Khairy should convene a national conference on Covid-19 pandemic involving public and private health sectors and health NGOs and NGIs on how to bring  daily new Covid-19 cases down to double-digit numbers and daily Covid-19 deaths to single-digit numbers

Yesterday, Malaysia recorded 10,915 daily new Covid-19 cases, lowest in 76 days since July 18.

Daily Covid-19 deaths were 109 deaths including 33 Brought-in-Dead (BID) cases  – lowest daily Covid-19 death count in 69 days since July 25,  while the BID numbers were  the lowest in 41 days since August 9.

While the new Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin, should be commended for this success, it is equally obvious that it is  accompanied by his failure in his first month in office to bring down the daily new Covid-19 cases down to double digit numbers and daily Covid-19 deaths to single-digit numbers.

Yesterday, Indonesia recorded 1,413 daily new Covid-19 cases and looks likely to beat Malaysia to reduce its daily new Covid-19 cases to triple-digit numbers.

In fact, for the last  31 days, the daily new Covid-19 cases in Indonesia had  had been in four-digit numbers while Malaysia had been struggling to reduce the new

Covid-19 cases to below 10,000 cases.

As Indonesia had been able to reduce its daily peak of new Covid-19 cases from 56,757 cases on 15th July to 1,414 cases yesterday,  there is no reason why Malaysia cannot be more effective in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.

Khairy should convene a national conference on Covid-19 pandemic involving public and private health sectors and health NGOs and NGIs on how to bring  daily new Covid-19 cases down to double-digit numbers and daily Covid-19 deaths to single-digit numbers.

On the day Khairy took his oath of office as the new Health Minister on

August 30, there were 568 Covid-19 deaths in Indonesia. Yesterday, it had been reduced to   89 deaths.

In contrast,  295 Covid-19 deaths were recorded  in Malaysia on August 30 but  we could only reduce it to 109 Covid-19 deaths yesterday.

A whole-of-society national conference to bring the daily new Covid-19 cases in Malaysia  down to double-digit numbers and the daily Covid-19 deaths to single-digit numbers so that Malaysians  can “live with Covid-19” is urgently needed.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Sunday, 3rd October 2021)

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Ismail Sabri should realise how fragile is the “Keluarga Malaysia” edifice of his premiership when two incidents could threaten to demolish it yesterday

(Versi BM)

The Prime Minister, Ismail Sabri should realise how fragile is the “Keluarga Malaysia” edifice of his premiership when two incidents could threaten to demolish it yesterday: firstly, the racist remark by a Bersatu leader against national women’s singles player S. Kisona, using a racially derogatory “K” term; and secondly, when a preacher Ustaz Syakir Nasoha was seen in a viral video making disparaging racial comments about non-Muslim religions and the Dayak community.

If the Rukun Negara principles of nation-building for a united multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural Malaysia had been fully promoted among Malaysians in the past half a century, such disparaging remarks would not have occurred.

If Malaysians had been fully imbued in the past half-a-century with the five Rukun Negara principles of nation-building, they would have appreciated the national strength that could be derived from the virtues and best values of the four great civilisations that meet in confluence in Malaysia – Muslim, Chinese, Indian and Western.

But now we have Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Members of Parliament who challenge and dispute the legitimacy and appropriateness of the five Rukun Negara principles in the building of an united, prosperous and successful plural Malaysia.

Ismail Sabri gave a good interview on local television stations yesterday calling on Malaysians to unite as a family, setting aside religious, racial and political differences.

Ismail said: “I want us to live like a family, where we forget all our differences, whether in terms of religion, race, or even political differences should be set aside, so that all the people work together to develop Malaysia.”

He said differences among members of the community should be appreciated and not be an obstacle to unity.

He added that the spirit of cooperation was also highlighted through the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Transformation and Political Stability signed by him as Prime Minister and Pakatan Harapan leaders on Sept 13, in the interest of the people and the country, especially in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic.

He described it as the new politics of Malaysia, similar to the practice in developed countries, where the government and the opposition work together to develop the country.

He said: “So between the opposition and the government, (we) together build the country. Yes, we fight, but during election time every five years. Once the people have given the mandate to establish a government, we have to build this country together.

“Politicking should be stopped because the opposition can also provide views as check and balance, and at the same time, we will follow what is good, and thus, we can together develop the country.”

This was not the Ismail Sabri before he became Prime Minister.l

If this spirit had been followed in the recent past, the Pakatan Harapan Government would not have been toppled after 22 months by the undemocratic, illegitimate and backdoor Sheraton Move conspiracy, and today Anwar Ibrahim would be the eighth Malaysian Prime Minister to implement the various institutional and parliamentary reforms promised in the Pakatan Harapan Manifesto of the 14th General Election to make Malaysia a world-class great nation, far from the coils of a kleptocracy and a kakistocracy.

When the country is faced with an existential threat, as in the case of the Covid-19 pandemic, everyone in the country must put aside their difference ensure that Malaysia win the war against the Covid-19 pandemic and save millions of Malaysians from Covid-19 and tens of thousands from Covid-19 deaths.

Let there be a political moratorium for 10 – 18 months until the next general election – as the immediate task is to ensure the survival of Malaysia – to win the war against the Covid-19 pandemic and reset the political landscape with institutional and parliamentary reforms so that Malaysia can embark on economic, social and national recovery.

This was what happened in United Kingdom in the Second World War. When Hitlerite Germany threatened the existence of UK, when at this perilous hour of 1940, Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee forged a partnership that transcended party lines for five years.

Once their victory over Hitler’s Germany was achieved, the two partners were opponents again, fighting an acrimonious campaign in the July 1945 General Election from which Attlee emerged as the overwhelming victor.

Attlee became the Prime Minister in July 1945 and Churchill, who first created the post of Deputy Prime Minister for Attlee during the war coalition, became the Opposition Leader. After the 1951 British General Election, Churchill and Attlee exchanges places with the former became again Prime Minister while the latter was Opposition Leader.

Pakatan Harapan had not gone so far as to become part of Ismail Sabri government in the Covid-19 pandemic and would continue its role as the loyal but constructive opposition.

It is not a foregone conclusion that Ismail Sabri will be the sure winner in the next General Election because he has yet to prove that he has the best vision for the future of Malaysia.

Until he became Prime Minister, Ismail Sabri was dead set against the concept of a “Keluarga Malaysia’. Can he change and prove his commitment to his vision of a “Keluarga Malaysia”?

(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, October 4, 2021)

Ismail Sabri harus sedar betapa rapuhnya idea “Keluarga Malaysia” selepas dua insiden yang mengancam konsep tersebut semalam

Perdana Menteri, Ismail Sabri harus sedar betapa rapuhnya idea “Keluarga Malaysia” selepas dua insiden yang mengancam konsep berkenaan tercetus semalam: pertama, kenyataan rasis oleh mantan pemimpin Bersatu terhadap pemain perseorangan wanita kebangsaan, S. Kisonan dengan memanggil dengan perkataan jelik “K”, dan kedua, penceramah Ustaz Syakir Nasoha yang mengeluarkan kenyataan bersifat perkauman berkenaan agama orang bukan Islam dan masyarakat Dayak dalam satu video yang tular baru-baru ini.

Jika semua rakyat Malaysia dididik untuk menjiwai prinsip Rukun Negara berhubung pembinaan negara bagi membentuk sebuah Malaysia yang mempunyai pelbagai kaum, pelbagai bahasa, pelbagai agama dan pelbagai budaya, kenyataan jelik seumpama itu pasti tidak berlaku.

Jika rakyat Malaysia dididik untuk menjiwai lima prinsip Rukun Negara berhubung pembinaan negara sejak separuh abad yang lalu, mereka akan lebih menghargai kekuatan negara yang boleh diambil daripada nilai-nilai terbaik empat peradaban yang bertemu di Malaysia – Islam, Cina, India dan Barat.

Namun kini, kita mempunyai Menteri, Timbalan Menteri dan Ahli Parlimen yang mencabar dan menyangah kesahan dan kesesuaian lima prinsip Rukun Negara dalam pembinaan sebuah Malaysia yang bersatu padu, makmur dan berjaya.

Ismail Sabri memberikan kenyataan yang cukup baik dalam wawancara yang disiarkan di stesen televisyen tempatan semalam dengan menyeru agar rakyat Malaysia bersatu padu sebagai sebuah keluarga, dan mengetepikan perbezaan agama, kaum dan politik.

Ismail berkata: “Saya mahu kita hidup seperti satu keluarga yang kita lupakan segala perbezaan yang ada, sama ada dari segi agama, kaum malah perbezaan fahaman politik pun perlu diketepikan, supaya semua rakyat bersama-sama berganding bahu membangunkan Malaysia ini.”

Beliau berkata perbezaan yang ada dalam kalangan masyarakat perlu diraikan serta tidak menjadi halangan untuk bersatu padu.

Beliau menambah semangat kerjasama itu turut ditonjolkan menerusi Memorandum Persefahaman (MoU) Transformasi dan Kestabilan Politik yang ditandatangani kerajaan Persekutuan dan Pakatan Harapan (PH) pada 13 Sept lepas, demi kepentingan rakyat dan negara khususnya dalam menangani pandemik Covid-19.

Beliau menyifatkan ia sebagai politik baharu Malaysia seperti mana amalan di negara maju yang lain, dengan kerajaan dan pembangkang berganding bahu membangunkan negara.

katanya: “Jadi antara pembangkang dan kerajaan (kita) bersama-sama membina negara. Ya kita berlawan, tetapi waktu pilihan raya lima tahun sekali. Apabila rakyat sudah memberi mandat kerajaan ditubuhkan, kita kena bersama-sama membina negara ini.

“Politiking sepatutnya dihentikan, kerana pembangkang juga boleh memberikan pandangan untuk ‘check and balance’, dan dalam masa yang sama mana yang baik kita akan ikut dan dengan itu kita boleh bersama-sama membangunkan negara.”

Ini bukanlah Ismail Sabri yang kita kenal sebelum beliau menjadi Perdana Menteri!

Jika semangat ini diikuti sejak dulu lagi, Kerajaan Pakatan Harapan sudah tentu tidak akan digulingkan selepas 22 bulan oleh konspirasi Langkah Sheraton yang tidak demokratik, tidak sah, dan pintu belakang, malah hari ini Anwar Ibrahim sudah tentu sudah menjadi Perdana Menteri kelapan dan berusaha untuk melaksanakan pelbagai reformasi institusi dan Parlimen yang dijanjikan dalam Manifesto Pakatan Harapan pada Pilihan Raya Umum ke-14 untuk menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia, dan terhindar daripada anasir kleptokrasi dan kakistokrasi.

Ketika negara berdepan dengan ancaman, dalam hal ini; pandemik Covid-19, setiap orang harus mengetepikan perbezaan untuk memastikan Malaysia menang perang melawan Covid-19 dan menyelamatkan jutaan rakyat Malaysia daripada dijangkiti Covid-19 dan puluhan ribu terkorban akibat wabak berkenaan.

Moratorium politik selama 10 hingga 18 bulan sehingga pilihan raya umum seterusnya amat diperlukan — kerana tugas yang perlu dipikul sekarang adalah untuk memastikan Malaysia terselamat — untuk menang dalam perang melawan pandemik Covid-19 dan untuk menetapkan semula landskap politik negara dengan reformasi institusi dan Parlimen supaya Malaysia dapat mengorak langkah untuk memulihkan ekonomi-sosial negara.

Ini yang berlaku di United Kingdom semasa Perang Dunia Kedua. Semasa Jerman yang dipimpin Hitler mengancam UK, Winston Churchill dan Clement Attlee bekerjasama selama lima tahun sejak 1940.

Selepas mereka menang ke atas Jerman yang dipimpin Hitler, kedua-dua pihak itu menjadi musuh semula, bertanding sesama sendiri dalam Pilihan Raya 1945 di mana Attlee menang besar.

Attlee menjadi Perdana Menteri pada Julai 1945 dan Churchill, yang mewujudkan jawatan Timbalan Perdana Menteri untuk Attlee sepanjang kerjasama itu, menjadi Pemimpin Pembangkang. Selepas Pilihan Raya Britian 1951, Churchill dan Attlee bertukar kedudukan dengan Churchill sekali lagi menjadi Perdana Menteri dan Attlee kembali menjadi Pemimpin Pembangkang.

Pakatan Harapan tidak pergi sejauh itu dengan menyertai kerajaan Ismail Sabri dalam era wabak Covid-19 dan akan meneruskan peranannya sebagai pembangkang yang konstruktif.

Belum tentu Ismail Sabri akan menang dalam pilihan raya umum akan datang kerana beliau masih belum membuktikan bahawa beliau mempunyai visi yang terbaik untuk masa depan Malaysia.

Sebelum menjadi Perdana Menteri, Ismail Sabri amat menentang konsep seperti “Keluarga Malaysia”. Bolehkan beliau membuktikan komitmennya untuk mengangkat idea besar “Keluarga Malaysia”?

(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri, Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Isnin, 4 Oktober 2021)

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The  best news in Covid-19 pandemic in nearly three months and Khairy’s Hundred Day Challenge

(Versi BM)

We are now again seeing light at the end of the tunnel in the Covid-19 pandemic.

Yesterday’s 9,066 daily new Covid-19 cases is the best news in the Covid-19 pandemic in nearly three months since July 8 when Malaysia had 8,868 daily new Covid-19 cases.

We have had almost three months of five-digit daily new Covid-19 cases since July 13, and yesterday was the first time that we have dropped to four-digit numbers.

It has taken us more than a month to drop from the peak of 24,599 daily new Covid-19 cases on August 25 to drop to four-figure numbers.

Will we need another month before we drop to three-figure numbers and will daily new Covid-19 cases drop to double-digit numbers when Khairy Jamaluddin marks his Hundred Day as Health Minister?

All Malaysians hope and pray for Khairy’s success in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic.

We have the longest Covid-19 wave in the world since the Sabah state general election last September.

When Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin declared an emergency to fight the Covid-19 pandemic on January 11, 2021, there were a cumulative total of 138,224 Covid-19 cases and 555 Covid-19 deaths.

When he resigned as Prime Minister seven months later on August 16, 2021, the cumulative total of Covid-19 cases and Covid-19 deaths have increased to 1,424,639 cases and 12,784 deaths respectively.

Now we have a cumulative total of 2,277,565 Covid-19 cases and 26,683 Covid-19 deaths.

We are now ranked No. 20 among countries with the most cumulative total of Covid-19 cases when we were No. 89 when we celebrated our 63rd National Day on August 31, 2020.

Can Malaysia stop overtaking more countries (and in fact, be overtaken by others) and ensure that we do not reach a cumulative total of 2.5 million Covid-19 cases and 30,000 Covid-19 deaths by the Hundred Day of Khairy’s tenure as Health Minister on December 7, 2021 since his swearing in by the Yang di Pertuan Agong on August 30?

This is Khairy’s Hundred Day challenge!

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, 4th October 2021)

Berita terbaik berkaitan Covid-19 sejak hampir tiga bulan dan cabaran 100 Hari Khairy

Harapan kian cerah buat kita semua.

9,066 kes harian baharu Covid-19 yang dicatatkan semalam adalah berita terbaik berhubung wabak Covid-19 sejak hampir tiga bulan. Pada 8 Julai 2021, Malaysia merekodkan 8,868 kes baharu Covid-19.

Kita merekodkan kes lima angka selama hampir tiga bulan sejak 13 Julai, dan semalam, adalah kali pertama kita berjaya menurunkan angka kes kepada julat empat angka.

Kita mengambil masa lebih dari sebulan untuk mencatatkan penurunan dari puncak 24,599 kes baharu Covid-19 pada 25 Ogos kepada julat empat angka.

Adakah kita memerlukan sebulan lagi sebelum angka kes menurun ke paras tiga angka dan adakah kes harian baharu Covid-19 akan menurun ke paras dua angka semasa Khairy Jamaluddin melengkapkan 100 hari pertama perkhidmatannya sebagai Menteri Kesihatan?

Semua rakyat Malaysia berharap dan mendoakan kejayaan Khairy dalam perang melawan wabak Covid-19.

Kita mengalami gelombang jangkitan Covid-19 yang terpanjang di dunia sejak pilihan raya negeri Sabah pada September tahun lalu.

Semasa Perdana Menteri, Muhyiddin Yassin mengisytiharkan darurat untuk melawan wabak Covid-19 pada 11 Januari 2021, jumlah kes keseluruhan Covid-19 di negara ini adalah sebanyak 138,224 dengan 555 orang terkorban akibat wabak itu.

Semasa beliau meletakkan jawatan sebagai Perdana Menteri tujuh bulan kemudian pada 16 Ogos 2021, jumlah kes keseluruhan jangkitan serta korban akibat Covid-19 masing-masing telah meningkat kepada 1,424,639 dan 12,784.

Kini, kita mempunyai jumlah kes keseluruhan jangkitan Covid-19 sebanyak 2,277,565 dengan 26,683 kematian terkumpul.

Kita kini berada di kedudukan ke-20 antara negara-negara dengan kes keseluruhan Covid-19 tertinggi, sedangkan kita pernah berada di kedudukan ke-89 dalam senarai tersebut semasa kita menyambut Hari Kebangsaan ke-63 pada 31 Ogos 2020.

Mampukah Malaysia berhenti daripada memintas lebih banyak negara dan memastikan kita tidak mencapai 2.5 juta kes terkumpul Covid-19 dan 30,000 kematian terkumpul akibat wabak itu menjelang 100 hari pertama perkhidmatan Khairy sebagai Menteri Kesihatan pada 7 Disember 2021, sejak beliau mengangkat sumpah di hadapan Yang di-Pertuan Agong pada 30 Ogos?

Inilah cabaran 100 hari pertama Khairy!

(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Isnin, 4 Oktober 2021)

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12th Malaysia Plan: Three Backward Steps

Press Release by
Ramesh Chander and Lim Teck Ghee
 *

The 12th Malaysia Five Year Plan tabled in the Dewan Rakyat by the Prime Minister is replete with claims of its policies and programs being “game changers”, “catalysts for….”, “enablers” ,etc  However, our scrutiny of the document together with the speech by Dato Seri Ismail Sabri, leaves us deeply disappointed as we fail to discern specific policies that qualify that description.

We call the attention of the Government, policy makers and other stake players and holders to the following 3 key longstanding stalled issues that necessitate rethinking and an entirely different set of policy initiatives if the Plan is to meet its goals of a high income country with inclusive and sustainable growth. Our concerns are echoed  in part by the Leader of the Opposition, Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim, and a host of other respected commentators.

To compound matters, the disclosure by the Federation of Freight Forwarders (FMFF) of the Government’s attempt to enforce a drastic restructuring of the freight forwarding industry has been a distraction that has met strong opposition. The proposal to require existing non – Bumiputera firms in the industry to divest 51 percent of equity has been described as tantamount to a robbery and classic “UMNO-ism”. Yet other observers have pointed out the negative vibes this announcement sends to firms in other sectors. If implemented, most if not all independent and credible quarters agree that this will be a contributing factor to further damage the investment climate as well as disrupt the supply chain’s efficiency and productivity which the economy can ill afford.

In our judgement, the Government proposal overturns the solemn undertaking given by Tun Razak that the 30 percent target would not entail takeover of existing assets but would be achieved via growth when he presented the New Economy Policy (NEP) in Parliament. It must also be recalled that the BN Cabinet rejected the initial version of the Industrial Coordination Act which attempted to put in place a regime in which 30 percent of equity in each limited company be made available to Bumiputera investors. We believe the MOF proposal is not only a regressive policy change but also that it is contrary to Article 153 of the Federal Constitution and is likely to be litigated.

We next take up the contentious issue of how the 30 percent equity ownership target is measured. We do so in order to highlight how deeply flawed numbers have come to determine policies that are not in the best interests of the nation. The resulting policy distortions have created a number of negative outcomes that include rent seeking, crony capitalism, widening income disparities in the Bumiputera community and ethnic tensions.

Corporate equity

The 12th Plan errs by suggesting that the 30% target has yet to be attained. This is a debatable contention as the Plan fails to elaborate on how the calculations were done. No reference has been made to research studies that report findings that contradict the official estimates; no credible statistics provided.

It is appropriate to begin with a focus on the nature of this target and the manner in which it is calculated. To set the record straight and once and for all, it is important that we go back to the origins of this target and the manner in which the baseline estimates were calculated.

The baseline numbers of corporate equity used in the formulation of the NEP were calculated by classifying share ownership in both publicly listed and privately owned limited companies. Ethnicity was used as a determining factor; no entities were excluded.

The use of the totality of corporations was in line with the recommended approach advocated in the United Nations ” System of National Accounts” (SNA). The ownership structure of each corporate entity was compiled by taking account of the ethnicity of shareholders. This identification was determined by using the name of each shareholder to assign ethnicity. In brief, the resulting count was that of the number of shares as no ringgit share values were determined.

One reason for this was the non-standard nature of the accounting returns that had been filed by the registered corporations. This was the best that could be done given the nature of the available data and the time constraints under which the Department of Statistics was then operating.

It was further understood that the baseline numbers would be further refined at a later date via a primary collection of data. Indeed, the Department of Statistics did launch the Ownership Survey of Companies with that objective in mind; the survey incorporated a section containing a standardized balance sheet.

The comprehensive data collected provided a basis for using balance sheet values to determine equity, which in turn could be subdivided by ethnicity. The tragedy was that the Economic Planning Unit chose not to tread that path and stuck to the older base numbers. The data from the Ownership Survey of Companies was classified as “sensitive” and not released. This is an omission that can be easily rectified to provide a truer, less politically exploited, picture and understanding of company ownership in Malaysia

The current methodology employed by the government produces a result indicating a shortfall in what has been achieved. The absence of actions to correct the basis for calculating the value of equity holdings has reduced the credibility of the statistics released. These deeply flawed numbers should not under any circumstances underpin important policy making.

Professionally researched empirical studies yield an outcome showing that Bumiputera holdings of corporate equity appropriately valued exceed 30%. This previously was confirmed by an analysis of traded shares in the stock exchange.

It is this aspect of the NEP that needs correction via an adoption of valuations based on a more defensible set of principles. Asset values need to be calculated based on concepts that take account of commercial accounting concepts that happen to be aligned to the SNA.

The re-evaluation can be easily accomplished at a minimum cost as the needed data exists in the files of the Companies Commission of Malaysia. Furthermore, the data is available on an annual basis and can thus be used to track progress or lack thereof at regular intervals. A transparent and timely availability of ownership data would remove a key contributor to policy manipulation and ethnic tensions.

Credible data is a fundamental requirement to support evidence-based policies. Greater transparency in the collection and dissemination of data on equity holdings will contribute to an improved investment climate vitally needed in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Failure to introduce the reforms listed above will continue to impact on race relations and policy distortions. These distortions are likely to potentially lower growth and would run counter to the twin goals of achieving a restructuring of the economy and promoting sustainable growth.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, there is one reality for any economy that our policy makers and legislators must not forget. The Plan speaks of a decline in the equity held by Bumiputeras resulting from a disposal of shares allocated to them. No account however is taken of the fact that trading of shares is a normal activity. Proceeds from such sales are often invested in other assets e.g. real estate, financial instruments etc.  Additionally, many of the elite appear to have transferred their new found wealth  off-shore. This is confirmed by the large outward flows recorded in the Balance of Payments together with the consistently large errors and omissions item. If further affirmation is needed, one has only to look at the estimates of capital flight which places Malaysia as the second largest source of capital flowing out of an economy. The time has come to measure wealth in its totality rather than place a component represented by equity capital on a pedestal.

GLCs and Re-energizing the Private Sector

Our initial draft had identified GLCs as a key sector to reform.  Not only is the role that government linked companies (GLCs) play in the Malaysian economy widespread and pervasive but among countries in the world, we rank with the highest in terms of SOE presence among largest firms. The negative economic impacts of such a dominant and dominating presence of GLC in the Malaysian economy are well known and need little elaboration.

Since then, we are encouraged that former PM Tan Sri Muhyiddin in his recent address to Parliament has called for a review of GLCs (and GLICs) and voiced the view that they should not be competing with the private sector.

However this opinion is nothing new. In fact it is too little too late. Initially established to facilitate Bumiputera participation in the modern economy, GLCs have over the past 30 years proliferated to take over and control not only the commanding heights of the economy but also to encroach into the mid and lower tiers. GLCs today constitute over 40% of the share market capitalization of all

publicly listed companies and can be considered to be the elephant in the room that has stifled growth, crowded out private enterprise including Bumiputras, and contributed to poor governance practices. Moreover, there is every indication that they are among the main sources, if not the main source, responsible for the growing income disparity in the country, in particular that pertaining to the Bumiputera community.

With its influence over, and links to, the national and state bureaucracy, quite apart from its role in facilitating clientelism, collusion and nepotism of the political elite,  GLCs have introduced severe distortions to the market in the products and services provided and have generally raised the costs of doing business whilst not improving economic efficiency at national, state and even local levels.

Earlier Plans had failed to address the out-of-control proliferation of GLCs as well as its other pernicious economic and governance impacts. The most recent round of political appointees to GLC high positions, despite public dismay and widespread condemnation of the practice, gives little confidence that any review will be taken seriously or will result in any reforms.

Hence it is crucial for Parliament in its deliberations on the 12 Plan to not delay any further with implementing policy reform proposals, in particular, the dismantling of rent-seeking and patronage components, that can restore GLCs to an appropriate position and place in the economy as commercial and competitive entities shorn of unnecessary and inflated government privilege or other functions that provide openings for politically driven patronage and misuse of public funds.  Such a reform agenda contained in the 12 Plan should include an appropriate divestment programme of the numerous GLCs that have little or no justification for their existence and stand in the way of the private sector’s development.

Revitalizing our Private Sector and SMEs

In tandem with a GLC reform programme, there needs to be put in place a revitalization programme for the private sector, especially directed at small and medium sized enterprises.

It is clear now that Malaysia has lost its competitive edge in attracting multinational corporations. The exodus of many established corporations to Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and other countries is indicative of this trend. New FDI flows into the country have slowed even in terms of feel good dubious figures touted by MITI.  According to the latest data, foreign direct investment (FDI) in Malaysia registered a net inflow of RM14. 6 billion in 2020 as compared to RM32. 4 billion in the previous year. This contraction by 54.8 percent is only partly a result of global economic uncertainties due to the pandemic situation. These corporations as well as the local businesses have also found the price of doing business rising given the negative impact of the regulatory environment. The regulatory regime in place has grown, is stifling and is at the same time subject to uncertainties generated by frequent policy changes as has happened, for example, with the MM2H program for foreigners.

Meanwhile there is every likelihood that a significant proportion of the present number of 900,000 SMEs – if stronger corrective measures are not taken by the Government –  will close shop or cut back on operations as a result of the ongoing pandemic crisis which the Plan has failed to adequately address. That this  prospect will considerably worsen the poverty and unemployment problems for the country is clear from this profile data

SMEs

– make up one million or 98.5% of all business establishments

– provide two-thirds of all employment

– contribute 40% to the national GDP, and

– are located in all states, all sectors and range in size from micro-enterprises to small and medium.

SMEs are not just a pillar of the economy. They also play a key role in social stability and social cohesion. This vital contribution of SMEs to national unity and harmony has either been ignored or has not been properly acknowledged in Plan documents.

Here it is necessary to remind policy makers and legislators that SMEs are the main source of multiracial partnerships and inter-ethnic linkages, relationships and interaction at many levels, including ownership, labour force and in other spheres. Also not generally known is that 20% of SMEs are owned by women thus contributing to gender equality.

Reviving the SME segment of the economy in the short and medium-term future should be amongst the highest policy priorities of the government in the 12th Plan.

The above difficulties facing the private sector, together with the monopolistic policies favoring the GLCs and the GLICs, and the resultant rising price of doing business needs to be addressed in any clear-sighted and pragmatic plan. Unfortunately despite these stark past and new policy failures, the Plan document is largely silent or evasive. Should the Government fail to take corrective measures in the new Plan we fear that this heavy baggage will be carried forward.

Urgent game changer reforms

The third backward step we have discerned applies not just to a single sector. It relates to a wide range of sectors in which earlier policy reform measures were clearly identified and agreed to by a previous government and where these reform measures have either been ignored, stalled or discontinued.

To recall, thirty years ago at the National Economic Consultative Council (NECC)  deliberations to propose the successor to the NEP, no quantitative targets were set in the final report as it was the consensus of the 150 members drawn from political, economic and social sectors and all communities that what was important was not the contentious numerical targets  but  the necessary capacity building  to build and sustain businesses. The 9th Malaysia Plan 1991 to 1995 in fact did not specify such ownership targets.

Likewise ten years ago in 2010 the New Economic Model drawn up for the 10th Plan by one of the most credible and qualified economic teams recruited to chart the country’s socio-economic future eschewed the continuation of a regressive NEP policy which was originally intended to be discontinued after 1990.

Further it identified the following urgent policy imperatives to ensure the nation’s ability to meet the multiple challenges from internal and external factors. These included

– Refocusing from quantity to quality-driven growth. Mere accumulation of capital and labor quantities in the past has been insufficient for sustained long-term growth. To boost productivity, Malaysia needed to refocus on quality investment in physical and human capital.

– Relying more on private sector initiative as the primary engine of growth. This involves rolling back the government’s role in some areas, promoting competition and exposing all commercial entities and activities (including GLCs) without exception  to the same rules of the game.

– Making decisions bottom-up rather than top-down. Bottom-up approaches involving decentralized and participative processes that rest on local autonomy and accountability would lead to more accountable and less rent-seeking and crony-driven outcomes

– Redressing unbalanced regional growth. Growth accelerates if economic activity is geographically concentrated rather than spread out. Ripple effects would also come from more effective poverty alleviation and equitable income distribution outcomes and more inclusive and sustainable growth.

– Welcoming foreign talent including from the Malaysian diaspora whilst retaining local talent. As Malaysia improves the pool of talent domestically, foreign skilled labor can fill the gap in the meantime and can generate positive spill-over effects

– Prioritizing the education sector which is a key laggard in the economic transformation of the country. In particular the public higher education sector has not been able to produce the skilled human capital despite being provided with consistently large budget allocations during the past 20 years

– Rightsizing the bloated public sector and rectifying its siloed and ineffective sectors that have impeded investment and productivity

What was unprecedented about the NEM is not only its acknowledgement that falling FDIs and competitiveness, compounded by the brain drain and decline in standards of governance as evidenced by pervasive corruption, rent-seeking and patronage, have put Malaysia behind many of our neighbours in the region. It was also the recognition that the NEP had become a time warp and millstone holding back the development of the country. Hence the need to not simply shift to a higher skilled, more competitive and private sector driven economic ideology but also of the necessity and urgency of deep structural reforms for the country to move out of the middle income trap and reach its true potential.

When drawn up and approved by the Government of Prime Minister Najib Razak, the NEM with its paradigm changing principles and change strategies had the strong support of not only business and professional elites and the country’s movers and shakers but also legislators in Parliament. However it needed to be accompanied by actionable policies and a multi-year commitment to implement them. This has not happened.

Today as the current Parliament sits to deliberate and finetune the 12th Plan package presented, we urge legislators from both sides of the policy divide – and this includes legislators from the period of the adoption of the NEM – not to return to a NEP clone mindset but to use the NEM instead as a reference text to select, support and not marginalize the real game changers that the nation needs or we will risk a further falling back in our economic prosperity and standing among nations.

Conclusion

We believe that the Plan, if implemented as currently presented, is likely to act as a self-inflicted wound that will adversely alter the trajectory for Malaysia’s socio- economic growth and heighten the likelihood of our country becoming further entrapped as a middle-income economy, with a clear risk of going backward in our development and prosperity.

*
Datuk Ramesh Chander
 is a former Chief Statistician of Malaysia and a retired Senior Statistical Adviser at the World Bank in Washington D.C.

*
Dr. Lim Teck Ghee
 is a former senior official with the United Nations and World Bank.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 5 October 2021, 8:50 am and is filed under
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Light at the end of the tunnel of the over-a-year  Covid-19 pandemic getting brighter with 8,075 daily new Covid-19 cases yesterday and  76 (including 15 BID) Covid-19 deaths

(Versi BM)

The light at the end of the tunnel of the over-a-year Covid-19 pandemic is getting brighter with 8,075 daily new Covid-19 cases yesterday with 76 (including 15 Brought-in-Dead) Covid-19 deaths, although Indonesia reduced its daily new Covid-19 cases to double-digit figures yesterday.

We have had the longest Covid-19 wave in the world since the Sabah state general election last September.

When will this Covid-19 wave end and we could go back to the Covid-19 pandemic situation pre-Sabah State general election particularly to the period when Malaysians celebrated the 63rd National Day on August 31, 2020 when we had 14 daily new Covid-19 cases and one Covid-19 deaths with a cumulative total of 9,340 cases and 127 Covid-19 deaths as compared to the present 8,075 daily new Covid-19 cases and 76 daily Covid-19 deaths and cumulative total of 2,285,640 Covid-19 cases and 26,759 Covid-19 deaths!

When will the daily new Covid-19 cases come down to triple-digit numbers as Indonesia achieved yesterday, with 922 new Covid-19 cases when Indonesia reached a daily peak of 56,757 cases on July 15, 2020 – all within 81 days?

Malaysia’s daily peak was 24,599 cases on August 26, before Khairy Jamaluddin was sworn in as the new Health Minister under the Ismail Sabri premiership.

Could we reduce the lesser peak of daily new Covid-19 cases in Malaysia to triple-digit numbers in his first Hundred Days as Health Minister by Dec. 7, 2021?

This will take us back to October/November 2020 when the daily new Covid-19 cases were in triple-digit numbers – and will be a great achievement of the political moratorium signed between Prime Minister Ismail Sabri and the Pakatan Harapan leaders on Sept.13 when they signed a confidence-supply-reform (CSR) memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Sept. 13 for all to focus single-mindedly on turning the tide and winning the war against the Covid-19 pandemic.

I reiterate my proposal that Khairy should convene a national conference on Covid-19 pandemic involving public and private health sectors and health NGOs (Non-Government Organisations) and NGIs (Non-Government Individuals) on how to bring daily new Covid-19 cases down to double-digit numbers and daily Covid-19 deaths to single-digit numbers.

A whole-of-society national conference to bring the daily new Covid-19 cases in Malaysia down to double-digit numbers and the daily Covid-19 deaths to single-digit numbers will be a significant and dramatic development to transform the Covid-19 pandemic into an endemic, and for Malaysians to “live with Covid-19” which I had suggested in July.

Malaysians must do their utmost to ensure that in the first Hundred Days of Khairy Jamaluddin as the new Heath Minister, Malaysia does not reach a cumulative total of 2.5 million Covid-19 cases and 30,000 Covid-19 deaths – which should also be an objective of the national conference on the Covid-19 pandemic.

One point worth noting in tracking Malaysia’s position in the Covid-19 pandemic is that for the first time for quite a while, Malaysia has fallen out of the world’s Top Ten nations in both daily new Covid-19 cases and daily Covid-19 deaths yesterday.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, October 5, 2021)

Sinar cahaya di penghujung terowong kegelapan Covid-19 semakin cerah dengan hanya 8,075 kes dan 76 kematian (termasuklah 15 kematian di bawa ke hospital) semalam, walaupun Indonesia semalam sudah berjaya menurunkan angka kes ke dalam julat dua angka

Sinar cahaya di penghujung terowong kegelapan Covid-19 semakin cerah dengan hanya 8,075 kes dan 76 kematian (termasuklah 15 kematian di bawa ke hospital) semalam, walaupun Indonesia semalam sudah berjaya menurunkan angka kes ke dalam julat dua angka .

Kita berhadapan dengan gelombang penularan terpanjang Covid-19 di dunia sejak daripada Pilihan Raya Negeri Sabah pada bulan September lepas.

Bilakah gelombang Covid-19 ini akan berakhir dan kita dapat kembali semula kepada situasi pandemik seperti sebelum Pilihan Raya Negeri Sabah, terutamanya seperti semasa sambutan Hari Kebangsaan ke-63 di mana kita hanya mencatatkan 14 kes baharu dengan hanya satu kematian akibat Covid-19 dengan sejumlah 9,340 kes terkumpul dan 127 kematian terkumpul. Kini kita mencatatkan 8,075 kes dan 76 kematian baharu dengan 2,285,640 kes terkumpul dan 26,759 kematian terkumpul akibat Covid-19!

Bilakah angka kes baharu ini akan turun ke julat tiga angka seperti yang dicapai Indonesia semalam dengan hanya 922 kes baharu, berbanding dengan kemuncak 56,757 kes pada 15 Julai 2021 — hanya dalam masa 81 hari?

Kemuncak tertinggi kes Covid-19 kita adalah 24,599 kes pada 26 Ogos, sebelum Khairy Jamaluddin mengangkat sumpah sebagai Menteri Kesihatan baharu di bawah pentadbiran Ismail Sabri.

Boleh kemuncak kes harian ini diturunkan ke julat tiga angka dalam seratus hari pertama beliau sebagai Menteri Kesihatan menjelang 7 Disember 2021?

Sekiranya perkara ini berlaku, kita akan kembali ke keadaan Covid-19 seperti mana dalam bulan Oktober/November 2020 di mana kes harian berada dalam julat tiga angka — dan akan menjadi satu pencapaian besar moratorium politik yang dipersetujui di antara Perdana Menteri Ismail Sabri dan pemimpin Pakatan Harapan pada 13 September dengan menandatangani memorandum persefahaman kepercayaan-perbekalan-reformasi (CSR) untuk menumpukan semua usaha kepada mengalahkan wabak Covid-19.

Saya ulangi semula cadangan saya supaya Khairy memanggil persidangan kebangsaan mengenai Covid-19 yang melibatkan pihak dari sektor kesihatan awam dan swasta dan NGO-NGO kesihatan sebagai sebahagian daripada usaha untuk menurunkan angka kes ini ke julat dua angka dan menurunkan angka kematian ke julat satu angka.

Persidangan kebangsaan yang melibatkan keseluruhan masyarakat ini menjadi salah satu perkembangan terbesar untuk mengubah pendekatan kita terhadap wabak Covid-19, daripada satu pandemik kepada suatu penyakit yang bersifat endemik, untuk membolehkan kita semua “hidup bersama Covid-19” seperti yang saya cadangkan Julai lepas.

Rakyat Malaysia juga perlu memastikan yang dalam seratus hari pertama Khairy sebagai Menteri Kesihatan, negara kita tidak mencapai sejumlah 2.5 juta kes terkumpul dan 30,000 kematian terkumpul akibat Covid-19 — perkara ini juga perlu menjadi sasaran persidangan kebangsaan tersebut.

Satu perkara yang penting untuk ditekankan, selepas mengikuti kadar kes dan kematian Covid-19 di Malaysia untuk sekian lamanya, semalam negara kita akhirnya terkeluar daripada kedudukan sepuluh teratas daripada kedua-dua kategori kes harian dan kematian baharu setiap hari.

(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Selasa, 5 Oktober 2021)

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PM Ismail Sabri should reply to the devastating indictment of the 12th Malaysia Plan by Ramesh Chander and Lim Teck Ghee,  two Malaysians who had distinguished themselves in their services with World Bank,  when winding-up the parliamentary debate on the 12th Malaysia Plan on Thursday

(Versi BM)

Two Malaysians, Ramesh Chander and Lim Teck Ghee, who had distinguished themselves in their services with the World Bank, have jointly made a
devastating indictment
 of the 12th Malaysia Plan describing it as “Three Steps Backwards”.

Ramesh was formerly Chief Statistician of Malaysia while Teck Ghee was formerly senior official of the United Nations and the World Bank.

They believed that the 12th Malaysia Plan, if implemented as currently presented, is likely to be a “self-inflicted wound” that will “adversely alter the trajectory of the country’s socio-economic growth and heighten the likelihood of Malaysia becoming further entrapped as a middle income economy, with a clear risk of going backwards in Malaysia’s development and prosperity”.

This will contradict and negative the 12th Malaysia Plan’s claim that its “three themes, four policy enablers and 14 game changers” represent “new and innovative ideas to shift mindsets and fundamentally change the approach to national development”.

Both Ramesh and Teck Ghee called attention to “key longstanding stalled issues that necessitate rethinking and an entirely different set of policy initiatives if the Plan is to meet its goals of a high income country with inclusive and sustainable growth”, namely corporate and bumiputera equity, GLC (government-linked companies) reforms to dismantle rent-seeking, patronage and misuse of public funds to restore them as competitive entities and a revitalisation programme for the private sector, especially the small and medium sized enterprises.

It is clear that Ramesh and Teck Ghee finalized their study of the 12th Malaysia Plan before the release of the so-called Pandora papers.

The revelation in the Pandora papers confirms in part the nature of capital flight and is highly relevant in explaining why Bumiputera ownership of Malaysian corporate equity had stagnated or fallen.

It would indicate that the elites who acquired the reserved shares sell the shares. They then remit the proceeds to foreign destinations. This would imply that the 30 percent target will never ever be achieved. The target is thus of little value. The time has come to have a new measurement based on total assets (foreign and domestic) owned by the different groups.

Another aspect of relevance is that the system in place results in a loss of tax revenue since unremitted earnings are not taxed. This factor justifies a recalibration of the tax system.

For a start a study ought to be launched. A Parliamentary Consultative Committee should be established to study the implications of continuing with such flawed policies with the task to make recommendations to achieve a just and more egalitarian society.

It is pertinent that both Ramesh and Teck Ghee regarded the proposal to require existing non-bumiputera freight forwarders to divest 51 per cent of equity as tantamount to a robbery and classic “UMNO-ism”.

The Prime Minister, Ismail Sabri, should reply to the devasting indictment of the 12th Malaysia Plan by Chander Ramesh and Lim Teck Ghee in his winding up of the 12th Malaysia Plan debate on Thursday.

(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, October 5, 2021)

Perdana Menteri Ismail Sabri perlu memberikan jawapan terhadap dakwaan serius terhadap Rancangan Malaysia ke-12 oleh Ramesh Chander dan Lim Teck Ghee — dua rakyat Malaysia yang pernah berkhidmat dengan Bank Dunia — semasa penggulungan perbahasan RMK-12 pada hari Khamis ini

Dua orang rakyat Malaysia, Ramesh Chander dan Lim Tech Ghee, yang sebelum pernah berkhidmat di Bank Dunia, telah mengeluarkan kenyataan bersama yang membuat dakwaan yang amat serius terhadap Rancangan Malaysia ke-12 (RMK-12), menggambarkan rancangan tersebut sebagai “Tiga Langkah ke Belakang”.

Ramesh sebelum ini berkhidmat sebagai Ketua Pakar Statistik Malaysia, manakala Teck Ghee pula sebelum ini merupakan seorang pegawai kanan di Pertubuhan Bangsa-bangsa Bersatu dan Bank Dunia.

Mereka percaya bahawa RMK-12 ini, sekiranya dilaksanakan dalam bentuk sedia ada, berkemungkinan besar hanya akan menyebabkan kerosakan yang akan mengubah hala tuju pembangunan sosio-ekonomi negara dan meningkatkan kemungkinan Malaysia terus terjerat sebagai sebuah ekonomi berpendapatan sederhana, dengan risiko yang jelas yang Malaysia akan mundur dari segi pembangunan dan kemakmuran.

Perkara ini bertentangan dengan dakwaan RMK-12 yang mengatakan “tiga tema, empat pemangkin dasar, dan 14 pengubah keadaannya” mewakili satu “idea baharu dan inovatif untuk mengubah pemikiran dan mengubah pendekatan terhadap pembangunan negara”.

Kedua-dua Ramesh dan Teck Ghee menarik perhatian terhadap “isu-isu lama yang memerlukan pemikiran baharu dan satu pendekatan dasar yang berbeza sekiranya Rancangan ini hendak mencapai sasaran negara berpendapatan tingginya dengan pertumbuhan yang inklusif dan mampan”, iaitu ekuiti bumiputera dan korporat, isu reformasi syarikat berkaitan kerajaan (GLC) untuk membuang unsur mencari hasil atas angin, budaya perlindungan, dan penyalahgunaan dana awam untuk mengembalikan badan-badan ini sebagai sebuah badan yang berdaya saing, dan juga program menghidupkan semula sektor swasta, terutamanya perusahaan kecil dan sederhana.

Jelas sekali yang Ramesh dan Teck Ghee menyiapkan kajian RMK-12 mereka sebelum pendedahan Kertas-kertas Pandora.

Pendedahan Kertas-kertas Pandora sebahagiannya mengesahkan kelarian modal dari negara dan maklumat-maklumat ini amat relevan dalam menjelaskan mengapa pemilikan Bumiputera dalam ekuiti korporat telah dilihat sebagai tidak berkembang atau telah menguncup.

Perkara ini menunjukkan bahawa golongan elit yang mendapatkan saham rizab ini kemudiannya menjual saham-saham ini. Mereka kemudiannya memindahkan hasil jualan ini ke negara luar. Kita tidak akan dapat capai sasaran 30 peratus pemilikan ekuiti bumiputera sekiranya perkara ini terus berlaku. Maka sasaran ini tidak mempunyai sebarang makna. Masanya telah tiba untuk satu ukuran baharu yang berasaskan jumlah aset (baik asing atau domestik) yang dimiliki oleh kumpulan yang berbeza.

Satu lagi aspek yang relevan adalah sistem sedia ada yang membawa kepada kehilangan hasil cukai kerana pendapatan yang dihantar keluar ini tidak dicukaikan. Faktor ini memerlukan penetapan semula sistem percukaian. Sebagai permulaan, satu kaji selidik perlu dimulakan. Satu Jawatankuasa Perundingan Parlimen perlu ditubuhkan untuk mengkaji kesan meneruskan dasar yang tempang sebegini dengan tugas untuk membuat cadangan untuk mencapai sebuah masyarakat yang lebih adil dan saksama.

Penting untuk kita ingat yang kedua-dua Ramesh dan Teck Ghee melihat cadangan untuk memerlukan syarikat fret bukan milik bumiputera sedia ada untuk menjual 51% pemilikan mereka sebagai satu bentuk rompakan dan budaya UMNO-isme.

Perdana Menteri, Ismail Sabri, perlu memberikan jawapan kepada persoalan-persoalan berat terhadap Rancangan Malaysia ke-12 oleh Ramesh Chander dan Lim Tech Ghee ini dalam penggulungan perbahasan beliau pada hari Khamis yang akan datang.

(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri, Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Selasa, 5 Oktober 2021)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 5 October 2021, 12:09 pm and is filed under
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Ismail Sabri is not taking sufficient seriousness about the high Covid-19 death rate which has to date  killed 138 times more people than during  the May 13 racial riots   of 1969

The Prime Minister Ismail Sabri is not taking sufficient seriousness about the high Covid-19 death rate which has to date killed 138 times more people than during  the May 13 racial riots of 1969.

The National Operations Council (NOC) reported that the 196 people died in the May 13 riots in 1969, comprising  143 Chinese, 25 Malays, 13 Indians  and 15 others.

Since Ismail Sabri became Prime Minister on 20th August 2021, 49.4% of the cumulative total of Covid-19 deaths of  27,113 have occurred, which comes to more than 68 times the total  196 deaths which occurred during the May 13 Incident in 1969.

In answer to a written question by the DAP MP for Bangi, Ong Kian Ming, the Health Ministry said that of the 471 Covid-19 deaths last year,  127 (26.96 percent) deaths last year were Malay, Chinese 56 (11.9 percent); Indians 15 (3.18 percent) while 273 (57.96 percent) were “lain-lain”.

Meanwhile, from Jan 1 to Oct 3 this year, there were 26,212 Covid-19 deaths, out of which 8,886 (33.9 percent) were Malay; Chinese 2,815 (10.73 percent); and Indians 1,746 (6.67 percent) while 12,765  Covid-19 deaths (48.7 percent) of the fatalities were “lain-lain”.

This is an unacceptable answer as there is no differentiation between “lain-lain” who are  are Malaysians but not Malays, Chinese, or Indian from non-Malaysians who are mostly foreign workers.

So far, it is established that among Malaysians, a total of 9,012 Malays, 2,871 Chinese  and 1,761 Indians have died – making a total of 13,644 Covid-19 deaths representing some 70 per cent of the total fatality during the May 13 riots in 1969 – which represents  an exponential increase from the May 13 riot deaths in 1969.

The Health Ministry should issue a clearer answer, making  a distinction between the “Others” who are Malaysians and the “Others” who are not Malaysians – and for foreign workers, giving their respective countries of origin.

The Prime Minister must regard  the rate of Covid-19 deaths in Malaysia as unacceptably high and devise immediate measures to lower the Covid-19 fatality rate.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Friday, 8th October 2021)

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Khairy likely to fail in one of his Hundred Day Tests as Health Minister – keeping the cumulative total of Covid-19 cases below 2.5 million cases

The new Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin, seems likely to fail in one of the his Hundred Day Tests on Dec. 7, 2021, i.e. keeping the cumulative total of Covid-19 cases  below 2.5 million cases.

At the present rate of infection, we are likely to pass the 2.5 million-mark for cumulative total of Covid-19 cases by the end of this month.

The next question will be whether Malaysia can keep  below 3 million total cumulative total of Covid-19 cases by Khairy’s  First Hundred Days as the new Health Minister on Dec. 7, 2021.

When Khairy was sworn in as Heath Minister on August 30, there were a cumulative total of 1,725,357 cases.  Since, then there has been an increase of 698,121 cases,  bringing the cumulative total of Covid-19 cases to 2,323,478 cases.

Will there  be any new policy or approach to win the war against the Covid-19 pandemic?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Saturday, 9th October 2021)

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Call on Ismail Sabri to honour Maria Ressa’s Nobel Peace Prize by pledging that no Malaysian journalist would be harassed, intimidated or penalised for carrying out journalistic duties to safeguard freedom of expression

Congratulations to Maria Ressa for the Nobel Peace Prize, sharing with Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, for their efforts to “safeguard freedom of expression”.

As she said, the Nobel Peace  Prize was for “all journalists around the world” as she vowed to continue her battle for press freedom.

I call on the Prime Minister, Ismail Sabri, to honour an ASEAN journalist  for receiving the Nobel Peace Prize award by pledging that no Malaysian journalist would be harassed, intimidated or penalised for carrying out the  journalistic duties to safeguard freedom of expression in Malaysia, especially as this is one of the fundamental liberties entrenched in the Malaysian Constitution.

Ressa’s Nobel :Peace Prize should not only be an inspiration to all Malaysian journalists in Malaysia to fly high the fundamental liberty of freedom of expression, but to all Malaysians on the importance of human rights to realise the  human aspirations of justice, freedom and equality for all.

(Media Statement (2)  by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Sunday, 10th October 2021)

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Khairy should not miss the opportunity to make a full and frank  Ministerial statement in Parliament on the high Covid-19 death situation  before Dewan Rakyat adjourns

The Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin should not miss the opportunity to make a full and frank Ministerial statement in Parliament  on the high Covid-19 death situation before Dewan Rakyat adjourns  this week until the 2022 Budget meeting at the end of the month.

Although the daily reported Covid-19 death numbers have come down to a quarter  from 295 deaths (including 53 Brought-in-Dead)  on August 30 (the date Khairy took his oath of office as Health Minister) to 74 Covid-19 deaths (including 27 BID), the fatality rate and BID numbers are  still unacceptably high and the Health Minister still owes the people of Malaysia a full and frank statement of the  high Covid-19 death situation, including the clearing of the backlog of Covid-19 deaths.

The current Parliamentary meeting should not end without Khairy making a full and frank Ministerial statement on the fatality rate so far, and what the Health Ministry  is doing to drastically  reduce the fatality rate in keeping with an “all-of-nation” policy and strategy.

As the 14-day incubation period of Covid-19 is well past, and it is now over a month since Khairy became Health Minister, Khairy should also explain in Parliament the expected  trajectory of the Covid-19 pandemic till the end of the year.

Although Malaysia had come down from the daily peak of  24,599 new Covid-19 cases on 26th August, we are encountering difficulties in flattening the Covid-19 curve to  bring the daily new Covid-19 cases  to triple-digit numbers  before lowering it to double-digit numbers.

After one-and-a-half months, Khairy is still struggling with the daily new Covid-19 cases and unable to bring it down to  below 8,000 figures.

Compare this with Indonesia, which reached its daily peak of 56,757 new Covid-19 cases on July 15, but this was brought down to four-figure numbers after 39 days on August 23, when it reported 9,604 new Covid-19 cases, and it has even fallen to three-digit numbers with 922 new Covid-19 cases on Oct.4, 2021.

At the present rate of infection, we are likely to pass the 2.5 million-mark for cumulative total of Covid-19 cases by the end of this month and exceed 3 million cumulative total of Covid-19 cases by Khairy’s first Hundred Days on Dec. 7, 2021.

Khairy should explain how Malaysia can avoid joining 18 other nations with over three million cumulative total of Covid-19 cases on his  First Hundred Days on Dec. 7.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Sunday, 10th October 2021)

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Malaysia has resumed the march to make the light at the  end of the tunnel of  the Covid-19 pandemic  brighter  but it is still a long way to  return to pre-Emergency days before January 11 or to the period when we had double-digit daily cases and single-digit daily deaths

(Versi BM)

Malaysians shared with the Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin the relief and anticipation that the country has resumed the march to make the light at the end of the tunnel of the Covid-19 pandemic brighter but it is still a long way to return to the pre-Emergency days before January 11 or to the period when we had double-digit daily cases and single-digit daily deaths.

When emergency was declared on January 11, 2021 to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, we had 2,232 daily new Covid-19 cases, a cumulative total of 138,224 cases, four daily Covid-19 deaths and a cumulative total of 555 deaths as compared to the present 7,373 daily new cases, cumulative total 2,339,594 cases, daily 64 Covid-19 deaths and cumulative total of 27,329 Covid-19 deaths.

The last time had we had triple-digit daily new Covid-19 cases was Dec. 8, 2020 when we had 851 cases; the last time we had double-digit daily cases was on Sept 30 when we had 89 cases; while the last time we had single-digit Covid-19 daily deaths was in April this year.

With the announcement by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob yesterday that interstate travel will be allowed for those who have been fully vaccinated, the previous Prime Minister’s four-phase National Recovery Plan has been abandoned.

The National Recovery Plan was announced by the then Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, on June 15 to pre-empt the special meeting of the Conference of Rulers the next day.

Although this abandonment is in line with the policy of “Living with Covid” instead of eradicating Covid-19 – which I had advocated as far back as April in contrast to relying on “total lockdowns – we must be nimble and agile to deal with new and quickly-changing circumstances as there are many unknowns in the Covid-19 pandemic.

Khairy should heed the warning of the medical specialist whom I had been in correspondence, viz:

“Be that as it may, Minister is taking a chance as it may all blow up in his face one day later on. Looks like he is banking heavily on vaccines but the vaccine effects seemed highly variable in many nations and Singapore, one of the nations with the highest vaccination rate is suffering badly from a second wave.

“The vaccine induced immunity seemed waning and leaving many unprotected. In Singapore, almost 50% of those in ICU are vaccinated. This must give much concern to the Minister as his strategy can blow up in his face. But come what may, he looks like taking a chance and going for ‘living with the virus’ either in late November or December.”

The immediate question is when Malaysia will see a return to the pre-emergency period when the daily new Covid-19 cases have dropped to 2,232 cases and the daily Covid-19 deaths have dropped to four.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, 11th October 2021)

Sinar harapan kian cerah buat Malaysia untuk keluar daripada pandemik Covid-19, namun perjalanan masih jauh untuk kita kembali ke era sebelum darurat 11 Januari atau era di mana kita merekodkan kes harian dalam julat dua angka dan kes kematian harian satu angka

Rakyat Malaysia berkongsi rasa lega dan penuh pengharapan seperti yang dizahirkan Menteri Kesihatan, Khairy Jamaluddin selepas negara dilihat semakin hampir untuk keluar daripada kemelut pandemik Covid-19, namun perjalanan masih jauh untuk kita kembali ke masa sebelum darurat iaitu sebelum 11 Januari atau tempoh di mana kita merekodkan kes harian dua angka dan kes kematian harian satu angka.

Semasa darurat diisytiharkan pada 11 Januari 2021 untuk melawan pandemik Covid-19, kita merekodkan 2,232 kes harian baharu Covid-19, dengan jumlah keseluruhan 138,2254 kes, empat kematian direkodkan pada hari itu dengan 555 kes kematian terkumpul berbanding 7,373 kes harian baharu yang dicatatkan semalan, dengan jumlah keseluruhan sebanyak 2,339,594 kes, angka korban sebanyak 64 orang dengan jumlah keseluruhan kematian sebanyak 27,329.

Kali terakhir kita merekodkan kes jangkitan tiga angka adalah pada 8 Disember 2020, ketika itu kita merekodkan 851 kes baharu; kali terakhir kita merekodkan kes dua angka adalah pada 30 September di mana 89 kes direkodkan; kali terakhir kita merekodkan kes satu angka pula adalah pada April tahun ini.

Susulan pengumuman oleh Perdana Menteri, Ismail Sabri Yaakob semalam bahawa perjalanan rentas negeri dibenarkan kepada individu yang lengkap divaksin, Pelan Pemulihan yang diperkenalkan oleh Perdana Menteri sebelum ini nampaknya telah dihentikan.

Pelan Pemulihan Negara yang diumumkan oleh mantan perdana menteri, Muhyiddin Yassin pada 15 Jun itu dibuat sehari sebelum mesyuarat khas Majlis Raja-raja Melayu.

Meskipun penamatan pelan ini selari dengan dasar “Hidup di samping Covid” dan bukannya membasmi sepenuhnya Covid-19 — suatu dasar yang ditegaskan saya sejak April berbeza dengan pendekatan sepenuhnya terhadap pelaksanaan sekatan penuh (total lockdown) — kita harus tetap berjaga-jaga dalam menangani keadaan yang pantas berubah ini kerana masih banyak belum kita ketahui tentang pandemik Covid-19 ini.

Khairy harus mengambil maklum terhadap amaran yang dikeluarkan oleh pakar perubatan:

“Menteri mengambil risiko yang mungkin memakan diri. Beliau nampaknya bergantung sepenuhnya terhadap vaksin, namun kesan vaksin dilihat berbeza-beza di banyak negara dan Singapura, salah sebuah negara dengan kadar vaksinasi tertinggi terjejas teruk selepas dilanda gelombang kedua Covid.

“Keberkesanan vaksin menurun dan menyebabkan ramai yang terdedah kepada virus. Di Singapura, hampir 50% individu yang dimasukkan ke ICU adalah daripada kalangan mereka yang telah divaksin. Apa pun yang terjadi, beliau nampaknya mengambil risiko dan menerapkan dasar ‘hidup di samping Covid’ sama ada pada lewat November atau Disember.”

Persoalannya, bilakah Malaysia akan kembali ke masa sebelum darurat semasa kes harian baharu Covid-19 di negara ini menurun kepada 2,232 kes dan kes kematian harian akibat wabak itu menurun kepada empat kes.

(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Isnin, 11 Oktober 2021)

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Task force on death of Mohd Adib should also inquire into the deaths of Teoh Beng Hock  and Altantunya Shaariibuu as otherwise the Ismail Sabri government would  be guilty of double-standards

(Versi BM)

The task force to inquire into the death of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim should also inquire into the deaths of Teoh Beng Hock and Altantunya Shaariibuu as otherwise the Ismail Sabri government would be guilty of double-standards.

The next Cabinet meeting should enlarge the terms of reference of the task force into Adib’s death to inquire into Teoh Beng Hock’s death at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission premises in Shah Alam, Selangor in 2009 and Altantuny’s death in 2005.

Just as the Fire and Rescue Department director-general Mohamad Hamdan Wahid said yesterday, there must be a clear message to the public that the safety of civil servants, particularly frontline workers, is the government’s priority and responsibility, there must also be a clear message no government agency or VIP however high his political station, would be allowed to trifle with human life in Malaysia and that Malaysia is deadly serious about the principle of the rule of law.

We must leave no one in doubt that human life is seriously treasured in Malaysia.

(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, 11th October 2021)

Pasukan tindakan siasatan kematian arwah Mohd Adib perlu juga menyiasat kematian Teoh Beng Hock dan Altantuya Shaariibuu, jika tidak, kerajaan Ismail Sabri ini akan dilihat sebagai mengamalkan amalan dwi standard

Pasukan tindakan untuk menyiasat punca kematian Petugas Bomba, Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim perlu juga menyiasat kematian Teoh Beng Hock dan Altantuya Shaariibuu, jika tidak, kerajaan Ismail Sabri ini akan dilihat sebagai mengamalkan amalan dwi standard.

Mesyuarat Kabinet yang akan datang juga perlu meluaskan terma rujukan pasukan tindakan ini untuk menyiasat kematian Teoh Beng Hock di premis Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia, Shah Alam, Selangor pada tahun 2009 dan juga kematian Altantuya pada tahun 2005.

Seperti mana yang dikatakan oleh Ketua Pengarah Jabatan Bomba dan Penyelamat semalam, Mohamad Hamdan Wahid, perlu ada mesej yang jelas kepada orang awam yang keselamatan penjawat awam, terutamanya petugas barisan hadapan, adalah salah satu keutamaan kerajaan dan perlu ada mesej yang jelas juga bahawa tidak ada agensi kerajaan atau mana-mana VIP yang boleh mengecilkan nyawa manusia di Malaysia dan bahawa Malaysia memandang serius perkara berkenaan kedaulatan undang-undang.

Kita tidak boleh biarkan sesiapa pun mempunyai sebarang keraguan mengenai nilai kehidupan manusia di Malaysia.

(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri, Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Isnin, 11 Oktober 2021)

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6,709 Covid-19 cases yesterday fuels relief and anticipation that we can finally get a grip on  the over-a-year long third Covid-19 wave  but it pales into insignificance when Indonesia had  been having triple-digit new Covid-19 cases for the last two days

(Versi BM)

Yesterday’s 6,709 new Covid-19 cases fuels relief and anticipation that we can finally get a grip on the over-a-year long third Covid-19 wave since the Sabah state general election last September.

If we can go below a thousand numeral a day in daily new Covid-19 cases, then we can expect to reach triple-digit numbers by Sunday on 17th October 2021.

This is subject to two caveats: firstly, the daily new Covid-19 cases can drop by a thousand numeral a day, i.e. in five thousand figures today and four thousand figures tomorrow, etc; and secondly, it still pales into insignificance when we consider that Indonesia has been having triple-digit new Covid-19 cases for the last two days, i.e. 895 new daily Covid-19 cases on Sunday and 620 cases yesterday.

What is even more serious, Indonesia is reporting lower daily Covid-19 deaths in the last three days, i.e. 52, 39 and 65 Covid-19 deaths in the last three days in Indonesia as compared to 74, 64 and 92 Covid-19 deaths in Malaysia.

The respective Covid-19 death situation in Indonesia and Malaysia has reinforced my call for a full and frank statement by the Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin, on the high Covid-19 death situation in Malaysia, particularly the high Brought-in-Dead (BID) Covid-19 deaths.

It is long overdue that Khairy should explain the unusual phenomenon of persistently-high “back-log” Covid-19 deaths with the Health Ministry claiming that there is no new daily Covid-19 death but all due to “backlogs” – how this could continue to happen six weeks after Khairy had taken his oath as Health Minister.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, 12th October 2021)

6,709 kes jangkitan Covid-19 yang dicatatkan semalam, memberikan kita harapan bahawa negara semakin pulih selepas teruk dilanda gelombang ketiga wabak itu, namun pencapaian itu tidaklah begitu besar jika dibandingkan dengan Indonesia yang telah mencatatkan kes harian baharu Covid-19 tiga angka sejak dua hari lalu

6,709 kes jangkitan Covid-19 yang dicatatkan semalam, memberikan kita harapan bahawa negara semakin pulih selepas teruk dilanda gelombang ketiga wabak itu sejak pilihan raya negeri Sabah pada September tahun lalu.

Jika jumlah kes baharu Covid-19 mampu diturunkan sebanyak 1,000 berbanding hari sebelumnya, kita bakal mencatatkan kes jangkitan tiga angka menjelang Ahad, 17 Oktober 2021.

Ia bagaimanapun bergantung kepada dua faktor: pertama, jumlah kes harian baharu Covid-19 mampu diturunkan sebanyak 1,000 sehari berbanding hari sebelumnya, contoh: 5,000 kes hari ini dan 4,000 kes esok, dan kedua, ia masih dilihat sebagai sasaran yang rendah jika dibandingkan dengan angka kes jangkitan yang dicatatkan di Indonesia, di mana negara jiran tersebut telah mencatatkan jumlah kes jangkitan harian Covid-19 tiga angka sejak dua hari lalu; 895 kes pada Ahad dan 620 kes semalam.

Malah, Indonesia juga mencatatkan jumlah korban harian akibat Covid-19 yang lebih rendah berbanding negara kita sejak tiga hari lalu, Indonesia mencatatkan 52, 39 dan 65 kematian akibat Covid-19 dalam tempoh tiga hari lalu, berbanding Malaysia yang mencatatkan angka korban sebanyak 74, 64 dan 92 pada hari yang sama.

Perbezaan jumlah korban akibat Covid-19 di Indonesia dan Malaysia telah memaksa saya untuk mendesak agar Menteri Kesihatan, Khairy Jamaluddin mengeluarkan kenyataan bagi menjelaskan situasi angka korban Covid-19 yang begitu tinggi di negara ini, terutama berhubung kematian yang berlaku di luar fasiliti (BID).

Khairy harus segera menjelaskan berkenaan masalah tunggakan (backlog) pengurusan mayat yang begitu tinggi — lebih-lebih lagi selepas Khairy mendakwa kes korban tinggi akibat Covid-19 yang dilaporkan setiap hari tidak semestinya menggambarkan kadar kematian sebenar berikutan catatan backlog atau tertunggak dalam pengumpulan data.

Mengapa Khairy membiarkan masalah ini terus berpanjangan meskipun sudah enam minggu beliau mengangkat sumpah sebagai Menteri Kesihatan?

(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri, Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Selasa, 12 Oktober 2021)

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DAP is first and foremost a party dedicated to national interests and that is why I have proposed a political moratorium thrice in my 57 years of political work

(Versi BM)

DAP is first and foremost a party dedicated to the national interests and that is why I have proposed a political moratorium thrice in my 57 years of political work – in 1969, 1987 and 2021.

The first time was during my first Internal Security Act detention when on 5th August 1969, I wrote a letter from the Muar Detention Centre to the then Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman and conveyed to him my anxieties for the future of Malaysia.

Referring to the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) threat, I said:

“I have no doubt that given the choice, Malaysians of all races want their political, economic, social and cultural grievances and discontents to be resolved peacefully rather than violently.

“In Malaysia, the democratic process represents change by peaceful means while the MCP represents change by violence.

“It will be tragic if a situation should ever arise where the democratic process is discredited, for in such a popular disillusionment with democracy, the MCP will benefit and its popularity and appeal enhanced.”

I stressed:

“This task of racial reconciliation can only succeed if it is a national, all-party, all-races effort. The government alone cannot ensure its success.”

I said that the result of May 10, 1969 General Election was the people’s verdict for democracy, as against the MCP campaign. There was joy and expectancy after the results, not to deprive anyone of his rights but at the new hope to work for a more just, equal and fulfilling society.

I appealed to Tunku at the moment of the nation’s trial to “rise above party politics and think only of the long-term national interests”.

To ensure communal harmony and goodwill, and the development of a Malaysian consciousness and identity, transcending racial ties and affinities, I made three proposals, including the establishment of an all-party, all-races Royal Commission of Inquiry to probe into “the entire gamut of racial problems in Malaysia with the view to seek long-term solutions”.

I ended the letter stressing that I was not writing as a “party politician but as a Malaysian nationalist, who do not want our beloved country slither down the path that Nigeria is now taking.”

The second time was one day before my second Internal Security Act detention and I made the proposal in Parliament during the debate on the 1988 Budget on October 26, 1987 – a day before the Operation Lalang mass arrests were launched.

I proposed a one-year moratorium for all political parties where no racial, language, cultural or religious issues would be created or raised for everyone to concentrate on the national priority of achieving economic recovery and growth.

After a 12-hour panic on Oct. 19, 1987 as a result of the Jalan Chow Kit shooting spree, the then Deputy Home Minister, Datuk Megat Junid Megat Ayob, warned that Malaysia was teetering on the edge of a racial volcano, and that the government should take a deep look as to why a criminal incident could set off a 12-hour Panic in the Federal capital and country that another May 13 riots had started.

I said that unless sanity could prevail and return to the Malaysian body politic and all political leaders and parties stop stocking the racial flames of hatred and ill-will, then the racial volcano will one day explode, turning Malaysia into another Sri Lanka.

I said: “As elected representatives of the people, MPs have a special responsibility to set the example that we can talk to each other about the country’s complex and myriad problems, to achieving a greater degree of mutual understanding if not agreement, respecting each other’s sensitivities, without resorting ti race-baiting or provocations.”

I pledged that DAP will adhere to making Parliament the highest forum where the elected representatives of people from all parties could “sensibly, rationally and coolly, discuss and debate the most burning issues of the day.”

I proposed that all political parties agree to a one-year moratorium, where no racial, language, cultural or religion issues will be created or raised, so that every Malaysian could concentrate on the national priority of achieving economic recovery and growth. The status quo as on January 1, 1987 in all these matters should be maintained.

The third time was during the Covid-19 pandemic when on June 17, 2021, I called for a political moratorium where there is only one national priority – to win the war against the Covid-19 pandemic and to ensure that the Covid-19 fatalities did not exceed 5,000 deaths.

From a country which was doing quite well in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic, Malaysia had suddenly become one of the world’s top worst performing nations in the Covid-19 pandemic.

I called on the country to make a new start in the war against Covid-19 pandemic, which had caused devastating consequences to the life, economy and society of Malaysians, registering a cumulative total of 673,025 Covid-19 cases and 4,142 Covid-19 deaths.

I said:

“Let us put aside our differences, whether political or otherwise, and single-mindedly win the war against the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I therefore propose a one-year political moratorium which can be extended to two years where there is only one national priority – to win the war against the Covid-19 pandemic and to ensure that Covid-19 fatalities do not exceed 5,000 deaths.”

I suggested that the various Parliamentary Select Committees should be able to function effectively.

I said:

“In fact, there should be a reform and new vision of the role that can be played by Parliament and the various parliamentary select committees to win the war against the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Malaysians do not want any constitutional crisis in any form but a single-minded focus by every Malaysian, whether in the Executive or the Legislatures, to win the war against the Covid-19 pandemic – and this must remain the nation’s single-minded focus whether it takes one or two years.

“Let Malaysians show the world that we can win the war against the Covid-19 pandemic and that we have the wartime mentality to unite against a common foe in the Covid-19 pandemic which is killing Malaysians every day and threatening to destroy the very fabric of the Malaysian nation.”

A historic confidence-supply-reform (CSR) memorandum of understanding (MOU) had been signed between the Prime Minister Ismail Sabri and the four Pakatan Harapan leaders on Sept. 13, 2021 to win the war against the Covid-19 pandemic and carry out institutional and parliamentary reforms for economic, social and national recovery.

At the moment of national peril, we must all be prepared to put all political, racial, religious and personal differences aside to ensure that the national interests of all Malaysians prevail, and for this reason, let every Malaysian play their part to make the CSR MOU succeed to surmount the unprecedented challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This is a critical and crucial test for Malaysia and all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or politics, to unite as Malaysians and subordinate their separate interests for the greater national good.

We must recognise that if Malaysia is to survive the challenges of Covid-19 pandemic, all Malaysians must unite as Malaysians and be prepared to put aside their racial, religious, regional and political differences.

For if Malaysia fails, no race, religion, region or political party can benefit from it.

(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, 13th October 2021)

DAP adalah sebuah parti yang mengutamakan kepentingan negara melebihi segalanya dan inilah sebabnya mengapa saya sudah tiga kali mencadangkan pelaksanaan moratorium politik sepanjang 57 tahun karier politik saya

DAP adalah sebuah parti yang mengutamakan kepentingan negara melebihi segalanya dan inilah sebabnya mengapa saya sudah tiga kali sebelum ini mencadangkan pelaksanaan moratorium politik sepanjang karier politik saya — pada tahun 1969, 1987 dan 2021.

Kali pertama saya mengeluarkan cadangan tersebut adalah semasa saya ditahan di bawah Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri pada 5 Ogos 1969. Semasa saya ditahan di Pusat Tahanan Muar, saya menulis sepucuk surat kepada Perdana Menteri, Tunku Abdul Rahman bagi menyatakan kebimbangan saya berhubung masa depan Malaysia.

Menyentuh ancaman Parti Komunis Malaya (PKM), saya berkata:

“Tanpa ragu-ragu, jika diberi pilihan, rakyat Malaysia tanpa mengira kaum mahu menyelesaikan sebarang rungutan dan rasa tidak puas hati yang timbul antara mereka tidak kira hal-hal yang menyentuh soal politik, ekonomi, sosial mahupun budaya secara aman, dan bukannya kekerasan.

“Di Malaysia, sebarang perubahan dilakukan secara aman berlandaskan proses demokrasi, sebaliknya PKM menggunakan kekerasan.

“Amat malang jika timbul situasi di mana proses demokrasi diragui, kerana setiap kekecewaan yang timbul terhadap proses tersebut, akan memberikan kelebihan dan menaikkan populariti serta dakyah yang disebarkan PKM.

Saya tegaskan: “Usaha perdamaian antara semua kaum hanya boleh berjaya jika ia melibatkan usaha daripada seluruh kaum dan parti. Usaha tunggal kerajaan sahaja tidak dapat memastikan kejayaan matlamat tersebut.”

Saya tegaskan bahawa keputusan Pilihan Raya 10 Mei 1969 mencerminkan keyakinan rakyat terhadap demokrasi, sekaligus menunjukkan penolakan mereka terhadap kempen PKM. Ramai yang berasa gembira dan memasang harapan yang tinggi susulan keputusan tersebut, tanpa menyimpan rasa untuk menekan hak sesiapa, sebaliknya memasang impian untuk mewujudkan sebuah masyarakat yang adil, saksama dan saling melengkapi.

Saya memohon kepada Tunku ketika itu, untuk “memikirkan kepentingan negara mengatasi kepentingan parti.”

Bagi memastikan keharmonian terpelihara, dan membentuk kesedaran dan identiti rakyat Malaysia yang merentasi garis kaum dan pertalian, saya mengajukan tiga cadangan, termasuk penubuhan sebuah Suruhanjaya Siasatan Diraja melibatkan semua parti dan semua kaum bagi menyiasat “semua aspek masalah perkauman di Malaysia untuk mencari penyelesaian jangka panjang.”

Saya mengakhiri warkah tersebut dengan menegaskan bahawa saya menulis bukan sebagai “ahli politik mana-mana parti tetapi sebagai seorang nasionalis Malaysia, yang tidak mahu negara tercinta ini mengalami nasib seperti Nigeria.”

Kali kedua adalah sehari sebelum saya ditahan mengikut Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri untuk kali kedua dan saya membangkitkan perkara tersebut di Parlimen semasa perbahasan Belanjawan 1988 pada 26 Oktober 1987 — sehari sebelum penangkapan besar-besaran Operasi Lalang dilancarkan.

Saya mencadangkan moratorium selama satu tahun untuk semua parti politik di mana tiada isu kaum, bahasa, budaya atau agama akan dicipta atau dibangkitkan supaya semua pihak dapat menumpukan perhatian terhadap kepentingan negara dalam mencapai pertumbuhan dan pemulihan ekonomi.

Selepas peristiwa tembakan rambang yang mencetuskan situasi panik selama 12 jam di Jalan Chow Kit, pada 19 Oktober 1987, Datuk Megat Junid Megat Ayob memberi amaran bahawa suhu semangat perkauman di Malaysia semakin membara, dan kerajaan akan menyiasat secara mendalam insiden jenayah yang menyebabkan keadaan panik selama 12 jam di ibu negara dan juga seluruh negara, malah membangkitkan kebimbangan berlakunya satu lagi rusuhan 13 Mei.

Saya berkata, sekiranya pemimpin dan parti politik tidak berhenti mengapi-apikan isu perkauman, pergeseran antara kaum akan tambah memuncak seperti yang berlaku di Sri Lanka.

Saya berkata: “sebagai wakil yang dilantik oleh rakyat, Ahli Parlimen mempunyai tanggungjawab yang besar untuk menunjukkan contoh dan tauladan dalam perbincangan yang menyentuh masalah negara yang begitu kompleks dan luas, semua ini bertujuan untuk mencapai satu persefahaman bersama meskipun tidak mendapat persetujuan, menghormati sensitiviti setiap kaum, tanpa menggunakan provokasi bernada perkauman.”

Saya berjanji bahawa DAP akan menjadikan Parlimen sebagai wadah di mana wakil rakyat dari semua parti politik “berbahas dan berbincang isu-isu semasa dengan menggunakan akal, secara rasional dan secara tenang.”

Kali ketiga adalah semasa negara dilanda pandemik Covid-19. Pada 17 Jun 2021, saya menyeru pelaksanaan moratorium politik di mana kemenangan melawan wabak Covid-19 akan menjadi keutamaan tunggal negara, selain memastikan angka korban Covid-19 tidak melepasi paras 5,000.

Dari sebuah negara yang menunjukkan prestasi yang baik dalam menangani wabak Covid-19, Malaysia secara tiba-tiba menjadi salah sebuah negara yang tercorot dalam menguruskan wabak Covid-19.

Saya menyeru agar negara diberi peluang untuk mengorak permulaan baharu dalam perang melawan wabak Covid-19, yang mana telah menyebabkan kehancuran terhadap kehidupan, ekonomi dan masyarakat di Malaysia, menyebabkan 673,025 kes jangkitan Covid-19 dan 4,142 orang terkorban.

Saya berkata: “Marilah kita mengetepikan perbezaan kita, sama ada dalam hal politik atau lain-lain, dan memberi tumpuan sepenuhnya untuk memenangi peperangan melawan pandemik Covid-19.

“Saya justeru mencadangkan pelaksanaan moratorium politik selama satu atau hingga dua tahun bagi membolehkan negara fokus kepada usaha untuk memenangi peperangan melawan pandemik Covid-19 dan memastikan jumlah kes kematian akibat Covid-19 tidak melebihi paras 5,000 kes.

Saya turut mencadangkan supaya pelbagai Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Parlimen perlu dibenarkan berfungsi dengan berkesan.

“Malah, perlu wujud pembaharuan dan visi baharu berhubung peranan yang boleh dimainkan oleh Parlimen dan Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Parlimen untuk memenangi peperangan melawan wabak Covid-19.

“Rakyat Malaysia tidak ingin melihat krisis perlembagaan berlaku dalam apa jua bentuk, tetapi mahu setiap rakyat Malaysia, termasuk yang berjawatan dalam Eksekutif dan Badan Perundangan untuk tetap fokus dalam mencapai matlamat untuk memenangi peperangan melawan pandemik Covid-19 – dan ini harus menjadi fokus utama negara, tidak kira dalam tempoh setahun atau dua tahun.

“Benarkan semua rakyat Malaysia untuk menunjukkan kepada dunia bahawa kita mampu memenangi peperangan melawan pandemik Covid-19 dan kita mempunyai mentaliti seolah-olah negara sedang beperang serta bersatu menentang musuh bersama yang membunuh rakyat Malaysia setiap hari dan mengancam untuk memusnahkan fabrik sosial masyarakat Malaysia.

Memorandum persefahaman (MOU) dan kepercayaan-perbekalan-reformasi (CSR) yang bersejarah telah dimeterai antara Perdana Menteri Ismail Sabri dan empat pemimpin Pakatan Harapan pada 13 September 2021 dengan tujuan untuk memenangi perang melawan wabak Covid-19 dan melaksanakan reformasi institusi dan Parlimen demi memulihkan negara, ekonomi dan sosial.

Ketika negara dilanda musibah, kita semua harus bersedia untuk mengetepikan semua perbezaan politik, kaum, agama dan peribadi demi memastikan kepentingan negara terpelihara, dan atas sebab ini, rakyat Malaysia harus diberi ruang untuk memainkan peranan mereka dalam menjayakan MOU CSR ini dalam berdepan cabaran wabak Covid-19 yang maha dahsyat dan belum pernah terjadi sebelum ini.

Ini adalah ujian terpenting dan paling getir buat Malaysia dan semua rakyat Malaysia tanpa mengira kaum, agama, wilayah atau politik, untuk bersatu padu sebagai rakyat Malaysia dan mengetepikan kepentingan peribadi demi kepentingan negara.

Kita harus mengakui bahawa jika Malaysia mahu berjaya keluar daripada kemelut wabak ini, semua rakyat Malaysia harus bersatu padu dan bersedia mengetepikan perbezaan kaum, agama, wilayah dan politik.

Kerana jika Malaysia gagal sebagai sebuah negara, tiada satu kaum, agama wilayah mahupun politik akan mendapat manfaat daripadanya.

(Kenyataan Media (2) oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri, Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Rabu, 13 Oktober 2021)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 13 October 2021, 2:03 pm and is filed under
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Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, Science and Innovation should conduct public hearings on the Covid-19 lessons to be learnt in Malaysia

(Versi BM)

The United Kingdom Parliamentary science and technology as well as the health and social care Select Committees have come out with a joint report stating that Britain’s early handling of the coronavirus pandemic was one of the worst public health failures in UK history.

It is time that the Malaysian Parliamentary Select Committees, in particular the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, Science and Innovation should conduct public hearings on the Covid-19 lessons to be learnt in Malaysia, if we are to be prepared for the next pandemic which medical experts have warned could come soon and be deadlier.

Furthermore, why Malaysia became one of the worst-performing nations in the Covid-19 pandemic, even worse than Indonesia, a country more than eight times the population of Malaysia?

This was illustrated again by yesterday’s numbers for daily new Covid-19 cases and daily Covid-19 deaths (Indonesia yesterday had 1,261 new cases and 47 deaths as compared to Malaysia’s 7,276 cases and 103 deaths) and this situation had been going on for more than a week.

On Monday, Parliament approved the increase of the number of members in the parliamentary special select committees from seven to nine members, with five from the government and four from the opposition.

It is time for the 10 parliamentary special select committees to be fully formed in the next twelve days before the Dewan Rakyat is reconvened on Oct. 25 for the 2022 Budget session and for each of the parliamentary special select committee to inquire how the Covid-19 pandemic had impinged and impacted on the area of their jurisdiction.

A check of the United Kingdom House of Commons website shows that apart from the latest report describing the coronavirus pandemic as one of the “worst public health failures” in UK history, the various parliamentary select committees have so far submitted 57 reports related to the Covid-19 pandemic, for instance, the Justice select committee had submitted seven reports on the Covid-19 pandemic, such as its impact on prisons, the legal profession, on court and Tribunal reforms and on the probation service.

The Home Affairs select committee had submitted six reports on the Covid-19 pandemic, including Home Office preparedness with regard to domestic abuse and risks of harm with the home, immigration and visas, institutional accommodation and management of the borders.

The Digital, Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) select committee had submitted three reports on the charity sector and the future of the digital technology; the Education select committee had submitted two reports on the impact of Covid-19 on education and children’s services while the Women and Equalities Select Committee had submitted four reports including on “gendered economic impact” and “treating disabled people unfairly”.

Apart from these close to 60 reports, there are over fifty ongoing inquiries on the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic in the various spheres of life by the various parliamentary select committees in the British Parliament.

Malaysia’s parliamentary special select committees have a lot to catch up to play the important role of check-and-balance to the Executive as intended by the Malaysian Constitution and the historic confidence-supply-reform (CSR) memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri and the Pakatan Harapan leaders on 13th September 2021.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, October 13, 2021)

Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Kesihatan, Sains, dan Inovasi perlu mengadakan sesi pendengaran awam mengenai pengajaran daripada penularan Covid-19 di Malaysia

Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Sains dan Teknologi dan juga Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Kesihatan dan Kebajikan Sosial di Parlimen United Kingdom telah mengeluarkan kenyataan bersama menyatakan yang pengendalian peringkat awal wabak koronavirus di negara tersebut adalah antara salah satu kegagalan kesihatan terbesar dalam sejarah mereka.

Sudah tiba masanya untuk Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas di Malaysia, terutamanya Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Kesihatan, Sains, dan Inovasi untuk mengadakan pendengaran awam mengenai pengajaran yang boleh kita dapati daripada penularan wabak Covid-19 di Malaysia sekiranya kita hendak bersedia untuk apa-apa pandemik yang akan datang yang dijangkakan boleh tiba pada bila-bila masa dan mungkin lebih membawa maut oleh pakar kesihatan.

Tambahan lagi, mengapa Malaysia terus menjadi salah satu negara dengan prestasi terburuk dalam wabak ini, dengan prestasi yang lebih buruk berbanding dengan Indonesia, sebuah negara yang mempunyai lebih daripada lapan kali jumlah penduduk berbanding negara kita?

Perkara ini digambarkan sekali lagi dengan angka kes dan kematian baharu Covid-19 semalam (Indonesia semalam mencatatkan 1,261 kes dan 47 kematian berbanding dengna 7,276 kes dan 103 kematian di Malaysia) dan keadaan ini telah berlanjutan selama lebih daripada seminggu.

Pada hari Isnin, Parlimen meluluskan peningkatan jumlah ahli dalam Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Parlimen daripada tujuh ke sembilan orang, dengan lima orang daripada pihak kerajaan dan empat orang daripada pihak pembangkang.

Sudah tiba masanya untuk semua sepuluh jawatankuasa-jawatankuasa ini dibentuk sepenuhnya dalam 12 hari yang akan datang sebelum Dewan Rakyat bersidang semula pada 25 Oktober untuk persidangan Belanjawan 2022 dan semua jawatankuasa ini perlu menyiasat bagaimana wabak Covid-19 telah memberikan kesan ke bidang mereka.

Jawatankuasa Hal Ehwal Negeri telah membentangkan enam laporan mengenai wabak Covid-19, termasuklah kebersediaan Kementerian Dalam Negeri untuk berhadapan dengan kes penderaan rumah tangga dan risiko ancaman dalam negeri, imigresen dan visa, institusi penempatan, dan pengurusan sempadan.

Jawatankuasa PIlihan Khas Digital, Budaya, Media, dan Sukan (DCMS) telah membentangkan tiga laporan mengenai sektor amal dan masa hadapan teknologi digital; Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Pendidikan membentangkan dua laporan mengenai impak Covid-19 terhadap pendidikan dan perkhidmatan untuk kanak-kanak, manakala Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Hal Ehwal Wanita dan Kesaksamaan membentangkan empat laporan termasuklah mengenai “impak ekonomi berjantina” dan “layanan tidak adil terhadap golongan kurang upaya”.

Selain daripada hampir 60 laporan yang telah dibentangkan ini, terdapat lima puluh lagi siasatan dan pendengaran mengenai impak wabak Covid-19 dalam pelbagai bidang kehidupan sedang dijalankan oleh Jawatankuasa-jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Parlimen British.

Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas di Parlimen Malaysia mempunyai banyak tugas yang menanti mereka untuk memainkan peranan semak imbang terhadap pihak eksekutif seperti yang diniatkan dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan memorandum persefahaman kepercayaan-perbekalan-reformasi (CSR) yang bersejarah yang ditandatangani di antara Perdana Menteri Ismail Sabri dan pemimpin Pakatan Harapan pada 13 September 2021.

(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri, Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Rabu, 13 Oktober 2021)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 13 October 2021, 7:01 am and is filed under
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