Ilham Centre/Penang Institute survey cannot be a  correct reflection of situation in the country as not even one per cent of non-Muslims  in any survey will believe  that non-Muslims are now in control of the government with  DAP calling the shots in Putrajaya

A survey jointly by Ilham Centre and think tank Penang Institute during the ending months of last year has found that more than 60 percent of the Malays surveyed were not happy with the Pakatan Harapan government as they  believed that non-Muslims were now in control of the government and that DAP was calling the shots in Putrajaya.

The survey interviewed 2,614 Malay respondents between Oct 24 and Dec 24, 2018.

The Ilham Centre/Penang Institute survey cannot be a  correct reflection of situation in the country as not even one per cent of non-Muslims  in any survey will believe  that non-Muslims are now in control of the government and that DAP is  calling the shots in Putrajaya.

If the  Ilham Centre/Penang Institute survey is a correct reflection of the situation in the country, then if a similar survey had been conducted among the non-Muslims at the same time, a substantial number of non-Muslims will be very supportive of Pakatan Harapan government on the ground the non-Muslims were now in control of the government and that the DAP was calling the shots in Putrajaya.

Although such a survey among non-Muslims was not held, I dare say that if a survey had been conducted, there will not be a single percent of non-Muslims who would feel happy with the Pakatan Harapan government on the ground  that the non-Muslims  were now in control of the government and that DAP was calling on the shots in Putrajaya, when these suppositions were not true at all.

In fact, any poll would show that there was an increase in dissatisfaction with the DAP and the Pakatan Harapan on the ground that the DAP and the Pakatan Harapan government had disappointed the expectations and high hopes of the non-Muslims in the country in first nine months of the Pakatan Harapan government.

Why a such a disconnect on the ground leading to the Ilham Centre/Penang Institute survey finding that 60 per cent of the Malays surveyed were not happy with Pakatan Harapan Government because of the belief that the non-Muslims were now in control of the government and that the  DAP was calling the shots in Putrajaya, while there was  not even one per cent of non-Muslims who were  happy with the Pakatan Harapan government  precisely on the same grounds?

In a previous survey done in August last year, Harapan was reported to have secured only 17 percent of Malay votes in 14th general election.

Does this  mean that  there is now an increasing support of the Malays for the Pakatan Harapan government,  more than doubling of Malay support for the Pakatan Harapan government from the lowly 17% to over  40%?

Be that as it may, it is important that the Pakatan Harapan address the grievances and unhappiness of all Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans, Orang Ali –  or  Muslims and non-Muslims.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah Lim Kit Siang on Saturday, 2nd February 2019)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 2 February 2019, 9:52 am and is filed under
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I should be mightily offended by the latest social media offensive that I am angling to get into the Cabinet after being earlier  bruited of becoming Prime Minister of Pakatan Harapan

I should be mightily offended by the latest social media offensive that I am angling to get into the Cabinet after being earlier bruited of becoming Prime Minister of the Pakatan Harapan government in Putrajaya if Pakatan Harapan should win the 14th General Election.

What a great letdown – from the pinnacle of the post of Prime Minister to a place in the Cabinet.

But I am not offended in the least, but was quite amused and tickled, as both these  politically-motivated speculation are just simply untrue.

Just as I had never thought about being Prime Minister – most  unthinkable after  Pakatan Harapan had announced its agreement that if PH wins  the 14th  General Election, Tun  Dr. Mahathir Mohamad would be the Prime Minister,  to  be followed by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in mid-term – such politically-motivated rumours were still conjured,  manufactured and peddled both  before and after the 14th General Election, involving  the highest personalities – reaching all the way to Sri Perdana previously and now the highest echelons of leadership in the  Opposition.

I had said that I have no intention  of being a Cabinet Minister, as there are more than sufficient young and idealistic DAP leaders to take up positions of responsibility in the Pakatan Harapan government – and my intention to stay  out of the Cabinet remains unchanged.

Why then the recent  spate of rumours and speculations that I wanted to be in the Cabinet and that  the DAP’s defeat in the Cameron Highlands by-election is a setback to such a plan?

These are the perils of social media, when messages can be transmitted instantaneously, whether by Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsAp.

It is essential for all Malaysians  to  develop a cynical and sceptical attitude to the messages they receive, to put on the thinking cap to check on the veracity of the information they receive instantaneously if they are not to be the new serfs of the social media era, which  has supplanted  the traditional print and electronic media.

During the Cameron Highlands by-election, a message was zapped through WhatsApp, viz:

“Lim Kit Siang mengusulkan didlm Dewan Rakyat supaya perkataan Islam Dan Melayu digugurkan dlm Perlembagaan.”

Did those who receive this message pause to ask themselves whether it is true, and whether if so, why it had not been highlighted before?

During the by-election campaign, banners were put up all over Jelai, carrying the picture of the Pakatan Harapan candidate M. Manogaran, and claiming that he had said: “Saya yakin tanpa undi Orang Melayu dan Orang Asal, Pakatan boleh menang di Cameron Highland.”

Did the voters of Cameron Highlands in Jelai see through the deception and trickery of such mischievous  banners?

Unless Malaysians, especially voters, develop a healthy attitude to check on the veracity of the messages they receive in the social media, the liars and the cheats are going to have a field day.

Such a healthy dose of skepticism about the veracity of messages will be a useful mechanism in an era where information travels at the speed of light.

For instance, when Ilham Centre and Penang Institute’s joint survey found that more than 60 percent of the Malays surveyed were not happy with the Pakatan Harapan government as they  believed that non-Muslims were now in control of the government and that DAP was calling the shots in Putrajaya, one should ask whether this is correct reflection of the situation in the country when not even one per cent of non-Muslims  in any survey will believe  that non-Muslims are now in control of the government and that DAP is  calling the shots in Putrajaya.

As  a previous survey done in August last year, Pakatan  Harapan was reported to have secured only 17 percent of Malay votes in 14th general election, does the survey  mean that  there is now an increasing support of the Malays for the Pakatan Harapan government –  more than doubling of Malay support for the Pakatan Harapan government from the lowly 17% to over  40%?

Similarly, what is one to make of Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki’s criticism of Johore DAP State Exco Member Sheikh Omar Sheikh Ali’s appointment  to the Islamic Dakwah Foundation (Yadim) Board of Trustees – whether it is to be taken as the best proof to debunk the lies that the DAP is anti-Malay, anti-Islam and does not recognise Islam as the religion of the federation?

When  the PAS President said that Muslims in Malaysia must vote for Muslim candidates even if they are corrupt, was he asked about his earlier contradictory  statement when PAS was in Pakatan Harapan that it was haram to vote for UMNO and that it was the duty of every PAS member and supporter to vote for the DAP?

Or in the latest development on the out-of-court settlement of the PAS President’s defamation suit against whistleblower website Sarwak Report over an article on April 21, 2017 alleging that PAS received RM90 million to ensure the party’s support for BN and Umno.

Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown said yesterday that she was  satisfied with the settlement in PAS’ defamation suit, noting that the article over which she was sued remains unaltered and unretracted.

Does this mean that the PAS President had now publicly conceded that Sarawak Report was right in its allegation that PAS had received RM90 million to ensure the party’s support for BN and UMNO?

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

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 3 February 2019, 10:54 am and is filed under
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Let us have the stamina, perseverance and foresight not only to win a battle on May 9, 2018 but to win a war to build a New Malaysia for future generations

The 14th General Election of May 9, 2018 has rightly been described as a battle which was miraculously won  by Malaysians who had the patriotism,  fortitude and  passion for justice, freedom,  integrity and unity but we have only won a battle and not a war.

Let us have the stamina, perseverance and foresight  not only to win a battle on May 9, 2018 but to win the  war to build a New Malaysia for future generations of Malaysians.

There are Malaysians who fear that we have won a battle but lost the war as the enemies of a New Malaysia have not been silent or inactive in the past nine months, but seemed to have gathered strength and made new inroads by resorting to the  toxic and vicious politics of lies, hate, fear, race and religion to  incite imaginary and primordial fears and doomsday scenarios.

As a result,  Malaysia has never been  more racially  and religiously  polarised as if the Malay race and the Muslim religion are facing unprecedented  threats of extinction  which is never farther from the truth.

I believe,  however,  that the war has not been lost although we must be nimble and agile to  adapt to the new battleground to win the hearts and minds of the people – from television and earlier forms of media to  social media whether  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram  and, most important of all, WhatsApp.

Just as we must dare to dream Big Dreams, we must have a positive and optimistic attitude about Malaysia’s future, to believe that the overwhelming majority of Malaysians regardless of race or religion  will support a New Malaysia of unity, justice, freedom,  integrity and excellence, grounded on these very same values and truth, while the enemies of a New Malaysia have placed themselves on the wrong side of history by resorting  to the toxic  and vicious politics of lies, hate, fear, race and religion which must face a diminishing market over a period of time.

Let us therefore persevere and have the stamina and commitment for the struggle to build a  New Malaysia where no race or religion will feel threatened as we will leverage on the assets and best qualities of the diverse races, religions, languages and cultures which meet in confluence in Malaysia to build a world top-class nation which can earn the international respect for our achievements in the different fields of human endeavour.

Happy Chinese New Year.

(Chinese New Year Message by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Sunday, 3rd February 2019)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 3 February 2019, 5:41 pm and is filed under
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How  can Malaysia transform from a global kleptocracy to a  leading nation in integrity in the world?

Malaysia has many national holidays which provide Malaysians more opportunities for reflection and  review as to why one or the country failed to achieve greater goals or achievements.

The 2019 Chinese New Year is similarly a useful occasion for a national review by all Malaysians  of the many great questions confronting the nation.

One of these great issues of  the nation  is undoubtedly how Malaysia transform from a global kleptocracy to a leading nation of integrity in the world.

The 37 days from the 2019 New Year to the 2019 Chinese New Year have provided plentiful evidence of how the country had been saved from a national catastrophe of being confirmed as a global kleptocracy which could only end with only one result: Malaysia becoming  a failed state and relegated to the bottom league of the world’s nations.

But who saved Malaysia from a global kleptocracy and a failed state?

Not the three Branches of Government –   the Executive, Parliament or the Judiciary –  or even the great institutions of state, those supposed to be  responsible for upholding law and order or  provide the checks and balances against abuses of power  and corruption like the Attorney-General’s Office, the Police, the  Anti-Corruption Commission, the  Auditor-General Office, Bank Negara or the mass media allegedly performing the role of the fourth estate.

All the three Branches of Government,  the great national institutions and the Fourth Estate  failed the nation in preventing Malaysia from becoming the butt of international jokes for becoming a global kleptocracy, and it was the ordinary Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, class or region, who saved Malaysia from continuing as a global kleptocracy in the 14th General Election  –  a miraculous exercise of the democratic will, however difficult or impossible because of the odds stacked against such a historic outcome.

How did Malaysia go so terribly wrong as to become a global kleptocracy when we are the confluence of the world’s great religions and civilisations?

Some of the leading events on the road to transform Malaysia from a global kleptocracy to a leading nation in integrity in the past 37 days from 2019 New Year’s Day to the Chinese New Year Day on February 6 including the following nine developments:

· Apology by Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive Officer to the Malaysian people for   its role in the 1MDB corruption, embezzlement and money-laundering  scandal. Latest reports indicate that Goldman Sachs’ former chief executive officer Lloyd Craig Blankfein stands to lose up to US$14.245 million (RM58.3 million) in bonus over the 1MDB imbroglio.

· Securities Commission imposing a RM2.2 million fine on accounting giant Deloitte PLT for four breaches involving the RM2.4 billion bond issued by Bandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd (BMSB), a 1MDB subsidiary, in 2014, which Aliran has described as “paltry” and “a pittance”.

· Malaysian authorities looking further back into a pre-1MDB bond deal in their probe into fugitive financier Jho Low – whether he profited from a 2009 RM5 billion bond sale involving 1MDB’s predecessor, the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA), Malaysian banking group AmBank, as well as Thai and Singapore-linked companies.

· Announcement by the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Fuzi Harun that Police investigations into the 1MDB affair are expected to be completed by March.

· The untold story of the role of MCA Ministers and leaders in the cover-up of the 1MDB  scandal.

· How the an Opposition political party espousing Political Islam compromised its principle to support corruption, embezzlement and money-laundering  to the extent of using Islam to defend Malaysia as a global kleptocracy.

· Continued manhunt for Jho Low with the police open to the idea of putting up a reward for information that can lead to his arrest.

· First kleptocratric trial in Malaysia on Feb. 12, set to run for over 43 day.

· Launching of the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) by Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad to transform Malaysia from a global kleptocracy to a leading nation of integrity in the world.

Malaysia was saved from becoming a global kleptocracy and a failed state by ordinary Malaysians and its behoves all Malaysians, regardless of race and religion, to ponder as to how they can ensure that Malaysia does not return to the infamy and ignominy of a global kleptocracy.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, 5th February 2019)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 5 February 2019, 12:07 pm and is filed under
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Can Malaysia break away from a nation which  breeds suspicion, distrust and hatred among  races and religions to one which builds tolerance, trust and confidence among them  to leverage on the assets of diverse races, religions and civilisations to become a world top-class nation?

Yesterday, I said the  many national holidays in Malaysia afford Malaysians  the opportunities for reflection and  review as to why the country failed to achieve greater goals,  such as pondering how Malaysia could  transform from a global kleptocracy to a leading nation of integrity in the world.

Just as ordinary Malaysians  saved Malaysia from a global kleptocracy and a failed state, the challenge of whether Malaysia transforms from a global kleptocracy to a leading nation of integrity in the world will rest on their shoulders.

Similarly,  ordinary Malaysians  also have to wrestle with another great conundrum of the nation – whether Malaysia can succeed in nation building out of the diverse races, religions, languages and cultures that have made Malaysia their home to become  a model of an united, tolerant, successful, progressive and prosperous plural entity in a complex and plural world.

The Open House celebrations  during the  Chinese New Year this year, like the  other  Malaysian festivities throughout the year, are the seedbeds to cultivate tolerance and respect for the diverse races, religions, languages and cultures in Malaysia where diversity is the strength and not the weakness of the nation.

But such recognition of the  real strength for plural Malaysia must not remain at  the level of rhetorics but must inform all aspects of one’s life.

In this connection,  Malaysians must note a dangerous tendency of late, where  politics had been contaminated by the vicious and toxic politics of lies, fear, hate, race and religion, where instead of building tolerance, trust and confidence among the diverse races, religions, languages and cultures that meet in confluence in Malaysia, there is an insidious attempt to breed suspicion, distrust and hatred among the diverse races, religions, languages and cultures so as to poison the well of Malaysian nation-building

I myself  had been the most demonized character in Malaysia for the past half a century.

I was accused of being a communist, in fact, a relative of Chin Peng; responsible for the May 13, 1969 riots, leading the street demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur shouting anti-Malay and anti-Islam slogans although I was never in Kuala Lumpur after the May 10, 1969 General Election; painted as quite a devil, a puaka, even jembalang; that I am anti-Malay, anti-Islam and at various times even anti-Indian, anti-Chinese educated Chinese , anti-English-educated Chinese; an agent of KGB, CIA, MI6 and even Australian Intelligence.

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

Now I am alleged to be wanting to get into the Cabinet. What a great come-down!

I was alleged to have received RM1 billion from Mahathir for him to join and head Pakatan Harapan; RM100 million from tycoon Robert Kuok and over RM1.2 billion from Israeli sources to fund the 13th General Election; given RM40 million to a news portal; offered PAS President Hadi Awang RM100 million to defy the Sultan of Selangor; want to disband Malay Regimen and destroy Malaysia-China relations, and a litany of incredible fake news, false information and downright lies!

It was even alleged that on Dec. 3, 2016, I had a secret meet with Tun Mahathir where we sealed an agreement that after the 14th General Election, Mukhriz Mahathir would be the Prime Minister and I the Deputy Prime Minister.

In actual fact, there was no such Dec. 3, 2016 meeting with Mahathir at all and in my various meeting with Mahathir before the 14th General Election, we never discussed the subject of Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister!

I was even accused of wanting to split Peninsular Malaysia into two, East Coast for the Malays and the West Coast for the Chinese.

During the Cameron Highlands by-election, I was accused of saying that the Orang Asli in Malaysia are not citizens of Malaysia and a message was zapped through WhatsApp, viz:

“Lim Kit Siang mengusulkan didlm Dewan Rakyat supaya perkataan Islam Dan Melayu digugurkan dlm Perlembagaan.”

These were all downright lies as  there is  no basis of any  truth in them at all.

May be I should thank my lucky stars that I had not been alleged of giving RM90 million to Hadi!

I am reminded of the 47th ABIM annual congress last October themed “Visi Islam dalam aspirasi Malaysia Baharu” and the keynote address by Professor Datuk Dr. Siddiq Fadzil on “Malaysia Baharu & Kesinambungan Reformasi Islahiy”, where Dr. Siddiq stressed that the prerequisite for the building of a New Malaysia is to undertake a “human and cultural transformation”.

He spoke of “nilai malu” which he described as “nilai teras ajaran Islam”.

He said:

“Sifat malu adalah kekuatan moral yang dapat mengawal seseorang daripada melakukan perbuatan keji. Sifat malu juga adalah ciri orang bermaruah. Justeru, orang bermaruah malu berperilaku tidak bermoral, malu melakukan korupsi, malu menganggotai organisasi korup, malu di perintah kerajaan korup, malu dipimpin ketua korup, malu ditipu dan diperbodoh, malu menjadi bangsa yang ketinggalan, malu negaranya disebut ‘kleptocracy at its worst’.”

This  “moral deficit” and the death of idealism in politics is the greatest culprit today in the politics of lies, hate, fear, race and religion in Malaysia today.

If the lies and falsehoods disseminated about me by the well-funded anti-DAP cybertroopers are to be believed, then I am a billionaire and an “evil force” who threw tens and even hundreds of millions ringgit to sponsor news portals or remove recalcitrant heads of key government bureau apart from the litany of demonization of me over the decades.

Although the 14th General Election result on May 9, 2018 was a defeat and  setback to the politics of lies, hate, fear, race and religion, the purveyors of this vicious and toxic politics had intensified and even escalated their campaign.

Undoubtedly, in our plural society today, there are still Chinese who are living completely in the Chinese world, Malays who are living in a completely Malay world, Indians who are living in a completely Indian world, and the same goes with the Ibans and the Kadazans.

Our greatest challenge in a New Malaysia is how to reach out to them, the Chinese living in a completely in the Chinese world, Malays living in a completely Malay world, Indians living in a completely Indian world, to share with them a larger Malaysian picture and perspective – to share our ideals that this beloved Malaysian nation belongs to all of us, that we have a shared destiny.

Can this spirit of oneness as Malaysians transcending race, religion, region or party politics prevail in our country so that we are not distracted from our Malaysian Dream to build a great Malaysia for all Malaysians?

How do we nurture the bond of oneness among Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or even party politics and stop the rise of intolerance, hatred, bigotry and extremism in our plural society through lies, fake news and false information?

As far back as 61 years ago by Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, enunciated the Malaysian Dream to be “a beacon of light in the disturbed and distracted world”.

Dare we continue to dream such a Malaysian Dream, and do more – oppose and  expose the practitioners of the toxic and vicious politics of lies, hate, fear, race and religion because they are the greatest enemies of the Malaysian Dream, seeking to breed suspicion, distrust and hatred among the diverse  races and religions instead of  building tolerance, trust and confidence among the diverse races and religions so that we can  leverage on the assets of the diversity in Malaysia for the country to become a world top-class nation.

This is our greatest challenge as Malaysians in a New Malaysia to reset nation-building policies and directions.

The price for our failure will be a dire one – a divided Malaysia and a failed state!

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, 6th  February 2019)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 6 February 2019, 4:22 pm and is filed under
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Wee Ka Siong would have lost his deposit in  Ayer Hitam  under  Hadi’s dictum that Muslims must vote for Muslim candidates

MCA President Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong would have lost his deposit in Ayer Hitam parliamentary seat in the 14th General Election under the PAS President Hadi Awang’s dictum that Muslims must vote for Muslim candidates.

Did Wee realise this when yesterday  he defended the political co-operation between the BN component parties and the PAS as a common feature of Malaysian politics?

In the Ayer Hitam parliamentary constituency in the 14th General Election, Wee won 17,076 votes, beating the Pakatan Harapan candidate Liew Chin Tong who won 16,773 votes, with a  sliver-thin majority of 303 votes.

The third candidate from PAS, Mardi Marwan, won 4,975 votes.

If Muslims only vote for Muslim candidates, as is now Hadi’s stand, claiming that a corrupt and decadent Muslim leader is any time better than a clean and honest non-Muslim leader, Wee would not get any Muslim vote in Ayer Hitam parliamentary constituency and would even have lost his deposit.

Wee is a poor student of history as DAP had  never worked with a PAS leadership which advocated such a toxic and vicious brand of politics, aimed at sowing suspicion, distrust and hatred among races and religions – which is not building a nation but destroying the very social fabric in Malaysia.

This was not the PAS which the DAP worked with when we formed the Barisan Alternative in 1999-2001 and Pakatan Rakyat from 2008-2015

DAP will work with a Political Islam that recognises Malaysia as a plural society and believes that Malaysia’s greatness comes from the leveraging of the assets and best qualities from the diverse races, religions, languages and civilisations which meet in confluence in Malaysia, building tolerance, trust and confidence among the races and religions and not by sowing suspicion, distrust, fear and hatred among the races and  religions.

May be Wee and MCA leaders  can never understand that sustainable politics must be based on principles, not on sheer opportunism.

Wee’s defence of the political co-operation between BN component parties and PAS, wherther in recent Cameron Highlands parliamentary by-election or  the forthcoming Seminyih Selangor state assembly by-election, highlights the political hypocrisy of MCA leaders.

Wee made great play before the MCA General Assembly that Barisan Nasional is outdated and should be dissolved.

But after the MCA General Assembly, Wee is behaving like a duck taking to water – which shows that he is very comfortable playing the subservient role in the Barisan Nasional.

The untold story of the role of MCA Ministers and leaders in the cover-up of the monstrous 1MDB corruption, embezzlement and money-laundering scandal is one of the best kept political secrets in Malaysia.

Will Wee tell Malaysians the whole truth and nothing but the truth about this untold story?

(Media Comment by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, 6th February 2019)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 6 February 2019, 4:29 pm and is filed under
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Does Wee agree that Hadi’s latest utterance that DAP is an “enemy of Islam” is the typical example of the toxic and vicious politics of lies, hate, fear, race and religion which will destroy Malaysia, condemning it to a  failed state, if not countered?

I am still waiting for the reply from the MCA President Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong whether he is aware that he would have lost his deposit in Ayer Hitam parliamentary seat in the 14th General Election under the PAS President Hadi Awang’s dictum that Muslims must vote for Muslim candidates.

I am very intrigued by  Wee’s defence of the political co-operation between the BN component parties and the PAS.

Does  Wee  agree that PAS President, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s Facebook posting yesterday, accusing the DAP as an “enemy of Islam” as the reason why PAS ended its alliance with DAP some years back, is the latest typical example of the toxic and vicious politics of lies, hate, fear, race and religion which will destroy Malaysia, condemning it to a failed state, if not countered?

The accusation of DAP is an “”enemy of Islam”, like the accusation that DAP is anti-Malay, is a downright lie and falsehood, for the DAP had never been anti-Malay or anti-Islam.

In fact, nobody can claim to be a Malaysian if he or she is anti-Malay, anti-Chinese, anti-Indian, anti-Kadazan, anti-Iban or anti-Orang Asli or anti-Islam, anti-Buddhism, anti-Christianity, anti-Hinduism, anti-Sikhism or anti-Taoism, for Malaysia is a nation of diverse races and religions.

Previous  PAS leader Datuk Fadzil Noor  and former Kelantan Mentri Besar and PAS Murshyidul Am Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat never regarded DAP as an “enemy of Islam”.

In fact, when the DAP co-operated with PAS to form Barisan Alternative in 1999, I organised inter-religious and inter-civilisational dialogues with PAS leaders in a “journey of  a thousand miles” to create a new Malaysia where there is compatibility between democracy and Islam to promote justice, freedom and good governance.

This “journey of a thousand miles” must be continued, for DAP leaders have always believed that Malaysia should  be an international  showcase of inter-civilisational dialogue, tolerance  and understanding instead of being an example of “clash of civilisations”.

Clearly, Hadi had other thoughts which caused him to peddle the Big Lie that DAP is an “enemy of Islam” in his Facebook yesterday.

I have always believed  that political Islam in Malaysia can only succeed in winning the support of Malaysians, both Muslim and non-Muslim, by demonstrating that it is full committed to the principles of justice, freedom, democracy and good governance, but Hadi has decided to take a completely different path, preaching religious extremism and even supporting Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy –  betraying moderate Islam by manipulating and distorting Islam’s true teaching.

It is not DAP but Hadi’s religious extremism which is the greatest threat to Malaysia, as represented by the Malaysian Constitution and Runkunegara.

The question is why Wee and MCA are encouraging Hadi is his religious extremism and intolerance?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Thursday, 7th February 2019)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 7 February 2019, 10:05 am and is filed under
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DAP is always a “friend of Islam” which is moderate and tolerant which will make Malaysia a world top-class nation and not an extremist and intolerant Islam which divide Malaysians  and will destroy  the Malaysian Dream

Today is the 116th anniversary of the birthday of the first Prime Minister of Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman.

Thirty-six years ago, on 8th February 1983, on the occasion of his 80th birthday, Tunku issued the clear public message that plural Malaysia should not be turned into an Islamic State.

Four days later, on 12th February 1983,  on the occasion of his 61st birthday, the third Prime Minister, Tun Hussein Onn publicly supported Tunku’s call.

In fact, Tunku told Parliament on May 1, 1958:
 “I would like to make it clear that this country is not an Islamic state as it is generally understood; we merely provided that Islam shall be the official religion of the state.”

It is most appropriate to remember this history when we watched the MCA President Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong turning and twisting in his histrionics to justify something the founding fathers of MCA, whether Tun Tan Cheng Lock or Tun Tan Siew Sin would never have approved  – political co-operation with PAS under the  leadership of Datuk Seri Hadi Awang who is reviving Islamic State rhetoric and  espousing the most toxic and vicious brand of politics of  lies, hate, fear, race and religion  to sow suspicion, distrust and hatred among the races and religions in Malaysia.

Wee need not reply to the question whether he is aware that he  would have lost his deposit in Ayer Hitam parliamentary seat in the 14th General Election under the PAS President Hadi Awang’s dictum that Muslims must vote for Muslim candidates for all Malaysians know the answer.

DAP had never denied that we had worked with PAS in the Barisan Alternative in 1999-2001 and Pakatan Rakyat from 2008-2015, but DAP’s co-operation with PAS was based on principles and not opportunism or expediency.

DAP leaders believe that Malaysia should  be an international  showcase of inter-religious and  inter-civilisational dialogue, tolerance  and understanding instead of being an example of a “clash of civilisations”.

To achieve this, Malaysians must engage with a Political Islam that recognises Malaysia as a plural society and believes that Malaysia’s greatness comes from the leveraging of the assets and best qualities from the diverse races, religions, languages and civilisations which meet in confluence in Malaysia, building tolerance, trust and confidence among the races and religions and not sow suspicion, distrust, fear and hatred among the races and  religions.

DAP leaders were  prepared to pay a heavy price for achieve this national goal, including being defeated in the 10th General Election  in 1999 when Karpal Singh and  I were  defeated in the Jelutong and Bukit Bendera parliamentary seats respectively when the voters succumbed to the Gerakan/MCA propaganda against Barisan Alternative with the politics of lies and fear that a vote for DAP was a vote for PAS and an Islamic state, and that if I was  elected, the Chinese could not eat pork, take  alcohol, go to temples,  beautiful women cannot find jobs and that there would be a chopping of hands and feet.

The Barisan Alternative would not have been formed if PAS was not prepared to respect the opposition of DAP, Parti Keadilan and PRM to an Islamic

State, focusing instead on the common objectives of restoring justice, freedom, democracy and good governance in Malaysia.

After the 1999 General Election however,  PAS leaders disregarded the opposition of the other component parties of Barisan Alternative to an Islamic State.

The issue confronting Barisan Alternative was whether the PAS leaders were prepared to abide by the BA consensus and respect the DAP’s opposition to an Islamic State in a multi-racial and multi-religious Malaysia was not compatible with parliamentary democracy, power-sharing in a plural society, human rights and individual freedoms, women’s rights and social tolerance.

DAP had no hesitation to break our co-operation with PAS in 2001 when PAS reneged on the common Alternative Front manifesto “Towards a Just Malaysia”.

When the second DAP-PAS co-operation occurred  with the formation of Pakatan Rakyat on 1st  April 2008 after the “political tsunami” of the 2008 General Election, it was based on a joint commitment “
to uphold the rights and interests of all Malaysians, regardless of religion or race, as enshrined in the Constitution”.

But Hadi’s insistence to raise the Islamic State issue caused a crisis in Pakatan Rakyat, which was saved from dissolution after a late-night meeting of Pakatan Rakyat leaders on Sept. 28, 2011, resulting  in a joint statement by the leaders of the  three parties in Pakatan Rakyat reaffirming their resolve to continue giving  priority to the Pakatan Rakyat common policy framework and consensus.

This PR common policy framework and consensus  excluded Islamic State and  hudud as Pakatan Rakyat agenda and there was the clear understanding that any policy change in Pakatan Rakyat would need the agreement of all three component parties.

Before the 13th General Election, DAP rebuffed PAS overture for Hadi Awang to replace Anwar Ibrahim as Prime Minister-designate of Pakatan Rakyat.

After the 13th General Election, the Islamic State and hudud issues re-surfaced and Pakatan Rakyat faced its demise in 2015 when Hadi persisted with the goal of implementing hudud in violation of Pakatan Rakyat’s common policy framework.

Now Hadi condemns DAP as an “enemy of Islam”. But during the Teluk Intan by-election in May 2014, Hadi was full of praise for  DAP and recalled that it was DAP which defended PAS when the Kelantan government fell in 1978.

Although  Barisan Nasional  was working with PAS then, Barisan Nasional did nothing to help them.

Hadi said in the Teluk Intan by-election: “
Only DAP defended us that time and we are grateful to them.”

At that time, PAS followed the true teachings of Islam and was a strong opponent of corruption and abuses of power – but subsequently, Hadi took PAS through a major transformation by giving former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, support for turning Malaysia into a global kleptocracy!

DAP is always a “friend of Islam” which is moderate and tolerant which will make Malaysia a world top-class nation and not an extremist and intolerant Islam which divide Malaysians  and will  destroy  the Malaysian Dream.

I had wondered why Hadi has suddenly attacked DAP as an “enemy of Islam”.

The reason is quite obvious – to divert public attention from Hadi’s withdrawal of his legal suit against Clare Brown, editor of Sarawak Report and an out-of-court settlement which allowed the original Sarawak Report on Najib giving RM90 million to PAS to remain  online and unretracted!

This bring us to the question why MCA  is co-operating with PAS when Hadi is reviving the Islamic State rhetoric and espousing the most vicious and toxic politics of lies, hate, fear, race and religion to divide Malaysians  in post-14th General Election Malaysia?

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

                This entry was posted on Friday, 8 February 2019, 9:16 am and is filed under
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The 1MDB “chickens coming home to roost”…

The Al Jazeera programme
“Malaysia: The World’s Biggest Heist”
 featuring the former PetroSaudi International employee, Swiss national Xavier Andre Justo, is the latest 1MDB
“chickens coming home to roost”.

The question posed at the end of the programme:
“If PetroSaudi had paid Justo the money he said he was owed, would the world’s biggest heist have ever been exposed?”
 is food for thought for all Malaysians.

Xavier’s answer to the question was simple and straightforward – he did not know.

At least half-a-dozen criminal investigations into the misappropriation of billions of dollars from 1MDB are currently under way around the world and charges are being laid not only against former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the conspirators, but also against executives from global financial institutions while the other mastermind of the 1MDB scandal, Jho Low, is on the run and has become the most infamous international fugitive from justice.

But without Xavier Justo’s more than 200,000 confidential PetroSaudi’s  emails containing evidence of the genesis of the criminal embezzlement and money-laundering activities which constituted the monstrous and global 1MDB scandal, though the expose of the world’s biggest heist would still have been made, it would have taken a longer time to do so.

This was because the historic decision of the Malaysian voters in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018 to oust Najib as Prime Minister was the most far-reaching and critical decision that made it impossible for Najib  to continue the charade to cover up the 1MDB scandal, which he had done so by subverting and suborning the three branches of government, the national investigatory and enforcement institutions and the media in Malaysia.

Al Jazeera’s programme reminded Malaysians of other 1MDB “chickens coming home to boost”, in particular the opening of Najib’s trial for the first series of his 42 corruption, embezzlement and money-laundering charges next Tuesday, which is now uncertain because of Najib’s application of a stay of his scheduled hearing on seven charges over the SRC International Sdn. Bhd, and the infamous Najib interview with Al Jazeera last October when Najib lost his cool several times  and finally walked out of the interview.

Watching again Najib’s walkout interview with Al Jazeera, one is again reminded of the shock when Najib said the IMDB scandal must be investigated to find out where the money disappeared to, and that such investigation must not stop at Jho Low, but to “
Get others involved as well because there are other international figures who probably are involved”
.

Was Najib referring to the bankers of  Goldman Sachs, which recently apologised publicly to the people of Malaysia for the 1MDB scandal, as Goldman

Sachs was the underwriter and arranger of three bonds that raised US$6.5 billion for 1MDB and was responsible for the theft of billions of dollars of 1MDB?

It is not enough for Goldman Sachs to apologise to the people of Malaysia for the 1MDB scandal or for the former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein to stand to lose up to US$14.245 million (RM58.3 million) in bonuses over the 1MDB imbroglio, as  Goldman Sachs must be prepared to pay for its sins and to  make billions of dollars of reparation to Malaysia  for the theft and fraud in the 1MDB scandal.

The question which cries out for answer was how Najib could claim ignorance and innocence right up to the 14th General Election when in July 2016, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) initiated  its largest kleptocratic litigation to forfeit US$1.7 billion out of US$4.5 billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland, and  provided the detailed  money trail of the world’s greatest heist?

Najib would have  continued to cover-up the 1MDB scandal, aided and abetted by his Cabinet, Parliament, Judiciary, the  national institutions of investigation and enforcement as well as the media, if Najib’s dream had come through in the  14th General Election – not only to  continue as Prime Minister but to return to Parliament with the Barisan Nasional recapturing two-thirds parliamentary majority!

The nation is still waiting for the untold story of how the Ministers and leaders of UMNO/MCA/Gerakan/MIC/BN,  as well as the major institutions of state, had betrayed Malaysia in aiding and abetting Najib in the cover-up of the 1MDB scandal until the historic decision of the voters in the 14th General Election exactly nine months ago on May 9, 2018 effecting a democratic and peaceful transition of power.

There were some silver linings, however, like the US$2 million given by the Edge Media Group chairperson Tong Kooi Ong to what Al Jazeera has described as  “
the accidental hero”
 of the 1MDB scandal, the Swiss 1MDB whistleblower Xavier Andre Justo.

From his recent interviews, Najib is beginning to accept that his legacy includes the monstrous 1MDB scandal and the infamy of transforming Malaysia into a global kleptocracy, but his claim to be completely in the dark about it is just hilarious and incredible, as if he did not know what the world knows that his wife, Datin Rosmah Mansor and son-in-law Reza Aziz had benefited to the tune of tens of millions of dollars from 1MDB.

Did Najib launch any investigation into the 1MDB scandal between the period of the US DOJ litigation and the 14th General Election if Najib was really in the dark about what was happening in 1MDB scandal?

Not only Najib did not do so – he went into an offensive and unleashed his  hounds of propagandists in the Cabinet  and the cybersphere  to attack  critics and whistle-blowers of the 1MDB  scandal, and up till today, not a single of these culprits – including Najib’s Ministers in UMNO, MCA and Barisan Nasional  – who betrayed the nation had shown any remorse or contrition for their treachery to the nation.

What would have happened to Malaysia and the 1MDB scandal if Najib had won the 14th General Election and continued as Prime Minister of Malaysia?

More 1MDB chickens would come home to roost in the coming months.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Saturday on 9th February 2019)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 9 February 2019, 9:18 am and is filed under
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Post-14GE Malaysia is facing the  most toxic and vicious politicking in the nation’s history

Malaysia in post-14th General Election is facing the most toxic and vicious politicking in the nation’s history.

If Malaysian politics was  as toxic and vicious in the past as now,  my LLB (Hons) degree would have been raised as an issue – in the way that Pakatan Harapan leaders, whether Minister or Deputy Minister, are now being  questioned about their academic qualifications, whether with or without basis.

I must thank my lucky stars that I was not questioned about my LL.B. (Hons) degree and asked to prove my credentials, as it would be quite a bother to do so – as I do not know where is my LL.B. (Hons) certificate.

It is not that lies and falsehoods had not been employed at all in Malaysian politics in the past, but we have never plumbed so low a depth as after the post-14th General Election.

Why is this so?

This is because the “great” parties of the past, UMNO, MCA, Gerakan and PAS, which had bestrode the political landscape in the country for decades, are now fighting a battle of survival after being decimated or suffered unprecedented electoral setbacks in the 14th General Election.

Why for instance is the MCA President, Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong, so active and busy, firing at multiple targets daily?

The answer is simple – to distract public attention from at least four questions he had been running away from  in the past few months, viz:

· Firstly,  the untold story of the MCA Ministers and leaders betraying the nation in aiding and abetting the greatest crime in the history of Malaysia, turning Malaysia into a global kleptocracy not only with the monstrous 1MDB corruption, embezzlement and money-laundering scandal but also  other 1MDB-like scandals in Felda, Felcra, MARA and Tabung Haji;

· Secondly, MCA hypocrisy as exposed by the Acting UMNO President, Mohamad Hasan, that no Barisan Nasional Supreme Council had been held thus far because MCA was afraid that journalists would pressure the party on a resolution to dissolve Barisann  Nasional.

· Thirdly, MCA’s support for political co-operation with PAS although PAS under its President Datuk Seri Hadi  Awang is practising the most vicious and toxic politics of lies, hate, fear, race and religion to sow suspicion, distrust and hatred among races and religions in Malaysia; and

· Fourthly, admitting that he would have lost his deposit  in the Ayer Hitam parliamentary seat in the 14th General Election under Hadi’s dictum that Muslims must vote for Muslim candidates.

Wee’s  position in Parliament today is one of the greatest  parliamentary frauds in Malaysian parliamentary history.

Who does Wee represent in Parliament – UMNO or PAS? Or both?

Is this the reason why he dared not criticise UMNO or PAS, whether about their position about kleptocracy and the 1MDB scandal or for practising the most vicious and toxic politics of lies, fear, hate, race and religion to create suspicion, distrust, fear and hatred among the races and religions?

From a statement from a MCA spokeswoman yesterday, it is shocking to see MCA emerging as the only political party to defend the kleptocratic government before the 14th General Election –  when both UMNO and PAS had kept a discreet distance and silence on the kleptocratic government of the past.

I said that the politics lies, hate, fear, race and religion is not a new phenomenon in Malaysian politics or I would not have become the most demonized person in Malaysian politics for the past half a century.

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

I had been accused of being a communist, in fact, a relative of Chin Peng; responsible for the May 13, 1969 riots, leading the street demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur shouting anti-Malay and anti-Islam slogans although I was never in Kuala Lumpur after the May 10, 1969 General Election; painted as quite a devil, a puaka, even jembalang; that I am anti-Malay, anti-Islam and at various times even anti-Indian, anti-Chinese educated Chinese , anti-English-educated Chinese; an agent of KGB, CIA, MI6 and even Australian Intelligence.

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

New baseless allegations were constantly concocted and  manufactured after the 14th General Election – that  I am conspiring to get appointed into the Cabinet, and in the Cameron Highlands by-election, I was accused of saying that the Orang Asli in Malaysia are not citizens of Malaysia and a message was zapped through WhatsApp, viz:

“Lim Kit Siang mengusulkan didlm Dewan Rakyat supaya perkataan Islam Dan Melayu digugurkan dlm Perlembagaan.”

These were all downright lies as  there is  no basis of any  truth in them at all.

New lies to sow hate and fear to polarise the races and religions will be peddled in the upcoming Semenyih by-election, and a new lie about the DAP which is  now being peddled  on the social media makes the following allegation:

“Parti DAP terlalu bahaya pada masa ini, terlalu amat berbahaya, tambahan pula mereka telah menyusup masuk dlm pentadbiran kerajaan utk melaksanakan agenda Malaysian Malaysia mereka. Gerakerja mereka yg pertama ialah mengurangkan dominasi org melayu dlm pentadbbiran kerajaan .itulah sebabnya mereka menjalankan strategi pengurangan penjawat awam. Pada masa sekarang nisbah penjawat awam adalah 95 peratus melayu dan 5 peratus, peratusan melayu ini akan dikurangkan sehingga peratusan penjawat awam menjadi 30% melayu 30% cina 30% hindu dan 10% lain bangsa. Ini bermakna puak Dap ini terpaksa membuang sebanyak 65%org melayu sebagai penjawat awam,dan kemudian mereka akan meningkatkan peratusan bangsa cina sedikit demi sedikit sehingga mencapai peratusan 90%. Inilah agenda mereka.”

Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans or Orang

Asli must develop a sceptical and cynical attitude to the messages they receive on social media, whether Facebook,  Twitter, Instagram or Whatsapp, to ask the important question  with regard to every message, “Is this true”, and to check on the veracity of the message before sharing it with the others.

If Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans or Orang Asli develop such a healthy attitude of scepticism and cynicism to check on the veracity of each and every message,  they will not fall victim to the vicious and toxic politics of lies, hate, fear, race and religion perpetrated by UMNO, PAS or MCA!

Malaysia would have won a great battle in the Information Age where information travels at the speed of light.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Sunday, 10th February 2019)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 10 February 2019, 12:42 pm and is filed under
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Draw the line in the sand clearly and unequivocally that the Pakatan Harapan Government is committed to the objective to wipe out the kleptocracy of the Najib  government which was ousted by Malaysians in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018

Let us not be squeamish but draw the line in the sand, clearly and unequivocally, that the Pakatan Harapan government is committed to the objective to wipe out the kleptocracy of the Najib government which was ousted by Malaysians in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018.

MCA has stood out as the only political party so far to openly object to the internal memo by the  Solicitor General III Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria using the term “kleptocracy” to refer to the former administration of Najib Razak, ahead of his corruption trial tomorrow.

I am not aware that any MCA Minister or leader had expressed any objection or outrage when the US Attorney-General Loretta Lynch described the US Department of Justice’s kleptocratic litigation to forfeit 1MDB-linked assets, where the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak was singled out although only referred to as “Malaysian Official 1” (MO1),  in July 2016 as the “largest single action ever brought by the department’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative” or when in December 2017, after a change of United States administration, the then Attorney-General Jeff Sessions described the 1MDB case as “kleptocracy at its worst” at the global forum on asset recovery in Washington and pledged that the US

Department of Justice was “working to provide justice to the victims” of the 1MDB scandal.

Why is MCA expressing outrage  only now?

Is it to hide the untold story of the national betrayal by MCA Ministers and leaders in their aiding and abetting of Najib in the cover-up of the monstrous 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal as well as other corruption scandals in Felda, Felcra, MARA and Tabung Haji?

Malaysians are very disappointed that after nine months of the historic decision of May 9, 2018, the trial of Najib and his top lieutenants who had brought Malaysia the infamy and ignominy of a global kleptocracy had not even started, allowing Najib to strut all over the country in his new “Boss Aku Malu Apa” persona, which is as good as impertinently asking what is shameful about making Malaysia  a global kleptocracy!

Whether Najib’s trial will begin tomorrow will depend on the outcome of Najib’s defence lawyers to postpone the start of the trial tomorrow.

But those who continue to defend and champion Najib’s  kleptocratic government that was ousted on May 9, 2018  like the MCA need to justify their stand before and after the 14th General Election.

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

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 February 2019, 9:40 am and is filed under
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Timely for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into judicial independence and integrity

The affidavit of Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer on judicial corruption and misconduct and the serious allegations of judicial interference in the court cases of former DAP Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor, the  late Karpal Singh on his sedition appeal, the conviction and imprisonment of PKR President and MP for Port Dickson Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as well the case of Indira Gandhi have combined to make it most imperative that a Royal Commission of Inquiry should be set up into judicial independence and integrity in Malaysia.

As the Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has  said that a Royal Commission of Inquiry is one of the options open to the government in the face of the serious allegations of judicial misconduct, it is most timely that such a Royal Commission of Inquiry should be set up to restore public confidence in the independence and integrity of the judiciary.

The New Malaysia that Pakatan Harapan wants to build after the historic decision of the 14th General Election which carried out a peaceful and democratic transition of power the first time in six decades must include the restoration of public confidence in the three branches of government – the Executive, Parliament and the Judiciary – as well as the important national institutions of State,t undergirding  the return of the rule of law in Malaysia.

(Media comment by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang after the Chinese New Year Open House in Kota Kinabalu on Sunday, 17th February 2019)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 17 February 2019, 5:49 pm and is filed under
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Just as Malaysians have arisen above two ignominies in its history, the May 13, 1969 racial riots and being condemned by the world as a global kleptocracy, Malaysians must continue to aim high and be a top world class nation for harmony, freedom, integrity and excellence

I first visited Kota Kinabalu 50 years ago on the day of infamy for Malaysia – the May 13, 1969 racial riots.

I left Kuala Lumpur for the flight to Kota Kinabalu on the morning on May 13, 1969 to help the independent Kota Kinabalu parliamentary candidate as polling in Sabah and Sarawak in 1969 were to be held after Peninsular Malaysia, which was held on May 10, 1969.

I was just elected Member of Parliament for Bandar Melakja and it was in answer for  the SOS call  from the Independent Parliamentary candidate for Kota Kinabalu that I flew to Kota Kinabalu that morning – not realising that  May 13, 1969 was to be a day infamy for Malaysia.

It was only at  the Kota Kinabalu public rally that evening, I learned that racial riots had broken out in Kuala Lumpur as a result of the general election results three days earlier.

I left Sabah on May 15, and was arrested when I left Singapore for Subang on May 18, which started my first Internal Security Act incarceration.

I was never in Kuala Lumpur during the May 13, 1969 riots, but I have been accused of  leading the illegal assemblies in the streets in Kuala Lumpur, shouting anti-Malay slogans   and causing the May 13, 1969 racial riots – lies which we resurrected again and again in the last five decades.

The May 13, 1969 racial riots demonstrated the importance of racial and religious harmony in our multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural nation – that we must not allow the opportunists and desperados in our midst to polarise racial and religious problems for their own ends, which could only result in Malaysia becoming a divided and a failed state.

For the past five decades, the May 13, 1969 racial riots were exploited by irresponsible politicians to frighten Malaysians from peacefully exercising their democratic rights, but Malaysians rose above two national ignominies in  the historic result of the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018 –  firstly, the ignominy of the May 13,1969 racial riots and secondly, the ignominy of being condemned by the world as a global kleptocracy – to tell the world not to lose hope in democracy as a form of government.

Just as Malaysians have arisen above these two ignominies in its history, the May 13, 1969 racial riots and being condemned by the world as a global kleptocracy, Malaysians must continue to aim high and be a top world class nation for harmony, freedom, integrity and excellence to  build a New Malaysia, where Malaysians can hold their heads high  because they come from a country which not only tolerate, but accept and respect racial, religious, linguistic and cultural diversity as well as a country which is a leading nation of integrity in the world.

The Kepayang DAP Chinese New Year Open House, hosted by the Sabah Assemblywoman and Assistant Minister for Law and Native Affairs, Jannie Lasimbang is a testimony we have great potential to put these two national ignominies behind us.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at the Kepayang Chinese New Year Open House in Penambang, Sabah on Sunday, February 17, 2019 at 9 pm)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 18 February 2019, 6:32 pm and is filed under
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Let  decency, morality and integrity return to  politics and public life in Malaysia

Is the concoction of a lie out of whole cloth, like the recent fabrication that there is a move to topple the Prime Minister, Tun Dr.Mahathir Mohamad in the form of a vote of no confidence by Pakatan Harapan Members of Parliament in the forthcoming Parliament, a shariah-compliant lie?

A so-called list of 101 MPs who have agreed to support the vote of no confidence against Tun Dr. Mahathir has even been circulated on the social media, with the constituencies given,  with eight MPs from Kedah, 10 from Penang, 14 from Perak, 17 from Selangor, 7 from Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, two from Malacca, five from Negri Sembilan,  12 from Johor, four from Pahang, one from Terengganu, one from Kelantan, eight from Sabah and 12 from Sarawak – when it is  just total and sheer fabrication and falsehood.

Is this second lie shariah-compliant?

A website which specialises in dissemination of lies and falsehoods, carried a piece datelined yesterday with a photograph of myself with the heading: “DAP may have to leave Pakatan Harapan if the rot continues”.

Is the third lie shariah-compliant?

Malaysian politics and public affairs have been infested with lies and falsehoods, with very creative attempts to justify them  with the  creation of the term “shariah-compliant lies”.

On top of Malaysia’s infamy as a global kleptocracy under the previous administration, do Malaysians want to make another signal contribution to the world with the creative coinage of the term “shariah-compliant lie”?

It is time that we restore decency, morality and integrity in politics and public affairs in Malaysia.

Anyone reading the shocking affidavit of Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer about judicial corruption,  improprieties and misconduct would have agreed that if  decency, morality and integrity had prevailed in the judiciary, the present sad and deplorable state  of the judiciary would not have come to pass.

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

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

Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada Khamis, 21 Februari 2019:

Kembalikan tatasusila, prinsip moral dan integriti dalam politik dan hal ehwal awam di Malaysia

Adakah pembohongan, seperti kisah rekaan terbaharu bahawa kononnya terdapat usaha untuk menumbangkan Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad menerusi undi tidak percaya oleh Ahli Parlimen Pakatan Harapan dalam sidang Parlimen akan datang, sebuah pembohongan yang mematuhi syariah?

Senarai 101 Ahli Parlimen yang dikatakan kononnya telah bersetuju untuk menyokong undi tidak percaya terhadap Tun Dr Mahathir beredar di media sosial, dengan perincian setiap kawasan, iaitu lapan Ahli Parlimen dari Kedah, 10 dari Pulau Pinang, 14 dari Perak, 17 dari Selangor, 7 dari Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, dua dari Melaka, lima dari Negeri Sembilan, 12 dari Johor, empat dari Pahang, satu dari Terengganu, satu dari Kelantan, lapan dari Sabah dan 12 dari Sarawak – sedangkan ia hanyalah cerita rekaan dan bohong.

Adakah ini pembohongan mematuhi syariah yang kedua?

Sebuah laman sesawang yang pakar dalam menyebarkan kepalsuan dan pembohongan, menyiarkan satu artikel semalam dengan memaparkan gambar saya bersama tajuk “DAP may have to leave Pakatan Harapan if the rot continues”.

Adakah ini pembohongan mematuhi syariah yang ketiga?

Politik Malaysia dan hal ehwal semasa telah tercemar dengan pembohongan dan kepalsuan, dengan percubaan kreatif mewajarkannya dengan penggunaan istilah ‘pembohongan patuh syariah’ yang baru dicipta.

Setelah Malaysia mendapat malu akibat digelar sebagai kleptokrasi global di bawah pentadbiran terdahulu, adakah rakyat Malaysia mahu pula dikenali dunia sebagai penyumbang kepada istilah “pembohongan patuh syariah”?

Sudah tiba masanya untuk kita mengembalikan tatasusila, prinsip moral dan integriti dalam politik dan hal ehwal awam di Malaysia.

Sesiapapun yang membaca afidavit Hakim Mahkamah Rayuan Datuk Dr Hamid Sultan Abu Backer berhubung amalan rasuah, perbuatan songsang dan salah laku dalam badan kehakiman tentu akan bersetuju bahawa jika tatasusila, prinsip moral dan integriti menjadi amalan dalam badan berkenaan, keadaan yang terjadi seperti hari ini sudah tentu tidak mungkin akan berlaku.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 21 February 2019, 1:12 pm and is filed under
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None of the 135 Pakatan Harapan-Warisan Members of Parliament have heard of the alleged no confidence motion to topple Mahathir and the public have shown the  least interest in it as they just do not believe in such a “shariah-compliant lie”

In the past week, the media had been dominated by the purported news of a no confidence motion in the forthcoming Parliament reconvening on March 11 to topple the Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed.

Ask the 135 Pakatan Harapan-Warisan Members of Parliament, and none of them had heard of the alleged no confidence motion to topple Mahathir as the Prime Minister!

But most intriguing of all, the Malaysian public as distinct from the Malaysian media  have shown  the least interest in the purported news of a no confidence motion to oust Mahathir as Prime Minister as they just do not believe in such a “shariah-compliant lie”.

The purported no-confidence motion only exist in the imagination of certain desperate, opportunistic and unprincipled political leaders, who think they can distract public attention from their lies and falsehoods with fairy tales, after they had coined a most disgraceful term in Malaysian and Islamic politics – “shariah-complaint lies”.

In the nine months after the 14th General Elections on May 9, 2018, the country has been afflicted by the most toxic and vicious politics of lies, hate, fear, race and religion in the nation’s history to create suspicion, distrust,  fear and hate among the diverse races and religions in the country,  capitalising on the advent of the social media which allows messages, including the most dastardly of lies and falsehoods, to be sent out to the individuals instantaneously, which unchecked  could only lead to unprecedented racial and religious polarisation and division and condemning Malaysia to the trajectory of a failed state.

Pakatan Harapan wants to build a New Malaysia where Malaysia becomes a world top-class nation, respected by the world not only for its democracy, good governance, rule of law, the unity and harmony of our plural society of diverse races, religions, languages and cultures, but also for our accomplishments in different fields of human endeavour.

This is why we want unity and harmony in plural Malaysia, where  the diversity of our races, religions, languages and cultures becomes an asset and secret of our national success and greatness, and not a liability and weakness.

This can only come about if we move away from the toxic and vicious politics of lies, including “shariah-compliant lies”, hate, fear, race and religion which wants to create racial and religious suspicion, distrust, hate and fear and promote instead a positive and inclusive Malaysian attitude whereby we celebrate our racial, religious, linguistic and cultural diversity  to build a New Malaysia  which can be   a show-case to the world of unity, harmony and sense of purpose and excellence  of a plural society.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at the  Bukit Batu DAP Branch Chinese New Year dinner in Bukit Batu, Kulai, on Saturday, 23rd February 2019 at 8 pm)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 24 February 2019, 7:04 am and is filed under
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Three reasons why the voters of Semenyih should vote for the Pakatan Harapan candidate on March 2

There are three reasons why the voters of Semenyih should vote for the Pakatan Harapan candidate, Muhammad Aiman Zainali on Saturday, March 2, 2019.

Last night, a former UMNO Minister in a by-election  ceramah questioned the appointment of non-Malays and non-Muslims as Finance Minister, Attorney-General, and Chief Justice.

This is extremism at its worst, against the very spirit of the Malaysian Constitution and the principle of Malaysian nation-building.

It is not that Malaysia did not have a non-Malay and a non-Muslim as Finance Minister, Attorney-General and Chief Justice in the past.

The MCA President Tun Tan Siew Sin was Finance Minister until 1974 and  Lim Guan Eng is the first non-Malay and non-Muslim to become a Finance Minister in the past 44 years. In the early years of Malaysia, the posts of Attorney-General and Chief Justice was also held by a non-Malay and non-Muslim.

Is it wrong for a non-Malay and a non-Muslim to become a Finance Minister, Attorney-General or Chief Justice?

The Malaysian  Constitution is very clear that these posts should  be open to any Malaysian who is  both qualified and competent to carry out the responsibility  of the job.

The voters of Seminyih should use their vote in the by-election Saturday to demonstrate their disagreement and rejection of the extreme position of the  former UMNO Minister who questioned the appointment of non-Malays and non-Muslims as Finance Minister, Attorney-General and Chief Justice.

Secondly, the former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, is trying to make a political comeback and as the Home Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin intimated,  return as Prime Minister of Malaysia with his unashamed campaign of “Malu Apa Bossku”!

Many Malaysians are very disappointed that Najib, who had  brought infamy and ignominy to Malaysia with  his 1MDB  as well as other 1MDB-liked corruption scandals in Felda, Felcra, MARA and  Tabung Haji, turning Malaysia into an international butt of jokes as a global kleptocracy, is not paying for his corruption and crimes in Sungai  Buloh Prison but is allowed to strut all over the country in his “Malu Apa Bossku” campaign.

However as a New Malaysia is committed to the restoration of the rule of law,  Malaysians must learn to be patient to allow the legal process to take its course to bring the criminals and culprits to justice.

However, the March 2 by-election provides an excellent opportunity for the people of Semenyih to declare loud and clear  they do nor want Najib to make a political comeback and least of all, return as Malaysian Prime Minister.

The third reason why the people of Semenyih should vote for Pakatan Harapan is to show their continued support for the Pakatan Harapan agenda for a New Malaysia, where the country transforms itself from a global kleptocracy into a leading nation of  integrity in the world; where there is restoration of democracy, rule of law, good governance; where Malaysia can become a world top-class nation in different fields of human endeavour be an international model  of how we can leverage on the assets and best qualities of the diverse races, religions, languages and cultures that meet in confluence in Malaysia, turning them  into an national strengths and assets instead of becoming  weaknesses and liabilities.

Pakatan Harapan promised structural and institutional changes to bring about a New Malaysia, but it is not  possible to undo the  60-year mess of government wrongs, deviations and abuses of power in  100 days, a year or two, or even in  one electoral cycle.

We must develop the  Big Picture vision and the long-term perspective that we must be committed to  structural and institutional reforms but they must be sustainable with increasing support for all sectors of the Malaysian people, regardless of race, religion or region, so that these structural and institutional reforms can be an integral part of the nation-building process.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at the Pakatan Harapan Semenyih by-election ceramah at Vista Valley, Semenyih on Sunday, 24th February 2019 at 8.30 pm)

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

Ucapan oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Vista Valley, Semenyih pada hari Ahad, 24 Februari 2019:

Tiga sebab mengapa pengundi di Semenyih harus memilih calon Pakatan Harapan pada 2 Mac

Terdapat tiga sebab mengapa pengundi di Semenyih harus memilih calon Pakatan Harapan, Muhammad Aiman Zainali pada Sabtu, 2 Mac, 2019.

Bekas Menteri UMNO mempersoalkan pelantikan Menteri Kewangan, Peguam Negara dan Ketua Hakim dari kalangan pemimpin bukan Melayu dan bukan Islam dalam satu ceramah semalam.

Kenyataan tersebut jelas berbaur ekstrimis, bertentangan dengan semangat Perlembagaan Malaysia serta prinsip pembinaan negara.

Pelantikan Menteri Kewangan, Peguam Negara atau Ketua Hakim dari kalangan pemimpin bukan Melayu dan bukan Islam bukanlah perkara baharu di Malaysia.

Presiden MCA, Tun Tan Siew Sin pernah menjadi Menteri Kewangan sehingga tahun 1974. Lim Guan Eng adalah Menteri Kewangan dari kalangan pemimpin bukan Melayu dan bukan Islam pertama sejak 44 tahun lalu. Pada awal pembentukan Malaysia, jawatan Peguam Negara dan Ketua Hakim pernah disandang oleh orang bukan Melayu dan bukan Islam.

Adakah salah untuk seseorang yang bukan Melayu dan bukan Islam memegang jawatan Menteri Kewangan, Peguam Negara atau Ketua Hakim?

Perlembagaan Malaysia secara jelas menyatakan bahawa jawatan tersebut terbuka kepada semua rakyat Malaysia yang berkelayakan dan diyakini cekap untuk menjalankan tanggungjawab tersebut.

Pengundi Semenyih harus menggunakan undi yang ada pada mereka dalam pilihan raya kecil Sabtu ini bagi menyatakan penolakan terhadap pendirian ekstrim bekas Menteri UMNO yang mempersoalkan pelantikan Menteri Kewangan, Peguam Negara dan Ketua Hakim dari kalangan pemimpin bukan Melayu dan bukan Islam.

Kedua, bekas Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, kini sedang cuba melakukan “comeback” politik dan – seperti dinyatakan Menteri Dalam Negeri, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin – kembali menjadi Perdana Menteri Malaysia menerusi kempen “Malu Apa Bossku”!

Ramai di kalangan rakyat Malaysia kecewa apabila Najib – yang telah banyak membawa keburukan kepada Malaysia ekoran skandal berkaitan 1MDB serta skandal-skandal lain yang melibatkan Felda, Felcra, MARA dan Tabung Haji, malah menyebabkan Malaysia dijadikan bahan jenaka dunia dengan gelaran kleptokrasi global – masih tidak dihukum di penjara Sungai Buloh atas jenayah dan amalan rasuahnya, tetapi sebaliknya dibiarkan bebas mendabik dada mengusung kempen “Malu Apa Bossku” di seluruh negara.

Walaupun Malaysia Baharu komited kepada agenda mengembalikan kedaulatan undang-undang, rakyat Malaysia harus bersabar dan memberi ruang kepada proses perundangan berjalan supaya penjenayah dan pihak yang bertanggungjawab ke atas skandal-skandal terbabit dapat dibawa ke muka pengadilan.

Pun begitu, PRK pada 2 Mac nanti memberikan peluang keemasan kepada pengundi di Semenyih untuk menolak secara lantang dan jelas sama langkah “comeback” politik yang dibawa Najib untuk menobatkan dirinya sekali lagi sebagai Perdana Menteri Malaysia.

Sebab ketiga mengapa pengundi Semenyih harus memilih Pakatan Harapan adalah untuk menjadikan ia sebagai satu manifestasi sokongan berterusan terhadap agenda Pakatan Harapan untuk membina Malaysia Baharu, di mana negara kita menjelma daripada kleptokrasi global kepada negara yang berintegriti di mata dunia; di mana semangat demokrasi, kedaulatan undang-undang, tadbir urus baik dikembalikan; di mana Malaysia boleh menjadi sebuah negara bertaraf dunia dalam pelbagai bidang usaha manusia, sama ada menjadi contoh kepada dunia dengan memanfaatkan aset dan kualiti pertembungan pelbagai kaum, agama, bahasa dan budaya di Malaysia, dan melihat ia sebagai kekuatan serta aset negara, dan bukan sebaliknya.

Pakatan Harapan berjanji untuk membuat perubahan dalam struktur dan institusi bagi mewujudkan sebuah Malaysia Baharu, namun tidak mudah untuk memperbetulkan segala masalah yang terjadi selama 60 tahun dalam tempoh masa 100 hari, satu atau dua tahun, apatah lagi dalam satu kitaran pilihan raya.

Kita harus membentuk visi Gambaran Besar dan kekal komited kepada perspektif jangka masa panjang terhadap agenda pembaharuan struktur dan institusi, namun ia harus bergerak seiring dengan peningkatan sokongan kepada setiap rakyat Malaysia, tanpa mengira kaum, agama atau kawasan, supaya pembaharuan struktur dan instittusi ini boleh menjadi sebahagian penting daripada proses pembinaan negara.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 25 February 2019, 4:38 pm and is filed under
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Suhakam chairman Razali Ismail commended for denouncing Nazri’s incitement of racial hatred in our plural society

Suhakam Chairman Tan Sri Razali Ismail is to be commended for denouncing former UMNO Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz for inciting racial hatred in our plural society.

It is most deplorable that to win votes in the Semenyih by-election, Nazri is prepared to incite racial hatred and advance a narrow, intolerant and extremist narrative in Malaysia by questioning  the appointment of non-Malays and non-Muslims as the Finance Minister, Attorney-General and Chief Justice – in total disregard of history and the nation-building principles embodied in the Malaysian Constitution.

This is a terrible example of what politics can do to a former Law Minister, providing the latest example of the toxic and vicious politics of lies, hatred, fear, race and religion which will end up in Malaysia becoming a divided polity and a failed state, when Malaysia has the capacity to leverage on the best qualities and values of the diverse races, religions, languages and cultures that meet in confluence in the country to be a world top-class nation and be an international show-case to the world of unity, harmony and sense of purpose and excellence of a plural society.

This the time for Malaysian leaders who believe in a Malaysia for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region,  and the nation-building principles as embodied in the Malaysian Constitution, to speak up and reaffirm their commitment to the Malaysian Constitution and a plural Malaysian nation.

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

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

Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada Selasa, 26 Februari 2019:

Pengerusi Suhakam, Razali Ismail wajar diberikan pujian kerana mengecam kenyataan Nazri yang cuba menimbulkan kebencian kaum dalam di kalangan masyarakat majmuk negara ini

Pengerusi Suhakam Tan Sri Razali Ismail wajar diberikan pujian atas kecaman yang disuarakannya terhadap bekas Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz ekoran tindakan bekas Menteri UMNO itu meniupkan api kebencian kaum di kalangan masyarakat majmuk negara ini.

Amat menyedihkan apabila Nazri sanggup meniupkan api kebencian kaum, dan mengajukan naratif sempit, tidak bertoleransi dan ekstremis di Malaysia dengan mempersoalkan pelantikan pemimpin bukan Melayu dan bukan Islam sebagai Menteri Kewangan, Peguam Negara dan Ketua Hakim Negara – yang dilihat mengabaikan sejarah dan prinsip pembinaan negara yang terkandung dalam Perlembagaan Malaysia – semata-mata untuk memenangi pilihan raya kecil Semenyih.

Ini adalah contoh yang mengerikan tentang kesan politik terhadap bekas Menteri Undang-Undang, sekaligus memberikan contoh terbaru mengenai politik pembohongan dan toksik, kebencian, ketakutan, perkauman dan keagamaan yang akan menyebabkan Malaysia menjadi sebuah negara yang gagal dan berpecah-belah, sedangkan Malaysia mempunyai keupayaan untuk memanfaatkan kualiti dan nilai terbaik daripada pelbagai kaum, agama, bahasa dan budaya yang bertaut di negara ini untuk menjelma sebagai sebuah negara berkelas dunia serta menjadi contoh kepada negara lain sebagai sebuah negara yang bersatu padu, harmoni, mempunyai matlamat serta masyarakat majmuk yang cemerlang.

Ini adalah masanya untuk pemimpin Malaysia meyakini bahawa Malaysia adalah milik semua rakyat Malaysia, tanpa mengira kaum, agama atau wilayah, dan prinsip pembinaan negara seperti yang termaktub dalam Perlembagaan Malaysia, bagi menyatakan dan mengesahkan komitmen mereka terhadap Perlembagaan Malaysia serta konsep Bangsa Malaysia yang majmuk.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 26 February 2019, 12:23 pm and is filed under
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Does UMNO endorse Nazri’s questioning of non-Malay and non-Muslim as Finance Minister, Attorney-General and Chief Justice?

UMNO Acting President Datuk Mohamad Hasan said that Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz’s on vernacular schools are merely his personal view and does not represent that of UMNO.

Is this acceptable when Nazri speaks in his capacity as Barisan Nasional Secretary-General.

Furthermore, does this mean that UMNO endorses Nazri’s questioning of non-Malay and non-Muslim as Finance Minister, Attorney-General and Chief Justice?

This appears to be the unavoidable conclusion from Mohamad Hasan’s silence on the matter, although it is clear that such a position would be going against the Malaysian Constitution and its nation-building principles.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, 27th February 201)

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

Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada Rabu, 27 Februari 2019:

Adakah UMNO menyokong tindakan Nazri mempersoalkan pelantikan Menteri Kewangan, Peguam Negara dan Ketua Hakim dari kalangan pemimpin bukan Melayu dan bukan Islam?

Pemangku Presiden UMNO Datuk Mohamad Hassan dilaporkan berkata kenyataan Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz berhubung sekolah vernakular adalah pendapat peribadinya dan tidak mewakili pendirian UMNO.

Wajarkah alasan ini diterima sedangkan Nazri mengeluarkan kenyataan itu atas kapasitinya selaku Setiausaha Agung Barisan Nasional.

Tambahan pula, adakah ini bermaksud UMNO menyokong tindakan Nazri mempersoalkan pelantikan Menteri Kewangan, Peguam Negara dan Ketua Hakim dari kalangan pemimpin bukan Melayu dan bukan Islam?

Ia adalah kesimpulan yang tidak dapat dielakkan daripada sikap berdiam diri Mohamad Hassan berhubung perkara itu, walaupun pendirian seumpama itu secara jelas bertentangan dengan Perlembagaan Malaysia serta prinsip pembinaan negara.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 27 February 2019, 11:24 am and is filed under
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Never before had more lies been told in a by-election than in the Semenyih by-election – are they all shariah-compliant lies?

Never before in the  history of by-elections in Malaysia had more lies been told than in the Semenyih by-election – and one must ask whether they are all shariah-compliant lies.

In fact, Semenyih will be remembered as the by-election where the term “shariah-compliant lie” made its first appearance.

One of the biggest lie concocted for the by-election is  the lie there is a move to topple the Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in the form of a vote of no confidence by Pakatan Harapan Members of Parliament in the forthcoming Parliament starting on March 11.

Is this  a shariah-compliant lie?

A list of 101 MPs who had purportedly agreed to support the vote of no confidence against Tun Dr. Mahathir  was  even circulated on the social media, with eight MPs from Kedah, 10 from Penang, 14 from Perak, 17 from Selangor, seven from Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, two from Malacca, five from Negri Sembilan,  12 from Johor, four from Pahang, one from Terengganu, one from Kelantan, eight from Sabah and 12 from Sarawak – which was a  total and sheer fabrication and falsehood.

Ask the 135 Pakatan Harapan-Warisan Members of Parliament, and none of them would have heard of the alleged no confidence motion to topple Mahathir as the Prime Minister.

Is this a shariah-compliant lie?

Among the latest lies spread in the Semenyih by-election is the accusation that the DAP was  calling the shots in Putrajaya and controlling the Pakatan Harapan government.

PAS information chief Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi, for instance, told a UMNO Semenyih by-election ceramah that DAP was responsible for putting non-Malays into positions of power as the attorney-general, chief justice and de facto law minister, alleging that DAP had lobbied for these positions even before the 14th general election.

Although this is a far cry from the earlier lie that I would become the Prime Minister if  Pakatan Harapan had won the general election, we must ask whether these new  lies are “shariah-compliant” and permissible?

The Semenyih by-election on Saturday will be a crucial test whether Malaysian politics and public affairs are to take the high ground to promote  national unity, understanding and harmony to leverage on the best qualities of the diverse races, religions, languages and cultures in the country to make them assets to transform Malaysia into a world top-class nation or regress to a very toxic and vicious brew of lies and fake news to incite suspicion, distrust, hate and fear among the different races and religions in the country, turn our diversity into liabilities and lock Malaysia into the trajectory hurtling towards a failed state.

I urge the voters of Semenyih to vote for Pakatan Harapan  for we are committed to the New Malaysia where the nation would be admired and respected by the world as a top world-class nation, while a vote for UMNO will condemn the nation towards the latter direction.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, 28th February 2019)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 28 February 2019, 8:50 am and is filed under
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Challenge  for Pakatan Harapan after the  Semenyih by-election defeat is to find a formula to be able to  continue to  inspire hope and support among Malaysians that PH is committed to the  building of a New Malaysia and not to out-UMNO UMNO or out-PAS PAS

Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada Selasa, 5 Mac 2019:

Cabaran buat Pakatan Harapan selepas mengalami kekalahan dalam Pilihan Raya Kecil Semenyih adalah untuk mencari formula bagi membangkitkan sokongan dan harapan di kalangan rakyat bahawa Pakatan Harapan komited terhadap agenda pembinaan Malaysia Baharu yang memberi manfaat kepada semua rakyat Malaysia dan generasi masa depan, tanpa perlu menjadi lebih UMNO dari UMNO atau lebih PAS dari PAS

Cabaran buat Pakatan Harapan selepas mengalami kekalahan dalam Pilihan Raya Kecil Semenyih adalah untuk mencari formula bagi membangkitkan harapan dan sokongan di kalangan rakyat bahawa Pakatan Harapan komited terhadap agenda pembinaan Malaysia Baharu yang memberi manfaat kepada semua rakyat Malaysia dan generasi masa depan, tanpa perlu menjadi lebih UMNO dari UMNO atau lebih PAS dari PAS.

Tahun 2019 akan menjadi tahun terpenting dalam sejarah negara yang mana akan menentukan sama ada Malaysia Baharu yang mahu dibentuk gabungan Pakatan Harapan yang terdiri daripada Bersatu, PKR, Amanah dan DAP mampu digerakkan atau sekadar khayalan semata-mata.

Peristiwa 9 Mei 2018 menganugerahi semua rakyat Malaysia satu peluang yang tidak pernah dibayangkan sebelum ini untuk membetulkan semula dasar pembinaan negara, dan walaupun Malaysia Baharu tidak boleh dibina atau dilengkapkan dalam tempoh 100 hari atau beberapa tahun, sebaliknya memerlukan tempoh sedekad dua untuk dicapai, rakyat Malaysia perlu meletakkan keyakinan bahawa Pakatan Harapan komited dengan program dan objektif Malaysia Baharu malah menunjukkan kemajuan dalam pelaksanaan manifesto pilihan raya Pakatan Harapan.

Perjalanan menuju Malaysia Baharu harus berakar pada reformasi institusi dan struktur pada tahun 2019 bagi mengubah Malaysia daripada gelaran kleptokrasi global kepada negara peneraju integriti; memulihkan kedaulatan undang-undang; mengukuhkan demokrasi; melakukan reformasi ke atas sistem pendidikan bagi menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara terkemuka dunia; menyatukan rakyat Malaysia berbilang kaum, agama dan budaya dan memanfaatkan aset berbilang kaum, agama, budaya dan tamadun yang bertembung di Malaysia bagi membina sebuah tamadun global baharu.

Pembinaan negara yang bercirikan masyarakat majmuk bukanlah zero-sum game, sebaliknya formula menang-menang untuk semua rakyat Malaysia. Kita harus memperjuangkan hak orang Melayu tanpa meminggirkan orang bukan Melayu. Kita harus berjuang untuk hak orang Cina di Malaysia, tetapi bukan sehingga menjejaskan hak orang bukan Cina. Kita harus berjuang untuk hak orang India di Malaysia tanpa menjadi ancaman kepada orang bukan India di Malaysia. Begitu juga masyarakat Kadazan, Iban dan Orang Asli di Malaysia.

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

The challenge for Pakatan Harapan after  the Semenyih by-election defeat is  to find a formula to be able to continue  to inspire hope and support among Malaysians that Pakatan Harapan is committed to the  building of  a New Malaysia for the benefit of all Malaysians and future generations and not to out-UMNO UMNO or out-PAS PAS

The year 2019 will be a  most decisive year in the nation’s history which will decide whether the New Malaysia the Pakatan Harapan coalition of Bersatu, PKR,  AMANAH and DAP wants to build is a work-in-progress or a sheer chimera.

May 9, 2018 allows Malaysians a hitherto unimaginable chance to re-set nation-building policies, and although  a New Malaysia cannot be built or completed in 100 days or in a few years,  but will take a decade or two to accomplish, Malaysians must be convinced that the Pakatan Harapan is committed to the New Malaysia objective and programme and making progress in this direction in accordance with the Pakatan Harapan election manifesto.

The journey towards a New Malaysia must strike deep roots in terms of structural and institutional reforms in 2019 to transform Malaysia from a global kleptocracy into a leading nation of integrity; restore the rule of law; entrench democracy; reform the educational system to make Malaysia a top world-class nation; unite Malaysians of diverse races, religions and cultures and leverage on the assets of the diverse races, religions, cultures and civilisations which meet in confluence in Malaysia to build a new global civilization.

Nation building must not be a zero sum game but a win-win formula. We must fight for the rights of the Malays but not at the expense of the non-Malays. We must fight for the rights of the Chinese in Malaysia, but not to the detriment of the non-Chinese. We must fight for the rights of the Indians in Malaysia without being a threat to the non-Indians in Malaysia. Similarly for the Kadazans, Ibans and Orang Asli communities in Malaysia.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, 5th March 2019)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 5 March 2019, 11:27 am and is filed under
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