Is Najib claiming that he had not read the US DOJ’s 251-page kleptocratic litigation papers which  explained in great detail how Jho Low had bought Equanimity with embezzled 1MDB funds?

I am shocked by the statement of former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who said yesterday that if 1MDB masterrmind Jho Low had obtained the Equanimity luxury superyacht illegally, as using money that wasn’t his, Jho Low needs to be held accountable.

Is Najib claiming that as Prime Minister, he had not read the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) expanded kleptocratic litigation papers filed in California in  June 2017 which explained in great detail how Jho Low had bought Equanimity with embezzled 1MDB funds and which is easily accessible on the Internet?

If Najib, as Malaysian Prime Minister, had not read the US DoJ’s 1MDB litigation papers, which the US Attorney-General had told an interntional conference as “kleptocracy at its worst”, detailing in 251 pages in great detail how Jho Low had embezzled, misappropriated and money-laundered tens of billions of 1MDB funds, then Najib was not fit to be Prime Minister in the first place.

If he had read the US DOJ kleptocratic litigation papers against 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland, in particular, Paragraph 702 – 730 of eight pages on “MORE THAN US$250 MILLION IN LAUNDERED FUNDS WERE USED TO PROCURE THE EQUANIMITY”, then two questions surface

Firstly, what did he do as Prime Minister since June 2017 to address the shocking revelation that Jho Loh had laundered 1MDB funds to procure the super luxury yacht; and

Secondly, how could he in all honesty make the statement yesterday that if Jho Low had obtained the Equanimity luxury superyacht illegally, as using money that wasn’t his, Jho Low needs to be held accountable but he, Najib,  did not know the actual situation?

When a former UMNO/BN Minister today questioned in Parliament  the legality of the Malaysian seizure of Equanitmity, I am reminded of how top Malaysian govenrment leaders rushed to the defence of Jho Low when the Indonesian authorities sezied the Equanimity luxury superyacht in Bali waters in February, when the international noose around the neck of the mastermind of the 1MDB scandal was getting tighter?

Said Keruak claimed that there  was no evidence the Equanimity  luxury yacht seized by Indonesian authorities in Bali was owned by Jho Low; the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Razali Ismail  challenged the claim that the Equanimity superyacht was bought using 1MDB funds; while a Barisan Nasional MP even described as “fake news”   the claim that the yacht Equanimity belonged to a Malaysian.

This brings us to an interesting question as how how many times Najib had met Jho Low, between the 13th and 14th General Elections, and in particular after June 2017 when the US DOJ kleptocratic litigation had listed in great detail in a public document how Jho Low had procured Equanimity with 1MDB funds.

It its section “MORE THAN $250 MIILION IN LAUNDERED FUNDS WERE USED TO PROCURE THE EQUANIMITY”, the US DoJ kleptoratic litigation to forfeit US$1.7 billion 1MDB-linked assets traced in great detail how Jho Low diverted proceeds from 1MDB’s 2013 bond issue and a loan issued by Deutsche Bank to 1MDB in May 2014 to acquire the 300-foot Equanimity luxury superyacht.

Paragraph 703 described the   Equanimity as “built in 2014 by Oceanco, a builder of custom yachts based in Rotterdam, Netherlands at the Alblasserdam shipyard”.

It said: “THE EQUANIMITY is a luxury mega-yacht capable of carrying up to twenty-six guests and up to thirty-three crew members and includes a helicopter landing pad, an on-board gymnasium, a cinema, a massage room, a sauna, a steam room, an experiential shower and a plunge pool. In 2014, THE EQUANIMITY was awarded the prize for ‘Best in Show’ at the Monaco Yacht Show.”

Paragraph 706 states: “Travel records reveal that on or about September 9, 2013, while THE EQUANIMITY was still under construction near Rotterdam, LOW, as well as his parents—LHP and ‘Evelyn’ Goh Gaik Ewe — flew from Barcelona to Rotterdam and spent the following day viewing the ‘shipyard and yacht.’”

Paragraph 721 states: “Even before construction of THE EQUANIMITY was completed, LOW personally participated in discussions about how the vessel should be furnished. For instance, on or about May 21, 2014, LOW emailed an Oceanco executive requesting, ‘For owner’s cabin, perhaps if you can get expert advice from Tempur specialist which is: -most top of the line and expensive with most functions for mattress . . .’”

Paragaph 726 states: “On May 31, 2014, LOW exchanged emails with an Oceanco executive regarding planning for a birthday celebration for LOW’s sister aboard THE EQUANIMITY. The Oceanco executive inquired of LOW, ‘Would it be appropriate to make a dragon-cake with text ‘Happy birthday May-Lin’. Celebrate birthday during the river-cruise Saturday as a surprise? Please let me know your ideas.’”

Paragraph 728 states: “Oceanco delivered THE EQUANIMITY to LOW in or around June 2014. In an email from an Oceanco executive to LOW on June 10, 2014, the Oceanco executive stated, ‘It was again a pleasure to welcome you and your family to Oceanco. On behalf of all I would like to sincerely thank you for Friday’s delivery party. . . Everyone who has worked or contributed to the project is extremely proud of Equanimity and were very grateful for the recognition . . . . We hope that you and your family enjoyed the Christening ceremony on Saturday morning as well as the short cruise.’”

Najib needs to be more honest and truthful with the Malaysian people, both on the Equanmity and the 1MDB scandal.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Tuesday, 14th August 2018)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 14 August 2018, 3:31 pm and is filed under
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Completely baffled by Najib’s reaction that its ok for PAC to re-open probe into 1MDB but it should not focus on finding faults

I am completely baffled by the reaction of the former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak that it is okay for the Public Accounts Committee to re-open its probe into 1MDB but it should not focus on finding faults.

Is Najib grounded in reality or living in a world of his own delusion that the 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal is all fake news and that the US Department of Justice litigation on what the United States Attorney-General described as “kleptocracy at its worst” simply does not exist?

The Finance Minister today gave notice of a motion directing the Auditor-General and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to conduct again a detailed investigation on the embezzlement of monies and the 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.

Surely Najib cannot be so obtuse or befuddled by delusion as not to understand the far-reaching implications of this motion  when it is passed by Parliament tomorrow.

Firstly, it would mean that Najib would have to appear before the PAC to fully account for the 1MDB scandal.

Secondly, Parliament through the PAC would be able to restore the dignity of the Malaysian Parliament  by satisfactorily addressing the  international 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal which was the main reason why Malaysian was regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy, with its attendant infamy, ignominy and iniquity.

Thirdly, for the first time, the mountain of allegations of 1MDB corruption, embezzlent and misappropriation in the US Department of Justice (DoJ) kleptocratic litigation could be examined in Malaysia.

The assertion in the  US DOS litigation  that  there was an “international conspiracy to launder money misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad” resulting in numerous assets in the United States and other countries, like the billion-ringgit Equanimity luxury superyacht, cannot go unexamined.

In particular the PAC should examine the serious allegation contained in Paragraph 7 of the 958-Paragraph litigation (251 pages) and report its finding to the Malaysian Parliament, viz:

“1MDB was ostensibly created to pursue investment and development projects for the economic benefit of Malaysia and its people, primarily relying on the issuance of various debt securities to fund these projects. However, over the course of an approximately five-year period, between approximately 2009 and at least 2014, multiple individuals, including public officials and their associates, conspired to fraudulently divert billions of dollars from 1MDB through various means, including defrauding foreign banks and by sending foreign wire communications in furtherance of the scheme, and thereafter, to launder the proceeds of that criminal conduct, including in and through U.S. financial institutions. The funds diverted from 1MDB were used for the personal benefit of the co-conspirators and their relatives and associates, including to purchase luxury real estate in the United States and overseas, pay gambling expenses at Las Vegas casinos, acquire more than US$200 million in artwork, purchase lavish gifts for family members and associates, invest in a major New York real estate development project, and fund the production of major Hollywood films. 1MDB maintained no interest in these assets and saw no returns on these investments.”

The PAC should comb through the mountian of allegations of corruption, embezzlement and misappropriation of 1MDB funds through four principal phases detailed in the US DoJ litigation.

Fourthly, the PAC would be able to unmask the identity of “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” (M01) mentioned 36 times in the US DOJ litigation, described in the litigation as “a high-ranking official in the Malaysian government who also held a position of authority with 1MDB”.

I said yesterday that I was shocked by Najib’s statement on Monday that if 1MDB masterrmind Jho Low had obtained the Equanimity luxury superyacht illegally, as using money that wasn’t his, Jho Low needs to be held accountable – as Najib was putting up a pretence that he had not read the United States DoJ expanded kleptocratic litigation  filed in California in  June 2017 which explained in great detail how Jho Low had bought Equanimity with embezzled 1MDB funds and which was easily accessible on the Internet.

But we must be thankful to Najib for his comments though they will end up as  more ammunition against himself to unearth scandals and abuses of power in the Najib premiership.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Tuesday, August 15, 2018)

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After peaceful and democratic transfer of power, two further challenges for Malaysia to become world-class nation are to transform a global kleptocracy into a leading nation of integrity and far-reaching parliamentary reforms

I congratulate Deputy Youth and Sports Minister, Steven Sim for the launching of his first book “Dalam Ada Bunga” by the Speaker of Parliament, Datuk Mohd Ariff Mohd Yusuf.

I am particularly attracted by Sim’s poem “Lim Kit Siang” when in the last few days of the 13th Parliament in April 2018, I was treated like a parliamentary “ghost” when the Parliament Speaker and his Deputy Speakers said they could not see me when I entered the parliamentary chamber – because I was  suspended for six months for the second time in the 13th Parliament.

Today is the last day of the first meeting of the 14th Parliament and this is a day of history for Malaysia.

We have had the very important and historic ruling by the Speaker, Datuk Mohd Ariff Mhd Yusuf on August 2 reversing the tyrannical decision of the previous speaker, lifting the ban and allowing MPs to ask questions and to demand full accounting for the monstrous 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal.

Today, we have three important business on the Parliamentary Order Paper, viz:

· firstly,  to repeal the Anti-Fake News Act, which was designed to save former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak from the 1MDB scandal;

· secondly, the motion directing the Auditor-General and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to conduct again a detailed investigation on the embezzlement of monies and the 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; and

· thirdly, the motion to accept the Report of the House Committee to set up six parliamentary special select committees on Consideration of Bills, Budget, Home and Defence, Rights and Gender Equality, Federal-State Relations, and Major Public Appointments.

On May 9, 2018, Malaysians did the country proud when they succeeded in peacefully and democratically changed the government in the 14th General Election  – a great achievement for the world at a time when democracy was in retreat worldwide.

Now we have two further challengers for Malaysia to become a world-class nation – firstly, to transform Malaysia from a global kleptocracy into a leading nation of integrity, and secondly, to effect far-reaching parliamentary reforms.

A motion before Parliament today will set up six Parliamentary special select committees although the original proposals was for the establishment of 18 select committees.

This is a step in the right direction although I would prefer to see more parliamentary select committees to be set up so that a Ministry is shadowed by a select committee.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at the official launching of Deputy Youth and Sports  Minister, Steven Sim’s book “Dalam Salju ada Bunga” by the Speaker of Parliament, Datuk Mohd Ariff Mohd Yusuf at Parliament House on Thursday August 16, 2018 at 1 pm)

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Najib should declare that he would testify and fully co-operate with PAC investigations on  his role in the 1MDB scandal, which caused Malaysia the infamy, ignominy and iniquity  of a global kleptocracy

The 20-day first meeting of the 14th Parliament ended yesterday on a high note with unanimous passage of the motion directing the Auditor-General and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to conduct again a detailed investigation on the embezzlement of monies and the 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.

This will be unthinkable in the 13th Parliament. In fact, such a motion would not see the light of day, like my motion at the last meeting of the 13th Parliament in March/April 2018  to find the PAC Report unsatisfactory and to direct the PAC to conduct a “fuller and more comprehensive investigation into the 1MDB scandal which had brought Malaysia the 3Is – infamy, ignominy and iniquity – of a global kleptocracy”.

It is quite remarkable that there is a change of mindset among Opposition MPs, as UMNO/BN MPs would have fought tooth-and-nail to stymie any comprehensive  investigation into the 1MDB scandal in the 13th Parliament.

In fact, I was suspended from Parliament for six months each  in the 13th Parliament, turned into a “parliamentary ghost”  and as I said in Parliament yesterday, I was never more ashamed as a Member of Parliament during the 13th Parliament as there was a conspiracy where the 1MDB scandal was elevated into a taboo subject, where questions could not be asked or motions moved.

Yesterday, we learnt of a greater ignominy in  the whole 1MDB scandal, as the former PAC Chairman, Datuk Hasan Arifin, admitted that he had tampered and deleted parts of the PAC Report on 1MDB with regard to Jho Low as the real owner of Good Star Ltd (GSL) and DAP MP Tony Pua, who was formerly in the PAC of the 13th Parliament, said the deletion in the PAC Report was made without his knowledge or that of other PAC members.

The new PAC which has been entrusted with the task of conducting a fuller and more comprehensive investigations into the 1MDB scandal should probe not only into the tampering and deletion of the PAC Report by the PAC Chairman in the 13th Parliament without approval or knowledge by all members of PAC, it should also inquire into two other aspects affecting the former PAC Chairman, firstly, why Hasan kept his silence when the former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, repeatedly claimed that he was exonerated of any wrongdoing in the 1MDB scandal which was not true, and secondly, why Hassan did not re-open and conduct a fuller investigation into the 1MDB scandal  after the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) filed kleptocratic litigation in connection with 1MDB-linked assets in July 2016 and which was expanded in June 2017 with a mountain of evidence to support its allegations of an “international conspiracy to launder money misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad” resulting in numerous assets in the United States and other countries, like the billion-ringgit Equanimity luxury superyacht?

In particular  why the PAC ignored the  serious allegation contained in Paragraph 7 of the 958-Paragraph litigation (251 pages) in the US DoJ kleptocratic litigation, viz:

“1MDB was ostensibly created to pursue investment and development projects for the economic benefit of Malaysia and its people, primarily relying on the issuance of various debt securities to fund these projects. However, over the course of an approximately five-year period, between approximately 2009 and at least 2014, multiple individuals, including public officials and their associates, conspired to fraudulently divert billions of dollars from 1MDB through various means, including defrauding foreign banks and by sending foreign wire communications in furtherance of the scheme, and thereafter, to launder the proceeds of that criminal conduct, including in and through U.S. financial institutions. The funds diverted from 1MDB were used for the personal benefit of the co-conspirators and their relatives and associates, including to purchase luxury real estate in the United States and overseas, pay gambling expenses at Las Vegas casinos, acquire more than US$200 million in artwork, purchase lavish gifts for family members and associates, invest in a major New York real estate development project, and fund the production of major Hollywood films. 1MDB maintained no interest in these assets and saw no returns on these investments.”

Hasan made a great issue over the secrecy of the information that Jho Low was the real owner of Good Star Ltd, which represented the first of four phases of the 1MDB scandal from 2009 to 2014,  but is he aware that three months after the PAC Report was tabled in Parliament in April 2016, the US DOJ kleptocratic litigation on 1MDB devoted some 50 pages to show that the inception of Good Star and the Good Star account was the genesis of the 1MDB scandal.

Thus Paragraph 47 of the US DoJ litigation states:

“Although 1MDB officials represented, including to Deutsche Bank in Malaysia, that Good Star was wholly-owned subsidiary of PetroSaudi, this was not the case.  According to banking records, Good Star was a company controlled by LOW (Jho Low), and LOW was also Good Star Account’s beneficial owner and sole authorized signatory. At the time, LOW was a 29-year-old with no official position with 1MDB or PetroSaudi.”

What is so secretive or confidential about the information that Jho Low was the real owner of Good Star Ltd, which marked the genesis of the 1MDB scandal and Malaysia as a global kleptocracy?

Former Prime Ministe, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should declare that he would testify and fully co-operate with PAC investigations on  his role in the 1MDB scandal, which caused Malaysia the infamy, ignominy and iniquity  of a global kleptocracy.

Or would he revert to his previous silence on the 1MDB scandal?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Parliamdent on Friday, 17th August 2018)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 17 August 2018, 12:08 pm and is filed under
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Four  tests whether the Malaysian ship of state is turning in a direction of greater integrity, rule of law and democracy towards a New Malaysia

The 100-day syndrome has inundated the media with headlines like “100 Days – New Malaysia”; “Prestasi 100 Hari”; “Janji 100 hari tertunai?”, “100-day report card on Pakatan Harapan: Looking Rosy for Now” and “What The People Say”.

While it is good to assess what had been achieved in the first 100 days of the Pakatan Harapan government as a form of report card, what is more important is whether the Malaysian ship of state had made 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.

While it is not possible to undo in 100 days all  the abuses and excesses of power in over six decades of power, the country should  have set a new course in nation-building in the first 100 days of the Pakatan Harapan Government towards a New Malaysia.

The following four outcomes  indicate that Malaysia is  turning in a direction of greater  integrity, rule of law and democracy in the first 100 days for a New Malaysia:

Firstly, 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  the 1MDB corrutpion and money-laundering scandal and Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy.

This is accomplished firstly, by the  new ruling by the Speaker of the 14th Parliament, Datuk Mohd Ariff Mohd Yusff releasing Members of Parliament from the albatross of the Speaker of the 13th Parliament virtually banning the 1MDB scandal as a tatoo subject in the previous Parliament; secondly, the  parliamentary motion directing the Auditor-General and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to conduct again a detailed investigation on the embezzlement of monies and the 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; and thirdly, the appointmen of an Opposition MP as Chairman of the PAC.

Secondly, 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 and new Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Ahmad Maarop and the country expects a new era of judicial activism.

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 – which, according to the Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad, have gone “several layers deep” in the higher echelons of the public service.

Fourthly, the motion passed by Parliament last Thursday to set up six parliamentary select committees, which herald far-reaching parliamentary reforms.

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 to divide Malaysia, as seen in the recent Sungai Kandis by-election and likely to  be repeated in the Balakong and Seri Setia by-elections in Selangor.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Saturday, 18th August 2018)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 18 August 2018, 4:03 pm and is filed under
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The significance of the Balakong and Seri Setia by-elections

The results of the Balakong and Seri Setia by-elections in Selangor on Sept. 8 will not change the Selangor State Government but their importance and significance far outweigh the outcome of two  State Assembly by-elections in Selangor.

In fact, they will be regarded as a barometer for  Malaysian politics, not only in Selangor, but throughout the country for the next few years.

It is an open secret that UMNO leaders are  working for an  end to  the Pakatan Harapan Government in as short as two years, and the outcome of the two by-elections in Selangor will by used by the UMNO leaders as a yardstick as  to whether their  plot and conspiracy to engineer  the disintegration of the Pakatan Harapan government before its current term is a  futile and even puerile one.

The new UMNO President, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi, is on public record as saying in May after the UMNO Supreme Council meeting that he believed that the Barisan Nasional would be able to make a comeback.

UMNO Secretary-General Tan Sri Annuar Musa was more  frank and forthright later when he said openly that the Pakatan Harapan government would not last its current term, speculating that it would disintegrate in two years’ time.

But it was Barisan Nasional which disintegrated faster, in fact within a month of Zahid’s prognosis, and nobody knows  today whether Barisan Nasional exists or not, as both MCA and MIC – two of the three remaining parties which have not openly declared quitting BN  – are both quite ambivalent on this issue, as if they dare not quit BN  without permission from UMNO.

UMNO has given permission MCA to use the MCA logo in the Balakong by-election, but this is a big step back to the past not a leap into the future.

However, UMNO leaders are still plotting a comeback to Putrajaya, banking on the  disintegration of Pakatan Harapan in two years or at least before the 15th General Election – and this is the reason  for the politicking of the Opposition parties in post-14GE, the unholy alliance between UMNO and PAS, and the uneven more unholy alliance between PAS and MCA with PAS President Datuk Hadi Awang openly calling on PAS members to vote for the MCA candidate in the Balakong by-election.

The 100-Day issue will feature prominently in the two by-elections, whether Pakatan Harapan has succeeded or failed in the 14th General Election to initiate   long-awaited changes in Malaysian politics and system of governance.

More important than a report card  of whether the Pakatan Harapan has fulfilled specific proposals in 100 days is whether the Malaysian ship of state had made 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, and  whether the voters should use the two by-elections to give a ringing endorsement to Pakatan Harapan to proceed with these changes and not to backtrack or to give the Opposition parties ammunition to block these changes.

MCA President Datuk Low Tiong Lai, has given a “D” grade for Pakatan Harapan’s first 100 Days in power, remarkably similar to the mark given by the PAS Deputy President, Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.

It was an actac of remarkable audacity and insolence for Liew to pass such a judgment as Liew  had led MCA to the worst electoral defeat in the party’s 69-year history, from a party at its height with four Ministers, eight Deputy Ministers, 31 elected  Members of Parliament and 76 State Assembly representatives in the 2004 General Election  to a party with only zero Minister, zero Deputy Minister, 1 parliamentary  and 2 State Assembly seats in the 2018 General Election!

But what is even more startling is not just the convergence of grading for the 100 Days but the remarkable convergence of interests of MCA and PAS in the Balakong by-election, although PAS is stronger than MCA in Balakong as shown by the 14th General Election result where the PAS candidate, with 6,230 votes, beat the MCA candidate who polled only 5,874 votes, although both PAS and MCA  candidates lost their deposits with DAP’s Eddie Ng Tien Chee polling 41,768 votes.

There is an added reason  for a high turnout of voters in Balakong – as a great send-off by the voters of Balakong for the exemplary service and dedication of Eddie Ng who was two-term State Assemblyman for Balakong.

DAP and the people of Balakong had given Eddie Ng  a heart-felt and great send-off during his funeral on his untimely passing, but there cannot be a greater send-off than a thunderous vote of appreciation to Eddie Ng than during the Balakong by-election, and endorsement of  his replacement, the DAP/PH candidate, Wong Siew Ki.

I urge the voters of Balakong to come out in greater numbers on by-election polling day  of Sept. 8 than during the 14GE to  make a vote for DAP/Ph as a farewell vote for Eddie Ng.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Sunday, 19th August 2018)

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Chong Siew Chiang suffered discrimination and denied the opportunity to be a great judge from Sarawak but it opened the way for Chong Chieng Jen to be leading Malaysian political leader

On May 9, 2018, by peacefully and democratically changing the incumbent government for 61 years,  Malaysians set an example  to the world at a time when democracy worldwide is in general retreat to the forces of autocracy and authoritarianism that there is still hope in the democratic aspiration.

I always believe that Malaysia has the potential to be a world class nation in the words of Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman to be “a beacon of light in a difficult and distracted world”.

However, in the past few years, Malaysia has fallen on bad times, and many Malaysians dare not even own up to being Malaysians when overseas,  because Malaysia was scorned and joked about  for becoming a global kleptocracy as a result of the monstrous 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal.

May 9, 2018 is a milestone for Malaysia for on that day, Malaysians stood up and  regained ownership and pride for Malaysia, and even went one  step further, surprising  themselves and the world as a beacon of light for flickering democracy in the world.

But we should not rest there. We must continue to be a world class nation, respected and admired by the world for our success as a multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-lingual and multi-cultural nation which is united, harmonious, democratic, progressive and prosperous.

Our next challenge is to show the world another example, how we can transform ourselves from a global kleptocracy into one of the leading nations in integrity.

In the pipeline will be the challenge to  show to the world how we can transform the Malaysian Parliament which in the past half a century had continued to diminish the role and space  of MPs with  the Executive and the Prime Minister continuing to usurp the independent parliamentary role into an independent power centre which the Cabinet and Prime Minister must reckon with.

But we must aim for more world class benchmarks to be set by Malaysians, to have world-class jurists, judges, educationists, scientists, thinkers, etc.

In the  past decades, we have driven out the best and brightest Malaysians from the county into the Malaysian Diaspora in the world – and a test whether we are succeeding in building a New Malaysia is whether our policy changes if governance and nation-building could attract Malaysians in the Diaspoa to come back to help rebuild a New Malaysia.

I want tonight to pay tribute to Chong Siew Chiang who together with Lim Sie Ming and others established DAP in Sarawak 40 years ago.

It was a  difficult, challenging and uphill task for Siew Chiang, Sie Ming and others to  set up Sarawak DAP and spread its wings throughout the state  – as onerous and forbidding as the establishment of DAP Malaysia which is now in the 52nd year.

Siew Chiang contested in seven elections – three Parliamentary and four State Assembly – in the seventies and eighties, and narrowly missed elected on the DAP ticket on at least two occasions.

It was a long and arduous journey for Sarawak DAP, as it was for Malaysia DAP, and although we made the first Sarawak breakthrough in the 1982 parliamentary elections, scoring victory in the Kuching and Sibu parliamentary seats, we did not break the egg in Sarawak State Assembly elections until in the 1996 State General Elections, or some 18 years after the first DAP foray into Sarawak.

I pay tribute to the DAP Sarawak leaders, members and supporters for staying  loyal and faithful to the DAP cause for a democratic, just and rightful place for all Malaysians in Malaysia over the decades, as many unsung heroes and heroines in the party  have paid a heavy price for this political journey.

Chong Siew Chiang was himself a victim of injustices, even after he stepped down from active leadership of the DAP Sarawak.

About a decade after Siew Chiang stepped down from any leadership role of DAP Sarawak, he was slated to be made a judge in the High Court of Borneo. However, political forces improperly intervened and he was discriminated and denied a judgeship because of his previous role in bringing DAP to Sarawak.

Siew Chiang suffered discrimination and denied the opportunity to be a great judge from Sarawak but it opened the way for his son, Chong Chieng Jen to be a  leading Malaysian political leader.

Shortly after Siew Chiang was denied elevation to be a judge, I persuaded Chieng Jen to join the party which started his political journey to be Member of Parliament and State Assemblyman for Kuching, Chairman of Sarawak DAP and now Deputy Minister for Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs.

If Siew Chiang had not been discriminated against and become a judge, I have no donbt that Sarawak would have produced a renowned judge going up all the way to the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court,  with Sarawak producing a great judge like Sabah, which has produced Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, the first Sabahan to be made Chief Justice of Malaysia.

What was the country’s loss had been the DAP’s gain

The challenge to both  DAP and Sarawak DAP is to achieve greater feats and scale greater heights than to be part of the ruling coalition in the country.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at the 40th DAP Sarawak Anniversary Dinner Celebrations at Sarikei Civics Centre, Sarikei on Saturday, 19th August 2018 at 9 pm)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 20 August 2018, 1:28 pm and is filed under
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Like a breath of fresh air,  Khaled is asking Najib  to come clean on Jho Low

Its like a breath of fresh air on the acrid subject of the 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal – not only someone echoing what I have been trying to bell the cat with regard to the strange and extraordinary relationship between former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Penang playboy billionaire Jho Low, but someone from the UMNO leadership doing so!

Yesterday, UMNO Vice President Khaled Nordin said Najib and his family must volunteer any information they may have on fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho so they may clear their names smeared with allegations relating to the 1MDB scandal.

In a statement, Khaled said it was the “responsibility” of the former premier and his family to do so.

“I very much believe that the effort to seek the truth and justice in the 1MDB scandal will be accorded the cooperation of Najib and his family. If they know or possess any information on Jho Low, of course, it becomes their responsibility to share that with the local authorities.

“It is not just the right thing to do. In fact, it will help to clear the name and image of him and his family, which have been tainted by the scandal.”

Khaled said this was especially as the capture of the financier could finally put an end to the never-ending saga of the 1MDB scandal, which has been dominating the national agenda.

It is a pity that Khaled did not make such a statement two years ago! But its better late than never!

Would a full investigation into the 1MDB scandal exonerate Najib of any crime or wrongdoing of corruption and money-laundering, and show that Jho Low was not his partner-in-crime in the “kleptocracy at its worst” 1MDB scandal which made   30 million Malaysians “suckers” in the 1MDB scandal?

If so, why was Najib such  an obstacle to a full, independent  and comprehensive investigation into the 1MDB scandal when he was Prime Minister, to the extent that the doctrine of separation of powers was subverted and Parliament and Judiciary co-opted  to aid and abet in his conspiracy to suppress the 1MDB corruption scandal and national institutions, whether the Police, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the Auditor-General’s Office and Bank Negara suborned to serve this crime?

Is Khalid right that Najib and  his family volunteering any information they may have on Jho Low will clear their names “smeared with allegations relating to the 1MDB scandal” or the reverse will take place, in nailing the truth that all the allegations about Najib with regard to 1MDB are the “truth, the real truth and nothing but the truth”?

Khalid is right however that the time has more than elapsed for Najib to tell the truth about the 1MDB scandal and his actual relationship with Jho Low, as the 1MDB scandal is a larger issue not just  affecting Najib and his family, but  has dominated the national agenda.

The 14th Parliament had ended its first meeting with a motion directing the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to conduct again a detailed investigation on the embezzlement of monies and the 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.

I had repeatedly asked Najib to declare that he would testify and fully co-operate with the new  PAC investigations on his role in the 1MDB scandal, which caused Malaysia the infamy, ignominy and iniquity of a global kleptocracy. Would he do so?

In August 2016, I had asked Najib why he had not “walked the talk” and proved he was  a patriot by defending himself as Prime Minister, the government and the nation from the United States Department of Justice’s (DOJ) allegations about the largest global embezzlement and kleptocracy in the 1MDB scandal?

Is Najib  aware that before the 14th General Election,  UMNO veterans led by the UMNO Veterans Club secretary Mustapha Yaakub had declared that it was treason to defend Jho Low who had caused Malaysia to be scorned worldwide as a global kleptocracy and that a sane Umno leader would never support Jho Low, much less “love” the man?

With the call by Khaled, the time has more than come for Najib to respond to my various calls in the last two years  on him to enlighten the public about his unique  relationship with Jho Low, viz:

1. Who made use of whom in the 1MDB “goldmine” – Najib or Jho Low; or was the 1MDB “goldmine” a joint operation by both of them?

2. How many times had Najib met Jho Low, where and when, between the 13th and 14th  General Elections and did Najib meet Jho Low when he was  the Prime Minister during his official visits to China? What did they discuss during their meetings?

3. Had  Najib read the US Department of Justice (DOJ’s) 251-page kleptocratic  litigation on 1MDB-linked assets which gave in great detail how Jho Low had bought the billion-ringgit Equanimity luxury superyacht with embezzled 1MDB funds?

4. Was the  failure of the  Najib government to make a formal request to Hong Kong Government to arrest Jho Low the same reason why it did not stop the 1MDB scandal in all its four phases from 2009 – 2014, as it was from the very start a conspiracy by Jho Low and “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” (MO1) – who is none other than Prime Minister Najib – to “fraudulently divert billions of dollars (United States) from 1MDB through various means, including defrauding foreign banks and by sending foreign wire communications in furtherance of the scheme, and thereafter, to launder the proceeds of that criminal conduct, including in and through U.S. financial institutions”?

5. Had Najib read the ten “killer paragraphs” in US DOJ’s  kleptocratic suit to forfeit 1MDB-assets which directly linked Najib’s RM2.6 billion donation to 1MDB and revealed that the RM144 million pink diamond necklace for “wife of MO1” came from stolen 1MDB funds?

It is not only Najib who should come clean on Jho Low. All the top government leaders who had previously leapt to the defence of Jho Low as if they were Jho Low’s courtiers instead of top public officials of an independent and sovereign state should come clean why they had previously acted with such alacrity to become Jho Low’s defenders and apologists, committing not only a great dereliction of duty but betrayal of the interests of the nation!

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Sibu on Monday, August 20, 2018)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 20 August 2018, 9:16 am and is filed under
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100 Days – I had not become Prime Minister, Malaysia had not become a Christian State and the Malay Rulers had not been abolished

This is the week of the Hundred Days – the week the media focused on whether the Pakatan Harapan Government in Putrajaya had achieved its various promises and objectives, when it is clearly too short of time to make any meaningful assessment.

But in this focus on the 100 days, nobody in the media had focused on three things which had not happened – that I had not become the Prime Minister, Malaysia had not become a Christian State and the Malay Rulers had not been abolished, as irresponsible UMNO/BN leaders and cybertroopers had proclaimed in the run-up to the 14th General Election.

This is the stuff of the politics of race, religion, fear, hate and lies which was so rampant in the campaigns of irresponsible UMNO/BN leaders and cybertroopers in the long run-up to the 14th General Election of May 9, 2018.

Have such irresponsible politics of race, religion, hate, fear and lies ended with conclusion  of the 14th General Election?

Of course not.

I am still waiting for an explanation by the UMNO Secretary-General Tan Sri Annuar Musa for his racist, reckless and most provocative and incendiary speech at the Sungai Kandis by-election which is circulated in a 1-minute 58-second WhatsApp video entitled “Realiti Kerajaan Pro-DAP” on social media and by the former UMNO Deputy Minister, Tajuddin Rahman in his speech at the Sungai Kandis by-election where the made the wild, preposterous, reckless, most incendiary and seditious allegation that the DAP has an agenda to Christianise Malaysia,  that the DAP and “Christian-led Pakatan Harapan government” would want to abolish the Malay monarchy and establish a republic.

There is an intensification of the politics of fear, hate and lies in post-14 General Election which becomes doubly vicious and toxic when accompanied by the extremist politics of race and religion.

Recently, I was shown a WhatsApp message making the rounds of social media accusing me of being a communist, which among other things accused me of coming to Malaysia from China when I was 16 years old.

Such vicious and toxic politics of fear, hate and lies accompanied by the extremist politics or race and religion had failed in the recent general elections, as Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region have shown that their intelligence and wisdom should  not be underestimated  or there would not be a change of Federal Government in Putrajaya and in six states apart from Penang and Selangor.

The practitioners of the politics of race, religion, hate, fear and lies are fighting a losing battle, but  their viciousness and toxicity cannot be under-rated, and Malaysians must continue to expose these political opportunists and crooks who want to destroy the Pakatan Harapan government in two years or at least before 15th General Election and bring back UMNO/BN to power, by hook or by crook!

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskander Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, 21st August 2018)

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100 hari berlalu selepas Pakatan Harapan membentuk kerajaan di Putrajaya – Saya bukan Perdana Menteri, Malaysia tidak menjadi Negara Kristian dan institusi Raja-raja Melayu tidak dimansuhkan.

Minggu ini menandakan 100 hari Pakatan Harapan mentadbir negara – minggu di mana pasukan media memberi tumpuan sama ada Kerajaan Pakatan Harapan di Putrajaya sudah berjaya menunai janji dan mencapai matlamatnya, sedang masa terlalu suntuk untuk melaksanakan perubahan yang dilihat bermakna.

Namun, dalam tumpuan yang diberikan pasukan media kepada 100 hari pentadbiran Pakatan Harapan, ada tiga perkara mereka terlepas pandang – iaitu saya bukan Perdana Menteri, Malaysia tidak menjadi Negara Kristian dan institusi Raja-raja Melayu tidak dimansuhkan, seperti yang didakyah sebelum ini oleh pemimpin dan cybertrooper Umno/BN menjelang Pilihan Raya Umun ke-14 (PRU14)

Ini adalah mainan politik perkauman, agama, ketakutan, kebencian dan penipuan yang menular dalam kempen tidak bertanggungjawab pemimpin dan cybertrooper Umno/BN menjelang PRU14 pada 9 Mei 2018x

Adakah tindakan tidak bertanggungjawab seumpama ini telah berakhir pasca PRU14?

Sudah tentu tidak.

Saya masih menanti penjelasan daripada Setiausaha Agung Umno Tan Sri Annuar Musa atas ucapan berbaur perkauman, mengapi-apikan dan provokatif semasa Pilihan Raya Kecil Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Sungai Kandis berlangsung. Ucapan bertajuk “Realiti Kerajaan Pro-DAP” selama 1 minit 58 saat itu tular di aplikasi media sosial Whatsapp. Malah, bekas timbalan menteri Umno, Tajuddin Rahman dalam ucapannya pada PRK sama menuduh DAP kononnya mempunyai agenda tersembunyi untuk menjadikan Malaysia negara kristian dan mahu menghapuskan institusi Raja-raja Melayu, sekali gus menubuhkan republik.

Politik ketakutan, kebencian dan penipuan pasca PRU14 menjadi bertambah parah apabila turut dikaitkan dengan politik ekstremis perkauman dan agama.

Baru-baru ini, saya ditunjukkan satu mesej Whatsapp yang tular di media sosial mengenai kononnya saya adalah seorang komunis, selain memfitnah bahawa saya menjejakkan kaki ke Malaysia dari China pada usia 16 tahun.

Politik ketakutan, kebencian, penipuan berbaur jahat dan toksik, digabungkan pula dengan politik ekstrimis perkauman dan agama telah gagal membuahkan hasil yang diinginkan oleh Umno/BN pada PRU lepas. Rakyat Malaysia tidak mengira kaum, agama atau wilayah telah menunjukkan kebijaksanaan dan kepintaran mereka yang tidak harus diperkecilkan – kerana jika tidak, masakan akan berlaku perubahan tampuk kuasa di peringkat Kerajaan Persekutuan di Putrajaya dan enam negeri kecuali Pulau Pinang dan Selangor.

Pihak yang mengamalkan politik perkauman, agama, kebencian, ketakutan dan penipuan tetap akan kalah, namun kejahatan dan ketoksikan mereka tidak harus dipandang enteng, justeru raykat Malaysia harus terus tanpa jemu mendedahkan pekung politik oportunis dan penyangak yang mahu memusnahkan kerajaan Pakatan Harapan dalam tempoh dua tahun atau sekurang-kurangnya sebelum PRU15 untuk mengangkat semula Umno/BN ke Putrajaya, dengan apa cara sekalipun!

(Kenyataan Media Lim Kit Siang, Ahli Parlimen kawasan Iskandar Puteri, di Kuala Lumpur pada 21 Ogos 2018)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 21 August 2018, 4:58 pm and is filed under
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Vote in the Spirit of May 9, 2018 to defeat UMNO conspiracy to plot for the collapse fo the Pakatan Harapan Federal Government in two years or at least before the 15th General Election

I call on the voters of  Balakong to come out in full force  to vote in the Balakong by-election on Sept. 8 in the spirit of May 9, 2018 to build a New Malaysia to defeat the UMNO conspiracy to plot for the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan Federal Government in two years or at least before the 15th General Election.

Malaysians want to end the corruption, abuses of power and injustices of UMNO/BN in the past few decades and build a New Malaysia, but this is not something which can be achieved overnight or in 100 days.

It is a challenge and task which will take years, and Pakatan Harapan does not want to rule for only one term but want to win the 15th and 16th General Elections to complete the building of a New Malaysia where the country can fulfill the dream and hopes of Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, to be “beacon of light in a difficult and distracted world”.

It is an open secret that the Opposition, led by UMNO and with the support of other opposition parties, are plotting for the Pakatan Harapan Federal Government to collapse and disintegrate to allow them to return to the corridors of power in Putrajaya.

Although the outcome of the Balakong State Assembly by-election cannot change the outcome of the government of the Selangor State, it must be used as an opportunity to let the Opposition led by UMNO know that their conspiracy to bring down the Pakatan Harapan government in Putrajaya before the next general election will not find support from the people of Malaysia.

The Balakong by-election was caused by the unfortunate and untimely death of Eddie Ng Tien Chee as a result of an accident.

I call on on the voters of Balakong to come out in full force on Sept. 8 to cast their vote as a mark of respect to give a  great send-off to Eddie Ng, so that it will set an example of people’s appreciation for an exemplary elected representative.

But there is another meaning of the vote in the by-election, as support for the DAP/Pakatan Harapan canddiate for Balakong, Wong Siew Ki, who will continue Eddie Ng’s great service as the State Assembly representative for Balakong in the coming years.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at the Balakong by-election walkabout in Balakong new village on Wednesday, August 22, 2018 at 9 am)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 22 August 2018, 2:33 pm and is filed under
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Why Is MCA helping UMNO to muddy the waters to perpetuate the misperception that the Pakatan Harapan Malaysian Government is anti-China?

The visit to China by the Malaysian delegation led by the Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad is a successful one, as the primary objective is to demonstrate and to assure the Chinese Government that the Malaysian Government of Pakatan Harapan is not anti-China although it may be necessary to review the unjust contracts entered into by the Najib government involving Chinese companies with the agenda to deceive 30 million Malaysians about the monstrosity and moral turpitude of the 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal.

All patriotic Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or politics, are entitled to ask why in the past 24 hours, MCA leaders are  helping UMNO to muddy the waters to perpetuate the misperception that the Pakatan Harapan Malaysian Government is anti-China, after helping Najib to aid and abet the cover-up of the 1MDB scandal as well as to enter into the unequal contracts which are now under review by the authorities of the two countries.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday 23rd August 2018)

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Would former  MCA and UMNO Ministers in Najib’s Cabinet dare to claim that they are not responsible for Najib’s cover-up of the 1MDB scandal and failure to defend Malaysia’s honour to counter the worldwide infamy of a global kleptocracy?

When I campaigned for  Wong Siew Ki, the DAP/Pakatan Harapan candidate for Balakong by-election in Selangor, in Balakong new village and Cheras Batu 11 yesterday, I said among other things  that MCA did not qualify for the task of providing a check and balance against  Pakatan Harapan as it has no credibility, unless it is prepared to reform and start over by admitting and apologisung for aiding and abetting former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak for the monstrous crime of corruption, like the 1MDB scandal, and condemn Najib over the scandal.

The MCA leadership has replied to my comment but it remained studiously and thunderingly silent about the global scandal of 1MDB.

Why is this so?

Dare the three MCA Ministers and the UMNO/MIC/Gerakan Ministers claim that they are not responsible for Najib’s cover-up of the 1MDB scandal and failure to defend Malaysia’s honour to counter the worldwide infamy of a global kleptocracy?

Or are the  MCA/UMNO/Gerakan/MIC Ministers claiming that they were not aware of the 1MDB corruption and embezzlement scandal and that they never knew that Malaysia had suffered infamy, ignominy and iniquity of being regarded as a global kleptocracy in the international kleptocracy?

Lest the MCA/UMNO/MIC/Gerakan Ministers in the Najib Cabinet claim victims of memory loss, let me remind that them that  in June 2017, I wrote an Open Letter calling on the entire Najib Cabinet to collectively resign if  the Ministers were unable to purge Malaysia of the ignominy and infamy of the nation of  being regarded world-wide as a global kleptocracy.

In my open letter to the Cabinet Ministers on 17th June 2017, a day after the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) expanded its  kleptocratic litigation to forfeit another US$540 million of assets it alleged were stolen from 1MDB, bringing the total 1MDB-linked  assets US DOJ wants to  forfeit to US$1.7 billion out of more than US$4.5 billion 1MDB funds money-laundered in the United States.

The US DOJ expanded litigation referred to the “criminal conduct” in “four principal phases” over approximately five-year period from 2009 to 2014, where “multiple individuals, including public officials and their associates, conspired to fraudulently divert billions of dollars from 1MDB through various means, including by defrauding foreign banks and by sending them foreign wire communications in furtherance of the scheme, and thereafter, to launder the proceeds of that criminal conduct, including in and through U.S. financial institutions”; where the funds diverted from 1MDB were “used for the personal benefit of the co-conspirators and their relatives and associates including to purchase luxury real estate in the United States and overseas, pay gambling expenses at Las Vegas casinos, acquire more than US$200 million in artwork, purchase lavish gifts for family members and associates, invest in a major New York real estate development project, and fund the production of major Hollywood films”.

The original DOJ suit in July 2016 referred to only “three principal phases” – the “Good Star” Phase, the “Aabar-BVI” Phase and the “Tanore” Phase. There is now a fourth “Options Buy-Back” Phase, (covering 27 pages and 90 paragraphs) where some US$850 million in 1MDB funds was misappropriated under the guise of paying Aabar to relinquish certain options it had been given in consideration of IPIC’s guarantee of the 2012 bonds. 1MDB borrowed US$1.22 billion from a syndicate of banks led by Deutsche Bank in Singapore to fund these payments of Aabar, but US$850 million were diverted to Aabar-BVI and Aabar-Seychelles, that “appeared to be, but were not affiliated with IPIC and Aabar”.

There was the revelation that after the idea for the PetroSaudi and 1MDB joint venture was discussed in the summer of 2009 at a meeting arranged by Jho Low between MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1 (who was none other than the then Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak)  and co-founders of PetroSaudi abroad a yacht off the coast of Manaco (which was the single event which initiated the monstrous 1MDB scam), Low emailed his parents, brothers and sister on or about September 7, 2009: “Just closed the deal with petrosaudi. Looks like we may have hit a goldmin[e].”

Jho Low had indeed struck a “goldmine”, but one which had to paid by 30 million Malaysians and future generations!

I said in my Open Letter to all Cabinet Ministers:

“No loyal and patriotic Malaysian can read the updated 251-page USA DOJ kleptocratic suit to forfeit US$1.7 billion MDB-linked assets arising from US$4.5 billion 1MDB money-laundering without consternation and horror and only those who are prepared to commit treason will be unaffected, unmoved and untouched by the US DOJ action.

“What is kleptocracy? The US DOJ kleptocratic action on the 1MDB assets is a classic lesson not only to Malaysians, but to the world, as to what constitutes kleptocracy.

“The expanded 251-page US DOJ kleptocratic action is the greatest shame to Malaysia in our 60-year history.

“Unless we can disprove the kleptocratic allegations in the US DOJ action, without having to wait for the US court proceedings to take their course in the US courts, Malaysia deserves the international infamy and ignominy of a global kleptocracy.

“The expanded 251-page US DOJ kleptocracy suit on 1MDB is a ‘must read’ for all Ministers, Members of Parliament and loyal and patriotic Malaysians who love and care about Malaysia’s good name and reputation in the world.

“I call on the 36 Ministers to place the subject of the expanded 251-page US DOJ kleptocratic suit on top of the Cabinet agenda next Wednesday, and decide on how to cleanse and purge Malaysia of the infamy and ignominy of being regarded world-wide as a ‘global kleptocracy’.

“If the Cabinet is unable as matter of national priority clear or cleanse Malaysia’ infamy and ignominy of being regarded world-wide as a ‘global kleptocracy’, I call on the entire Cabinet to collectively resign on Wednesday for failing to defend Malaysia’s good name and reputation in the world.”

Let all the 36 Ministers in the Cabinet in June 2017, including the three MCA Minister, namely Liow Tiong Lai, Wee Ka Siong and Ong Ka Chuan, why they failed to live up to national  and patriotic expectations to force an issue on the 1MDB scandal in the Cabinet or to collectively resign from the Cabinet before MCA officials  blabber about  playing a role of “check and balance” in the Balakong by-election.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Thursday, 23rd August 2018)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 23 August 2018, 10:20 am and is filed under
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Call for over 80% of the Balakong voters to come out in Sept. 8  by-election to vote for a New Malaysia and  reject  UMNO/BN plot to topple the Pakatan Harapan Government to  return the UMNO/BN regime of  corruption and abuses of power

DAP and Pakatan Harapan have fielded Wong Siew Ki as candidate for the Balakong by-election  to carry on the great work of the late  Eddie Ng as Selangor State Assembly representative for Balakong.

Although the Balakong voters do not expect Wong to be exactly like Ng, as Ng had been such an exemplary people’s representative that some voters say they will be satisfied if Wong can do 60 per cent of what Ng did, Wong’s hectic and  punishing pace during the by-election campaign covering the constituency  is a testament of Wong’s determination to do her best and to do better than 60 per cent of  what Ng did.

In the recent Sungai Kandis by-election, the voter turn-out was below 50 per cent although during the May 9 general election, the voter-turn out in Sungai Kandis was 86%. In the May general election, the voter turnout in Balakong was even higher at 87%.

Wong has appealed to the Bakakong voters for a voter turnout on Sept. 8 of over 60 per cent.  This is not high enough. I want to appeal to the voters of Balakong for a  historic turnout of over 80 per cent, as the Balakang by-election has a national significant over and above than just electing the State Assembly representative for  Balakong.

Malaysians have just celebrated Merdeka Day on August 31, and it was a celebration which was never like it in the past six decades.

Malaysians who were unconcerned and even indifferent in previous Merdeka Days were excited about  the birth of a New Malaysia, a land where every Malaysian can feel proud to be a Malaysian.

Although Pakatan Harapan has peacefully and democratically replaced UMNO/BN as the Federal Government of Malaysia, UMNO/BN leaders and conspirators are doing their utmost to bring about the downfall of the Pakatan Harapan Federal Government  before the 14th General Election  by 2023, or even earlier, in a timetable of two years.

This is evident from Himpunan Melayu Bangkit (Malays Arise Rally) organsied by UMNO Pasir Salak yesterday where the former UMNO Deputy Minister and MP for Pasir Salak Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman made a preposterous, provocative and incendiairy speech that Malays have lost power following the 14th general election and that the government has been replaced with one controlled by non-Malays.

This was the line that  UMNO leaders, from the then Prime Minister and UMNO President, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, downwards had been shouting from the rooftops before the 14th General Election.

Have I become the Prime Minister of Malaysia, as Najib and other UMNO leaders had warned before the 14th General Election would be the case if Pakatan Harapan had won the polls?

Has Islam been replaced by Christianity as the official religion of Malaysia, according to the pre-general election propaganda of UMNO/BN leaders, alleging that DAP had a Christian agenda when Pakatan Harapan gained power – which is downright  ridiculous when I am not a Christian myself!

Has Malaysia become a republic, as the DAP had also been accused of wanting to abolish the Malay Sultans?

The allegations that the Malays will lose political power, Islam will be in jeopardy and the Malay Sultans abolished are downrights lies and falsehoods, which are not only contemptible but criminal in wanting to destroy Malaysia as a plural society, as DAP had repeatedly declared support for the fundamental provisions of the Malaysian Constitutiton.

UMNO leaders the like of Tajuddin regard DAP as the enemy, and he is right, as the likes of Tajudddin are the greatest enemies of a united, harmonious, democratic, just, progressive and prosperous Malaysia which in the words of  Bapa Malaysa, Tunku Abdul Rahman, could be “a beacon of light in a difficult and distracted world”.

UMNO conducted a three-day Kursus Asas Pembangkang Berkesan – Kem Ilmu in Janda Baik where the topics included “Simulasi Demonstrasi”, “Mind-setting sebagai Pembankang” and “Simulasi  Laporan Polis”.

A mock demonstration at the Janda Baik kursus had gone viral in the social media, which is proof that the UMNO/BN  leaders have decided to take the toxic and vicious politics of race, religion, hate, fear and lies to an unprecedented pitch as to qualify to be described as a “scorched earth” policy.

I urge the voters of Balakong to cast their vote on Sept. 8 with three objectives  – One Vote, Three Messages – to reject the MCA, UMNO and PAS.

We need checks and balances in a mature democracy, but this is a role which MCA cannot play unless it is prepared to repudiate its past, particularly for aiding and abetting Najib in the crime and treachery of turning Malaysia into a global kleptocracy.

The Balakong voters must vote against UMNO for its “scorched earth” policy to take the toxic and vicious politics of race, religion, hate, fear and lies to an unprecedented end.

The third message is to reject the extremist line taken by the PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang who had asked PAS members to vote for the MCA candidate.

Let the voters of Balakong give a  resounding verdict to vote  for the future of Malaysia and reject the machinations of the  UMNO/BN plot to topple the Pakatan Harapan Government and  return to the  UMNO/BN regime of  corruption and abuses of power.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at the DAP Balakong by-election dinner at Balakong New Village on Sunday, Sept. 2, 2018 at 9 pm)

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Ucapan Ahli Parlimen Iskandar Puteri, Lim Kit Siang di majlis makan malam pilihanraya kecil DAP Balakong di Kampung Baru Balakong, pada hari Ahad 2 September 2018, jam 9 malam.

Seruan agar 80% pengundi Balakong keluar mengundi pada pilihanraya kecil 8 September menyokong Malaysia Baharu dan menolak rancangan UMNO/BN untuk menumbangkan Kerajaan Pakatan Harapan bagi mengembalikan rejim rasuah dan salahguna kuasa UMNO-BN

DAP dan Pakatan Harapan mempertaruhkan Wong Siew Ki sebagai calon Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Balakong bagi meneruskan prestasi cemerlang mendiang Eddie Ng sebagai ADUN Balakong.

Walaupun pengundi Balakong tidak mengharapkan prestasi Wong sama seperti Ng yang menunjukkan contoh baik sebagai wakil rakyat, sesetengah daripada pengundi berkata mereka sudah cukup berpuas hati sekiranya Wong boleh mencapai tahap 60% daripada prestasi yang ditunjukkan Ng. Kerja keras yang dilakukan Wong sepanjang kempen PRK dengan menyantuni seberapa banyak penduduk di kawasan tersebut adalah bukti jelas bahawa Wong mempunyai keazaman yang kuat untuk melakukan yang terbaik dan mengatasi 60% jangkaan pengundi.

Pada PRK DUN Sungai Kandis, peratusan keluar mengundi adalah di bawah paras 50% walaupun pada Pilihan Raya Umum (PRU) 9 Mei, jumlah pemilih yang keluar mengundi di Sungai Kandis adalah lebih tinggi iaitu 86%. Pada PRU lalu, jumlah pemilih yang keluar mengundi di Balakong adalah lebih tinggi iaitu 87%.

Wong merayu kepada pengundi di Balakong supaya keluar mengundi pada 8 September supaya kadar peratusan keluar mengundi sebanyak 60% dapat dicapai. Bagi saya, jumlah ini tidak cukup tinggi. Oleh itu, saya mahu menyeru pengundi di Balakong agar melakar sejarah dengan keluar mengundi beramai-ramai, sekali gus mencatatkan kadar peratusan keluar mengundi melebihi 80%. PRK Balakong bukan sekadar medan untuk memilih seorang ADUN, sebaliknya mempunyai kepentingan yang lebih besar di peringkat nasional.

Malaysia baru sahaja meraikan Hari Kemerdekaan pada 31 Ogos lalu, dan ia adalah sebuah sambutan yang amat bermakna dan berbeza dengan enam dekad lalu.

Rakyat Malaysia yang tidak peduli atau tidak hirau dengan Hari Kemerdekaan sebelum ini kelihatan begitu teruja dengan kelahiran Malaysia Baharu, tanah tumpah di mana rakyat Malaysia boleh berbangga menjadi rakyat Malaysia.

Walaupun Pakatan Harapan secara aman dan demokratik menggantikan Umno/BN di peringkat Kerajaan Persekutuan, pemimpin dan pengkomplot Umno/BN sedaya upaya ingin menjatuhkan Kerajaan Persekutuan Pakatan Harapan sebelum Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 pada 2023, atau lebih awal lagi, mungkin dalam tempoh dua tahun akan datang.

Ini terbukti dengan penganjuran Himpunan Melayu Bangkit yang dikelola oleh Umno Pasir Salak semalam, yang menyaksikan bekas Timbalan Menteri Umno dan Ahli Parlimen Pasir Salak Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman menghamburkan kenyataan tidak masuk akal, provokatif dan mengapi-apikan dengan membuat tuduhan bahawa kononnya orang Melayu kehilangan kuasa selepas PRU14 dan kononnya kerajaan telah digantikan dengan pihak yang dikawal oleh bukan Melayu.

Ini adalah kenyataan biasa pemimpin Umno, yang berakar dari bekas Perdana Menteri dan Presiden Umno, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, yang dilaung-laungkan sebelum PRU14.

Adakah kini saya sudah menjadi Perdana Menteri Malaysia, seperti yang dituduh Najib dan pemimpin Umno sebelum PRU14?

Adakah Islam sudah digantikan dengan Kristian sebagai agama rasmi Malaysia, seperti yang didakyah propaganda yang dimainkan pemimpin Umno/BN, yang mendakwa kononnya DAP mempunyai agenda Kristian selepas Pakatan Harapan memiliki kuasa – satu tuduhan yang mengarut kerana saya sendiri bukan penganut agama Kristian.

Adakah Malaysia sudah menjadi negara Republik, seperti yang sering didakwa pemimpin Umno bahawa kononnya DAP mahu menghapuskan institusi Raja-raja Melayu?

Dakwaan bahawa kononnya orang Melayu akan hilang kuasa politik, Islam akan berada di kedudukan bahaya serta institusi Raja-raja Melayu akan dimansuhkan adalah pembohongan, ia bukan sahaja menghina malah tindakan jenayah yang mahu memusnahkan Malaysia sebagai sebuah negara berbilang kaum. DAP telah berkali-kali menegaskan dukungannya terhadap perkara asas Perlembagaan Malaysia.

Pemimpin Umno seperti Tajuddin menganggap DAP sebagai musuh, dan beliau benar dalam hal ini, sama benar seperti Tajuddin adalah musuh kepada sebuah Malaysia yang bersatu padu, harmoni, demokratik, adil, progresif dan makmur, seperti kata-kata Bapa Kemerdekaan Tunku Abdul Rahman, yang berkata ia mampu menjadi “suar cahaya dalam dunia yang sukar dan terganggu”.

Umno menjalankan Kursus Asas Pembangkang Berkesan – Kem Ilmu di Janda Baik selama tiga hari merangkumi topik termasuk “Simulasi Demonstrasi”, “Mind-setting sebagai Pembangkang” and “Simulasi Laporan Polis”.

Demonstrasi olok-olok di Janda Baik ini menjadi tular di media sosial, sekali gus menjadi bukti bahawa pemimpin Umno/BN mahu menggunakan politik kaum, agama, kebencian, ketakutan dan pembohongan yang jahat dan toksik, mirip dasar bumi hangus (Strategi ketenteraan dengan melakukan pemusnahan segala yang mungkin berguna kepada musuh).

Saya menyeru pengundi di Balakong untuk membuang undi mereka pada 8 September ini dengan objektif serampang tiga mata – Satu Undi, Tiga Mesej – untuk menolak MCA, Umno dan PAS.

Kita memerlukan agen semak dan imbang dalam sistem demokrasi yang matang, tetapi MCA tidak boleh memainkan peranan itu, melainkan jika parti itu benar-benar bersedia untuk mengakui kesalahan lalu, khususnya dalam membantu dan bersubahat dengan Najib berhubung jenayah dan pengkhianat terhadap negara sehingga menjadikan Malaysia sebuah kleptokrasi global.

Pengundi Balakong tidak harus mengundi Umno yang mendakap ‘dasar bumi hangus’ dan bagi menghentikan serta-merta politik kaum, agama, kebencian, ketakutan dan pembohongan yang jahat dan toksik.

Mesej ketiga adalah untuk menolak jalur ekstrimis yang dibawa Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Hadi Awang yang meminta ahli PAS supaya mengundi calon MCA.

Benarkan pengundi Balakong untuk membuat keputusan mereka menerusi undi bagi masa depan Malaysia dan menolak komplot jentera Umno/BN untuk menjatuhkan kerajaan Pakatan Harapan dan mengembalikan rejim Umno/BN yang korup dan menyalah guna kuasa.

– Lim Kit Siang

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 2 September 2018, 5:32 pm and is filed under
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Official support of PAS for MCA in Balakong by-election reinforces my call to Balakong voters to come out in full force to ensure “One Vote to reject MCA, UMNO and PAS” on Sept. 8

The official support of PAS for MCA in Balakong by-election has reinforced my call on Sunday night for the voters of Balakong to come out in full force on the by-election polling day on Saturday, 8th Sept. 2018 to carry out a historic and national task by using  their one vote to reject the irresponsible and opportunistic politics of MCA, UMNO and PAS.

Malaysians have just celebrated Merdeka Day on August 31, and it was a celebration which was never like it in the past six decades.

Malaysians who were unconcerned and even indifferent in previous Merdeka Days were excited about  the birth of a New Malaysia, a land where every Malaysian can feel proud to be a Malaysian.

Although Pakatan Harapan has peacefully and democratically replaced UMNO/BN as the Federal Government of Malaysia, MCA/UMNO leaders and conspirators are doing their utmost to bring about the downfall of the Pakatan Harapan Federal Government  before the 14th General Election  by 2023, or even earlier, in two to three years.

Now joining these MCA/UMNO leaders and conspirators in this irresponisble and opportunistic conspiracy to cause the downfall of Pakatan Harapan government are the PAS leaders, who have shown their hands in their appearance in support of the MCA Balakong by-election candidate last night.

We have on the one hand the MCA leaders, who are  accusing the DAP of selling-out the rights and interests of the Malaysian Chinese, while the UMNO and PAS leadrers are complicit in attacking the DAP and Pakatan Harapan of betraying Malay rights and interests.

How such contradictory and conflicting objectives could be achived at one and the same time, the leaders of the unholy MCA/UMNO/PAS alliance have not tried to explain.

This was the message of the MCA President, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, at  the MCA  Balakong by-election campaign yesterday, targetting  the DAP Secretary-General and Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng for saying on his Cabinet appointment in May that he considered himself Finance Minister for all Malaysians and not just one for ethnic group.

MCA leaders, however,  have no qualms in  co-operating  with UMNO leaders who last Saturday organised a Himpunan Melayu Bangkit (Malays Arise Rally) rally in Pasir Salak  where the former UMNO Deputy Minister and MP for Pasir Salak Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman made a preposterous, provocative and incendiairy speech that Malays have lost power following the 14th general election and that the government had been replaced with one controlled by non-Malays.

The allegations that the Malays have lost political power are as  contemptible and even  criminal as the MCA allegation that DAP and Pakatan Harapan will sell out the rights of the Chinese in Malaysia!

Now, MCA has gone one step further  and is working hand-in-glove with PAS to destroy DAP and Pakatan Harapan.

I urge the voters of Balakong to cast their vote on Sept. 8 with three objectives  – One Vote, Three Messages – to reject the MCA, UMNO and PAS for their irresponsible and opportunistic politics.

We need checks and balances in a mature democracy, but this is a role which MCA cannot play unless it is prepared to repudiate its past, particularly for aiding and abetting UMNO and former Prime Minister  Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the crime and treachery of turning Malaysia into a global kleptocracy.

Now MCA has descended to a lower  level claiming that the rights and interests of the Chinese would be sold out by DAP and Pakatan Harapan!

Secondly, the Balakong voters must vote against UMNO for its “scorched earth” policy to take the toxic and vicious politics of race, religion, hate, fear and lies to an unprecedented level in the nation’s 61-year history.

The third message is to reject PAS for the extremist religious line adopted by the PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang.

Let the voters of Balakong give a  resounding verdict to vote  for a New Malaysia and  the future of the nation and reject the machinations of the  MCA/UMNO/PAS plot to topple the DAP and  Pakatan Harapan Government before the 15th General Election, if not earlier in two or three years’ time!

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, 5th Sept. 2018)

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Kenyataan Ahli Parlimen Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang pada Rabu, 5 September 2018 di Kuala Lumpur.

Sokongan terbuka PAS kepada MCA pada Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Balakong menguatkan lagi gesaan kepada pengundi Balakong untuk keluar beramai-ramai membuang undi bagi memastikan “Satu Undi menolak MCA, Umno dan PAS” pada 8 September

Sokongan terbuka PAS kepada MCA pada Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Balakong menguatkan lagi gesaan saya buat pengundi Balakong pada malam Ahad lalu untuk keluar mengundi beramai-ramai pada Sabtu 8 September 2018 bagi melakar sejarah dan menunaikan tanggungjawab kepada negara dengan menggunakan undi mereka untuk menolak politik tidak bertanggungjawab dan oportunis oleh MCA, Umno dan PAS.

Malaysia baru sahaja meraikan Hari Kemerdekaan pada 31 Ogos lalu, dan ia merupakan sebuah sambutan yang amat bermakna dan berbeza dengan enam dekad lalu.

Rakyat Malaysia yang tidak peduli atau tidak kesah dengan Hari Kemerdekaan sebelum ini kelihatan begitu teruja dengan kelahiran Malaysia Baharu, tanah tumpah di mana rakyat Malaysia boleh berbangga menjadi rakyat Malaysia.

Walaupun Pakatan Harapan secara aman dan demokratik menggantikan Umno/BN di peringkat Kerajaan Persekutuan, pemimpin dan pengkomplot Umno/BN sedaya upaya ingin menjatuhkan Kerajaan Persekutuan Pakatan Harapan sebelum Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 berlangsung pada 2023, atau lebih awal lagi, mungkin dalam tempoh dua tahun akan datang.

Kini pemimpin PAS, yang menyatakan sokongnya kepada calon MCA untuk PRK Balakong, menyertai pemimpin dan pengkomplot Umno/BN dalam konspirasi tidak bertanggungjawab dan oportunis untuk menjatuhkan kerajaan Pakatan Harapan.

Di satu sudut, pemimpin MCA menuduh DAP kononnya mengabaikan hak dan kepentingan kaum Cina di Malaysia, sementara pemimpin Umno dan PAS bersubahat menyerang DAP dan Pakatan Harapan kononnya mengkhianati kepentingan dan hak kaum Melayu.

Bagaimana objektif yang bercanggah dan bertentangan itu dapat dicapai direalisasikan pada masa yang sama, tidak pernah sama sekali dijelaskan oleh pemimpin MCA/Umno/PAS.

Presiden MCA, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, pada kempen MCA di PRK Balakong semalam, menyerang Setiausaha Agung DAP merangkap Menteri Kewangan Lim Guan Eng kerana menganggap dirinya sebagai seorang Menteri Kewangan untuk semua rakyat Malaysia dan bukan hanya mewakili satu kumpulan etnik sahaja.

Pemimpin MCA, bagaimanapun, tidak mempunyai masalah untuk bekerjasama dengan pemimpin Umno yang pada Sabtu lalu menganjurkan Himpunan Melayu Bangkit di Pasir Salak di mana bekas Timbalan Menteri Umno dan Ahli Parlimen Pasir Salah Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahmah membuat ucapan tidak masuk akal, provokatif dan mengapi-apikan dengan membuat tuduhan bahawa kononnya orang Melayu kehilangan kuasa selepas PRU14 dan kononnya kerajaan telah digantikan dengan pihak yang dikawal oleh bukan Melayu.

Tuduhan bahawa kaum Melayu akan hilang kuasa politik menyerupai dakwaan MCA bahawa DAP dan Pakatan Harapan kononnya mengabaikan hak kaum Cina di Malaysia.

Kini, MCA mengorak langkah dengan bekerjasama dengan PAS untuk memusnahkan DAP dan Pakatan Harapan.

Saya menyeru pengundi di Balakong untuk membuang undi mereka pada 8 September ini dengan objektif serampang tiga – Satu Undi, Tiga Mesej – untuk menolak MCA, Umno dan PAS.

Kita memerlukan agen semak dan imbang dalam sistem demokrasi yang matang, tetapi MCA tidak boleh memainkan peranan itu, melainkan jika parti itu benar-benar bersedia untuk mengakui kesalahan lalu, khususnya dalam membantu dan bersubahat dengan Najib berhubung jenayah dan pengkhianat terhadap negara sehingga menjadikan Malaysia sebuah kleptokrasi global.

Kini MCA mendakwa bahawa kononnya hak dan kepentingan kaum Cina akan diabaikan oleh DAP dan Pakatan Harapan!

Pengundi Balakong tidak harus mengundi Umno yang mendakap ‘dasar bumi hangus’ dan bagi menghentikan serta-merta politik kaum, agama, kebencian, ketakutan dan pembohongan yang jahat dan toksik.

Mesej ketiga adalah untuk menolak jalur ekstrimis yang dibawa Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Hadi Awang yang meminta ahli PAS supaya mengundi calon MCA.

Benarkan pengundi Balakong untuk membuat keputusan mereka dengan membuang undi demi masa depan Malaysia dan menolak komplot jentera Umno/BN untuk menjatuhkan kerajaan Pakatan Harapan dan mengembalikan rejim Umno/BN yang korup dan menyalah guna kuasa.

– Lim Kit Siang

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 5 September 2018, 4:22 pm and is filed under
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First three MCA Presidents, Tan Cheng Lock, Lim  Chong Eu and Tan Siew Sin, must be turning in their graves at the new MCA/UMNO/PAS unholy alliance in Balakong by-election to cause downfall of Pakatan Harapan government before 15GE

The first three MCA Presidents, Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Tun Dr. Lim Chong Eu and Tun Tan Siew Sin, must be  turning in their graves at the new MCA/UMNO/PAS unholy alliance in the Balakong by-election to cause the downfall of Pakatan Harapan government before the 15th General Election so as  restore the regime of corruption, abuses of power and mediocrity of the past.

The three questions uppermost in Malaysian minds are:

Firstly, why PAS wants to help the MCA in the Balakong by-election.

During the May 9 general election, the winning candidate from DAP and Pakatan Harapan Eddie Ng polled 41,768 votes while the PAS candidate polled 6,230 votes and the MCA candidate polled 5,874.

What is most noteworthy is that the PAS candidate got more votes than the MCA candidate, although both lost their deposits.

Is the MCA candidate fighting to retain his deposit in the by-election?

But the most pertinent question is why the PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang should  be worried that the MCA candidate might lose his deposit in the by-election without PAS help, to the extent of ordering his “big guns” like the PAS Secretary-General to campaign for the MCA in the by-election?

Is this the sign of an  MCA/UMNO/PAS unholy alliance shaping up in post-14GE Malaysian politics?

Secondly, why is MCA getting help from UMNO leaders who are declaring that after the 14GE, the Malays have lost political power, that the DAP is the enemy of the Malays and Islam  and that DAP wanted to abolish the Malay Sultans and set up a republic – taking the irresponsible and dangerous politics of race, religion, hate, fear and lies to an even more extreme extent than before the last general elections?

Does MCA leaders agree with the lies and falsehoods being churned out the by the UMNO leaders? Dare MCA leaders  tell to the UMNO leaders to stop  telling lies or to ban them from MCA ceramahs in the Balakong by-election?

How can MCA leaders seek the help of these UMNO leaders  who are claiming that the Malays have lost political power and yet at the same time accuse the DAP of selling out the rights and interests of the Malaysian Chinese?

Thirdly, why is MCA so desperate that it has to seek help from PAS to avoid losing deposit in the Balakong by-election?

Apart from the first three MCA Presidents, Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Tun Dr. Lim Chong Eu and Tun Tan Siew Sin, who are turning in their graves at the MCA/UMNO/PAS unholy alliance, there are six other MCA Presidents who are still living and in our midst.

Do they endorse the MCA President, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai  in striking  the MCA/UMNO/PAS unholy alliance in the Balakong by-election?

It will be interesting to hear  from these still-living former MCA Presidents.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, 6th Sept. 2018)

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Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang pada Khamis, 6 September 2018 di Kuala Lumpur.

Jika tiga presiden terawal MCA; Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu dan Tun Tan Siew Sing masih hidup, mereka pasti terkejut dengan kerjasama antara MCA/Umno/PAS dalam PRK Dewan Undangan Negeri Balakong bagi menjatuhkan kerajaan Pakatan Harapan sebelum PIlihan Raya Umum ke-15

Jika tiga presiden terawal MCA; Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu dan Tun Tan Siew Sing masih hidup, mereka pasti terkejut dengan kerjasama antara MCA/Umno/PAS dalam Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Balakong bagi menjatuhkan kerajaan Pakatan Harapan sebelum PIlihan Raya Umum ke-15 (PRU15) dan mengembalikan rejim yang rasuah, salah guna kuasa dan tidak mempunyai rekod yang baik sebelum ini.

Tiga soalan yang bermain-main di fikiran rakyat Malaysia adalah:

Pertama, mengapa PAS mahu membantu MCA di PRK Balakong.

Pada PRU 9 Mei, calon dari DAP dan Pakatan Harapan Eddie Ng untuk DUN Balakong memperoleh 41,768 undi sementara calon MCA mendapat 6,230 undi dan calon MCA mendapat 5,874 undi. Ini menunjukkan bahawa calon PAS mendapat lebih undi berbanding calon MCA, meskipun kedua-dua mereka kehilangan deposit.

Adakah calon MCA bertanding hanya untuk mengekalkan depostinya dalam PRK ini?

Namun, yang menghairankan adalah mengapa Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Hadi Awang bimbang calon MCA berisiko kehilangan deposit pada PRK tersebut tanpa bantuan PAS, sehingga mengarahkan pemimpin kanannya seperti Setiausaha Agung PAS untuk berkempen bagi pihak MCA pada PRK ini?

Adakah ini petanda bahawa kerjasama MCA/Umno/PAS akan terbentuk pasca PRU14?

Kedua mengapa MCA meminta bantuan pemimpin Umno yang mengisytiharkan bahawa selepas PRU14, orang Melayu kononnya hilang kuasa politik, DAP kononnya adalah musuh orang Melayu dan Islam dan DAP kononnya mahu memansuhkan institusi Raja-raja Melayu dan menubuhkan negara Republik – membawa politik perkauman, agama, kebencian, ketakutan dan pembohongan yang tidak bertanggungjawab dan bahaya sehingga ke tahap yang lebih ekstrem daripada sebelum PRU lalu.

Adakah pemimpin MCA bersetuju dengan kepalsuan dan pembohongan yang dilaungkan pemimpin Umno? Adakah pemimpin MCA berani menegur pemimpin Umno supaya berhenti menyebarkan penipuan atau menghalang mereka daripada hadir ke ceramah anjuran MCA di Balakong?

Bagaimana pemimpin MCA boleh meminta bantuan pemimpin Umno yang mendakwa orang Melayu hilang kuasa politik tetapi dalam masa sama menuduh DAP meminggirkan kepentingan dan hak orang Cina di Malaysia?

Ketiga, mengapa MCA begitu terdesak sehingga perlu meminta bantuan daripada PAS untuk mengelak kehilangan deposit dalam PRK Balakong?

Selain tiga presiden terawal MCA, Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu dan Tun Tan Siew Sing yang pastu terkejut dengan kerjasama antara MCA/Umno/PAS, terdapat enam lagi presiden MCA yang masih hidup. Adakah mereka menyokong kerjasama tersebut? Menarik untuk kita dengar pandangan mereka berhubung isu itu.

– Lim Kit Siang

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 6 September 2018, 12:57 pm and is filed under
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May 9, 2018 was a “gift of hope” which civic societies can help to fruition by playing an important role in nation building in New Malaysia –  developing ways for  the different races  and religions to  interact more  and better understand each other

I am greatly honoured, deeply humbled and completely overwhelmed by the award of  the Paul Harris Fellowship of Rotary Club of Damansara West.

I commend the Rotary Club of Damansara West for living up to the famous Rotary motto of “Service Above Self”, and in particular for its “Every Child Every Year”, “Gift of Heart” and “Gift of Sight” programmes to provide breakfast to needy children and  bring life and sight to low-income families by funding pediatric hole-in-heart surgeries and cataract operations.

Tonight is a special occasion, for  today is 5.9.2018, which has a special affinity to 9.5.2018, the Polling Day of the 14th General Election which provided to all Malaysians a “gift of hope” that life could be better in Malaysia under a new government, that Malaysians can hope and dream again to make Malaysia a great and respected nation in the world.

I recall that when  I first set out 53 years ago on the political journey, there was no thought about elections, becoming a State Assemblyman, Member of Parliament or forming governments just ideals and principles although these became necessary elements in the ensuing process.

I was propelled solely by the idealism of youth to contribute to the building of a better Malaysia, which is united, harmonious, democratic, progressive and prosperous,  where there is rule of law, good governance,  public integrity and economic well-being; to build a Malaysia which is admired and respected by the world as a world-class nation in various fields of human endeavour.

Or in the words of Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman, the vision of Malaysia as  “a beacon of light in a difficult and distracted world”.

In  the  Merdeka Proclamation 1957 and the Malaysia Proclamation 1963, it was proclaimed that Malaysia  “shall be for ever a sovereign democratic and independent State founded upon the principles of liberty and justice and ever seeking the welfare and happiness of its people and the maintenance of a just peace among all nations”.

If Malaysia had been true to these promises and  pledges, Malaysia would never have become a global kleptocracy (i.e. a rule by a thief or thieves) and  a kakistocracy (ie. a government run by the worst or most unscrupulous of people).

When the country achieved independent nationhood on August 31, 1957, it was to  herald the beginning of a new era where all its citizens could dare to dream big dreams to remake the world.

But had we been able to achieve world-class status in every field of human endeavor, whether political, economic, educational, social, environmental or on good governance after six decades?

Sadly, we failed as one country after another overtook us in development, excellence and progress.  We seemed to have lost our way and  trapped in the trajectory hurtling towards a failed state, rogue democracy, global kleptocracy and kakistocracy.

There was widespread despair and sense of hopelessness – our best and brightest were leaving our shores to join the Malaysian Diaspora worldwide, and more and more parents were telling their children abroad  to stay overseas rather than to come home.

Is there any hope for the future?

Then the miracle  of 5.9.2018 happened, which provided Malaysians with a new hope that we have a second chance to build a New Malaysia. On that day, Malaysians inside the country and in the worldwide Diaspora stood up and felt proud, imbued with great hopes for the nation!

We are completing the fourth month of the new Pakatan Harapan Government.

A fortnight ago, we were inundated by the 100-day syndrome in  the media with headlines like “100 Days – New Malaysia”; “Prestasi 100 Hari”; “Janji 100 hari tertunai?”, “100-day report card on Pakatan Harapan: Looking Rosy for Now” and “What The People Say”.

While it is good to assess what had been achieved in the first hundred days or first four months of the Pakatan Harapan government as a form of report card, what is more important is whether the Malaysian ship of state had made 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.

While it is not possible to undo in four months all  the abuses and excesses of power in six decades of power, the country had set a new course in nation-building in the first four months of the Pakatan Harapan Government towards a New Malaysia especially in the direction of public  integrity, rule of law,  democracy, good governance and greater transparency.

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;  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; and thirdly, the appointment of an Opposition MP as Chairman of the PAC.

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 – which, according to the Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad, have gone “several layers deep” in the higher echelons of the public service.

We may have to seriously think of an amnesty programme for the anti-corruption programme programme  to have full effect, although those guilty of heinous corruption, like the protagonists in the 1MDB scandal and other mini-1MDB scandals in Felda, MARA and  Tabung Haji  must not be allowed to escape and must be  brought to justice.

The recent case of the estate of an UMNO leader who died in a helicopter crash with a RM2.1 billion fortune reveals the tip of an iceberg – which needs vigorous investigation as to how one of  the richest Malays in the country could hide his identity for so long, and how many such wealthy “UMNO-putras” are there in a country, and where their wealth were derived from that they could hide them so long and so successfully.

Fourthly, institutional reforms like the  impending law and parliamentary reforms such as legislation to repeal draconian and repressive laws and the recent  decision to set up six parliamentary select committees.

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 seen in a recent Himpunan Melayu Bangkit (Malays Arise Rally) and the  recent by-election campaigns, revolving around the 3R politics of race, religion and royalty – the lies that  the  Malays have lost power, and that Islam and the Malay Rulers are  under threat.

Such irresponsible politics of race, religion, hate, fear and lies have not ended with the conclusion of the 14th General Election, but are being taken to greater extremes to bring down the Pakatan Harapan Government and restore  the old politics of corruption and abuses of power.

The practitioners of the politics of race, religion, hate, fear and lies are fighting a losing battle, but their viciousness and toxicity cannot be under-estimated, and unless they are stopped in their tracks, the hopes and promises of May 9 could be undone.

This is where the civil society can play an important role in nation building in a New Malaysia.

Polls have 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.

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.

Did the 95% of the Chinese voted for a Chinese Malaysia and the 70-75% of Indians voted for an Indian Malaysia  in the 14GE when they voted for Pakatan Harapan so they could bully or dominate other races in the country?

Of course not. Whether Chinese or Indians, they  voted for a Malaysia where all Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans or Orang Aslis, could have a better quality of life, human dignity, freedom, democracy and good governance where there is no corruption and abuses of power and a Malaysia which is admired and respected by the world.

I do not believe that the 35-40% of Malays who voted for Barisan Nasional and the 30-33% 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.

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.

Checks and balances by vibrant civil society and free media are  important building blocks for  a New Malaysia where there is democracy, rule of law, public integrity and  good governance.

But there  is another  important nation-building role for civic societies in a New Malaysia.

Apart from pockets of Malaysian society, like the Rotary Clubs in Malaysia, the various ethnic communities predominantly  live in their own separate worlds so that it is easy for irresponsible, opportunistic and dangerous politicians and their propagandists to preach hatred, bigotry and intolerance , where any Chinese is easily painted as anti-Malay and a Christian or Hindu as anti-Islam.

The Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans, just like Muslims, Buddhists, Christians and Hindus must interact  and understand each other more so that they do not easily succumb to the wiles and trickeries of the political opportunists.

We must  neutralise the political communalists and bigots in New Malaysia. Let us move beyond the situation where the  Malays  live mostly in the Malay world, the Chinese in the Chinese world, and the Indian in the Indian world.

We must find ways for all Malaysians, regardless of race or religion, to interact and understand each other, so that they do not fall victim to the toxic and vicious politics of race and religion, hate, fear and lies which must be regarded as the greatest enemies of the New Malaysia.

May 9, 2018 was a “gift of hope” which civic societies can help to fruition by playing an important role in nation building in New Malaysia –  developing ways for  the different races  and religions to  interact more  and better understand each other.

I leave you food for thought as to how you, the Rotary Club of Damansara West  and other civic societies  can play this  important role in  nation building in a New Malaysia.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on “Civic Participation in Nation Building in a New Malaysia” after being honoured a Paul Harris Fellowship by  Rotary International Damansara West at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Golf & Country Club, Shah Alam on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018 at 9 pm)

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