Call for a new civil movement in the country and worldwide Malaysian Diaspora to chart the building of  a New Malaysia 2030

After the 2008 General Election which saw the UMNO/Barisan Nasional coalition losing power in five states, namely Penang, Selangor, Perak, Kedah and Kelantan, the idea of the toppling of UMNO/BN from Putrajaya became  possible, achievable and dream-able in the nation’s history.

Before the 2008 General Election, nobody would have seriously entertained the notion that it was possible and achievable to bring about a transition of power through the democratic process.

But if you ask me during the 14th General Elections campaign whether the Pakatan Harapan would defeat the UMNO/Barisan Nasional coalition and oust Datuk Seri Najib Razak as the Prime Minister of Malaysia, I would not dare to answer in the affirmative, although I dedicated all  my energies and efforts  to this purpose – to the extent that I was campaigning outside my parliamentary constituency of Iskandar Puteri most of the campaign period, visiting 35 parliamentary constituencies in ten  states during the 11-day 14th General Election campaign period.

I was only in Iskandar Puteri constituency  during the beginning and end of the general election campaign, as for me in the 14GE, it was more important how the DAP and Pakatan Harapan performed in the polls than in Iskandar Puteri itself.

On the night of 9th May 2018, when I flew up from Iskandar Puteri parliamentary constituency to Sheraton Hotel in Petaling Jaya, where  Pakatan Harapan leaders have decided to gather on the night of the 14GE polling, it seemed quite clear that UMNO/BN had lost the mandate of the people to rule, and had been rejected by the majority of the voters losing  the simple majority of at least 112 out of the total of 222 parliamentary seats.

But it was not  clear whether Pakatan Harapan had won the simple majority of 112 seats and capable of forming the Federal Government in Putrajaya, as the Election Commission had downed tools when it found that UMNO/BN candidates were on a losing streak and refused to announce the results of the rest of the parliamentary constituencies.

My greatest concern and worry that night in Sheraton Hotel  on 9th May which dragged on into the early hours of 10th May was that there would be a hung Parliament, with neither Barisan Nasional nor Pakatan Harapan gaining a simple majority of 112 parliamentary seats, as it would then allow the PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang to be “kingmaker” – which Hadi  had announced was the objective of PAS to win 40 parliamentary seats in the 14GE!

Imagine what would have happened to Malaysia if on that historic day of May 9, 2018, there has a hung Parliament and Hadi was able to play the role of “kingmaker” – as there was no doubt even before the 14GE of the secret Najib-PAS and UMNO-PAS understanding, as Hadi’s first choice would be to throw the support of the PAS MPs to enable Najib to continue as Prime Minister, regardless of the 1MDB scandal and Malaysia’s infamy of being regarded by the whole world as a global kleptocracy. We would then be seeing not only a global kleptocracy, but also Islamic kleptocracyl

Fortunately, the country was spared the disaster of such a UMNO/BN/PAS coalition government in Putrajaya as Pakatan Harapan won more than  a simple parliamentary majority and with WARISAN had a most comfortable margin to form the new Malaysian Government in Putrajaya.

I will like to take this opportunity to share with Malaysians in Perth – and I must say that I am overawed by such a great number of Malaysians who have turned up tonight, many white-haired indicative that they  have left Malaysian shores for many years and even decades, but their  hearts are still with Malaysia – the idea that a new civil movement in the country and worldwide Malaysian Diaspora should be formed  to chart the building of  a New Malaysia 2030.

On May 9, 2018, for the first time in many years, Malaysians in the country and the worldwide Diaspora, felt proud to be Malaysians, for we shocked ourselves and the world that we can peacefully and democratically change the government through the ballot box at a time democracy worldwide is undergoing a crisis about its relevance as a system of governance in the 21st century.

For the first time, we are  doing what Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman had envisioned during the birth of the nation for Malaysia to be “a beacon of light in a disturbed and distracted world” instead of being a “black hole” of rogue democracy, kakistocracy where Ministers could not differentiate a turtle egg from an ordinary egg, and a global kleptocracy.

Malaysia dare to hope and dream again for Malaysia to become a world-class top nation in every field of human endeavor, where we can leverage on the best of the diverse races, languages, cultures and civilisations that meet in confluence in Malaysia.

A New Malaysia is struggling to be born, which will take not 100 days or even five months but 10 to 20 years.

Let the New Malaysia movement which I propose that Malaysians in the country and the worldwide Diaspora can spearhead work on the building of a New Malaysia, starting with the following objectives:

1. Establish Malaysia as a model democracy starting with the restoration of the doctrine of separation of power – where Parliament and Judiciary are not creatures of the Executive and the Prime Minister.

2. Transform Malaysia from global kleptocracy into a leading nation of integrity.

3. Restore Malaysia’s economic prowess to ensure economic justice, progress and prosperity for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region.

4  Aim for Malaysia to a world-class top nation in every field of human endeavor; and

5. Build an  united Malaysian nation where all Malaysians regard themselves not only as Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans, but also as Malaysians first and foremost.

There is  no guarantee  that the vision of a New Malaysia will succeed as there are  many  in Opposition working for the implosion of Pakatan Harapan, as evidenced by the just-concluded PAS Muktamar heralding a new PAS-UMNO alliance to take the extremist  politics of race, religion, fear, hate and lies to an unprecedented level.

I have just received news that one of the most respected UMNO leaders and long-time UMNO Minister, Datuk Mustapha Mohamad, has just  resigned from UMNO as he had wanted Umno to be more inclusive and moderate, but  this did not seem to be the path the party was taking.

This is latest evidence  that Malaysian politics is in uncharted waters and that those who plotted for the implosion of Pakatan Harapan government may implode first if they proceed with unprecedented extremism in exploiting the politics of race, religion, hate, fear and lies.

The building of a New Malaysia must go on undeterred by the machinations of the political opportunists and extremists and this is where  a New Malaysia civil  movement for Malaysians in the country and the worldwide Diaspora can play an important and rightful role.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on “An Insight into a New Malaysia” at Murdoch University, Perth on Tuesday 18th September 2018 at 6 pm)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 19 September 2018, 12:05 pm and is filed under
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Why are Jho Low’s lawyers threatening booksellers in Australia, UK and  US with legal action if they sell “Billion Dollar Whale”  when both Najib and Jho Low are not doing anything to stop the sale of the book or Clare’s “The Sarawak Report” in Malaysia?

Australian newspaper, The Australian, today published a report headlined “Law threat to harpoon Billion Dollar Whale” on efforts by Jho Low through his lawyers to stop the sale of the 1MDB book, “Billion Dollar Whale” by Wall Street Journal reporters Tom Wright and Bradley Hope.

It reported that Low’s local lawyers, Mark O’Brien Legal have written to Australian booksellers threatening to sue for defamation unless they agree not to sell the book and to take a synopsis of the book down from their websites.

The Australian quoted bookseller Jon Page, co-owner of Pages and Pages bookshop in Mosman on Sydney’s north shore that he had received two letters from Low’s lawyers but  he said he would continue to sell the book after assurances from the book’s publishers.

Earlier, it has been reported that Loh’s lawyers had sent threatening letters to bookshops around the world in an attempt to block distribution of a new book on the 1MDB scandal.

The Guardian reported no UK publisher agreed to publish Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World  due to British libel laws.

It was also reported that  the book’s US publisher Hachette is troubled by the alleged threats against booksellers.

The decision to threaten a book’s distributors and booksellers  rather than the publisher or authors is  an attempt to “short-circuit the legal process” around libel law, and risks setting a precedent that would intimidate booksellers.

In Malaysia, there had been no action by Low’s lawyers to threaten legal action to stop the sale of “Billion Dollar Whale” or the other 1MDB scandal book, “The Sarawak Report – the Inside Story of the 1MDB Expose” by Clare Rewcastle Brown whether by Datuk Seri Najib Razak or Jho Low.

Clare called Najib as a “mega-thief” in her book.

Malaysians are entitled to ask both of them: Why are Jho Low’s lawyers threatening booksellers in Australia, UK and  US with legal action if they sell “Billion Dollar Whale”  when both Najib and Jho Low are not doing anything to stop the sale of the book and Clare’s “The Sarawak Report” in Malaysia?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Canberra on Wednesday  18th Sept. 2018)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 19 September 2018, 4:02 pm and is filed under
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Fuzi Harun should step down as IGP if he cannot comply with Interpol protocol to put Jho Low on the Interpol Red Notice List

Although I am far from the country as I am in the Australian capital of Canberra, I am utterly shocked to read of the excuse given by the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun about the police problem complying with Interpol protocol to put the 1MDB mastermind and the No. 1 Malaysian international fugitive from justice, Jho Low, to put him on Interpol Red Notice List.

Fuzi said Interpol has its own protocol in deciding whether to make the names on its wanted list public, when responding to a news report that the names of several Malaysians – including former police officer Sirul Azhar Umar, white collar criminal Michael Soosai and car theft syndicate mastermind Robin Hai – are  still on the list, but not that of Jho Low and his father.

Fuzi said  Interpol has the discretion to decide whether to only release these names to relevant authorities.

He said: “A request to have any individual listed on the Red Notice list depends on the Interpol’s protocol, which takes time as it has to undergo a thorough process which has been outlined by the international agency.

“Based on the same protocol, Interpol will decide whether the names on the list will be published to the public or only made known to related authorities.”

Fuzi should stop his wishy-washy statement, and declare whether Jho Low is on the Interpol wanted list, and if not, why not.  He should step down as IGP if he cannot comply with Interpol protocol to put Jho Low on the Interpol Red Notice List

It is not just because last month, the Putrajaya Sessions Court issued an arrest warrant against Jho Low and his father, Larry Low  Hock Peng to enable both to be repatriated and face money-laundering charges in relation to 1MDB.

Jho Low is today the most famous Malaysian in the whole wide world – even more famous than Datuk Seri Najib Razak who transformed Malaysia into a global kleptoracy or even Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, who has become the world’s oldest Prime Minister at the age of the 93 in the mission to Save Malaysia from continuing in the trajectory towards a rogue democracy, kakistocracy and global kleptocracy.

In such circumstances, it is a terrible reflection on the competence, efficiency and professionalism or the Royal Malaysian Police that the world’s most wanted Malaysian is not on the Interpol Red Notice List.

It is not as if the international 1MDB corruption and money-laundering, which had caused the downfall of the Najib premiership which Malaysians and the world had thought was so solid, unshakeable and invincible, happened only yesterday. In actual fact, what the US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions described as “kleptocracy at its worst” goes far back to 2009, a few months after Najib became the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia!

Fuzi should read the two recent books on 1MDB, Clare Rewcastle Brown’s “The Sarawak Report – the Inside Story of the 1MDB Expose” and Tom Wright and Bradley Hope’s “Billion Dollar Whale – The Man who fooled Wall Street, Hollywood and the world” and tell Malaysians whether there is anything new in the two books on 1MDB for the  police investigators, or whether the police had all long knew all about the secrets of the 1MDB scandal as exposed by these two books.

If so, why is Malaysian Police unable to comply with Interpol Protocol to put Jho Low and his father on Interpol Wanted List?

(Media Comment by  DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Canberra on Thursday, 20th September 2018)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 20 September 2018, 7:39 am and is filed under
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Preliminary studies by Dr. Funston show that Malay support for UMNO was only about 5% higher than support for PH, and not 15% as earlier  been estimated by Merdeka Centre

The Attorney-General Tommy Thomas in his first major interview in Malaysiakini today said that it may take as long as a decade to complete the mammoth task of wide-ranging law reforms in the country.

I think Thomas was being conservative  in his estimate, as it may take a decade or two to  complete the great task  to build a New Malaysia.

After the great and historic result of the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018, when Malaysians returned to the great and noble  task to build a world-class nation – not in the worst possible sense of being a  global kleptocracy but, in the words of Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman in the early years of nationhood, to be  “ a beacon of light in a disturbed and distracted world”, a New Malaysia is struggling to be born!

It is now more than five months after the great and historic result of May 9, 2018 when Malaysians, whether inside the country or in the worldwide diaspora, felt proud as Malaysians, unlike the previous few years when they were so ashamed about global kleptocracy and rogue democracy in Malaysia that they stopped identifying themselves as Malaysians to avoid embarrassing questions about the shenanigans of the Najib government.

It is not possible to build a New Malaysia in 100 days or in five months, but it is important that the Malaysian ship of state make a critical turn of direction from a trajectory of a failed, kleptocratic and kakistocratic state to a trajectory of greater national unity, integrity, democracy, rule of law and excellence, setting a new course in nation-building towards a New Malaysia especially in the direction of public integrity, rule of law, democracy, good governance, greater transparency and economic justice.

This is evident from the following developments:

Firstly, there is the restoration of the doctrine of separation of powers with a Parliament which is not a creature of the Executive and the Prime Minister to aid and abet the suppression of the 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal and Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy.

The new Speaker in the new Parliament had liberated Members of Parliament from the albatross of the former Speaker of the 13th Parliament who virtually banned the 1MDB scandal as a taboo subject in the previous Parliament; and there was the parliamentary motion directing the Auditor-General and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to conduct again a detailed investigation into the embezzlement and the corruption scandal with regard to 1MDB and its related companies in order to restore the dignity of the Dewan Rakyat and for all related information to be made public.

In the pipeline are unprecedented parliamentary reforms like the establishment of Select Committees for  MPs to shadow separate Ministries or policy areas.

We have also made a start with the appointment of an Opposition MP to be chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.

Secondly, there is the restoration of the doctrine of separation of powers with a Judiciary which is not a creature of the Executive and the Prime Minister, with the appointment of the new Chief Justice, Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, new Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Ahmad Maarop and new Attorney-General Tommy Thomas.

Thirdly, the transformation of Malaysia from a global kleptocracy into a leading nation of integrity in the world, not only with comprehensive investigation into the 1MDB scandal but a clean-up of the corrupt system of governance in Malaysia. This is why former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is being charged in Kuala Lumpur now with another 25 counts of corruption and money-laundering in connection with the 1MDB scandal.

Fourthly, institutional  and law reforms  which Thomas spoke about in his interview with Malaysiakini, to repeal draconian, repressive and undemocratic laws and to  restore the independence, impartiality and professionalism of important national institutions.

Fifthly, a more open society with vibrant civil society and freer press.

But there are danger signals – the resort to vicious and toxic politics of race, religion, hate, fear and lies by irresponsible political opportunists in the Opposition to engender distrust, enmity and dissension among races and religions in a “scorched earth” policy, as in the proposed UMNO-PAS alliance and the MCA/UMNO/PAS conspiracy to topple the Pakatan Harapan Government by before the 15th General Election in 2013 if not earlier, say within two years.

But a far-reaching implosion is now taking place in UMNO, with another two UMNO MPs, former UMNO Ministers Datuk Mustapha Mohamad and Anifah Aman, having resigned from UMNO to add to a total of five UMNO MPs who have left UMNO since the 14GE.

There is a list in circulation in social media of another 17 UMNO “big wig” MPs who will be resigning from UMNO – and only time will whether this is true or just fake news.

I have come across a significant finding about the 14GE.

Preliminary studies by Dr. John Funston of the Department of Political and Social Change, College of Asia and the Pacific of Australian National University (ANU)  show that Malay support for UMNO in the 14GE  was only about 5% higher than support for Pakatan Harapan, and not 15% as had earlier  been estimated by Merdeka Centre.

Polls analysis by Merdeka Centre have earlier estimated that some 95% of the Chinese and 70-75% of the Indian voters voted for Pakatan Harapan and a New Malaysia, while only 25 – 30% of the Malays voted for Pakatan Harapan and a New Malaysia.

Funston’s preliminary analysis is at variance with the earlier estimates that  35-40% of Malays voted for UMNO/BN,  30-33% voted for PAS and 25 – 30% voted for Pakatan Harapan  in the 14GE.

This is Funston’s preliminary analysis:

Peninsular Electorate

Total Vote –     10,347,357

Total Malays     6,346,739 (61.34%)

UMNO Vote –      2,323,665 (36.6%)

PAS Vote –       2,012,381 (31.7%)

PH vote.         2,010,693 (31.7%)

Funston’s preliminary studies noted that Pakatan Harapan had more Malays elected on the peninsula than UMNO – 51 PH Malay MPs (PKR 26, PPBM 13, AMANAH 11, DAP 1) compared to the present total Malaysia-wide of 49 for UMNO (with five MPs having resigned from UMNO since May 9, 2018).

We will need more than one general election cycle to build a New Malaysia, and we want the New Malaysia agenda of Pakatan Harapan to remain the national agenda for the next two decades, for which we have to win the 15th, 16th and subsequent general elections.

I do not believe that, according to Funston’s preliminary studies, 36.6%  of Malays who voted for Barisan Nasional and the 31.7% of Malay voters who supported PAS in the 14GE wanted to vote for kleptocracy, abuses and excesses of power and GST as well as the various forms of injustices and oppression under Najib’s premiership.

Furthermore I do not believe that the 31.7% of Malay voters who voted for PAS wanted a Islamic kleptocracy to replace Najib’s global kleptocracy.

Can we ensure that in future general elections, we can not only maintain the same level of support from the non-Malay voters, but after we have had the opportunity to tell the truth about 1MDB scandal and other mini-1MDB-like corruption in MARA, FELDA and other public bodies, and revelations about the RM2.1 billion estate of UMNO leaders, more and more Malay voters would support Pakatan Harapan to fight kleptocracy and to ensure that Malaysia stands for clean and honest government and not a corrupt and decadent government?

This is the national challenge of all Malaysians who want to see Malaysia to become a top world class nation and an example to the world of an united, harmonious, successful, democratic, progressive and prosperous nation.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at a Malaysia Institute talk, “Malaysia’s GE 14 A Gift of Hope?” at  Western Theatre, JG Crawford Building, Australian National University, Canberra on Thursday, 20th September 2018 at 4.30  pm)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 21 September 2018, 6:19 am and is filed under
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Sense of satisfaction that what I had advocated in Parliament in the 1970s – lowering the voting age to 18 – has been green-lighted by the Cabinet

I feel a sense of satisfaction that what I had advocated in Parliament in the 1970s – the lowering of the voting age to 18 – has been green-lighted by the Cabinet.

After the Cabinet meeting two days ago, the Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed  Abdul announced that the cabinet has agreed to lower the voting age from 21 to 18

This however would require an amendment to the Federal Constitution  to be approved by a two-thirds majority in the Dewan Rakyat for the decision to take effect.

I call on all the Opposition parties with MPs to declare their support for such a constitutional amendment.

In my first year in Parliament 47 years ago in 1971, (Parliament was suspended for 18 months after the 1969 General Election because of the May 13 riots and the declaration of emergency), I made three proposals for electoral reforms, viz:

– Lowering the voting age to 18 years;

– Automatic registration of eligible voters; and

– Compulsory voting.

Since my suggestion for the lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18 in 1971, the majority of the countries in the world have adopted this electoral reform but Malaysia seemed to be frozen in time as far as democratic, parliamentary and electoral reforms are concerned.

Now, Malaysia is set for major changes to build a New Malaysia because of the historic result of the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018.

Malaysia is today  one of the handful of countries that have not carried out the electoral reform to lower the voting age from 21 to 18.

In ASEAN, Malaysia and Singapore are the two remaining redoubts where voting age is still fixed at 21, although men and women of 18 years are treated for serious civil purposes as mature people, able to own property and enter into contractual obligations and rights.

Youths at 18 ought to have the right to vote and to have a say about the way in which their lives are governed and the country is being run, as society expects them to assume adult social responsibilities whether conscription when there is war or national emergency, even to die in the defence of the country.

In Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, the voting age is 18, while in Indonesia the voting age is 17.

The countries which have lowered the voting age of 21 to 18 since my speech in Parliament on the issue in 1971 included Netherlands, United States, Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Philippines, Australia, France, New Zealand, Italy, Trinidad and Tobago, Denmark, Spain, Peru, Belgium, India, Switzerland, Austria, Estonia, Hong Kong, Liechtenstein, Jordan, Pakistan, Morocco, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

Countries which had already given the right to vote to their 18 year-olds when I spoke in Parliament in 1971 included the United Kingdom, Turkey, Poland, Canada and Germany.

Malaysia has been left behind in the international trend for democratic and electoral reforms.

Now that the Cabinet has approved the proposal for amendment to the Constitution to lower the voting age from 21 to 18, there should not be any undue delay for Malaysia to leave the strange company of countries like Singapore, Cameroon, Lebanon, Samoa, Soloman and Tonga where 18-year-olds are still denied the right to vote.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Sydney on Friday, 21st September 2018)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 21 September 2018, 1:14 pm and is filed under
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Call for establishment of Diaspora New Malaysia with separate chapters in countries abroad  or major  foreign cities patterned after Bersih and Global Bersih as platforms for Malaysians to contribute  and participate in the building of New Malaysia

From the great turnout of Malaysians in the Diaspora in my talks in Perth, Canberra and tonight in Sydney, it is evident that regardless of time and place, Malaysians (including those who have taken up the citizenship of other countries) are concerned about the future of Malaysia and want to contribute to and participate in the building of a New Malaysia after the historic result of the 14th General Election on May 9,2018.

For this reason, I call for the establishment of a New Malaysia civil movement, in Malaysia as well as in Malaysian Diaspora worldwide, which can be called Diaspora New Malaysia with separate chapters in countries abroad or major foreign cities patterned after Bersih and Global Bersih as platforms for Malaysians to contribute to  and participate in the building of New Malaysia.

Malaysians have been given a second chance to re-set nation-building policies by the 14th General Election of May 9, 2018 to fulfil the original vision of the nation’s founding fathers for Malaysia to become a top world-class nation, or in the words of Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, to be “a beacon of light in a disturbed and distracted world” – definitely not to be “a blackhole” of rogue democracy, kakistocracy where Ministers cannot differentiate between turtle eggs from chicken eggs, and a global kleptocracy!

Malaysians must not waste the “second chance” to fulfill our national destiny to be a great nation, where we can leverage on the assets of the diverse races, religions, languages, cultures and civilizations which meet in confluence in Malaysia and form the  basis for a new civilization based on  the best values and assets of the world’s great religions and civilizations.

The great task to build a New Malaysia cannot be accomplished in 100 days or in  five months, but will take a decade or two.

It is only in the last few days that the Pakatan Harapan Government has announced a sheaf of reforms, such as lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 which is already the practice in most democracies; the appointment of Art Harun as Election Commission Chairman to clean up  electoral system and election process; and the establishment of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) which had been mooted 12 years ago by the Police Royal Commission in 2006!

Malaysians must develop the qualities of perseverance and patience so as to develop the Big Picture and the Long

Vision to reset nation-building policies to build a New Malaysia.

While it is  not possible to build a New Malaysia in 100 days or in five months, it is important that the Malaysian ship of state should make a critical turn of direction from a trajectory of a failed, kleptocratic and kakistocratic state to a trajectory of greater national unity, integrity, democracy, rule of law and excellence, setting a new  course in nation-building towards a New Malaysia especially in the direction of public integrity, rule of law, democracy, good governance, greater transparency, economic justice and greater unity among its citizens of diverse races, religions and cultures.

This is evident from the work to restore the doctrine of separation of powers among the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary.

Parliament, for instance, has been freed from the albatross imposed by the former Speaker, refusing to allow questions to be asked and a full debate on the international 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal in the 13th Parliament.

I have been in Parliament since 1969, except for a break from 1999-2004, but I was never more ashamed to be MP than in the 13th Parliament from 2013-2018.

I was twice suspended for six months from the 13th Parliament for wanting to get to the bottom of the 1MDB scandal, and in the last few days of the 13th Parliament, I was regarded as a “parliamentary ghost” by both the Speaker and the former Deputy Speakers, for they decided not to “see” my presence in Parliament!

In the past five months, national and international respect for the Malaysian judiciary and the system of justice were being restored.

In the past, there was widespread talk of the reprehensible  practice where litigants involved in  mega disputes could be  approached by intermediaries who promised to settle their cases in return for hefty sums of monies.

The “corruption” case of Finance Minister and DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng in his capacity as Penang Chief Minister had been dropped.  I had said previously that I have received message in 2016 that Guan Eng’s corruption charges would be dropped if I could ensure that I would not co-operate with Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad to bring about a united front to toppled Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Prime Minister.

Such practices which undermined the efficiency, independence and professionalism of the judiciary and the system of justice must never be allowed to return in a New Malaysia.

There is much work in various spheres if we are to succeed in building of a New Malaysia, an effort which should involve all Malaysians.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on “Looking for a New Malaysia”  organized by Bersih Sydney at Mechanics’ School of Art, Sydney on Friday, 21st September 2018 at 6 pm)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 22 September 2018, 6:10 am and is filed under
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IPCMC should inquire into the causes of the hundreds of cases of deaths in custody in the twelve  years between 2006 and  2018, starting with the most recent cases

The announcement that the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) would be set up is a victory for all Malaysians and NGOs which had consistently demanded that the Police must transform itself into a friend and ally of the people to keep crime low, by ensuring that the Police conduct itself with full accountability, particularly where there are suspicions that instead of being upholder of law and order, the police had broken the law.

In fact, the setting up of an IPCMC had been one of the most important recommendations of the Police Royal Commission which was set up in the early years of the Abdullah Badawi premiership.

Unfortunately, the Police Royal Commission’s IPCMC proposal in 2006 was not implemented because of strong objections from the Police leadership at the time, which acted in a very short-sighted manner in their objection and obstruction to the implementation of the IPCMC.

This led to a worsening crisis of confidence in the independence, impartiality and professionalism of the police force.

The Police Royal Commission had recommended that the IPCMC should inquire into every case of death in custody.

In the last 12 years since 2006 till now, there had been hundreds of cases of deaths in custody, especially within police and immigration jurisdiction!

In the circumstances, deaths in  custody should be high on the priority of the IPC when it is established.

In fact, IPCMC should inquire into the causes of the hundreds of cases of deaths in custody in the twelve  years between 2006 and  2018, starting with the most recent cases!

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Melbourne on Saturday, 22nd September 2018)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 22 September 2018, 2:49 pm and is filed under
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I will return to Malaysia to campaign for Anwar  to ensure Pakatan Harapan wins  a resounding victory in Port Dickson by-election on 13th Oct signaling  popular support for a New Malaysia

I am encouraged and lifted up by the positive responses I have received in my visits to Perth, Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne, suggesting that Malaysians in the worldwide Diaspora participate fully in the great task today of building a New Malaysia.

The great and historic result of the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018 has given Malaysians a second chance to reset nation-building policies to reject  the trajectory towards a failed state, rogue democracy, kakistocracy where Cabinet Ministers cannot differentiate between a turtle egg and on ordinary egg, and a global kleptocracy towards a trajectory towards a united, harmonious and successful plural nation which is model of democracy, leading nation of integrity and a top world-class nation in every field of human endeavour.

The New Malaysia is struggling to be born. It cannot be accomplished in 100 days or five months, but will take a decade or even two decades.

It is not what Tun Dr. Mahathir wants, what Anwar Ibrahim wants, what Lim Kit Siang or Lim Guan Eng wants, what Mohd Sabu wants, but what the 30 million Malaysians, including the Malaysians in the Malaysian Diaspora worldwide, want.

This is why I had suggested in my current Australian and New Zealand tour that Malaysians in the worldwide Diaspora should fully participate and contribute to the building of a New Malaysia, by establishing a new civil movement which can be patterned after Bersih and Global Bersih which had done great and sterling work in the area of electoral reforms with the establishment of New Malaysia and Diaspora New Malaysia movements  in the countries and foreign cities where there are substantial numbers of Malaysians – so that a  Diaspora New Malaysia Melbourne, Diaspora New Malaysia Sydney, Diaspora New Malaysia Canberra, Diaspora New Malaysia Perth, etc. as well as Global Diaspora New Malaysia can be a platform and channel for the ideas, energies and contributions of Malaysians worldwide to the building of a New Malaysia.

The Port Dickson parliamentary by-election on October 13 will be an important milestone in the building of a New Malaysia, where Anwar will take his rightful place in Parliament.

The four Pakatan Harapan parties of DAP, PKR, Bersatu and AMANAH have agreed to Tun Dr. Mahathir as the seventh Prime Minister and Anwar Ibrahim as the eighth Prime Minister.

I will miss the Port Dickson by-election nomination on Sept. 29, as I will still be in New Zealand, but I will return to Malaysia to campaign for Anwar  to ensure Pakatan Harapan wins  a resounding victory in Port Dickson by-election on 13th Oct signaling popular support for a New Malaysia

In the past five months, criticisms and unhappiness have surfaced about the new Pakatan Harapan government.

We accept these criticisms but urge Malaysians to have a Big Picture and Long view mindset, as the New Malaysia we want to build is work-in-progress which will take more than one general election cycle to accomplish, as such a task require 10 to 20 years to complete.

We must never yield to negative or self-destructive mindset that the New Malaysia initiative will fail, and that the UMNO/PAS conspiracy that the Pakatan Harapan government can be toppled before the 15GE if not earlier in two years can be brought to fruition.

In the coming months and years, difficulties, differences and even contradictions in Pakatan Harapan are bound to surface, but if we adopt the positive attitude that we want the Pakatan Harapan mission to build New Malaysia to succeed, all these difficulties, differences and contradictions will be resolved in such a positive context.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on “Building a New Malaysia” at Multicultural Hub, Melbourne, on Saturday, 22nd September 2018 at 6 pm)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 23 September 2018, 7:31 am and is filed under
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Hallelujah! MCA wants to expel UMNO from BN!

Malaysians must be shouting “Hallelujah! MCA wants to expel UMNO from Barisan Nasional!”

This would be the reaction of Malaysians to the warning by the MCA President Datui Seri Liow Tiong Lai at the Selangor MCA Convention yesterday that MCA could kick UMNO out of BN if it coddles up with PAS leaders to form an  UMNO-PAS unholy pact  in post-14th General Election.

Except that Liow, suffering from the lowest credibility of any MCA President in MCA’s 69-year history, has further destroyed his tinsel-thin credibility as he had  sanctioned a  MCA-PAS unholy co-operation in the recent Balakong by-election to ensure that the MCA candidate could save his deposit!

Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi recently confirmed  former minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz’s claim that UMNO MPs signed a statutory declaration (SD) empowering Zahid to seek new alliances with other parties, including PAS.

Did Liow or the MCA leadership raise any objection that all the 51 UMNO MPs had signed such a statutory declaration, before two former UMNO Ministers Datuk Mustapha Mohamad and Datuk Anifah Aman resigned from UMNO?

When just to save the  deposit of the MCA candidate in the Balakong by-election, Liow and the MCA leadership are prepared to sanction a MCA-PAS unholy alliance, what great things are Liow and the present MCA leadership   capable of in Malaysian politics?

It is clear that neither Liow nor the MCA leadership has learned anything from the clobbering the MCA received in the 14th General Election where MCA was reduced to the ignominious status of a 1/2 party after being reduced to a 7/11 party in the 13th General Election as well as at the recent Balakong by-election, where MCA could only save its candidate’s deposit with the support of the PAS leadership!

When will Liow and MCA leadership learn that time is long past when they could indulge in pyrotechnics like making the silly and empty threat to sack UMNO from BN, when there is only way out for MCA to survive as a useful political entity – to cut the umbilical cord with Najib Razak and the UMNO leadership especially as  the post-14GE UMNO leadership had decided on  an even more extremist throwback to the irresponsible and toxic politics of race, religion, fear, hate and lies.

Will the forthcoming MCA General Assembly pass a resolution to cut the umbilical cord with Najib Razak and UMNO, by repudiating the condemning the international 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal, described by the US Attorney-General as “kleptocracy at its worst”?

Will the MCA General Assembly condemn all MCA Ministers in the Najib Cabinet for failing in their duty to MCA and Malaysia in aiding and abetting Najib in the 1MDB scandal and bringing to  Malaysia the infamy, ignominy and iniquity of a global kleptocracy

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Melbourne on Monday, Sept. 24, 2018)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 24 September 2018, 6:20 am and is filed under
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Najib Razak and Jho Low – Who will betray the other first?

Malaysia had never been more famous or infamous in the world for the past week since the publication of two books on the international 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal  – all for the wrong reasons.

I squirmed with embarrassment when I found Tom Wright and Bradley Hope’s “The Billion Dollar Whale” prominently displayed in Australian bookshops, whether the airports or in the Australian cities I visited.

I wondered what would have been the reaction of the two 1MDB protagonists, former Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the 1MDB “wonder boy”, Penang billionaire Jho Low.

Would Najib preen with pride that he  is competing for  shopping space and prominence with US President Trump, as the book “Fear” chronicling Trump’s disastrous tenure at the White House by Pulitzer Prize Winner Bob Woodward has hit the bookstands at the same time?

Would Jho Low feel that he had achieved the pinnacle of global fame to be the subject of world’s best-selling books on how a young man in the twenties can successfully raid the international finance system for  ten of billions of ringgit, although it is the 30 million Malaysians and their future generations who will have to pay the price  for such creative international highway robbery?

But one intriguing question came to me when I read the latest report from Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewscastle Brown that Jho Low is seeking a settlement with the US Department of Justice on the largest kleptocratic litigation in US history to forfeit some US$1.7 billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States.

The intriguing question is whether out of the two, Najib and Jho Low, who will be the first to betray the other in the 1MDB “worst case of kleptocracy”!

Jho Low’s attempt to seek settlement of the US DOJ kleptocratic suit will not be the first case of its kind.

After all, Najib’s stepson, Riza Aziz, had already done the same thing.

In March this year, Red Granite Pictures – the film production company linked to the 1MDB scandal – reached a settlement with the US government to the tune of US$60 million (RM234 million).

The payment was a substitute for Red Granite’s assets that the US Department of Justice was seeking to seize, as part of its civil forfeiture suits involving 1MDB.

Under the settlement, Red Granite CEO Riza Aziz – the stepson of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak – will only draw a limited salary to cover his health insurance until the full settlement amount was paid.

Riza – the ‘majority shareholder’ – shall continue to draw no salary, other than the minimum required in order to ensure continuity of health insurance coverage under Red Granite’s plan, until the forfeiture amount had been paid in full.

The DOJ had claimed that US$64 million in allegedly misappropriated 1MDB funds had been wired to Red Granite, and used to finance the production of films, including Martin Scorsese’s 2013 film “The Wolf of Wall Street”.

According to court documents, Red Granite did not  admit to any liability or wrongdoing under the settlement.

The payments would  be made in three tranches, which will see profits earned from the 2015 movie “Daddy’s Home” transferred from distributors Paramount Pictures to a US government controlled account, and disbursed back to Red Granite once the full settlement amount is paid.

In a statement, Red Granite  said it was “glad to finally put this matter behind us and look forward to refocusing all of our attention back on our film business”.

Red Granite has maintained that it did not knowingly use stolen funds to finance its films.

Riza was accused of using the funds to purchase luxury properties from businessperson Jho Low, as well as movie posters.

The DOJ alleged that the prime minister’s stepson had also claimed that US$94 million out of the 1MDB funds he received were “a gift”

In the latest report in Sarawak Report, it was said that Low’s new legal team, headed by “well-connected” former federal prosecutor and New Jersey governor Chris Christie, had obtained a high-level meeting with DOJ officials.

It said the attempt to seek for a settlement was an acknowledgment by Low that he was unlikely to persuade the US courts to return around US$1.2 billion in assets which authorities have seized on grounds that they were allegedly acquired using funds stolen from 1MDB.

“However, by cutting a deal, the billionaire, who is facing criminal charges in Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland and elsewhere, including the United States, will be hoping to retain some of the value of the assets,” said the report.

The report said this came amid concerns that the legal team itself was being paid by Low using funds allegedly stolen from 1MDB.

It said that the US’ willingness to discuss a settlement was so that it could focus on other aspects of the 1MDB scandal, such as financial giant Goldman Sachs role in arranging multi-billion ringgit bonds for 1MDB which were purportedly then misappropriated.

“The bank has earned the anger and ill-feeling of countless Americans as a result of its pivotal role in causing the crash of 2008 and yet none of its bankers have been brought to book so far.

“The apparent negligence and huge sums earned through 1MDB have provided US investigators their most compelling evidence yet against what many believe to be rogue behaviour by the major bank,” it said.

However, the report said a settlement will not sit well with Malaysian authorities.

It added that the US had recently also refused to grant Malaysia a guarantee that all seized assets suspected of having been acquired from stolen 1MDB funds would be returned in entirety.

“It doesn’t mean that the US will not return the money to Malaysia, but it does mean the US is insisting on keeping control over the process and that might include settling the case for less than the entire amount,” the source was quoted as saying.

Clarification from the authorities on this 1MDB scandal development will be most proper.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Christchurch, New Zealand on Monday, Sept. 24, 2018)

————————————

————————————

Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Christchurch, New Zealand pada Isnin, 24 September 2018:

Najib Razak dan Jho Low – siapa yang akan tikam dulu?

Malaysia tidak pernah menjadi terkenal atau tidak terkenal di dunia sejak seminggu lalu selepas dua buku tentang skandal rasuah dan pengubahan wang haram 1MDB diterbitkan – semuanya atas alasan yang salah.

Saya berasa malu apabila mendapati buku “The Billion Dollar Whale” karangan Tom Wright dan Bradley Hope dipamerkan di kedai-kedai buku di Australia, sama ada di lapangan terbang atau di bandar-bandar Australia yang saya lawati.

Saya tertanya-tanya bagaimana agaknya reaksi dua watak protagonis 1MDB, bekas Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak dan hartawan Pulau Pinang, Jho Low.

Adakah Najib bangga bahawa buku yang mengisahkan mengenai skandal membabitkan dirinya itu sedang bersaing untuk mendapatkan ruang di kedai-kedai buku dengan buku “Fear” yang menghuraikan malapetaka pentadbiran Presiden Amerika Syarikat, Donald Trump, di White House oleh Pemenang Hadiah Pulitzer, Bob Woodward.

Adakah Jho Low merasa bahawa dia telah mencapai kemuncak kemasyuran global sebagai subjek buku terlaris di dunia tentang bagaimana seorang lelaki muda berusia 20-an berjaya membolosi sistem kewangan antarabangsa untuk mendapatkan puluhan bilion ringgit, walaupun ia milik 30 juta rakyat Malaysia dan generasi seterusnya yang perlu membayar wang yang dirompak secara kreatif itu?

Tetapi satu soalan menarik timbul ketika saya membaca laporan terbaru dari Editor Sarawak Report, Clare Rewcastle Brown, bahawa Jho Low sedang mencari penyelesaian dengan Jabatan Keadilan AS mengenai litigasi kleptokratik terbesar dalam sejarah Amerika Syarikat untuk merampas kira-kira AS$1.7 bilion yang berkaitan dengan aset 1MDB di Amerika Syarikat.

Persoalan yang menarik itu adalah daripada kedua-dua mereka, Najib dan Jho Low, siapa yang akan mula menikam satu sama lain dalam “kes kleptokrasi terburuk” 1MDB.

Percubaan Jho Low untuk mencari penyelesaian berhubung saman DOJ AS itu bukan menjadi kes pertama seumpamanya.

Malah anak tiri Najib, Riza Aziz, juga sudah melakukan perkara sama.

Pada Mac tahun ini, Red Granite Pictures – syarikat pengeluaran filem yang dikaitkan dengan skandal 1MDB – mencapai penyelesaian dengan kerajaan AS berhubung tuntutan berjumlah AS$60 juta (RM234 juta).

Bayaran itu sebagai ganti kepada aset Red Granite yang mahu dirampas oleh DOJ, sebagai sebahagian daripada saman pelucutan sivil yang melibatkan 1MDB.

Mengikut penyelesaian itu, ketua pegawai eksekutif Red Granite, Riza Aziz – anak tiri Najib – hanya akan menerima gaji terhad untuk melayakkannya menerima insurans kesihatannya sehingga jumlah pembayaran penuh dibayar.

Riza – ‘pemegang saham majoriti’ – tidak akan terus mengambil gaji, selain daripada jumlah minimum yang diperlukan untuk memastikan kesinambungan perlindungan insurans kesihatan di bawah pelan Red Granite, sehingga jumlah pelucuthakan telah dibayar sepenuhnya.

DOJ mendakwa bahawa AS$64 juta yang didakwa merupakan dana 1MDB yang diselewengkan telah disalurkan kepada Red Granite, dan digunakan untuk membiayai penerbitan filem, termasuk filem “The Wolf of Wall Street” oleh Martin Scorsese pada 2013.

Menurut dokumen mahkamah, Red Granite tidak mengakui sebarang liabiliti atau salah laku di bawah penyelesaian tersebut.

Pembayaran akan dibuat melalui tiga fasa, yang akan melihat keuntungan daripada filem “Daddy’s Home” pada tahun 2015 dipindahkan daripada pengedar Paramount Pictures ke akaun yang dikawal oleh kerajaan AS dan disalur semula ke Red Granite sebaik jumlah penyelesaian dibayar sepenuhnya.

Dalam satu kenyataan, Red Granite berkata pihaknya gembira kerana akhirnya perkara itu telah diselesaikan dan berharap “dapat memfokuskan semula semua perhatian kami kepada perniagaan filem kami”.

Red Granite menegaskan bahawa ia tidak sengaja menggunakan wang yang dicuri untuk membiayai filemnya.

Riza dituduh menggunakan dana itu untuk membeli hartanah mewah dari ahli perniagaan Jho Low, serta poster filem.

DOJ mendakwa bahawa anak tiri Perdana Menteri itu juga mendakwa bahawa AS$94 juta daripada dana 1MDB yang diterimanya adalah “hadiah”.

Dalam laporan terbaru di portal Sarawak Report, dikatakan bahawa pasukan undang-undang Low yang baru, yang diketuai oleh bekas pendakwa raya persekutuan dan Gabenor New Jersey, Chris Christie, bakal mengadakan pertemuan di peringkat atasan dengan pegawai DOJ.

Menurutnya, percubaan untuk mencari penyelesaian itu adalah pengakuan dari Low yang dia tidak mungkin dapat menyakinkan mahkamah AS untuk mengembalikan aset bernilai sekitar AS$1.2 bilion yang telah dirampas oleh pihak berkuasa atas alasan bahawa ia didakwa diperolehi menggunakan dana yang dicuri dari 1MDB.

“Bagaimanapun, dengan membuat perjanjian itu, hartawan yang menghadapi tuduhan jenayah di Malaysia, Singapura, Switzerland dan di tempat lain, termasuk Amerika Syarikat, berharap untuk mengekalkan beberapa nilai aset tersebut,” kata laporan itu.

Menurut laporan itu, perkara ini berlaku di tengah-tengah kebimbangan bahawa pasukan undang-undang itu sendiri telah dibayar oleh Low menggunakan dana yang didakwa dicuri dari 1MDB.

Kata laporan itu lagi, kesediaan AS untuk berbincang mengenai penyelesaian tersebut adalah supaya ia boleh memberi tumpuan kepada aspek lain dalam skandal 1MDB, seperti peranan gergasi kewangan Goldman Sachs dalam mengatur bon bernilai berbilion ringgit untuk 1MDB yang kemudiannya disalahgunakan.

“Bank itu telah menimbulkan kemarahan dan perasaan tidak senang orang Amerika ekoran peranannya dalam menyebabkan kejatuhan pasaran saham pada tahun 2008 dan belum ada pengurus bank yang telah diarahkan untuk memberi penjelasan setakat ini.

“Kecuaian yang ketara dan jumlah wang yang besar yang diperoleh melalui 1MDB telah memberikan para penyiasat AS bukti yang paling menarik terhadap apa yang dikatakan oleh ramai sebagai tingkah laku penyangak oleh bank besar itu,” katanya.

Bagaimanapun, laporan itu berkata penyelesaian berkenaan pasti tidak akan dipersetujui pihak berkuasa Malaysia.

Ia menambah bahawa Amerika Syarikat baru-baru ini juga enggan memberikan jaminan kepada Malaysia bahawa semua aset yang disita yang telah diperoleh dari dana 1MDB yang dicuri akan dikembalikan secara keseluruhannya.

“Ini tidak bermakna AS tidak akan mengembalikan wang itu ke Malaysia, tetapi ia bermakna Amerika Syarikat bertegas untuk mengawal proses itu dan termasuk kemungkinan menyelesaikan kes itu kurang daripada jumlah keseluruhan,” kata sumber seperti dipetik laporan itu.

Adalah sesuai untuk mendapatkan penjelasan dari pihak berkuasa mengenai perkembangan skandal 1MDB ini.

– Lim Kit Siang

                This entry was posted on Monday, 24 September 2018, 12:21 pm and is filed under
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Is the question “Who,  between Najib and Jho Low,  will be the first to betray the other” too hypothetical and  far-fetched or is it within the realm of possibility?

Yesterday, I posed the  intriguing question, whether between former Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Sri Najib Razak and 1MDB “wonder crook”  Jho Low, who will be the first to betray the other in the 1MDB “worst case of kleptocracy”!

Is this question too hypothetical and far-fetched or is it within the realm of possibility?

I tend to believe the latter, as I do not believe that there is honour between these two thieves.

In fact, Najib’s 1MDB scandal lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah did not discount such a possibility in  his comments after Najib was charged in court last week with 21 counts of money laundering and four counts of abuse of power in connection with the 1MDB scandal.

He said he was “very excited” about the book “Billion Dollar Whale” by Wall Street Journal journalists Tom Wright and Bradley Hope, and want to have it tendered as evidence.

He alleged the book confirmed that Jho Low was likely to have misled people.

He said: “The book said so. So it is very likely that in event of any situation where just because you have acted in a certain way, it doesn’t mean you have not been unduly influenced or misled.

“That is how people get cheated”.

Let Najib speak out, loud and clear – was he misled by Jho Low in committing the corruption, money-laundering and abuse of power in the 1MDB scandal?

He should not wait for the 1MDB trial to clear himself if he had been misled by Jho Low. Malaysians are entitled to the truth, especially as Najib is churning out daily statements on his blog.

But while Najib’s counsel was “very excited” by the “Billion Dollar Whale”, Jho Low’s lawyers were clearly aghast.

This was why Jho Low’s London-based libel lawyers have blocked the publication of the book detailing Jho Low’s involvement in the 1MDB scandal.

As one of the authors of the book, Bradley Hope said in a Malaysiakini interview, Jho Loh had made publishers in the UK get “cold feet” with threats of legal action as laws in the UK favour parties who feel defamed, over the role of free press in the society.

As a result, the “Billion Dollar Whale” is available all over the world, and a  bestseller in Malaysia, the United States and Australia, but not available in the United Kingdom.

If not  for the historic change of Federal government in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018,  the book “Billion Dollar Whale” and Sarawak Report editor, Clare Rewcastlle Brown’s “The Sarawak Report – the Inside Story of the 1MDB Expose” would have been banned in Malaysia.

In any event, does Shafie really believe that the book? “Billion Dollar Whale” would exonerate Najib and he would want the book to be tendered as evidence in Najib’s trial?

It would be very interesting indeed if  Shafie tenders the book as evidence in Najib’s trial on the 1MDB scandal.

Shafie should not overlook the position where Najib was  the final approving authority for all 1MDB decisions, in law and in fact.

Najib was responsible in law as 1MDB was at all relevant times  a government company and as the Prime Minister as well as Finance Minister he must accept full and final responsibility for all of 1MDB actions although he may not be responsible for its day-to-day operations.

Najib was responsible in fact, because under Clause 117 of the 1MDB Memorandum and Articles of Association Agreement (M&A), the Prime Minister must give his written approval for any of 1MDB deals, including the firm’s investments or any bid for restructuring.

How can Najib just pass the buck and claim that he was misled by Jho Loh to the tune of tens of billions of ringgit of taxpayers’ funds?

In fact, all of Najib’s Ministers must be held responsible for aiding and abetting Najib in the 1MDB scandal and turning Malaysia into a global kleptocracy!

In 2015, the Cabinet approved the Save 1MDB Roadmap, which was nothing but a Save Najib Roadmap.

Why are all the former Najib Ministers taking part in the greatest denial  charade  In the world even now pretending that still did not know whether there was a 1MDB scandal, when the 1MDB noose is getting tighter and tighter  as evident from the latest report that Red Granite Pictures had paid US$60 million to settle the kleptocratic forfeiture litigation on  1MDB-linked assets launched by the United States Department of Justice in July 2015?

When will all the Najib Ministers and MCA/UMNO/BN leaders come clean and own up to their wrongdoings and betrayal of the national trust during the Najib premiership  in aiding and abetting Najib in the 1MDB scandal?

Will the UMNO and MCA General Assemblies later this year have a special debate on the failures of their leaders to save the country from Najib and the 1MDB scandal, admit the failures and wrongs of MCA and UMNO in the Najib premiership  and beg for forgiveness from Malaysians and future generations?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Christchurch, New Zealand on Tuesday, 25th September 2018)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 25 September 2018, 1:06 pm and is filed under
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In a New Malaysia, Malaysia must be a world top-class nation which is capable of transforming itself from a global kleptocracy into a leading nation of integrity in the top one-fifth bracket of 35 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI)

Malaysians made history in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018 and many were moved to tears as the overwhelming majority of Malaysians, whether inside the country or spread worldwide in the Malaysian Diaspora, had not expected to see such change  within their lifetime.

Malaysia had been given a second chance to re-set the nation-building process as we had lost our way in the past six decades, not only losing out to other nations which had been behind us in different indices of nation-building, but getting trapped in a trajectory which can only end in Malaysia becoming a failed state, a rogue democracy, a kakistocracy and global kleptocracy!

Malaysians lament how backward was China when they visited the country 30 to 40 years ago but today, China is more developed and advanced than Malaysia in almost every aspect of nation-building!

In the early days of the nation, Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman envisioned Malaysia to be “a beacon of light in a disturbed and distracted world” but instead of living up to Tunku’s vision, we became a “black hole” of rogue democracy, kakistocracy and global kleptocracy.

Not many nations are given a second chance to make amends and re-set nation-building policies to achieve our vision of greatness during the founding of the nation.

We must not waste our “second chance” to make Malaysia a great nation, to be “a beacon of light in a disturbed and distracted world” – a New Malaysia of greater national unity, integrity, democracy, rule of law,  excellence, justice  and prosperity, where we can leverage on the assets of the diverse races, religions, languages, cultures and civilizations which meet in confluence in Malaysia to form the basis for a new civilization based on the best values and assets of the world’s great religions and civilizations.

A New Malaysia is struggling to be born, as we have only taken the first step on May 9, 2018 to build a New Malaysia, which is a great and noble task which will take a decade or two to accomplish.

We want to realise the vision of Malaysia as a great nation, not only on May 9, when we felt proud as Malaysians and   showed the world not to lose hope in democracy as a form a government at a time when democracy was in facing a world crisis of confidence.

We also want to be a world top-class nation in other fields of human endeavour.

One immediate challenge for Malaysia to be a world top-class nation is to transform Malaysia from a global kleptocracy into a leading nation of integrity in the top one-fifth bracket of 35 countries in Transparency International’s (TI)  annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI).

It is not just the Pakatan Harapan Federal Government, but the 30 million Malaysians, who must declare an all-out  war against corruption, abuses of power and all forms of malpractices.

Today, Malaysia is placed in the lowly 62nd ranking of TI CPI 2017 with a score of 47 out of 100.

The best CPI score Malaysia achieved was in 1996 when we recorded 5.32 out of 10, and the best CPI ranking was in 1995 when we were ranked No. 23 out of 41 countries.

Why had Malaysia’s record of public integrity and honest government collapsed during Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s nine-year premiership when other countries like Indonesia and China had improved by leaps and bounds?

Today, Malaysia’s record of public integrity have been marred not only by the international 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal, and other mini-1MDB like corruption scandals in government and public institutions like Felda, Tabung Haji and MARA.

Recently, there was uncovered another aspect of grand corruption in Malaysia, when an unfortunate death from a helicopter crash revealed that an UMNO leader had left a humoungous estate of RM2.1 billion, which is the subject of estate litigation of his relatives.

This cannot be an isolated incident.  How many UMNO leaders have billion-ringgit wealth secretly stashed away unknown to the public, as they would qualify to be  among the richest Malays and Malaysians if their secret hoarding of massive wealth had been known.

How many of the UMNO/BN leaders are secret billionaires in Malaysia?

Malaysia’s TI CPI ranking and score would have taken a further nosedive if such corruption and malpractices had been known, which is why there is a need for an all-out war against corruption in a New Malaysia.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang to Malaysians at Merrin School, Avonhead, Christchurch, on Tuesday, 25th September 2018 at 7 pm)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 26 September 2018, 4:31 am and is filed under
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Three rainbows welcome me to Dunedin – triple sign of great changes in Malaysia?

I saw three rainbows when I entered Otago to visit its principal city Dunedin. What does it signify?

Rainbows are part of the myths of many cultures around the world. There is a myriad of beliefs concerning the rainbow. The complex diversity of rainbow myths are far-reaching, as are their inherent similarities.

One mythology about rainbows is particularly pertinent and even poignant in my present tour of Australian and New Zealand citizens to meet with the Malaysian Diaspora.

It says that there will come a day when people of all races, colours and creeds will put aside their differences. They will come together in love, joining hands in unification, to heal the Earth and all Her children, bringing peace, understanding and healing everywhere they go.

The three rainbows settles  seamlessly with the main intention of my visit to meet the Malaysian Diaspora in  Australia and New Zealand – about the building of a New Malaysia. Are they a sign of great changes in Malaysia?

Malaysia had been given a second chance as a result of the historic 14th General

Election on May 9, 2018. to re-set the nation-building process as we had lost our way in the past six decades, not only losing out to other nations which had been behind us in different indices of nation-building, but getting trapped in a trajectory which can only end in Malaysia becoming a failed state, a rogue democracy, a kakistocracy and global kleptocracy!

We must not waste our “second chance” to make Malaysia a great nation  or to borrow Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman’s words, “a beacon of light in a disturbed and distracted world” – a New Malaysia of greater national unity, integrity, democracy, rule of law,  excellence, justice  and prosperity, where we can leverage on the assets of the diverse races, religions, languages, cultures and civilizations which meet in confluence in Malaysia to form the basis for a new civilization based on the best values and assets of the world’s greatest religions and civilizations.

I had been thinking about the task and mission of a New Malaysia and the Malaysian Diaspora in the five-hour road trip from Christchurch to Dunedin, which was why I found the three rainbows on entering Dunedin quite significant.

The more than a million Malaysians in the worldwide Diaspora had made great contributions to the countries they have migrated to, and can still contribute to the making of a New Malaysia – although in the 1970s they were dismissed as “Good riddance to bad rubbish”.

Why should the contributions of the Malaysian Diaspora be negatived and undermined by one man in the Malaysian Diaspora – 1MDB scandal “wonder crook” Jho Low and the other mastermind of the 1MDB scandal turning Malaysia into a global kleptocracy, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, former Prime Minister of Malaysia.

This should be food for thought by the 30 million Malaysians and the Malaysian Diaspora

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Dunedin, New Zealand on Wednesday, 26th September 2018)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 26 September 2018, 2:25 pm and is filed under
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Do not expect any hitches to Pakatan Harapan plan for Mahathir and Anwar  to be seventh and eighth Prime Minister of Malaysia respectively

We are coming to the sixth month of the Pakatan Harapan Government entrusted with the task and mission of building a New Malaysia.

Speculation and talk have intensified that the differences, conflicts and contradictions intra-party and inter-party in Pakatan Harapan would lead to an implosion and crack-up of the Pakatan Harapan Government, with more and more  attention devoted to the so-called differences between Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, whom the Pakatan Harapan had designated respectively as the seventh and eighth Prime Minister of Malaysia after the toppling of the Barisan Nasional in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018.

In fact, the raison d’etre of UMNO and Barisan Nasional in post-14th General Election  is to plot for the break-up and downfall of the Pakatan Harapan Government before the 15th General Election in 2023, preferably within two years of the 14th General Election –  but before the implosion of Pakatan Harapan coalition of four political parties, UMNO has imploded first with five MPs, two of whom senior former UMNO Ministers resigning from UMNO, leaving UMNO with 49 MPs in Parliament.

The four political parties have agreed to the Pakatan Harapan platform to reset nation-building policies for Malaysia to live up to the vision of Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman to be “a beacon of light in a difficult and distracted world” instead of being “a black hole” of a failed state, rogue democracy, kakistocracy and global kleptocracy.

We should not discount or ignore the differences, conflicts and contradictions intra-party and inter-party in Pakatan Harapan, as  the four political parties which formed the Pakatan Harapan have different histories and diverse political aims, but we have come together in a common and concerted endeavour  to Save Malaysia from the trajectory of a failed state, a rogue democracy, kakistocracy and a global kleptocracy.

If the four component Pakatan Harapan parties, and their leaders, maintain a positive mindset of wanting the Pakatan Harapan government and agenda to “Save Malaysia”  to succeed, and do everything possible to resolve the differences, conflicts and contradictions which arise in such a positive mindset, I believe Pakatan Harapan is in Malaysia to stay, not just for one general election but for several general elections as the re-set of nation-building polices to build a New Malaysia which is a top world-class nation in various fields of human endeavour would require the efforts and labours of patriotic Malaysians in one decade or even two.

In such a context, despite the worst trickeries and stratagems from the UMNO/BN strategists and cybertroopers, I do not expect any hitches to Pakatan Harapan plan for Mahathir and Anwar  to be seventh and eighth Prime Minister of Malaysia respectively.

I am particularly interested in the Malaysian Diaspora in my current visit to Australian and New Zealand cities, having covered Perth, Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Christchurch, now Dunedin, and  visiting Wellington and Auckland before the end of the week.

I still remember that when I spoke up in Parliament and outside in the 1970s about the new phenomenon of Malaysians emigrating overseas to seek greener pastures for the sake of their chidlren’s education and economic opportunities, the incipient Malaysian Diaspora was condemned by some UMNO leaders as “good riddance to bad rubbish”.

During Dr. Mahathir’s recent visit to China, he met Malaysian Chinese who had worked in China for 10 or even 20 years.

I was invited by Bersih Shanghai to its annual Merdeka Forum after Mahathir’s visit to China. An unprecedented number of Malaysians in Shanghai and neighbouring provinces like Zhejiang turned up for the forum. Before the Bersih Shanghai event started, we all stood up to sing the Negara-ku.

It was a near-tearing moment, which tugged at  the heart-strings, that Malaysians, who have left Malaysia for 10, 15,  20  or more years to live and work in foreign lands, of different races and faiths, far away from Malaysia, sang NegaraKu from the bottom of their heart, for Malaysia is the only country they cared and loved.

As I pointed out to Mahathir recently when we discussed the Malaysian Diaspora, they have not become Chinese Chinese despite being in China for one or two decades but remain as Malaysian Chinese, who continue to care for Malaysia wherever  they may be.

I was reminded of my Shanghai feelings when I visited Perth, Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Christchurch and Dunedin tonight – the many white-haired Malaysians who still think and. cared for what is best for Malaysia athough they have left the Malaysian shores for many decades.

This was best expressed in an email from a Malaysian from the Diaspora after my visit to Sydney, which said:

“I am a chartered accountant and migrated to Australia 17 years ago. Like many, I  left because  there was no turning point for Malaysia and I  left the country in disappointment as I found it hard to breath under the ‘corrupt’ air.  In the last 17 years, I shut out Malaysia politics and instead following closely the Australia, UK, US politics. However, when I  heard about Tun M is forming the coalition with Pakatan Rakyat, I found myself booked a ticket and flew back and voted for PH. At this point I realised, I am still a Malaysian at heart and love our country.”

This chartered accountant of the Malaysian Diaspora had many questions. One of the is about the brain-drain:

“Second question is about brain drain. I am glad you spoke about it and encourage the formation of Diaspora Malaysia in rebuilding the nation. May I know the concept in more detail please? What is the plan behind? Is there any policies or strategy in place to lure some Malaysians back?

“I never understood the meaning of brain drain until I came to Sydney and have met numerous Malaysians excel in various fields over the years. These Malaysians can bring new perspective and new ideas as I woke up to the reality that  how different things are done in an advanced nations, it is naive to deny things are often done more efficiently here.

“One important element about Malaysian that I wish to highlight to YB is the sincerity, hardworking and prepared-to-give traits. One outstanding employment agent once told me Malaysian is one of his favourite compared to some other nations because we are less politicking and more contributing and fast learners.”

In the email, this chartered accountant said:

“What I like to highlight here is the willingness to go the extra mile is one of the traits of Malaysians, obviously not all but inhabits in many of us.

“I am always the first in the office and last to leave and never crossed my mind there is anything wrong about that.

“Therefore, I believe if Malaysia can bring those abroad back (including those in Singapore), it will help in rebuilding the nation.

“There may be some will go back on their own such as myself as I have been contemplating about it since GE14 as there is new hope now but some may need a little encouragement. Therefore, a nationwide strategy may be useful.”

It is because of the feelings and Malaysianness as expressed in this email that I have been advocating that the Malaysians in the worldwide diaspora should emulate Bersih and Global Bersih and launch a New Malaysian civil movement in the  Malaysian Diaspora worldwide, which can be called Diaspora New Malaysia with separate chapters in countries abroad or major foreign cities to contribute to and participate in the building of New Malaysia.

The responses that I have received from Malaysians in the Diaspora in Perth,  Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Christchurch had been most encouraging and I do not think I am being over-optimistic in expecting such a Diaspora New Malaysia movement to be  formed in the Australiana and New Zealand cities in the near future.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at a talk organised by  Otago Malaysian Students Association at University of Otago  on Wednesday 26th Sept. 2018 at 7 pm)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 27 September 2018, 4:21 am and is filed under
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Soi Lek is not fully right – in fact, all former  UMNO and MCA leaders  who had been Ministers, Deputy Ministers  and MPs should act honourably and not contest in any party posts in future

Former MCA President, Datuk Dr.  Chua Soi Leok is not fully right in calling on all former MCA ministers and deputy ministers not  to run for the presidency and other important central posts in the party’s upcoming election.

In fact, all former UMNO and MCA leaders who had been Ministers, Deputy Ministers and even MPs, whether Dewan Rakyat or Dewan Negara, should act honourably and not contest in any party posts in future.

With top UMNO leaders are in deep denial, refusing to admit to the national infamy of a global kleptocracy and kakistocracy which they had brought to Malaysia before the 14th General Election, and continuing with the politics of lies and fear by falsely blaming me of having come to Malaysia from China when I was 16 years old, it is unlikely that the UMNO General Assembly this week will witness any redemption or salvation as a step to UMNO reform and renewal.

The Acting UMNO President, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi was right when he said after the UMNO Supreme Council on May 22 that Barisan Nasional can look to other countries where long-time parties were defeated but managed to make a comeback, but very wrong when he said that BN will be able to make a comeback against a government that was built on “hatred”.

This was because Pakatan Harapan prevailed in the 14th General Election despite the worst case of the politics of race, religion, hate, fear and lies unleashed by UMNO/BN in the 14th General Elections and the peaceful and democratic transition of power for first time in Malaysian history was an affirmation of the capability of Malaysians for national correction, renewal and salvation.

If MCA and UMNO leaders in post-14GE still cannot understand why May 9, 2018 was  regarded as a day of “liberation”, giving Malaysians an opportunity to build a New Malaysia, a second chance to reset nation-building policies and directions to fulfil the Malaysian Dream for Malaysia to be a “beacon of light in a difficult and distracted world”, then they will never learn.

When will Zahid Hamidi and all UMNO leaders emerge from their bubble or cocoon to admit that Malaysia  had become a global kleptocracy and the 1MDB international money-laundering scandal were major reasons for UMNO/BN’s disastrous performance in the 14GE?

All former MCA and UMNO leaders who had been Ministers, Deputy Ministers and even MPs, whether elected in Dewan Rakyat or appointed as Senators as in Dewan Negara, should not contest in any MCA or UMNO party posts t0 own up to their  wrongdoing and betrayal of national interest in aiding or abetting in the corruption and abuses of power when in control of the Federal Government.

The more than a million Malaysians in the worldwide Diaspora had made great contributions to the countries they have migrated to, and can still contribute to the making of a New Malaysia – although in the 1970s they were dismissed as “Good riddance to bad rubbish”

Why should the contributions of the Malaysian Diaspora be negatived and undermined by one man in the Malaysian Diaspora – 1MDB scandal “wonder crook” Jho Low and the other mastermind of the 1MDB scandal turning Malaysia into a global kleptocracy, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, former Prime Minister of Malaysia.

We must not waste our “second chance” to make Malaysia a great nation, to be “a beacon of light in a disturbed and distracted world” – a New Malaysia of greater national unity, integrity, democracy, rule of law,  excellence, justice  and prosperity, where we can leverage on the assets of the diverse races, religions, languages, cultures and civilizations which meet in confluence in Malaysia to form the basis for a new civilization based on the best values and assets of the world’s great religions and civilizations.

(Media Statement  by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Timaru, New Zealand on  Thursday 26th Sept. 2018)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 28 September 2018, 9:26 am and is filed under
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UMNO leaders who have assets worth over RM 100 million should declare themselves publicly giving the sources of their assets as a sign that UMNO is capable of reforming itself  to fight corruption in Malaysia

In the past 22 years, New Zealand had topped the world 12 times, given the second ranking four times, and had never been ranked below the fourth place in the annual Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI)nfor the world – covering 180 countries in the latest index.

In contrast, Malaysia’s ranking had deteriorated over the years, ranging from No. 23 out of 41 countries in 1995 to the 62nd out of 180 countries in the latest TI CPI 2017 ranking

In the past two decades, other countries like Indonesia and China have improved by leaps and bounds in their anti-corruption efforts.

But we ended up in the past few years as a global kleptocracy, a lowly and disgraceful position which neither Indonesia nor China ever descended to!

Is Malaysia incapable of becoming a world top-class nation in anti-corruption like New Zealand and to achieve the objective of transforming Malaysia from a global kleptocracy into a leading nation of integrity to be  in the top one-fifth bracket of 35 countries in Transparency International’s (TI) annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI)?

Are Malaysians inherently more corrupt than the New Zealanders, Danish, Norwegians, Swiss, Finns, Singaporeans,  Swedes, Luxembourgers, Dutch and the Britishers who occupy the first ten spots in the TI CPI 2017?

I do not think so. What Malaysia needs is a clean-up of the system and culture of corruption and kleptocracy.

I shudder to think of would have happened if in the 14th General Election on  May 9, 2018, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Barisan Nasional had continued as the Prime Minister and Malaysian Government.

From the information uncovered since May 9, 2018, and  the monstrous corruption and crimes in the Najib era which are surfacing,  Malaysia would have slipped irresistibly towards a failed state and global kleptocracy – pushing Malaysia close to the century ranking in the TI CPI.

Today, Malaysia’s record of public integrity have been marred not only by the international 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal, and other mini-1MDB like corruption scandals in government and public institutions like Felda, Tabung Haji and MARA.

Recently, there was uncovered by sheer accident another aspect of grand corruption in Malaysia, when an unfortunate death from a helicopter crash revealed that an UMNO leader had left a humongous estate of RM2.1 billion, which is the subject of estate litigation of his relatives.

This cannot be an isolated incident. How many UMNO leaders have enormous and unaccounted wealth secretly stashed away unknown to the public, or they would qualify to be among the richest Malays and Malaysians if their secret hoarding of massive wealth had been known.

UMNO is holding its General Assembly in the next two days, with a lot of talk of UMNO reform to become a relevant party to win back support of the Malays and Malaysians.

I have my grave doubts that UMNO can turn back from the culture of corruption, which seemed to have been bud-grafted to the UMNO DNA in the past decade.

For a start to demonstrate that UMNO is capable of a clean-up of the culture and DNA of corruption, UMNO leaders who have assets worth over RM100 million should immediatelybdeclare themselves publicly, explain the sources of their assets, as a sign that UMNO is capable of reforming itself  to fight corruption in Malaysia.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at the talk organised by Malaysian Association Wellington in Wellington on Friday 28 Sep 2018 at  5 pm)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 29 September 2018, 5:22 am and is filed under
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Will the UMNO General Assembly pass a resolution on Sunday to condemn and sack Najib from UMNO for the international 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal and the national disservice of transforming Malaysia into a global kleptocracy?

Will the UMNO General Assembly pass a resolution on Sunday to condemn and sack Datuk Seri Najib Razak from UMNO  for the international 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal and the national disservice of transforming Malaysia into a global kleptocracy?

This is the question on the mind of  every thinking patriotic Malaysian, whether in the country or in the worldwide Diaspora.

Where is the credibility about UMNO reform when it is not prepared to cut the umbilical cord with Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his monstrous 1MDB corruption and money-laundering legacy?

In fact, Najib should be summoned to appear before the UMNO General Assembly for a “1MDB Tell All” special session on Sunday.

During the 14th General Election campaign, the 1MDB Chief Executive Officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy toured the country on a national “Tanya Tanya” roadshow, covering over 30 locations, even challenging DAP leaders to ask him questions about what the government claimed was the fake news about the 1MDB international money-laundering scandal.

But the 1MDB scandal was no fake news, which the Najib government had tried to make it into one with the Anti-Fake News Act passed hurriedly before the dissolution of the last Parliament.

What the BN-nominated Senators of the Senate, who still had the majority  in Dewan Negara, did not realise when they blocked the repeal of the Anti-Fake News Act, was that they were in fact keeping the 1MDB scandal very much alive.

Since this is the case, Najib should have a “tell all about 1MDB scandal” session at the UMNO General Assembly on Sunday.

The UMNO General Assembly on Sunday should make a clean break with the past, and publicly apologise for all lies, falsehoods and fake news unleashed against the then Opposition, including the DAP.

At one of the UMNO General Assemblies, UMNO leaders led by their President Najib spread lies, falsehoods and fake news about the DAP and Pakatan Harapan.

In one of his UMNO Presidential speeches, Najib told three colossal lies about DAP, viz:

1. That the 14th General Election would be a contest between UMNO and DAP;

2. That the DAP was anti-Malay or anti-Islam.

3. The “nightmares” Malay would  suffer if UMNO loses power in the next general elections.

Would Najib and the UMNO General Assemby apolgoise for these three “Big Lies” against the DAP?

There was also the lies that I would be Prime Minister, that DAP had a Christian agenda  for Christianity to replace Islam as the official religion, and that all the Sultans would be abolished to make Malaysia a republic.

Have these developments come to pass?.

A few days ago, former MCA President, Datuk Dr.  Chua Soi Leok called on all former MCA ministers and deputy ministers not  to run for the presidency and other important central posts in the upcoming MCA election.

In fact, all former UMNO and MCA leaders who had been Ministers, Deputy Ministers and even MPs, whether Dewan Rakyat or Dewan Negara, should act honourably and not contest in any party posts in future.

Will the UMNO General Assembly on Sunday adopt such a resolution?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Wellington on Friday 28 Sep 2018)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 29 September 2018, 8:34 pm and is filed under
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Malaysians must not waste the “second chance” to reset nation-building policies to fulfil our national destiny to be a great nation

Esther Wee, who had been in Auckland for fifteen years, flew back to Kuala Lumpur to vote for the 14th General Election to cast her vote for the Seputeh constituency, but when she went  to her polling centre after lining up for nearly two hours, she was told by the Polling Agent that she could not vote, as her name in the polling roll had been deleted as her vote had already been posted to her to her Auckland address in New Zealand.

The  postal ballot which the Election Commission sent to her in Auckland was only received on  11th May, two days after Polling Day on May 9, 2018. She has the Election Commission letter and the postal marks to prove such a  shocking state of affairs in the second decade of the 21st century.

It was fortunate that her parliamentary constituency was Siputeh, which the DAP/PH candidate Teresa Kok Suh Sim won with a super-majority of 56,059 votes, or her missing vote together other missing votes might have caused the loss of one parliamentary seat for political change in Malaysia.

During my visits to Perth, Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne,  Christchurch, Dunedin, Wellington and Auckland, I heard many wonderful accounts of how dedicated,  idealistic and patriotic Malaysians went beyond their ordinary call of duty  to fly back from foreign capitals  and  hand-carry postal votes.

Thousands of Malaysians abroad were unable to return their postal votes in time, but a global community of volunteers, the unsung heroes and heroines of the Malaysian Diaspora, sprang up to hand-carry every vote home before the 14th General Election deadline at 5pm on Wednesday, May 9, 2018.

Parveen Nagappan the co-ordinator of Bersih Melbourne told me that the voluntary work of hand-carrying the postal votes could be quite dangerous as travellers have been advised not to carry anything from a stranger, but the heroes and heroines who hand-carried the postal ballots home hazarded such risk and danger because of the highest patriotic motives to save Malaysia from being trapped in the trajectory of a failed state, rogue democracy, kakistocracy and global kleptocracy.

We read of Malaysians in San Francisco Bay Area who needed to get their ballots home. They had intended to give their votes to someone flying home on May 7, but when their ballot papers didn’t arrive until 4 p.m. the next day, the group needed a Plan B.

Eleven Malaysian voters in San Franciso chipped in to pay for the $US990 plane ticket for a person  they  “barely knew” to hand carry their ballots back to Malaysia.

Then there were the  runners who had based themselves  at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), to take the ballots and sent them to all directions, north and south, east and west.

This was an extraordinary show of patriotism and commitment to democracy. But why was it necessary – as we hardly heard of such election events in other countries when they hold elections with regard to postal ballots of their citizens far  away from home.

It was because of  the loss of faith, trust and confidence in the government of the day, compounded and reinforced by the delays in receiving ballot posts, the fixing of Polling Day on a Wednesday and a distrust about whether the postal ballots will be counted correctly.

This is why there is a need for a New Malaysia, where far-reaching institutional, structural and legal reforms need to be carried out  to restore faith, trust and confidence of the people in the government-of-the-day.

This is also why Malaysians must not waste the “second chance” to reset nation-building policies to fulfil our national destiny to be a great nation, where we can leverage on the assets of the diverse races, religions, languages, cultures and civilizations which meet in confluence in Malaysia and form the basis for a new civilization based on the best values and assets of the world’s great religions and civilizations.

The great task to build a New Malaysia cannot be accomplished in 100 days or in five months, but will take a decade or two.

It is only in the last few days that the Pakatan Harapan Government has announced a sheaf of reforms, such as lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 which is already the practice in most democracies; the appointment of Art Harun as Election Commission Chairman to clean up electoral system and election process; and the establishment of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) which had been mooted 12 years ago by the Police Royal Commission in 2006!

Malaysians must also develop the qualities of perseverance and patience so as to develop the Big Picture and the Long Vision to ensure the success of the  reset of nation-building policies to build a New Malaysia.

The heroes and heroines of the 14th General Election, not only the voters but also the patriots who hand-carried the postal votes home, like Francis Lui of Auckland, must ensure that the  New Malaysia can be born and sustained in the coming decades.

(Speech by  DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on “Dawn of New Malaysia” at Ellerslie War Memorial, Auckland on Saturday, 29 Sep 2018 at 4pm)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 30 September 2018, 8:29 am and is filed under
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New civil movement, Diaspora New Malaysia New Zealand formed, which will be part of worldwide New Malaysia civil movement for Malaysians in country and worldwide Malaysian Diaspora to contribute and participate in building a New Malaysia

My twelve-day visit to four Australian cities – Perth, Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne – and four New Zealand cities – Christchurch, Dunedin, Wellington and Auckland – have been most successful in promoting the cause and role of Malaysian Diaspora in contributing to and participating in the building of a New Malaysia.

It is no exaggeration that never before in the development of the Malaysian Diaspora since the nineteen seventies have Malaysians outside the country have felt so proud as Malaysians as  on May 9, 2018 – as proud as their countrymen and women in Malaysia –  at the peaceful and democratic transition of power first time in six decades.

Malaysians overseas in the worldwide Malaysian Diaspora cared as much as Malaysians at home whether people’s power will finally prevail to bring about a better Malaysia which is not trapped in the trajectory towards a failed state, rogue democracy, kakistocracy and global kleptocracy.

Malaysians have been given a second chance to re-set nation-building policies by the 14th General Election of May 9, 2018 to fulfil the original vision of the nation’s founding fathers for Malaysia to become a top world-class nation, or in the words of Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, to be “a beacon of light in a disturbed and distracted world” – definitely not to be “a blackhole” of rogue democracy, kakistocracy where Ministers cannot differentiate between turtle eggs from chicken eggs, and a global kleptocracy!

Malaysians must not waste the “second chance” to fulfill our national destiny to be a great nation, where we can leverage on the assets of the diverse races, religions, languages, cultures and civilizations which meet in confluence in Malaysia and form the  basis for a new civilization based on  the best values and assets of the world’s great religions and civilizations.

The great task to build a New Malaysia cannot be accomplished in 100 days or in  five months, but will take a decade or two.

After the historic day of May 9, 2018, the stage is also set for the over-a-million strong Malaysians in the Diaspora worldwide – comprising not only Chinese and Indians but also Malays, Ibans and Kadazans – to  contribute and even participate in the building of a New Malaysia.

The time has come for the establishment of a New Malaysia  civil movement, in Malaysia as well as in Malaysian Diaspora worldwide, which can be called Diaspora New Malaysia with separate chapters in countries abroad or major foreign cities patterned after Bersih and Global Bersih as platforms for Malaysians to contribute to  and participate in the building of New Malaysia.

A protem committee of Diaspora Malaysia New Zealand has been formed, and it is hoped that this will be followed with the formation of Diaspora New Malaysia Auckland, Diaspora New Malaysia Wellington, Diaspora New Malaysia Christchurch and Diaspora New Malaysia Dunedin.

The protem committee of Diaspora Malaysia New Zealand will comprise the following:

President: Ling Sie Ming;

Vice Presdent: Dave Ananth, Naseem Ameer Ali, Nor Aida binte Baharuddin;

Secretary: Esther Wee;

Vice Secretarty: Manjit Grewal;

Treasurer: Isaiah Loh;

Publicity Secretary: Issa Manickam;

Data Officer: Joseph Hii;

Committee Members: Foo Juay Loong, Elaine Teo, Judy Ang.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Auckland on Sunday, 30th September 2018)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 30 September 2018, 1:12 pm and is filed under
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