Menteri dalam tempoh lima tahun penggal pemerintahan baginda dari tahun 2019 hingga 2024, tetapi keputusannya terletak dalam tangan para pengundi di enam buah negeri dalam pilihan raya negeri mereka yang bakal berlangsung pada bulan Jun atau Julai, bukannya di tangan Muhyiddin.

(Kenyataan Media veteran DAP Lim Kit Siang di Petaling Jaya pada hari Khamis, 16 Februari 2023)

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Hamzah Zainudin’s two mistakes on the first day of the 15th Parliament after the opening by the 16th Yang di Pertuan Agong — failing to provide check and balance during Prime Ministerial question time and failing the Agong’s test to ensure political stability

(Versi BM)

The Parliamentary Opposition Leader, Hamzah Zainudin made two mistakes on the first day of the 15th Parliament after the opening of Parliament by the 16th Yang di Pertuan Agong — firstly, in failing to provide check and balance during half-hour Prime Ministerial question time and secondly, in failing to pass the Yang di Pertuan Agong’s test in the Royal Address to ensure political stability for the next five years to allow the country to unite a very polarised plural nation, and to reset and return to the original nation-building principles to become a first-rate world-class nation.

Hamzah was late for the three Prime Ministerial-question session and he did not ask a single supplementary question.

The three Prime Ministerial questions were on the national debt by the MP for Taiping Wong Kah Woh, on Malaysian aid to Turkey and Syria on the earthquake disaster by the MP for Kuala Kangsar Iskandar Dzulkarnain bin Abdul Khalid, and on corruption by the MP for Tawau, Lo Su Fui — all important questions for the future of the country.

Hamzah’s lateness for the Prime Ministerial question session and his failure to participate in it vindicated the statement that he is the first “lame-duck” Opposition Leader who could not set the tone for the parliamentary opposition because the real power is in other hands and who is not taking his parliamentary responsibility seriously.

MPs from all parties must take a serious note of the revelation by the Deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker Ramli Mohd Nor that the impression of the people was that Parliament was a zoo.

He said he went to a mamak restaurant and the patrons recognised him and asked how was the “zoo”.

But Ramli’s reminder to MPs to always maintain good conduct was not followed and the Dewan Rakyat again became a “zoo”.

Have the Members of Parliament understood the message of the 16th Yang di Pertuan Agong’s Royal Address on Monday to “open their hearts” to the results of last November’s 15th general election — to form a stable government to guarantee political stability and generate economic growth, working on issues such as the cost of living, including subsidies for the people, and anti-corruption?

Will the MPs from all the political parties and groupings respond to the Yang di Pertuan Agong’s call for an end to the “nearly four-year-long political crisis that has plagued the nation”?

The nation will have the answer when the Royal Address motion is completed next Thursday.

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Penang on Friday, 17th February 2023)

Dua kesilapan Hamzah Zainuddin pada hari pertama selepas pembukaan Parlimen ke-15 oleh Yang di Pertuan Agong yang ke-16 — gagal untuk menjadi penyemak imbang semasa Waktu Pertanyaan Perdana Menteri dan gagal dengan ujian Agong untuk menjamin kestabilan politik

Ketua Pembangkang Parlimen, Hamzah Zainuddin, telah melakukan dua kesilapan pada hari pertama selepas istiadat pembukaan Parlimen ke-15 oleh Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di Pertuan Agong — pertama, untuk memastikan ada proses semak imbang semasa Waktu Pertanyaan Perdana Menteri dan kedua, untuk melepasi ujian Agong seperti dalam titah baginda untuk menjamin kestabilan politik dalam tempoh lima tahun yang datang bagi membolehkan proses menyatukan masyarakat majmuk yang terpolarisasi dan untuk mengembalikan negara kita kepada prinsip-prinsip asal pembinaan negara bangsa supaya Malaysia dapat menjadi sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia.

Hamzah telah lewat hadir ke Waktu Pertanyaan Perdana Menteri dan dia tidak bertanyakan satu pun soalan tambahan.

Tiga soalan telah diajukan kepada Perdana Menteri oleh; Ahli Parlimen Taiping, Wong Kah Woh, mengenai hutang negara; Ahli Parlimen Kuala Kangsar, Iskandar Dzulkarnain bin Abdul Khalid, mengenai bantuan Malaysia kepada Turkiye dan Syria untuk bencana gempa bumi yang melanda kedua-dua negara tersebut; dan dari Ahli Parlimen Tawau, Lo Su Fui, mengenai isu rasuah — yang mana ketiga-ketiganya merupakan persoalan yang penting mengenai masa hadapan negara.

Kelewatan Hamzah untuk menyertai Waktu Pertanyaan Perdana Menteri ini mengesahkan kenyataan bahawa dia adalah seorang Ketua Pembangkang yang lemah — seorang Ketua Pembangkang yang tidak mampu menetapkan tona kumpulan pembangkang di Parlimen kerana kuasa sebenarnya berada di tangan orang yang lain yang tidak berpegang kepada tanggungjawab mereka di Parlimen dengan serius.

Ahli-ahli Parlimen dari semua parti perlu memandang serius pendedahan dari Timbalan Yang di Pertua Dewan Rakyat, Ramli Mohd Nor, yang mengatakan rakyat melihat Parlimen seperti sebuah zoo.

Dia mengatakan yang dia telah ke restoran mamak dan orang ramai mengenalinya dan bertanya bagaimanakah situasi di “zoo” ini.

Adakah Ahli-ahli Parlimen telah memahami mesej yang cuba disampaikan oleh Yang di Pertuan Agong yang ke-16 semasa penyampaian Titah Diraja baginda dalam istiadat Pembukaan Parlimen ke-15 pada hari Isnin lepas; untuk “membuka hati” untuk menerima keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 — dengan membentuk kerajaan yang stabil untuk menjamin kestabilan politik dan menjana pertumbuhan ekonomi, untuk menyelesaikan isu-isu yang dihadapi rakyat seperti kos sara hidup, termasuklah perkara-perkara seperti isu subsidi untuk rakyat dan usaha membanteras rasuah?

Adakah Ahli-ahli Parlimen dari semua parti politik akan memberikan respons terhadap seruan baginda untuk menghentikan “kemelut politik yang membelenggu negara hampir 4 tahun lamanya”?

Negara kita bakal menerima jawapan kepada persoalan ini pada hari Khamis minggu hadapan apabila usul Menjunjung Titah Diraja ini selesai.

(Kenyataan Media veteran DAP Lim Kit Siang di Pulau Pinang pada hari Jumaat, 17 Februari 2023)

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Do we have an Opposition Leader who is afraid to raise the issue of corruption in Parliament?

(Versi BM)

Yesterday, I said the Parliamentary Opposition Leader, Hamzah Zainudin made two mistakes last Tuesday — firstly, in failing to provide check and balance during half-hour Prime Ministerial question time and secondly, in failing to pass the Yang di Pertuan Agong’s test in the Royal Address Motion to ensure political stability for the next five years to allow the country to unite a very polarised plural nation, and to reset and return to the original nation-building principles to become a first-rate world-class nation.

Actually, Hamzah was also guilty of a third mistake — the critical omission in his maiden speech in Parliament on the 2022 Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2022.

Is this because his reference to the TI CPI 2022 will reflect on the failures of two “backdoor” governments of Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri?

Do we have an Opposition Leader who is afraid to raise the issue of corruption in Parliament?

The TI CPI 2022 is the best evidence that after six decades, Malaysia has regressed to become a second-rate mediocre country in danger of being lumped together with other failed and divided states in the world in the next few decades.

An Opposition serious about performing its task of providing effective check and balance to the the government-of-the-day would make the TI CPI 2022 one of the chief planks to demand a report and plan from the government to stop Malaysia’s decline in the TI CPI series.

The best attempt in the last three decades to check the decline of anti-corruption efforts was in the 22-month Pakatan Harapan government before it was toppled by the Sheraton Move political conspiracy which brought in two illegitimate “backdoor” governments.

Malaysia’s TI CPI 2019 was the best anti-corruption efforts in 25 years since Transparency International started its annual Corruption Perception Index series in 1995, for in 2019 Malaysia achieved a score of 53 out of 100 marks with a ranking of 51 out of 180 countries as compared with Malaysia’s TI CPI 2017 when it had a score of 47 out of 100 with a rank of 62 out of 180 countries.

The two “backdoor” governments of Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri could not continue with the anti-corruption efforts of the Pakatan Harapan government to achieve better results than the 1995 TI CPI but were responsible for another plunge in TI CPI to the lowest score in a decade, i.e. 47 out of 100 marks, and 62nd ranking out of 180 countries.

We have lost out not only to the Top 10 countries led by Denmark and which includes Singapore, we have also lost out to five countries in the first annual TI CPI 1995 list (Taiwan, South Korea, Spain, Italy, and Greece). Furthermore, we have also lost out to countries like Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Croatia, Mauritius, and Vanuatu, and drew with Jordan.

Unless we buck up, we will be overtaken by Armenia, China, Cuba, Bahrain, Jamaica, Oman, Benin, Bulgaria, Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Hungary, Kuwait, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, Kosovo, Guyana, India, Maldives, Suriname, and Tunisia by the end of the decade.

When the TI started its annual CPI series in 1995, we were well ahead of China, India and Indonesia, which have steadily caught up with Malaysia in the last 27 years. Are we going to lose out to China and India before the end of this decade and to lose out to Indonesia in the next decade?

In the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) countries, we have lost out to United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, and we stand to lose out to more OIC countries if we continue in the trajectory of decline in the TI CPI series.

This is why the current seven-week Parliamentary meeting should be the most important Parliamentary meeting in Malaysian history in initiating institutional reforms for Malaysia to achieve the twin goals of uniting the plural society in Malaysia and to restore Malaysia as a first-rate world-class nation.

Parliament should adopt a Charter of Public Integrity to propel Malaysia to be one of the top countries in the world in public integrity and on the anti-corruption front where the happiness of Malaysians should be the topmost government priority and not that of cronies and the political class as reflected in the most dismal report of TI CPI 2022.

If Hamzah is afraid to lead the anti-corruption campaign in Parliament, then Malaysia needs a new Parliamentary Opposition Leader.

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Penang on Saturday, 18th February 2023)

Adakah kita mempunyai Ketua Pembangkang yang tidak berani untuk membangkitkan isu rasuah di Parlimen?

Semalam, saya telah katakan yang Ketua Pembangkang di Parlimen, Hamzah Zainuddin, telah melakukan dua kesilapan pada hari Selasa lepas – pertama, gagal untuk memastikan ada proses semak imbang semasa Waktu Pertanyaan Perdana Menteri dan kedua, untuk melepasi ujian Agong seperti dalam titah baginda untuk menjamin kestabilan politik dalam tempoh lima tahun yang datang bagi membolehkan proses menyatukan masyarakat majmuk yang terpolarisasi dan untuk mengembalikan negara kita kepada prinsip-prinsip asal pembinaan negara bangsa supaya Malaysia dapat menjadi sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia.

Sebenarnya, Hamzah juga telah melakukan kesilapan ketiga – apabila dia gagal menyentuh mengenai Indeks Persepsi Rasuah (CPI) 2022 terbitan Transparency International (TI) dalam ucapan sulungnya di Parlimen.

Adakah perkara ini berlaku kerana sebab rujukan kepada TI CPI 2022 akan menyentuh isu pentadbiran dua kerajaan “pintu belakang” Muhyiddin Yassin dan Ismail Sabri?

Adakah kita mempunyai seorang Ketua Pembangkang yang tidak berani membangkitkan isu-isu berkenaan rasuah di Parlimen?

TI CPI 2022 ini merupakan bukti utama yang menunjukkan selepas enam dekad, negara kita telah mengalami kemerosotan untuk menjadi negara biasa-biasa dan sedang berada dalam bahaya untuk berada dalam kalangan negara-negara yang gagal dan berpecah belah dalam beberapa dekad yang akan datang.

Sebuah blok Pembangkang yang serius mengenai tanggungjawabnya untuk menjadi semak imbang kepada kerajaan perlu menjadikan TI CPI 2022 sebagai salah satu platform utama mereka untuk menuntut satu laporan dan rancangan dari kerajaan untuk menghentikan kemerosotan Malaysia dalam TI CPI.

Cubaan terbaik usaha ini dalam tiga dekad yang lepas adalah semasa dalam kerajaan Pakatan Harapan sebelum kerajaan ini ditumbangkan selepas 22 bulan melalui konspirasi politik Langkah Sheraton yang membawa masuk dua kerajaan “pintu belakang” yang tidak sah.

TI CPI 2019 untuk Malaysia adalah usaha anti-rasuah terbaik negara dalam 25 tahun sejak indeks ini mula diterbitkan pada tahun 1995. Kita menerima markah 53/100 dan diletakkan di kedudukan ke-51 dari 180 negara, berbanding dengan kedudukan kita pada tahun 2017 di tempat ke-62 dengan markah 47/100.

Dua kerajaan “pintu belakang” Muhyiddin Yassin dan Ismail Sabri tidak dapat meneruskan usaha anti-rasuah kerajaan Pakatan Harapan untuk mencapai keputusan yang lebih baik berbanding dengan indeks negara kita dalam TI CPI 1995, sebaliknya, menjunamkan kedudukan negara kepada markah terendah dalam dekad ini, 47/100 dengan kedudukan di tempat ke-62 dari 180 negara.

Kita telah ditinggalkan bukan sahaja di belakang 10 negara teratas – yang didahului oleh Denmark dan juga termasuklah Singapura – kita juga telah dipintas oleh lima negara yang sebelum ini berada di bawah kedudukan kita dalam TI CPI 1995 (Taiwan, Korea Selatan, Sepanyol, Itali, dan Greece). Tambahan lagi, kita juga telah ditinggalkan di belakang negara-negara seperti Rwanda, Arab Saudi, Croatia, Mauritius, Vanuatu, dan berada di kedudukan yang sama dengan Jordan.

Jika kita tidak meningkatkan usaha kita, kita bakal ditinggalkan di belakang Armenia, China, Cuba, Bahrain, Jamaica, Oman, Benin, Bulgaria, Ghana, Senegal, Afrika Selatan, Burkina Faso, Hungary, Kuwait, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, Kosovo, Guyana, India, Maldives, Suriname dan Tunisia menjelang penghujung dekad ini.

Semasa Transparency International mula menerbitkan siri tahunan CPI pada tahun 1995, kita berada jauh di hadpaan China, India, dan Indonesia. Namun, negara-negara ini terus merapatkan jurang mereka dengan Malaysia dalam 27 tahun yang lepas. Adakah kita bakal ditinggalkan di belakang China dan India sebelum penghujung dekad ini dan ditinggalkan di belakang Indonesia sebelum penghujung dekad hadapan?

Dalam kalangan negara Pertubuhan Kerjasama Islam (OIC), kita telah ditinggalkan di belakang Emiriah Arab Bersatu, Qatar, dan Arab Saudi. Kita juga bakal ditinggalkan di belakang lebih banyak negara-negara OIC sekiranya kita terus menunjukkan prestasi yang tidak baik.

Kerana inilah sidang Parlimen selama tujuh minggu yang sedang berlangsung ini patut menjadi sidang Parlimen yang paling penting dalam sejarah negara, dengan memulakan inisiatif reformasi institusi untuk mencapai matlamat berganda untuk menyatukan masyarakat majmuk di Malaysia dan mengembalikan kedudukan Malaysia sebagai negara hebat bertaraf dunia.

Sidang Parlimen perlu meluluskan suatu Piagam Integriti Awam untuk melonjakkan kedudukan Malaysia menjadi salah satu negara terbaik di dunia dari segi integriti awam dan usaha membanteras rasuah, di mana kegembiraan rakyat Malaysia menjadi keutamaan tertinggi kerajaan, bukannya kegembiraan golongan kroni dan kelas ahli politik seperti yang disaksikan sebelum ini dalam laporan TI CPI 2022 yang amat memalukan.

Sekiranya Hamzah tidak berani untuk memimpin kempen anti-rasuah di Parlimen, Malaysia memerlukan seorang Ketua Pembangkang di Parlimen yang baru.

(Kenyataan Media veteran DAP Lim Kit Siang di Pulau Pinang pada hari Sabtu, 18 Februari 2023)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 18 February 2023, 11:04 am and is filed under
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Call for review and reversal of decision to keep settlement of Apandi’s dismissal suit as Attorney-General by Mahathir in 2018 an “official secret” as it is completely indefensible in terms of public interest

(Versi BM)

I call for review and reversal of the decision to keep the settlement of Mohamad Apandi Ali’s dismissal as Attorney-General by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in 2018 an “official secret” as it is completely indefensible in terms of public interest.

Last week, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said told Ipoh Barat MP M Kula Segaran in a written parliamentary reply that legal counsels to both parties in the matter had agreed to conceal the terms of the settlement during their negotiations.

This is against the public interest, especially as Mahathir had said that he was “mystified” by Putrajaya’s decision not to reveal the details of the settlement with former attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali over compensation for the latter’s dismissal from his post.

I agree with Mahathir.

Apandi, the former Attorney General under Najib Abdul Razak’s government, made his demand publicly. He even named the amount of RM2.23 million.

Mahathir had asked: “Yet the compensation the government made is a secret. Why? I have reason to find out why because I do not think he deserves to be compensated at all.”

During Mahathir’s stint as prime minister in the previous Pakatan Harapan administration, he terminated Apandi’s service as the AG in June 2018 amid the 1MDB probe.

On Oct 13, 2020, Apandi filed a suit against Mahathir and the government over his alleged unlawful termination as AG.

On April 13, 2022, Apandi and the government reached an amicable settlement over the lawsuit.

Mahathir maintained that he made the right decision in sacking Apandi and that the matter was done according to procedure.

He was shocked to read the news about the out-of-court settlement being made between the government and Apandi.

He said when news of the settlement broke: “I was not informed about the settlement even though I was a key witness.”

Public interest require the out-of-court settlement to be made public.

The Cabinet should reverse the decision to keep the out-of-court settlement from the knowledge of the public, as the government is acting on behalf of the public.

If Apandi wants to institute legal action as a result of the publication of the out-of-court settlement, he should be free to do so.

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Penang on Sunday, February 19, 2023)

Gesaan untuk semakan dan pembatalan keputusan untuk menyimpan penyelesaian saman kerana pemecatan Apandi sebagai Peguam Negara oleh Mahathir pada tahun 2018 sebagai “rahsia rasmi” kerana ia tidak dapat dipertahankan sama sekali dari segi kepentingan awam

Saya menggesa agar semakan dan pembatalan keputusan untuk menyimpan penyelesaian kes saman pemecatan bekas Peguam Negara, Mohamad Apandi Ali oleh Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad pada tahun 2018 sebagai “rahsia rasmi” kerana ia tidak dapat dipertahankan sama sekali dari segi kepentingan awam

Minggu lepas, Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri (Undang-undang dan Pembaharuan Institusi) Azalina Othman Said memberitahu Ahli Parlimen Ipoh Barat M Kula Segaran dalam jawapan bertulis parlimen bahawa penasihat undang-undang kepada kedua-dua pihak dalam perkara itu telah bersetuju untuk menyembunyikan terma penyelesaian rundingan mereka.

Perkara ini bertentangan dengan kepentingan awam, terutamanya memandangkan Mahathir mengatakan yang bahawa dia “terkeliru” dengan keputusan Putrajaya untuk tidak mendedahkan butiran penyelesaian dengan bekas peguam negara Mohamed Apandi Ali berhubung pampasan bagi pemecatannya daripada jawatan itu.

Saya bersetuju dengan Mahathir.

Apandi, bekas Peguam Negara di bawah kerajaan Najib Abdul Razak, membuat tuntutannya secara terbuka. Malah dia menamakan jumlah itu sebanyak RM2.23 juta.

Mahathir telah bertanya: “Namun pampasan yang dibuat kerajaan adalah rahsia, kenapa? Saya ada sebab untuk mengetahui sebabnya kerana saya rasa dia tidak layak diberi pampasan sama sekali.”

Semasa Mahathir menjadi perdana menteri dalam pentadbiran Pakatan Harapan sebelum ini, dia telah menamatkan perkhidmatan Apandi sebagai Peguam Negara pada bulan Jun 2018 semasa proses siasatan 1MDB.

Pada 13 Okt 2020, Apandi memfailkan saman terhadap Mahathir dan kerajaan atas dakwaan penamatan khidmatnya sebagai Peguam Negara dilakukan secara tidak sah.

Pada 13 April 2022, Apandi dan kerajaan mencapai penyelesaian secara baik berhubung tuntutan itu.

Mahathir menegaskan bahawa dia membuat keputusan yang tepat dalam memecat Apandi dan perkara itu dilakukan mengikut prosedur.

Dia terkejut membaca berita mengenai penyelesaian di luar mahkamah yang dibuat antara kerajaan dan Apandi.

Dia berkata apabila berita mengenai penyelesaian itu tersebar: “Saya tidak dimaklumkan mengenai penyelesaian itu walaupun saya adalah saksi utama.”

Kepentingan awam memerlukan penyelesaian di luar mahkamah didedahkan kepada umum.

Kabinet harus membatalkan keputusan untuk menyorokkan penyelesaian di luar mahkamah ini daripada pengetahuan orang ramai, kerana kerajaan perlu bertindak bagi pihak rakyat.

Jika Apandi mahu memulakan tindakan undang-undang hasil daripada penerbitan penyelesaian di luar mahkamah ini, dia bebas untuk berbuat demikian.

(Kenyataan Media veteran DAP Lim Kit Siang di Pulau Pinang pada hari Ahad, 19 Februari 2023)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 19 February 2023, 8:04 am and is filed under
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Is it possible to group together some 200-300 public intellectuals to save Malaysia by a reset and a return to the original nation-building principles to unite a plural nation and to become a first-rate world-class nation?

(Versi BM)

I thank my family, friends and comrade-at-arms in the pursuit of the Malaysian Dream.

It has been a long journey and I don’t expect to be here still forging forward for a better Malaysia.

I have retired from front-line politics but I have not retired from politics which is only possible if you leave this world.

I have been wrestling with the problem of a new role in Malaysian national affairs.

I will let you into a secret of what I have been thinking recently, whether it is possible to group together some 200 to 300 public intellectuals to save Malaysia by a reset and a return to the original nation-building principles to unite a plural nation and to become a first-rate world-class nation.

An academician told me that the number of public intellectuals in Malaysia can be counted on the fingers of one’s hand.

I will not take such a narrow view of “public intellectuals” but at its widest sense — any Malaysian, whether graduate or non-graduate, who is prepared to participate in the public affairs discourse of society. Regardless of academic field or professional expertise, the public intellectual addresses the problems of society and engages with the global issues of truth, right and wrong and the judgement of the time.

It will be bigger than G25 but not confined to former public servants. It will be Aliran on a Malaysian stage.

Is this possible? I will like to hear your views.

Very soon, we will be having two “100 Days”.

In two weeks’ time, it will be the first 100 days of the Anwar Unity government.

For the past over two months, Malaysians live on hopes for a better Malaysia.

I told Azalina Othman Said, the Minister for in the Prime Minister’s Department for Law and Institutional Reform in Penang yesterday that the current seven-week Parliament is very important, for at its end on March 30, Malaysians must feel vindicated that they were hopeful that Malaysia is resetting, returning to the original nation-building principles and rising again to become an united world-class nation.

There will be another 100 days when the general election in six states of Penang, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu will be held in June or July to determine whether there will be continued political stability and whether the wishes of Yang di Pertuan Agong will be fulfilled that he will not have to swear in the 11th Prime Minister before his five-year reign ends in January next year.

We are in challenging times.

We must ensure that the Anwar unity government can last five years, but even more important, we must ensure that Malaysia’s “masyarakat madani” under the Anwar unity government is one that will make Malaysia a first-rate world-class nation guided by democracy, the rule of law, good governance, anti-corruption, and a global economic. education and social system.

I have been in the DAP for 58 years, starting when I was a young man, with dreams for a fair, just, and united plural Malaysia.

When I was in school in the fifties, we were educated to be Malayans and then Malaysians, and not just to be Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, and Dayaks.

We will continue to be Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, and Dayaks, which is our ethnic identity. We will also continue to be Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus or Christians, which is our religious identity. But we have a common national identity as Malaysians.

Malaysia can only be great if we can unite as Malaysians, combining the strength of our diverse ethnic, religious, linguistic, and cultural identities to make Malaysia a world-class nation for the good of the people and the world.

There was a time when it was an embarrassment to be a Malaysian in the world. We must make sure that this belong to the past, and such an embarrassing situation will never return in the future.

We want all Malaysians, with diverse ethnic, religious, linguistic, and cultural identities, to be Malaysian First, rather than Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan, Dayak or Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian first.

This is what the Constitution and the Rukun Negara taught us. We must reset and return to these nation-building principles.

I was pleasantly surprised that former Cabinet Minister, Rafidah Aziz, entitled her autobiography “Malaysian First”.

I thank Kee Thuan Chye for his biography Volume One with the title: “Lim Kit Siang — Malaysian First.”

Let me conclude by wishing all Malaysians to be Malaysian First, while preserving their separate ethnic, religious and cultural identities.

(Speech by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang on his 82nd birthday party at the Wembley Hotel, Penang on Sunday, 19th February 2023)

Adakah mungkin untuk mengumpulkan kira-kira 200-300 cendekiawan untuk menyelamatkan Malaysia dengan menetapkan dan kembali semula kepada prinsip asas pembinaan negara untuk menyatukan masyarakat majmuk dan menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia?

Saya berterima kasih kepada ahli keluarga, rakan-rakan, dan rakan seperjuangan saya dalam mengejar Impian Malaysia.

Perkara ini adalah satu perjalanan yang panjang dan saya tidak jangka untuk masih berada di sini dan terus maju ke hadapan, berjuang untuk sebuah Malaysia yang lebih baik.

Saya telah bersara daripada politik barisan hadapan, tetapi saya belum bersara daripada politik — bersara dari politik hanya boleh dilakukan selepas kita meninggalkan dunia ini.

Saya telah bergelut dengan masalah peranan baru dalam hal ehwal negara Malaysia.

Saya akan memberitahu anda rahsia tentang apa yang saya fikirkan baru-baru ini, sama ada mungkin untuk kita kumpulkan kira-kira 200-300 cendekiawan untuk menyelamatkan Malaysia dengan menetapkan dan kembali semula kepada prinsip asas pembinaan negara untuk menyatukan masyarakat majmuk dan menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia.

Seorang ahli akademik memberitahu saya bahawa bilangan cendekiawan awam di Malaysia boleh dikira dengan jari.

Saya tidak akan mengambil pandangan sempit tentang “cendekiawan awam” sebaliknya saya mengambil pengertian yang luas — mana-mana rakyat Malaysia, sama ada siswazah atau bukan siswazah, yang bersedia untuk mengambil bahagian dalam wacana hal ehwal awam masyarakat. Tanpa mengira bidang akademik atau kepakaran profesional, para cendekiawan awam akan menangani masalah masyarakat dan terlibat dengan isu global mengenai kebenaran, perkara yang betul dan salah, dan pertimbangan masa.

Himpunan ini akan lebih besar daripada G25 tetapi tidak terhad kepada bekas penjawat awam. Ia akan menjadi seperti Aliran di pentas Malaysia.

Adakah perkara ini boleh dilakukan? Saya ingin mendengar pandangan anda.

Tidak lama lagi, kita akan tiba dua peristiwa “100 Hari”.

Dua minggu dari sekarang akan menandakan 100 hari sejak penubuhan Kerajaan Perpaduan Anwar.

Sejak dua bulan yang lepas, rakyat Malaysia hidup dengan harapan untuk Malaysia yang lebih baik.

Saya memberitahu Azalina Othman Said, Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri Hal Ehwal Undang-undang dan Pembaharuan Institusi di Pulau Pinang semalam bahawa Parlimen tujuh minggu sekarang adalah sangat penting, kerana pada penghujungnya pada 30 Mac, rakyat Malaysia diyakinkan dengan harapan mereka yang Malaysia sedang ditetapkan semula, kembali kepada prinsip asal pembinaan negara untuk bangkit semula untuk menjadi sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia yang bersatu padu.

Pada masa yang sama, ada 100 hari lagi sebelum Pilihan Raya Negeri diadakan di Pulau Pinang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan, dan Terengganu yang akan menentukan sama ada akan adanya kestabilan politik yang berterusan dan sama ada hajat Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di Pertuan Agong untuk tidak perlu melantik Perdana Menteri ke-11 sebelum tamatnya penggal pemerintahan baginda pada Januari tahun hadapan akan tercapai.

Kita berada dalam masa yang mencabar.

Kita perlu pastikan kerajaan perpaduan Anwar bertahan selama lima tahun, tetapi lebih penting lagi, kita mesti memastikan bahawa “masyarakat madani” Malaysia di bawah kerajaan perpaduan Anwar adalah satu masyarakat yang akan menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara berkelas dunia yang berpandukan demokrasi, kedaulatan undang-undang, tadbir urus yang baik, anti-rasuah, dan mempunyai sistem ekonomi, pendidikan, dan sosial yang bertaraf dunia.

Saya telah berada dalam DAP selama 58 tahun, bermula ketika saya masih muda, dengan impian untuk sebuah Malaysia majmuk yang adil, saksama dan bersatu padu.

Semasa saya di sekolah pada tahun lima puluhan, kita dididik menjadi orang Malaya dan kemudiannya orang Malaysia, dan bukan hanya menjadi orang Melayu, Cina, India, Kadazan, dan Dayak.

Kita akan terus menjadi orang Melayu, Cina, India, Kadazan, dan Dayak, yang merupakan identiti etnik kita. Kita juga akan terus menjadi Muslim, Buddha, Hindu atau Kristian, yang merupakan identiti agama kita. Tetapi kita mempunyai identiti kebangsaan bersama sebagai rakyat Malaysia.

Malaysia hanya boleh menjadi hebat jika kita dapat bersatu sebagai rakyat Malaysia, menggabungkan kekuatan identiti etnik, agama, bahasa, dan budaya kita yang pelbagai untuk menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara bertaraf dunia untuk kebaikan rakyat dan dunia.

Ada satu masa pada ketika dahulu, di mana menjadi satu perkara yang memalukan untuk menjadi rakyat Malaysia di dunia. Kita perlu pastikan perkara ini kekal dalam masa lampau dan tidak berulang sama sekali lagi.

Kita mahu semua rakyat Malaysia, dengan pelbagai identiti etnik, agama, bahasa, dan budaya, mengutamakan identiti mereka sebagai rakyat Malaysia, bukannya pertamanya menjadi orang Melayu, Cina, India, Kadazan, Dayak atau Islam, Buddha, Hindu, Kristian.

Inilah yang diajarkan oleh Perlembagaan dan Rukun Negara kepada kita. Kita mesti kembali kepada prinsip pembinaan negara ini.

Saya amat terkejut apabila bekas Menteri Kabinet, Rafidah Aziz, menamakan autobiografinya “Malaysian First”.

Saya berterima kasih kepada Kee Thuan Chye atas biografinya Jilid Satu dengan tajuk: “Lim Kit Siang — Malaysian First.”

Izinkan saya membuat kesimpulan dengan harapan bahawa semua rakyat Malaysia akan menjadi Malaysian First, sambil mengekalkan identiti etnik, agama dan budaya masing-masing.

(Ucapan veteran DAP Lim Kit Siang pada majlis hari jadi yang ke-82 di Hotel Wembley, Pulau Pinang pada hari Ahad, 19 Februari 2023)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 20 February 2023, 10:36 am and is filed under
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Halimah should apologise for her careless and irresponsible speech — she did not say Menu Rahmah can cause cancer but implied that it could cause cancer, autoimmune disease, or autism

I have checked the Hansard and Kapar PAS MP Dr. Halimah Ali should apologise for her careless and irresponsible speech in Parliament last Tuesday.

She did not say Menu Rahmah can cause cancer but implied that Menu Rahmah could cause cancer, autoimmune disease, or autism.

This is a most careless and irresponsible way of speaking, whether in Parliament or outside, especially for an MP with her professional background and Halimah must apologise and not continue to speak in such a careless and irresponsible manner if she is to regain her credibility.

But Halimah’s infraction is relatively minor compared to the major lapses of other PAS leaders and MPs, like the PAS Youth gathering which organised “Himpunan Pemuda Islam Terengganu” (Himput) last weekend with PAS members marching in the streets of Terengganu with replicas of medieval weapons and armour in a provocative display of their extreme leanings or the fitnahs of PAS leaders, including the PAS President, Hadi Awang, who had not been able to substantiate his allegation that DAP is promoting Islamophobia after more than 14 weeks.

It would appear that the PAS President is not aware that fitnah is forbidden in Islam for Hadi has gone further to equate corruption with charity.

As Thulsi Manogaran, the DAP Perak State Assemblywoman for Buntong, has pointed out, PAS leaders under Hadi are “void of dignity, principles, and responsibility” — referring to the apology of the Perak PAS leader, Razaman Zakaria to the Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for carrying out the LGBT agenda, and the apology of Razman’s son, Rif’aat Razman, who later said his father only apologised to protect the Prime Minister’s good name.

This is not the PAS of Fadzil Noor or Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.

Will PAS join in the national battle against the divisive and toxic politics of lies, falsehoods, fake news, race, and religion in the era of information and social media?

Will PAS leaders agree that politics should be based on honesty, principles and integrity not on the creation of lies, fake news and disinformation?

This does not seem likely as a PAS leader has described criticism of the provocative martial parade in Terengganu as a form of Islamophobia.

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Penang on Tuesday, 21st February 2023)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 21 February 2023, 11:10 am and is filed under
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Now Dr. Halimah is denying the undeniable in her criticism of Menu Rahmah

Now the PAS MP for Kapar, Dr. Halimah Ali has denied that her controversial remarks in Parliament last Tuesday linking low-quality food to cancer and autism were about the government’s Menu Rahmah initiative.

Why did Halimah issue the denial a week after she has spoken and not immediately after she was heavily criticised for linking it with Menu Rahmah?

It was clear from Hansard that she was referring to Menu Rahmah and her denial has compounded her careless and irresponsible speech.

I had suggested that she issue an apology for her careless and irresponsible speech, but she had decided, after a week of the controversy, to dig her toes and fight it out by denying that she was referring to Menu Rahmah.

An issue which could be resolved with an apology to show that PAS MPs are human, and could make mistakes has become an intransigent issue to show the thick-headedness of PAS MPs.

It is clear that she had been advised by the PAS ultras not to compromise and is now denying the undeniable.

Since the 15th General Election and the so-called “green wave” phenomenon, PAS leaders had been aggressive and uncompromising, piling up one extreme action after another, completely ignoring Malaysia’s multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural characteristics.

The most extreme actions include the unsubstantiated allegation of the PAS President, Hadi Awang for 14 weeks that the DAP is promoting Islamophobia, and the allegation that criticism of the PAS Youth “Himput” gathering in Terengganu last weekend with PAS members marching in the streets of Terengganu with replicas of medieval weapons and armour is an example of Islamophobia.

When will PAS leaders learn that Islam forbids slander (fitnah) and they must learn to accept democratic practices and Malaysia’s multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural characteristics?

Will they join in the national battle against the divisive and toxic politics of lies, falsehoods, fake news, race, and religion in the era of information and social media?

Will they join in the war against corruption and stop equating corruption with charity?

Will they stop classifying criticism of PAS leaders as Islamophobia?

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on Wednesday, February 22, 2023)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 22 February 2023, 12:43 pm and is filed under
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The PAS President, Hadi Awang, is one of the 22 MPs who did not participate in the Royal Address Motion in Parliament.

This is a surprise as Hadi is the only political party leader who did not speak on the Royal Address debate in Parliament and the reason is most obvious.

Hadi’s five fitnahs against the DAP are among the important reasons why the PAS President did not speak in the Royal Address Motion in Parliament.

Hadi expected to be challenged by DAP MPs in Parliament to substantiate his five fitnahs against the DAP and Hadi was unable to do so.

To avoid being exposed as a Muslim politician who goes against the Islamic precepts which forbid slander and fitnah, the only way was to avoid taking part in the Royal Address debate in Parliament.

Hadi’s five fitnahs against the DAP are:

That DAP is anti-Malay

The DAP is a political party for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, gender, or region. It is dedicated to create a Malaysia where all citizens enjoy justice, freedom, democracy, and good governance.

Since participating in the first general election in 1969, the DAP has fielded Malay candidates for both Parliamentary and State Assembly seats. Starting with the 1969 general election, DAP elected two Malay state assemblymen and have now three Malay Members of Parliament, a Malay State Executive Councillor, a Malay State Opposition Leader and Malay State Assembly members.

DAP has achieved something which PAS had never done: DAP leaders like Lim Guan Eng were prepared to sacrifice their parliamentary positions and went to jail in the defence of the dignity and morality of an under-aged Malay girl which no PAS leader had ever done.

That DAP is anti-Islam and promoting Islamophobia

In my 58 years in politics, I had never said a harsh word against Muslims or harboured a hostile thought about Islam. Is this promoting Islamophobia?

That DAP is communist

Hadi seems to know more than the Special Branch of Malaysia, who are world-famous for defeating a communist uprising. The Special Branch had never accused the DAP of being communist but Hadi has. Can Hadi substantiate it?

DAP was behind the abortive Pakatan Harapan government attempt in 2018 to ratify ICERD

In actual fact, DAP Ministers and leaders knew nothing about the Prime Minister’s speech in the United Nations in September 2018 about plans to ratify United Nations human rights conventions. Hadi knew this but he is not prepared to apologise for his fitnah and unfounded allegations against the DAP.

DAP dominates the Anwar Unity Government

Is Hadi prepared to say how many Ministers DAP should have in Cabinet so that he could be satisfied that DAP is not dominating the Anwar Unity Government?

Hadi’s absence in the Royal Address Motion is significant, as it shows that he is not prepared to commit PAS to the Yang di Pertuan Agong tests to ensure political stability for the next five years to allow the country to unite a very polarised plural nation, and to reset and return to the original nation-building principles to become a first-rate world-class nation.

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on Thursday, 24th February 2023)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 23 February 2023, 12:16 pm and is filed under
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Does PAS President Hadi Awang accept the five nation-building principles of Rukun Negara?

Today, the Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim will be presenting his 2023 Budget, which will be another mini-test of the survivability, and stability of the Anwar unity government.

But a major test will be in the second 100 days of the Anwar Unity Government when the six states, Penang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu dissolve their respective State Assemblies at the end of June for general elections to be held.

Will there be another triumph of the “green wave” phenomenon, which is supposed to be a special characteristic of the 15th parliamentary General Election, in these these six states?

I am quite sceptical about it.

For 93 days, Malaysians had been living on the hopes of a political stability in Malaysia to provide the breathing space for a reset, and a return to the original nation-building principles for a plural Malaysia to reunite multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural Malaysia to become a first-rate world-class nation.

Can these hopes become a reality and the Anwar Unity Government has the political stability to last five years until the 16th General Election in 2027?

The Anwar Unity Government has passed a major test in securing the confidence-vote motion in Parliament last December, but the Parliamentary Opposition — Perikatan Nasional — had failed the test in the Royal Address Motion, especially in the test set by the Yang di Pertuan Agong to ensure political stability for the next five years to allow the country to unite a very polarised plural nation, and to reset, and return to the original nation-building principles for Malaysia to become a first-rate world-class nation.

After a seven-day debate on the Royal Address Motion, nobody can say that the Parliamentary Opposition — Perikatan Nasional — supports the objective to provide political stability for the next five years to achieve two objectives: to unite a very polarised muti-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural Malaysia, and for Malaysia to fulfil Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman’s aspiration to be “a beacon on light in a difficult, and a distracted world” by first becoming a first-rate world-class nation.

In fact, up to now, I am not sure whether the PAS President, Hadi Awang, supports the five nation-building principles in the Rukun Negara!

What is the stand of the PAS President, Hadi Awang on Rukun Negara?

There is in circulation in the social media a statement that I am still in control of DAP.

This is the reason why last April I declined the proposal of the new DAP Secretary-General, Anthony Loke to become DAP mentor.

When I announced my political retirement at the DAP congress on March 20, 2022 it was a retirement from party elections, and leadership, parliamentary, and state assembly elections.

But as I said in my birthday celebrations in Penang on Sunday, I have retired from front-line politics but I have not retired from politics which is only possible if you leave this world.

But I am not in control of DAP. In fact, most of the time, I do not know what is happening in the DAP.

I have full trust in Anthony Loke as the new DAP Secretary-General in leading the DAP in a new political situation. The new leadershjp may make mistakes but it comes from the responsibility, and acceptable so long as they are honest mistakes.

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on Friday, 24th February 2023)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 24 February 2023, 10:34 am and is filed under
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2023 Budget in last week of the first 100 days of Anwar unity government — will Parliamentary Opposition again fail the test to ensure political stability for Malaysia in the next five years so that Malaysia can become a first-rate world-class nation by maximising on Malaysia’s human and natural resources?

The 2023 Budget of RM386 billion was presented in the last week of the first 100 days of the Anwar unity government and the most important question is whether the Parliamentary Opposition of Perikatan Nasional will again fail the test to ensure political stability for Malaysia in the next five years so that Malaysia can become a first-rate world-class nation by maximising on Malaysia’s human and natural resources.

The Anwar unity government is poised to pass the various tests of its first 100 days — hopes that Malaysia will stop losing out to other nations, the vote of confidence in Parliament last December, the Royal Address motion passed on Thursday and the 2023 Budget presentation yesterday.

Now is the time to translate the hopes of Malaysians into reality.

But the Parliamentary Opposition, led by the Parliamentary Opposition Leader, Hamzah Zainudin, has failed to rise up to the occasion to pass the Yang di Pertuan Agong’s test to ensure political stability for the next five years to allow the country to unite a very polarised plural nation and to reset and return to the original nation-building principles to become a first-rate world-class nation.

I have said that Hamzah failed both the minimum test — that Anwar Ibrahim would be the last Prime Minister the 16th Yang di Pertuan Agong will swear in before the end of his five-year reign next January — and the maximum test that there would be no change of Prime Minister for the next five years and that Anwar Ibrahim will be able to serve the full five-year term as the 10th Prime Minister.

It is not only the Anwar unity government that is undergoing a test, the Parliamentary Opposition of Perikatan National is also facing an acid test.

So far, the Anwar unity government has passed the various tests but not the Parliamentary Opposition of the Perikatan Nasional, with its divisive and toxic politics of lies, falsehoods, and fake news; the preposterous allegation that DAP is promoting Islamophobia; the failure of PAS President Hadi Awang to report to the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) Islamophobia Observatory about Islamophobia in Malaysia; the crude and insensitive ‘cosplay’ of PAS Youth “Himput” gathering in Terengganu with PAS members marching in the streets of Terengganu with replicas of medieval weapons and armour, and the baseless allegation of a PAS MP in Parliament that Menu Rahmah could cause cancer and autism.

Will the Parliamentary Opposition continue with its negative and thoughtless obstruction in Parliament during the debate on the 2023 Budget which begins on Monday?

Or will they declare in the Budget 2023 that there will be political stability for the next five years and that would not be another Sheraton Move political conspiracy to usher in “backdoor” governments?

The Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, ended his 2023 Budget speech by urging MPs to fight corruption together.

He said: “We may have our differences, but don’t allow our differences to stop us from making meaningful change.

“If you want to compete, it should not be in a race to the bottom.

“A contest should be based on fastabiqul khairat — a race that brings good.”

Malaysians await the speech of the Parliamentary Opposition Leader on Monday to see whether Malaysia has a constructive or destructive Opposition.

(Media Statement of DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on Saturday, 25th February 2023)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 25 February 2023, 11:37 am and is filed under
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Will Hamzah in his speech in the debate on the 2023 Budget tomorrow call for the removal of the Official Secrets Act on the billion-dollar 1MDB settlement with Goldman Sachs and for revelation whether the monies recovered had gone to repay 1MDB debts

The parliamentary debate on 2023 Budget presented by Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Friday begins tomorrow — eight days for policy debate and ten days for committee-stage debate.

One of the biggest questions is whether the parliamentary opposition — Perikatan Nasional — is prepared to commit itself to provide political stability in the next five years for Malaysia to reset and return to the original nation-building principles for Malaysia to become a first-rate world-class nation with a world-standard economic, educational, and social systems, and to reunite a very polarised plural nation.

The parliamentary opposition leader, Hamzah Zainudin, will open the debate tomorrow.

Will he call for the removal of the Official Secrets Act on the billion-dollar settlement of the 1MDB scandal with Goldman Sachs and for the revelation whether the monies recovered have gone to repay the billion-dollar 1MDB debts, so that Malaysia can start anew in the war against corruption and will ensure that the rule of law and good governance are practised in Malaysia?

Or will Hamzah keep quiet on the 1MDB scandal so as not to compromise the first “backdoor” Prime Minister after the Sheraton Move political conspiracy — i.e., Muhyiddin Yassin — in February 2020?

If Hamzah dare not touch on the 1MDB scandal, which made Malaysia infamous world-wide as a kleptocracy, Hamzah might as well not speak tomorrow.

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on Sunday, 26th February 2023)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 26 February 2023, 11:37 pm and is filed under
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Problem of two Form Five students who ranted on SPM paper should be handled as a school problem, not a police matter

I agree that it was heavy-handed to treat the problem of the two Form Five students who ranted on the SPM history paper in a viral video with obscene remarks as a police problem when it should be treated as a school problem.

I remember that when I was in Form IV back in 1958, my teacher asked the class to write an essay. Instead of writing the essay, I wrote a piece on why the essay title was inappropriate.

The teacher returned to the essay unmarked and that was the end of the matter. I cannot remember now the title of the essay which I complained about.

The Lawyers for Liberty director Zaid Malek is right that the raid at their homes, followed by arrest and a drug test, would have caused the two 18-year-olds and their family ‟extreme trauma”.

They should not be treated as “hardened criminals” as they had already apologised for their video.

As the DAP MP for Bandar Kuching, Dr Kelvin Yii has said, the arrests were ‟beyond excessive, disproportionate, and may possibly create unintended mental stress and infliction on their overall well-being”.

The students need to be educated and guided rather than being treated as criminals.

I also agree with the Muda president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman that the Anwar Government must fulfil its pledge of repealing the University and Universities Colleges Act 1971 (UUCA).

Pakatan Harapan had given its assurance that the UUCA Act would be abolished if the coalition won the general election in 2018.

This was not fulfilled by the Pakatan Harapan government because of the Sheraton Move political conspiracy in Feb. 2020. Now is the time to fulfil that pledge.

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on Monday, 27th February 2023)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 27 February 2023, 10:12 am and is filed under
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It is not only the Anwar unity government that is under test, the parliamentary opposition is also under test, whether it supports political stability for the next five years for a reset of nation-building policies to unite a very polarised nation to become a first-rate world-class Malaysia instead of hurtling along to become a divided, failed, and kleptocratic state

It is not only the Anwar unity government that is under test, the parliamentary opposition is also under test, whether it supports political stability for the next five years for a reset of nation-building policies to unite a very polarised nation to become a first-rate world-class Malaysia instead of hurtling along to become a divided, failed, and kleptocratic state.

This thought came to me when I read reports of the former Bersatu information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan asking in Parliament if the 10th Prime Minister was inspired by the Communist Manifesto in drafting the 2023 Budget, and whether the latter was trying to instigate class warfare.

This term may be often used by US Republicans to attack any efforts by Barrack Obama to address societal inequality when the latter was in office as US President, but does the Malaysian Parliamentary Opposition want to see Malaysia as polarised as the United States instead of finding a Malaysian route to national unity among our diverse races, languages, religions, and cultures?

I am also reminded of one of the most preposterous allegations which the PAS President, Hadi Awang, had hurled against the DAP but which he had never been able to substantiate — that the DAP is anti-Malay, anti-Islam, communist, and promoting Islamophobia.

In his keynote address at the International Forum on Islamophobia: Meaningful Engagement Through Madani Discourse yesterday, Anwar strongly advocated for reasoned discourse in accordance with Maqasid Syariah, and not enmity or hatred, when responding to Islamophobia to maintain order and peace.

But Hadi is undermining the discourse against Islamophobia when he shouts “Islamophobia” for any criticism against him as PAS President for his failures and shortcomings.

It is full 14 weeks when he made the preposterous allegation that DAP is promoting Islamophobia but he has not been able to substantiate his serious allegation. When is he going to substantiate his allegation or will he retract his allegation against the DAP?

When China’s President, Xi Jinping, visited Saudi Arabia last December for the first China-Arab States Summit, he was given a better welcome than when US President Joe Biden visited Saudi Arabia last July. Is Wan Saiful suggesting that Saudi Arabia has turned “communist”?

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on Tuesday, 28th February 2023)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 28 February 2023, 12:08 pm and is filed under
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Malaysia living at the razor’s edge

Malaysians are living at the razor’s edge.

Friday will be the first 100 days of the Anwar Unity Government.

For the past three months, many Malaysians had been living on hopes, that Malaysia can reset and return to the original nation-building principles of the nation’s founding fathers written into the Malaysian Constitution and the Rukun Negara to unite a very polarised multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural people so that Malaysia can become a first-rate world-class nation with world-class political, economic, educational, and social systems instead of hurtling along to end up as a divided, failed, and kleptocratic state.

After six decades of nation-building, Malaysia has slipped from a first-rate world-class nation to a second-class mediocre country. We are losing out to Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. We have become a nation in decline.

Are we fated to end up as a divided, failed, and kleptocratic state on Malaysia’s Centennial in 2057?

PAS President, Hadi Awang, thinks so.

That is why he predicted last night that Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government will collapse soon.

Hadi made the prediction during a dialogue organised by book publisher Yayasan Permata Ummah in Kuala Lumpur last night.

If Hadi is right, then the 16th Yang di Pertuan Agong’s wish in his Royal Address opening the 15th Parliament on 13th February that Anwar Ibrahim will be his final prime minister appointment before his tenure ends next January will not come true.

But is Hadi up to another Sheraton Move political conspiracy to topple the Anwar unity government or was he just whistling in the dark?

Before the Anwar’s unity government’s first 100 days were up on Friday. Hadi wanted Malaysians to worry about the toppling of the Anwar unity government.

Hadi does not want to wait for the second “Hundred Days” test after June when general elections are held in six states — Penang, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu — to prove that there is an invincible “Green Wave” and wants the Anwar unity government dead and buried well before that.

May be the PAS President is up to no good to deny Malaysians the opportunity to unite a very polarised multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural people so as to reset and return to the original nation-building principles of Malaysia to become a first-rate world-class nation, or he was just dreaming and bluffing.

Whatever it is, the nation will know soon.

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on Wednesday, 1st March, 2023)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 1 March 2023, 2:56 pm and is filed under
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Shocked beyond words by Mahathir’s latest statement

(Versi BM)

I am shocked beyond words by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s latest statement.

I just cannot believe that a person who had been a senior Cabinet Minister for seven years, a Prime Minister twice in his lifetime — the first time for the unbelievably long tenure of 22 years, and the second time for 22 months — could say when he was 97 years old that the Malays have lost political and economic control in Malaysia, and that to rescue the race, he decided to join Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra) as the new platform to champion Malay rights.

If the Malays have lost political and economic control of Malaysia, who had gained the political and economic control?

Is Mahathir suggesting the non-Malays?

It is extraordinary that in his final years, Mahathir is repeating what the PAS President, Hadi Awang, had been warning — that Malaysia could be controlled by the non-Muslims if the Malays have low political awareness.

What has happened to Mahathir’s Vision 2020?

Is it just a conjurer’s trick and Mahathir never believed in Vision 2020?

It is most confounding that Mahathir had abandoned and been abandoned not only by UMNO, but also by Bersatu and Pejuang which he founded and decided to join Putra, and that he not only lost his deposit in the parliamentary contest in Langkawi but both Pejuang and Putra made a name for themselves in the last general election with their candidates losing their deposits.

If a person who was a senior Cabinet Minister for seven years and a Prime Minister twice for a total of some 24 years could not have a respectable following as not to lose his deposit in a parliamentary contest, is this a sign of his abysmal failure to influence others with his ideas and beliefs?

I feel great sadness reading Mahathir’s statement as he seemed to have backtracked not only from Vision 2020 and the concept of Bangsa Malaysia but even what he wrote his last book post-Sheraton Move, “Capturing Hope”, where he said:

“Now, I have spent my entire life and career being ‘pro-Malay’. If what people mean by that term is the dedication of time and energy towards helping the Malay community progress, especially in terms of education and income security, then, yes, I am certainly pro-Malay. Being pro-Malay does not entail being anti-everybody else. However, there are those who desire to be seen as ‘Malay first’ even ahead of being Malaysian, and this enabled them to promote the idea of forming a ‘Malay-Muslim Government’. In Malaysia, where more than 30 per cent of the population is made up of non-Malays, this is not possible. And sure enough, the new “Malay-Muslim Government’ of the Perikatan Nasional under Muhyiddin actually depended on non-Malays to survive.”

I accept Mahathir’s definition of “pro-Malay” as not being anti-non-Malays but there are others who define “pro-Malay” as “Malay first” or anti-non-Malays.

But the cruellest irony of all is the news report that his son and President of Pejuang, Mukhriz Mahathir had submitted an application for Pejuang to join Perikatan Nasional as a component party.

Where are all the Malaysianness after six decades of Malaysian nation-building?

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on Thursday 2 March 2023)

Terkejut sehingga tidak terkata dengan kenyataan terbaru Mahathir

Saya terkejut sehingga tidak terkata dengan kenyataan terbaru Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Saya tidak percaya bahawa seorang tokoh yang telah menjadi Menteri Kabinet kanan selama tujuh tahun, menjadi Perdana Menteri sebanyak dua kali dalam hidupnya — kali pertama untuk tempoh khidmat yang sangat panjang selama 22 tahun dan kali kedua selama 22 bulan — boleh mengatakan ketika dia berumur 97 tahun bahawa orang Melayu telah kehilangan kawalan politik dan ekonomi di Malaysia dan untuk menyelamatkan kaum itu, dia memutuskan untuk menyertai Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra) sebagai platform baharu untuk memperjuangkan hak Melayu.

Jika orang Melayu telah hilang kawalan politik dan ekonomi di Malaysia, siapakah yang telah mendapat kawalan politik dan ekonomi?

Adakah Mahathir cuba mengatakan orang bukan Melayu?

Sungguh luar biasa bahawa pada tahun-tahun terakhirnya, Mahathir mengulangi apa yang telah diperkatakan oleh Presiden PAS, Hadi Awang — bahawa Malaysia boleh dikawal oleh orang bukan Islam jika orang Melayu mempunyai kesedaran politik yang rendah.

Apa sudah jadi dengan Wawasan 2020 Mahathir?

Adakah ia hanya tipu helah dan Mahathir tidak pernah percaya pada Wawasan 2020?

Amat mengelirukan melihat Mahathir meninggalkan dan ditinggalkan bukan sahaja oleh UMNO, tetapi juga oleh Bersatu, dan Pejuang yang diasaskan olehnya dan memutuskan untuk menyertai Putra. Dia juga bukan sahaja kehilangan depositnya dalam pilihan raya parlimen di Langkawi, tetapi kedua-dua parti Pejuang dan Putra mencipta nama dalam pilihan raya umum yang lepas apabila semua calon mereka kehilangan wang deposit.

Jika seseorang yang telah menjadi Menteri Kabinet kanan selama tujuh tahun dan Perdana Menteri sebanyak dua kali selama kira-kira 24 tahun tidak dapat mengumpulkan sejumlah penyokong yang mencukupi untuknya tidak hilang deposit dalam pilihan raya, adakah perkara ini menjadi petanda kegagalannya sendiri untuk mempengaruhi orang lain dengan idea dan kepercayaannya?

Saya berasa sangat sedih membaca kenyataan Mahathir kerana dia seolah-olah telah meninggalkan bukan sahaja Wawasan 2020 dan konsep Bangsa Malaysia malah apa yang dia tulis dalam buku terakhirnya selepas Sheraton Move, “Menangkap Harapan”, di mana dia berkata:

“Kini, saya telah menghabiskan seluruh hidup dan kerjaya saya menjadi ‘pro-Melayu’. Jika yang dimaksudkan oleh orang ramai dengan istilah itu ialah dedikasi masa dan tenaga ke arah membantu kemajuan masyarakat Melayu khususnya dari segi pendidikan dan jaminan pendapatan, maka ya, saya sudah tentu pro-Melayu. Menjadi pro-Melayu tidak memerlukan anti-orang lain. Walau bagaimanapun, ada pihak yang mahu dilihat sebagai ‘Melayu didahulukan’ walaupun mendahului Malaysia, dan ini membolehkan mereka mempromosikan idea membentuk ‘Kerajaan Melayu-Islam’. Di Malaysia, di mana lebih 30 peratus penduduk terdiri daripada bukan Melayu, ini tidak mungkin. Dan yang pasti, “Kerajaan Melayu-Islam” baharu Perikatan Nasional di bawah Muhyiddin sebenarnya bergantung kepada bukan Melayu untuk terus hidup.

Saya menerima takrifan Mahathir tentang “pro-Melayu” sebagai bukan anti-bukan-Melayu tetapi ada juga yang mentakrifkan “pro-Melayu” sebagai “Melayu didahulukan” atau anti-bukan Melayu.

Namun perkara yang paling ironi adalah laporan berita bahawa anaknya yang merupakan Presiden Pejuang, Mukhriz Mahathir telah mengemukakan permohonan untuk Pejuang menyertai Perikatan Nasional sebagai parti komponen.

Di manakah semangat Malaysia ini selepas enam dekad pembinaan negara Malaysia?

(Kenyataan Media oleh veteran DAP Lim Kit Siang di Petaling Jaya pada Khamis 2 Mac 2023)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 2 March 2023, 4:23 pm and is filed under
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After six decades of Malaysian nation-building and half a century of Rukun Negara, we should be talking about the “Malaysian Dilemma” instead of the “Malay Dilemma” or the “Non-Malay Dilemma”

After six decades of Malaysian nation-building and half a century of Rukun Negara, we should be talking about the “Malaysian Dilemma” instead of the “Malay Dilemma” or the “Non-Malay Dilemma”.

This thought came to me when I read the report “Mahathir ramps up race rhetoric after joining Putra”.

The news report quoted Mahathir as saying:

“That’s why before I die, I will work for my race.

“Call me racist, but Malays are now left behind after giving way to the foreigners.”

Two days ago, in a talk to senior military officers in Putrajaya, I said I had been to China few times, but I never felt at home. But when the plane returned to Malaysia, I felt I was returning home.

I shared with them a 54-year-old Official Secrets Act (OSA) document, which was declassified on 24th February 2020 as a result of a defamation suit I instituted against the former Inspector-General of Police, Tun Hanif Omar to show how loyal and consistent DAP leaders and I had been through the decades in the pursuit of the Malaysian Dream.

This was a statement I made to the police while in police custody at the Kuala Selangor Police Station lock-up under my first Internal Security Act detention after I voluntarily flew back to Malaysia on 18th May 1969.

In my over half-a-century of political life, I have been demonised and accused of all sorts of things — that I was the main figure of the May 13, 1969 racial riots; anti-Malay; anti-Indian and even anti-Chinese; that I was a secret agent of CIA, M16, KGB and even Australian Secret Service; that I was a communist and most lately promoting Islamophobia.

I was asked about my views on many things — on the May 13, 1969 riots, my political stand and my “future plan” and this is what I said to the Police in May 1969:

“My Political Stand

83. Like any colleagues in the DAP, I believe:

(a) That Malaysia is a multi-racial, multi-lingual, and multi-cultural society, and that a viable Malaysian nation can only be formed if all the races and groups in the country are given an equal stake in the Malaysian sun.

(b) that in a multi-racial society like Malaysia, violence and any ideology of force, as for instance advocated by the CPM can only lead to the disintegration of the country because it quickly degenerates into racial conflict. I therefore deplore force and violence of all forms.

(c) that in a multi-racial society, if any racial group feels it is backward, either educationally, economically, culturally, linguistically, or politically, then racial antagonism will be created. Every attempt must be made to remove these imbalances between the races and groups.

(d) that poverty is not a communal problem. It is a socio-economic problem. To regard poverty as a racial problem is to increase racial antagonism in this country.

(e) that democratic socialism can close the gap between the haves and the have-nots of all races.

(f) that I want a clean, honest, efficient, incorruptible, and effective government.

(g) that only parliamentary democracy can prevent a racial clash. Any other form of government will only lead to racial mistrust.

(h) that communism is unconducive in a multi-racial society like Malaysia.

My Future Plan

84. I intend to continue with my political work in the DAP to help bring about a genuine nation of Malaysians:

(a) where every citizen, regardless of his race, language or religion, regards himself as a Malaysian first and his racial identity secondary;

(b) where Malaysians of all races have more in common with one another than with their ‘blood brothers’ counterpart in China, India or Indonesia. Unless we can achieve this, Malaysia cannot be said to have become “A Nation of Malaysians”.

85. Inside and outside Parliament, my and my party’s theme will continue to be:

(a) that all Malaysians must be Malaysian conscious;

(b) to work in unison to make Malaysia a united, harmonious, and prosperous nation.

The nation’s founding fathers, Onn Jaafar, Tunku Abdul Raham, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Tan Cheng Lock, and Tun Sambanthan envisaged a nation comprising Malays and non-Malays and that is why there is Article 43 in the Malaysian Constitution which does not limit a Prime Minister to the Malays, where non-Malays are not constitutionally barred from holding the office of Prime Minister although Article 43(7) barred a person who is a citizen by naturalization or by registration under Article 17 from becoming Prime Minister.

I do not expect to see a non-Malay to become a Prime Minister in my lifetime or even my children’s lifetime.

But I posed this question in Parliament during the debate of 2009 Budget debate in Parliament in November 2008.

I said it was unthinkable even until very recently for anyone to believe that it was possible for a black, who were slaves until some 150 years ago, to be able to become President of US.

With Obama’s historic breakthrough, many Malaysians were asking whether it was possible for a Chinese, Indian, Kadazan, or Dayak to become the Prime Minister of Malaysia although the Constitution is very clear that any Malaysian citizen, regardless of race or religion can become Prime Minister.

I said if such a question was asked 50 years ago, the nation’s founders like Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Dr. Ismail, Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Tun Tan Siew Sin, and Tun V.T. Sambanthan would unhesitatingly answered in the positive as there was no constitutional bar — separate from the question of whether it was likely to happen.

I said in November 2018:

“But if the same question is asked now, there will be strong voices (as heard in Parliament today when this question was posed) who would rise up to say no.

“Who is going against the Merdeka Constitution and the social contract reached by the forefathers of the major communities to achieve national independence half a century ago?

“Why is Malaysian race relations and nation-building going backwards in the past 50 years as compared to the historic breakthrough in race relations in the United States with Obama’s historic victory in the US presidential elections?”

We seem to have slipped further in the year 2023.

It is not that a non-Malay is to become a Prime Minister in this generation or the next, but Mahathir as senior Cabinet Minister for seven years and twice as Prime Minister of Malaysia for as long as 24 years seem to have forgotten his Ministerial and Prime Ministerial oath he had taken to “preserve, protect, and defend” the Malaysian Constitution?

After six decades of nation-building, Malaysia has slipped from a first-rate world-class nation to a second-class mediocre country. We have become a nation in decline.

Are we fated to end up as a divided, failed, and kleptocratic state on Malaysia’s Centennial in 2057?

This is the most important question in Malaysia today, not the rhetorical and baseless question why the Malays have lost economic and political power to the non-Malays, but whether Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, or region, can reset and return to the original nation-building principles of our nation’s founding fathers to reunite a very polarised plural society and make Malaysia a first-rate world-class nation with world-class political, economic, educational and social system instead of hurtling along to become a divided, failed and kleptocratic state on Malaysia’s Centennial in 2057.

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Penang on Friday, March 3, 2023)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 3 March 2023, 12:40 pm and is filed under
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Mahathir invited to also discuss “The Malaysian Dilemma” and not just focus on “The Malay Dilemma” while ignoring “The Non-Malay Dilemma” altogether

Mahathir Mohammad made a name for himself in 1970 when he wrote “The Malay Dilemma”.

After becoming a senior Cabinet Minister for seven years and twice Prime Minister of Malaysia for altogether 24 years, Mahathir recently concluded that the Malays have lost economic and political control of Malaysia.

Are those who argued that Mahathir’s “The Malay Dilemma” has led finally to Najib Razak’s multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal and Malaysia becoming a kleptocratic state right in their arguments?

I invite Mahathir to also discuss “The Malaysian Dilemma” and not just focus on “The Malay Dilemma” while ignoring “The Non-Malay Dilemma” altogether.

I have said that the most important question in Malaysia today is not the rhetorical and baseless question that the Malays have lost economic and political control, but whether Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, or region, can reset and return to the original nation-building principles of our nation’s founding fathers, to reunite a very polarised plural society, and to make Malaysia again a first-rate world-class nation, with world-class political, economic, educational, and social system instead of hurtling along to become a divided, failed, and kleptocratic state on Malaysia’s Centennial in 2057.

Or in the words of Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, for Malaysia to become a “a beacon of light in a difficult and distracted world”?

Does Mahathir agree?

It is sad to see Mahathir ending his political career as a comrade-in-arm with the PAS President, Hadi Awang.

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Penang on Saturday, March 4, 2023)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 4 March 2023, 2:30 pm and is filed under
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Should Malaysians dream a common dream of a “Malaysian Dream” or separate dreams of a “Malay Dream” and a “Non-Malay Dream”?

Should Malaysians dream a common dream of a “Malaysian Dream” or separate dreams of a “Malay Dream” and a “Non-Malay Dream”?

The answer should be obvious after six decades of Malaysian nation-building, but it has been thrown to the forefront of Malaysian politics by the author of the 1970 book “The Malay Dilemma”.

This would be understandable if the author had not gone on to become a senior Cabinet Minister for seven years and twice Prime Minister of Malaysia, and authored Vision 2020 and the concept of Bangsa Malaysia, which were premised on the basis that Malaysians should share a common “Malaysian Dream”.

I had thought that Mahathir Mohamad would have graduated from a Malay leader to a Malaysian statesman in his second stint as Prime Minister of Malaysia, and although there were some changes in Mahathir’s thinking, they were not deep enough.

The changes in Mahathir’s thinking could be seen from his post-Sheraton Move book, “Capturing Hope”, where he said:

“Now, I have spent my entire life and career being ‘pro-Malay’. If what people mean by that term is the dedication of time and energy towards helping the Malay community progress, especially in terms of education and income security, then, yes, I am certainly pro-Malay. Being pro-Malay does not entail being anti-everybody else. However, there are those who desire to be seen as ‘Malay first’ even ahead of being Malaysian, and this enabled them to promote the idea of forming a ‘Malay-Muslim Government’. In Malaysia, where more than 30 per cent of the population is made up of non-Malays, this is not possible. And sure enough, the new “Malay-Muslim Government’ of the Perikatan Nasional under Muhyiddin actually depended on non-Malays to survive.”

It is with great sadness that Mahathir had relapsed to become what he had criticised, in his book, to be “Malay first” even ahead of being Malaysian.

Mahathir seems to subscribe to the view that the 10th Prime Minister will fail in his second “100 Days” test in the general election to be held in the six states of Penang, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu as the state general elections would confirm an invincible “green wave” in the country.

I do not subscribe to this view for I believe that all youths, whether Malay or non-Malay, want a common Malaysian Dream for the nation to succeed as a first-rate world-class nation instead of ending up as a divided, failed, and kleptocratic state on Malaysia’s Centennial in 2057!

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on Sunday, 5th March 2023)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 5 March 2023, 5:45 pm and is filed under
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I have never asked Mukhriz Mahathir any question!

I have never asked
Mukhriz
Mahathir any question.

He purports to answer for his father, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad who just dissociated himself from
Mukhriz
’ political views.

Does Dr. Mahathir wants
Mukhriz
to answer for him?

In any event, why didn’t
Mukhriz
answer the questions which I had posed — whether Malaysians should dream a common “Malaysian Dream” or separate dreams of a “Malay Dream” and a “Non-Malay Dream”; whether Mahathir’s “The Malay Dilemma” in 1970 led finally to Najib Razak’s multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal and Malaysia becoming a kleptocratic state half a century later; whether Malaysia is destined to become a divided, failed, and kleptocratic state on Malaysia’s Centennial in 2057?

Mukhriz
’ views are not new, and the 2022 General Election results where
Mukhriz
lost his deposit when he secured less than five percent of the votes that were cast showed that his views were those of a minority of a minority.

It is ironic but true that the vernacular schools educated the school-children to be Malaysians, while the national schools have failed in this mission.

Did the Malaysian Constitution lay down the precondition that Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools should be closed down before the possibility of having a non-Malay becoming a Prime Minister can be entertained?

Why didn’t
Mukhriz
say that Malaysia must become one of the 30 top countries in the world for anti-corruption efforts as reflected in the annual Transparency International Corruption Perception Index before the possibility of having a non-Malay becoming a prime minister can be entertained?

I am not asking for a non-Malay to become a Prime Minister. But according to the Constitution, a non-Malay can be a Prime Minister. I do not expect this to happen during my lifetime or that of my children’s lifetime.

The 300 responses in six hours from Malaysiakini’s readers is a strong indication of the rejection of
Mukhriz
’ views.

I reiterate my view: the most important question for Malaysia today is whether Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, or region, can reset and return to the original nation-building principles of our nation’s founding fathers, to reunite a very polarised plural society, and to make Malaysia again a first-rate world-class nation, with world-class political, economic, educational, and social system instead of hurtling along to become a divided, failed, and kleptocratic state on Malaysia’s Centennial in 2057.

What is Tun Mahathir’s answer to the question!

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Penang on Monday, 6th March 2023)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 6 March 2023, 5:22 pm and is filed under
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Hadi revolts against the Yang di Pertuan Agong’s advice on political stability, the Sultan of Perak’s advice on eradicating corruption, and the Sultan of Terengganu’s decree against politicians speaking in mosques and suraus, yet he accuses DAP of anti-royalty when DAP supports all these objectives

PAS President, Hadi Awang revolts against the Yang di Pertuan Agong’s advice on political stability, the Sultan of Perak’s advice on eradicating corruption, and the Sultan of Terengganu’s decree against politicians speaking in mosques and suraus, yet he accuses DAP of anti-royalty when DAP supports all these objectives.

In the euphoria of PAS victory in the 15th General Election on Nov. 19, 2022, PAS has made three major errors.

Firstly, it tried to act like the moral police in Malaysia. Secondly, it ridiculed attempts by the Anwar unity government to help the poor and needy to meet their food needs and told lies and untruths, like Menu Rahmah could cause autism and cancer.

But these errors were overshadowed by the series of major errors committed by the PAS President, Hadi Awang, whose political appetite has grown with the alleged “green wave” in the 15th General Election, thinking he should be the 11th Prime Minister himself or the kingmaker of the 11th Prime Minister.

He alleged that the DAP was anti-Malay, anti-Islam, anti-Royalty, communist, and lately promoting Islamophobia.

More than 14 weeks have passed, and despite constant reminders to substantiate his allegation that DAP was promoting Islamophobia, Hadi has not been able to do so.

Can Hadi name an Islamic prophet who used lies, falsehoods, and fake news to hurl allegations against his opponents?

But the greatest failure of Hadi when he was the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to the Middle East is his failure to report DAP’s alleged Islamophobia to the Organisation of Islamic Conference Islamophobia Observatory — if there was any basis on the allegation that DAP was promoting Islamophobia.

There is no truth to Hadi’s allegation that DAP promoted islamophobia. We have Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and Christians in DAP, and we want inter-religious peace, understanding, and tolerance where Malaysia could be, in the words of Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, “a beacon of light in a difficult and distracted world”.

For over half a century, DAP has fielded candidates from all ethnic and religious groups. DAP has never harboured a hostile thought for the Malays, Islam, and the Royalty.

But Hadi could be so unscrupulous as to charge the DAP as anti-Malay, anti-Islam, anti-Royalty, and even promoting Islamophobia without an iota of evidence?

But PAS under Hadi had achieved what PAS under all previous PAS Presidents had never done — it became exceedingly rich to the extent that a PAS leader could offer to fund Bersatu for the six state general elections later this year.

Is this why the PAS leadership is equating corruption with charity?

(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Penang on Tuesday, 7th March 2023)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 7 March 2023, 4:20 pm and is filed under
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