Two Islamic State (IS) shocks for Malaysia in 24 hours

Malaysia suffered two Islamic State (IS) or ISIS “shocks” in  24 hours.

The first shock was when the Prime Minister said  on his FaceBook yesterday that he is “shocked and appalled to hear that two Malaysians were reported to have been involved in suicide bombings by the Islamic State (Isis) militant group in Iraq and Syria, resulting in the loss of more than 30 innocent lives”.

Najib added: “Their actions and ideology have no place in Malaysia or Islam, and the Government is absolutely committed to fighting terrorism in all its forms and guises, both at home and overseas.

“We will spare no effort to find out how and why these young men were able to commit these atrocious acts, and will take all measures necessary to prevent others from doing so in the future.”

New Straits times (NST), in an “exclusive” report yesterday entitled
“Malaysian suicide bombers kill 33”
 and sub-titled
“’Martyred’: One blew himself up on Dec. 29, and the other on Jan 3
” also revealed that a brother of one of the two suicide bombers died in a suicide mission on Sept. 18 last year in Bayji, in northern Iraq, during a skirmish with Iraq forces.

NST reported that  the latest two suicide bombers brings  the total number of Malaysians with IS (Islamic State) links killed to 17 – six who had served as suicide bombers while the rest died during battles.

What is shocking is that the Prime Minister seemed to be informed of these two suicide bombings by Malaysians for the first time from the NST report, although they occurred respectively on Dec. 29 and Jan. 3 – from one to two  weeks ago.

Najib has said that Malaysia stands firmly together with the international community against the terror organisation  ISIS as it does not do justice to Islam, but it does not appear that Najib had taken the  ISIS problem seriously enough as to ensure that he is constantly updated so that he is briefed about the  two latest cases of  Malaysian suicide bombings by his own  security officials.

But the second IS shock came within 24 hours this morning, when the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said that the police are still waiting for official confirmation that the two suicide bombers who killed 30 people in separate attacks in Iraq and Syria were really Malaysian citizens.

The Prime Minister has expressed his shock about the death of the  two suicide bombs from Malaysia in the past fortnight, but the Inspector-General of Police said that the police are still not sure whether they are Malaysians or were foreigners using Malaysian identities.

What really is going on? Such contradictions cannot give the Malaysian government a good image as to its efficiency, competence  and

professionalism.

Are the Prime Minister and the government serious about the ISIS threat and challenge, especially with the latest revelation from the Bukit Aman Special Branch director Mohamad Fuzi Harun that Malaysian children are being groomed as IS fighters, with initial probe that eight children are being trained at ISIS camps and Iraq.

A Minister recently said that police intelligence estimates that ISIS  has some 50,000 supporters in Malaysia.

To date, some 200 Malaysians are believed to have joined ISIS in Syria and Iraq, and more than 120 individuals have been arrested either trying to join ISIS or returning from fighting with them.

Is the government  on top of the ISIS problem? How could  two ISIS “shocks” happen within 24 hours, with the Prime Minister expressing shock over the two  Malaysian suicide bombers in the past fortnight which is contradicted by the Inspector-General of Police who said that these were unconfirmed and unverified reports?

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 12 January 2016, 5:41 pm and is filed under
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Don’t have to invent the wheel, just have the political will to do what is right and just to implement the Cabinet decision of April 22, 2009 or resign as Ministers

All eyes are on the Cabinet meeting today – will the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his 36 Ministers in the jumbo Cabinet end one of the greatest injustices of the seven-year Najib premiership – the Indira Gandhi injustice where a mother had been forcibly separated from her 11-month old baby daughter not for one or two years but for seven long years!

For seven long years, the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, Parliament and the Judiciary have all  failed Indira Gandhi and her daughter, and the Constitution, the laws,  the courts and the system of governance have been manipulated to deny Indira and her daughter their fundamental rights as a mother and a child to be to see,  hold and touch each other!

There is no need for the Cabinet today to invent the wheel. Just have the political will to do what is right and just to implement the Cabinet decision of April 22, 2009 that there should be no unilateral conversion of children and that the children of parents where one parent chooses to convert to Islam must continue to be raised in the common religion at the time of the marriage. Or resign as Ministers!

Furthermore, the Minister should demonstrate that it is not only a  Cabinet of compassion and humanity, but of justice and competence by directing the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and all relevant agencies to ensure that within 48 hours, Indira Gandhi should be able to re-unite with her daughter whom she had not seen for seven long years.

I said yesterday that our forefathers would have been utterly shocked at such injustices suffered by Indira Gandhi for seven years could happen in our country.

Nobody would believe if he or she were told when Malaya achieved independence in 1957 or Malaysia was formed  in 1963 that under the nation’s Constitution, laws and system, a mother could be forcibly separated from her child for seven long years as not able to see, hold or touch her,   and that the Prime Minister, Cabinet, Parliament, Judiciary, the Constitution and the laws could conspire whether wittingly or unwittingly  to deny a mother her basic maternal rights.

The first three Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein, would be horrified that such an injustice could be perpetrated in Malaysia under our Constitution, laws and system of governance, and I have no doubt that as Prime Minister they would have acted to ensure that injustice would be ended immediately and  not  marred Malaysia and our system of governance.

I fully endorse the statement by the Society for the Promotion of Human Rights (Proham) released by Ivy Josiah, Datuk Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari and Datuk A Vaithilingam yesterday on the Indira Gandhi issue, which should be tabled in today’s Cabinet meeting for reference and guidance of the Ministers.

Proham fully supports every individual’s absolute right to profess the religion of their choice and  the law must both offer redress to the non-converting spouse whose rights are taken away by the converting spouse as well as uphold the rights of affected family members.

The recent court ruling meant that Indira’s rights as a wife and mother under civil law came to nothing, while the rights of her children have also been overlooked, if not ignored.

While child’s best interest should be the central consideration in decisions involving their welfare, the authorities should not ignore Malaysia’s signing of two international conventions – UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) – relating to women and children and which impose an obligation to governments to ensure each parent has equal rights and responsibilities to raise their children.

Proham also cited the Guardianship of Infants Act 1961’s Section 5 where each parent is conferred equal guardianship rights over their children and Section 11 where the courts consider both parents’ wishes where applicable.

Proham said: “A mother’s equal right to guardianship, to make decisions relating to long term and at times irreversible issues such as religion, welfare and education and must be fully upheld and protected, one parent’s consent cannot suffice.

“Another important consideration is that rights conferred to a woman under civil law in her legal position as a wife and mother cannot be erased and retreated in favour of another interest, non-retrogression is an essential principle in constitutional law.”

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 13 January 2016, 6:28 am and is filed under
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Isu perkauman – cabaran Pakatan Harapan

A Shukur Harun

The Malaysian Insider

12 January 2016

Perjanjian Pakatan Harapan (PH) yang dimeterai pimpinan PKR, DAP dan Amanah Sabtu lalu mempunyai makna yang sangat besar dalam usaha gabungan baru pembangkang menghadapi PRU akan datang.

Perjanjian 7 perkara ini nampaknya memperkukuh dan benar-benar mengikat ketiga-tiga parti dalam Pakatan baru itu kepada suatu etika yang wajib dipatuhi untuk kelangsungan hayat gabungan pembangkang yang baru itu.

Meneliti 7 perkara yang termaktub dalam perjanjian tersebut, terserlah kesungguhan 3 parti itu untuk tidak lagi mengulangi kesilapan dan kelemahan Pakatan Rakyat (PR) diakhir hayatnya, walaupun mencapai kejayaaan gemilang dalam 2 PRU yang lalu.

Kelemahan Pakatan Rakyat dulu itu kerana ada parti gabungan yang bertindak sendiri menjelang PRU, dengan melanggar keputusan yang sudah dipersetujui di kalangan parti dalam PRU itu dan pelbagai krisis lagi. Semua ini sudah diketahui umum.

Jadi, pelbagai pihak berharap dengan termeterai perjanjian Pakatan Harapan ini, maka segala kelemahan dan kesilapan pembangkang dulu itu tidak akan berulang lagi.

Tujuh perkara asas perjanjian itu ialah:

• Membabitkan hala tuju pakatan baharu itu termasuk proses dalam membuat keputusan membabitkan gabungan itu, termasuk calon pilihan raya dan kesetiaan terhadap kerjasama itu.

• Ia meletakkan prinsip dalam membuat keputusan bersama sebagai asas pertama perjanjian itu. Melaluinya, Pakatan Harapan meletakkan Majlis Presiden sebagai badan pembuat keputusan tertinggi gabungan itu dengan segala keputusan bersama adalah berasaskan kepada prinsip konsensus.

Perjanjian lain ialah:

·       Sebarang perbezaan pendapat, percanggahan, ketidakpuasan hati atau bantahan dari 1 parti terhadap parti sekutu perlu disuarakan mengikut saluran dalaman untuk diselesaikan             secara bersama.

·       Tatacara bagi penyelesaian pertikaian antara parti dalam gabungan berkenaan ialah dengan penubuhan Badan Perantara yang menangani sebarang aduan dibawa parti.

·       Kerangka dasar akan dilaksanakan oleh pentadbiran gabungan berkenaan di semua peringkat.

·       Dalam pilihan raya Pakatan Harapan hanya meletakkan 1 calon bagi setiap kerusi, selain jawatankuasa pilihan raya bertanggungjawab menentukan agihan kerusi untuk ketiga-tiga           parti.

·       Ketiga-tiga parti bersetuju jika ia menjadi kerajaan di peringkat negeri mahupun Persekutuan, ia adalah tertakluk kepada dasar bersama Pakatan Harapan.

Perjanjian itu juga menekankan keabsahan Pakatan iaitu kedudukan sah sesuatu parti dalam Pakatan Harapan ditentukan parti sekutu dalam menangani isu pelanggaran asas perjanjian dipersetujui termasuk tindakan menggugurkan keanggotaannya.

Sementara itu, Presiden PKR, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail dalam ucapannya berkata, Pakatan Harapan akan mula membentangkan program politik, ekonomi dan sosialnya bermula Mac 2016 secara berperingkat.

Kemuncaknya ialah  pelancaran Dasar Bersama Pakatan Harapan semasa Konvensyen Pakatan Harapan dijangkakan dalam Jun 2016.

Kepada saya, cabaran utama Pakatan Harapan ialah menentang fahaman perkauman. Maknanya, ketiga-tiga parti – PKR, DAP dan Amanah mesti berusaha bersama menentang gejala ini.

Adalah silap perhitungan politik jika hanya Amanah dan DAP yang ditugaskan untuk menentang perkauman ini, sementara PKR hanya menjadi penghubung dan jambatan kelompok pimpinan dan masyarakat yang berbeza pandangan.

Di sinilah saya kira, kita wajar membaca kembali analisis politik perkauman seperti yang ditulis Pengarang Analisis dan Rencana, Malaysian Insider, saudara Zulkifli Sulong Ahad lalu mengenai “Sentimen anti DAP Umno-PAS kekalkan kuasa Najib, tapi membahayakan Malaysia”

Menurut tulisannya itu, yang memetik pandangan penganalisis,

kerjasama antara Umno dan PAS dalam mengambil pendekatan politik perkauman dan agama menyerang DAP akan membolehkan Datuk Seri Najib Razak kekal sebagai perdana menteri sekurang-kurangnya 1 penggal lagi, tetapi mempertaruhkan kestabilan Malaysia.

Zulkifli  menyebut lagi, di mana keadaan ini sebenarnya mempertaruhkan nasib Malaysia, kerana kerjasama Umno-PAS walaupun akan membentuk kerajaan Melayu yang kuat, pada masa sama menyebabkan pembangkang dikuasai Cina.

Saya petik sebahagian tulisan beliau itu:

“Bayangkan Malaysia yang mempunyai pelbagai kaum tetapi pemerintahnya terdiri daripada Melayu, manakala pembangkang pula kaum lain iaitu Cina dan India, kata Naib Canselor Universiti Industri Selangor (Unisel) Profesor Datuk Dr Mohammad Redzuan Othman.”

“Orang Melayu akan menguasai kerajaan, manakala orang Cina yang menguasai ekonomi menjadi pembangkang yang kuat.

“Hasilnya, nasib negara berbilang kaum seperti Malaysia tidak akan stabil dan menyukarkan pembentukan negara bangsa yang kuat,” kata Dr Redzuan lagi.

Menurutnya, melalui pendekatan ini, pilihan raya terdekat atau jangka pendeknya, Umno dan PAS boleh menang.

“Namun dari segi jangka panjangnya tidak menguntungkan negara,” katanya.

Pandangan Ridzuan disokong seorang lagi pemimpin firma kajian bebas, Ilham Centre Hisomudin Bakar yang berpendapat pendekatan perkauman PAS dan Umno ini akan mengekalkan Najib untuk 1 penggal lagi.

Terbukti selepas datang isu kerjasama, PAS yang menjadi musuh utama Umno selama ini tidak lagi menyerang Umno, khasnya Najib.

Kesimpulannya, seperti yang saya katakan, cabaran besar Pakatan Harapan ialah menghadapi gejala perkauman di mana semua parti dalam gabungan baru pembangkang itu mesti bersepadu menentangnya, bukan diserahkan kepada 1atau 2 parti komponen saja.

Rakyat pelbagai kaum mahu melihat ketiga-tiga parti dalam Pakatan Harapan bergerak serentak menentang perkauman dan menegakkan keadilan serta menentang segala kemungkaran.

Inilah ujian getir kepada gabungan baru pembangkang ini. – 12 Januari, 2016.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 13 January 2016, 6:59 am and is filed under
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Why Ibrahim Ali did not find me objectionable as anti-Malay and anti-Islam when he sought my help in the seventies to escape detention under ISA as a student leader?

It is amusing and comical that Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali claims that he suffered sleepless nights after the DAP declared that it is not anti-Malay or anti-Islam.

He claimed to be shocked by the statement and said he could not sleep for 50 hours.

Clearly, Ibrahim Ali was still talking when sleep-walking.

Can Ibrahim explain why he did not find me objectionable as being allegedly anti-Malay and anti-Islam when he frantically sought my help as Parliamentary Opposition Leader when he was trying to escape detention under the Internal Security Act for his activities as a student leader in the seventies?

I had raised this issue once publicly some five years ago, and Ibrahim Ali did not dare to challenge the veracity of my statement.

This show the quality of leadership of the Perkasa chief.

I thank  Parti Amanah Negara Perak Vice Chairman, Sdr. Mohd Zainuddin Mohd Yusof, former Perak State Exco member and former Perak State Assemblyman for Lubok Merbau, who was Malacca Road Transport Department director in the eighties and nineties, for relating what happened in Malacca some three decades ago.

He rightly pointed out that there has not been another case of a political leader who was prepared to pay the supreme sacrifice of losing his Parliamentary position, going to jail and be disenfranchised for five years, not able to stand for elective office or even to cast his vote for five years after his prison release, like the DAP Secretary-General and Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, who was jailed in Kajang Prison in 1998 in defending the honour and dignity of an underaged Malay girl.

I have been in politics for 50 years, but suddenly, I and other DAP leaders have been demonised as anti-Malay and anti-Islam.

Why were such lies and falsehoods not used in such massive scale against me in my 50 years of politics, until very lately – particularly after the 13th General Election in 2015.

The answer is very obvious.

The sudden escalation of the campaign of lies, fear and hatred to demonise DAP leaders as anti-Malay and anti-Islam stem from the fear of the  the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and UMNO propagandists that Najib and UMNO can be defeated in the next general elections.

The escalation of the demonisation campaign against the DAP stems from  the UMNO leadership’s fear of weakness and insecurity and not sense of strength and righteousness.

The 14GE is not a battle between the Malays and Chinese for political power as  the Malays will never  lose political power whether Najib and UMNO are defeated in the 14th General Election.

In fact, if Malaysia had a democratic system of “one-man, one vote, one value” and not one of the most undemocratic and gerrymandered systems in the world – where UMNO/BN could win 47% of the popular vote but win 60% of the parliamentary seats, allowing Najib to continue as the first minority Prime Minister in the country – the Prime Minister after May 5, 2013 general election would have been Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and not Najib Razak.

I have challenged Najib and the UMNO propagandists to explain how the Malays could lose political power in Malaysia or  how the DAP  could capture political power in Putrajaya, but there have only been thunderous silence from them.

A Pakatan Harapan Federal Government that is formed in Putrajaya after the 14GE  if we succeed in defeating the UMNO/Barisan Nasional coalition can never be a Chinese government. It will also not be a Malay government to serve only the interests of the Malays, but a Malay-dominant Malaysian Government to serve the interests of all Malaysians.

A Pakatan Harapan Federal Government will be fully conscious that it will have to  compete with UMNO and Barisan Nasional to have a better record in upholding the fundamental features of the Malaysian Constitution and look after the rights and interests of all Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans, Kadazans, Orang Asli and the question of Malays or any community losing political rights, or Malays and Islam under threat, will not arise.

This is because a Pakatan Harapan Federal government does not want to be a one-term government but be able to continue to get the mandate of the electorate in subsequent general elections to govern Malaysia  – fully conscious that  we have  to prove that we are  better in looking after the rights and interests of all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region.

(Speech at the Pakatan Harapan “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” ceramah in Kamunting, Perak on Wednesday, 13th January 2016 at 9 am)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 13 January 2016, 6:15 pm and is filed under
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If the MACC investigation papers propose the prosecution of the Prime Minister on corruption charges or other offences under the law, will AG Apandi have the gumption and guts to approve such prosecutions?

The speech by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak at the monthly assembly of the Prime Minister’s Department on Monday is probably the best proof that the country has a Prime Minister who is living in a world of his own make-belief, completely divorced from reality.

Otherwise, how could Najib repeat what he said in his 2016 New Year Message that his RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM55 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals are no more issues in the country as they had been fully resolved, as he had promised in June last year?

The first ten days of the year should prove to Najib that he could not be more wrong when he said in his 2016 New Year message on 31st December 2015 that his twin mega scandals are no more issues in the new year, as they are  still very much “alive and kicking”, not only catapulting Malaysia to the third placing among the world’s “worst corruption scandals in 2015”, but continue to haunt and hound Malaysians in the public domain every day with new angles, developments, perspectives and revelations.

Lenggong is the 62nd parliamentary constituency I am visiting after my six-month suspension from Parliament on Oct. 22 for basically demanding an answer from the Prime Minister to the question “Mana RM2.6 billion?”

Wherever I went in these 62 parliamentary constituencies, whether the MP is from UMNO/Barisan Nasional or the Opposition, the people regardless of race and religion are totally dissatisfied with Najib’s failure to come clean on his twin mega scandals.

What unites Malaysians regardless of race, religion or even politics in all these 62 parliamentary constituencies is the demand that Najib should stop prevaricating and procrastinating but to come clean on the twin mega scandals, which Ministers had promised to do on Dec. 3, the last day of the 25-day parliamentary budget meeting last year, but which Najib and the Cabinet backed off and reneged in the last-minute.

Without any shadow of doubt, Najib’s twin mega scandals continue to dominate as  the top scandals  in the country, whether discussed by Malaysians and visitors  openly or in private discussions.

I have no doubt, for instance, that the  top issues  of interest  and discussion among  the Commonwealth Speakers who attended the recent 23rd Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC 2016) in Kota Kinabalu  were not parliamentary reforms but Najib’s twin mega scandals, although they are not on the agenda of any public meetings.

I propose to visit over 150 parliamentary constituenciues before I return to Parliament at the end of my six-month suspension, and I have no doubt that there would be  a national consensus among Malaysians in all the 150 Parliamentary constituencies to demand that Najib should give full and satisfactory accouning for his twin mega scandals.

Almost every day, the twin mega scandals are in the news.

The latest is the call by the  former Attorney-General, Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman on the new Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali to treat with urgency the investigation papers on SRC International and the RM2.6 billion deposited into Najib’s personal banking accounts which the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had submitted to the Attorney-General at the end of last year, as they touched on the integrity of the Prime Minister.

Saying that “the world is watching Malaysia”, Abu Talib  said Apandi must realise that these cases were of public importance, especially as it also involved a prime minister currently in office.

Abu Talib said Apandi  should give priority to these cases and go through the investigation papers expeditiously because the integrity of a sitting prime minister and his government is at stake.

The former Attorney-General even suggested:

“If need be, he (Apandi) must work beyond office hours to go through the voluminous documents because it is his duty to make a decision as soon as possible.”

Let me qualify what Abu Talib said. It is not just “the world is watching Malaysia”, but Malaysians even in the most remote villages and parts of Malaysia are watching Najib, as he seemed to have modified and betrayed  his ealier slogan of “People First. Performance Now.” to “Najib First. Performance Now.”

Following the advice of former Attorney General  Abu Talib that “top priority” should be given to MACC investigation papers on SRC and RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal , Apandi should declare when he is going to decide on these issues or whether he is going to take months and  even years before any decision.

If the MACC investigation papers propose the prosecution of the Prime Minister on corruption charges or other offences under the law, will Apandi have the gumption and guts to approve such prosecutions?

(Speech at the DAP “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” kopitiam ceramah in Lenggong on Wednesday, January 13, 2016 at 12 noon)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 14 January 2016, 7:05 am and is filed under
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No Ten Commandments; Just One Commandment

By Koon Yew Yin

Recent scandals have shown to Malaysians that there are no ten commandments for those holding authority and manning government and officialdom in the country. No five or three commandments either. Only one commandment and that commandment is “Cash is King”

Unfortunately when that commandment is given first priority and prominence to guide the behavior and actions of our politicians and the civil servants, what we have as the outcome is massive corruption – big, medium and small.

We all know of the big ones such as the 1MDB case. There is also the personal donation of RM2.6 billion to Prime Minister Najib Razak which is potentially the mother of all corruption cases and which I cannot comment too much about as it may involve me in a potential court case.

Now we are starting to see the ripple or copy cat effect that big scandals which involve the most prominent leaders and government ministries and state companies have on the rest of society.

The most recent scandals to hit the news may involve peanuts and small ikan bilis compared with the scandals associated with the millions and billions of ringgit and big sharks found during Dr. Mahathir’s time and stretching all the way to today.

But they deserve special mention because they show the extent to which the cancer of corruption has seeped deeply into the body of Malaysia.

The first case appeared following public complaints about pollution from uncontrolled bauxite mining in Pahang. As a result of the waters off Kuantan turning red last week due to spillage of the ore used in making aluminium, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was compelled to investigate. Not surprisingly it found at least three potential areas of corrupt activity in this newly established mining activity.

One of these two areas relates to discrepancies in the receipt of royalties amounting to RM47million last year which, according to some sources, should have been five times higher or over RM200 million. The second involves bribes of RM100,000 from an unlicensed bauxite miner to four officials from the Pahang Land and Mines Department. According to MACC investigations director Datuk Azam Bak, “The cash bribe was paid for the purpose of protecting the miner’s illegal activities from any enforcement action” . “Up to RM100,000 in cash was alleged to be found in a washing machine in the home of one of the four officers charged. Finally, the the MACC also discovered the illegal selling of a Form 13D used for mineral transfers, which it said was being sold for up to RM200 despite costing just RM1.

Now that the illegal mining and uncontrolled pollution is out in the open we find the MACC beating its chest and claiming that “we view this seriously and will not hesitate to take action against those involved in corruption and abusing their powers under the MACC Act 2009,” the commission said in a follow up statement.

Come on, MACC, the public knows what the agency is capable of. Action against the ikan bilis only. And if there had been no tell tale pollution stain and public outcry in Kuantan, we can bet that the MACC will be fast asleep.

The second case involves allegations of corruption against Islamic College. Baitulmal Professional Institute (IPB) made by the former CEO Dr Syed Omar Syed Aqil, who claimed he was suspended for whistleblowing.

This college is 70% owned by the Federal Territories Islamic Council (MAIWP). I am not sure of the extent of public money involved in the funding of MAIWP. But even if the Malaysian tax payer is not paying to support the existence and operations of MAIWP, I agree with PKR secretary general who said that “there is an urgent need for the government to review the standards of governance in these institutions.”

In fact, there is a need to put all government institutions, especially the Islamic agencies and bodies, under the microscope. Don’t forget that there is still an unresolved controversy surrounding Islamic charity Yayasan Pembangunan Ekonomi Islam Malaysia (Yapeim) and questions of how the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) uses its funds to hold talk shows in Paris. This scrutiny is necessary as hundreds of millions if not billions of ringgit of tax payers money is going into Islamic bodies.

What is more unacceptable is that Federal Territories (FT) Islamic authorities have warned Muslims that Islam was being maligned in the country, with its religious institutions allegedly targeted by traitorous Muslims. Without naming the so-called “turncoats,” the sermon warned that if the situation continues unabated, a “cancer” will develop and invite divine wrath, with the community’s unity inevitably being broken.

According to media reports, the FT Islamic Affairs Department said in its recent sermon that “Even more saddening is when we discover that those who belittle are not the non-Muslims, but are actually those who profess to be Muslims, akin to turncoats or enemy collaborators. “This is indeed shocking and is a great blow to all Muslims.”

Come on FT Islamic Affairs Department. What is shocking and a great blow is the position of silence it has been taking on what is happening in misgovernance of Islamic institutions.

As stated by Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) vice chairman Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa, an institution being Islamic does not make them “invulnerable to scrutiny”. Further he has pointed out that “it is worse for such organisations that have Islamic labels engaging in corruption as it would tarnish Islam’s image.”

Actually what is being tarnished if such acts are condoned is not only Islam’s image but the whole country’s – Islamic, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Animist and other faiths!

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 14 January 2016, 9:52 am and is filed under
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Pakatan Harapan must immediately plan to win back the Perak State Government and to ensure that the people of Perak are not denied a third time to have a government of the choice of the majority of voters

The people of Perak have been denied twice to have a state government of the choice of the majority of voters – the first time in February 2009, when under the conspiracy of the then Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the then Pakatan Rakyat Perak  state government of Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin was toppled by illegal, undemocratic and unconstitutional means for enable UMNO/Barisan Nasional to recapture the Perak State Govenrment.

The second time was in the 2013 General Election, when Pakatan Rakyat won 55% of the electoral vote in Perak but was denied return to the Perak State Government because of an unfair and undemocratic electoral system, which allowed the Perak UMNO/BN to continue as a minority with 45% of the popular vote, but winning 31 of the state assembly seats as compared to 28 seats for Pakatan Rakyat.

UMNO/BN candidates won four seats with less than 500-vote majority, namely Lubok Mebau (53 votes), Manjoi (132), Manong (231) and Pasir Panjang (304) and another four seats with less than 1,000-vote majority.

Pakatan Harapan must immediately plan to win back the Perak State Government and to ensure that the people of Perak are not denied a third time to have a government of the choice of the majority of voters.

The 14th General Election which is likely to be held in two-and-a-half years in 2018 will be a watershed in Malaysian electoral history, determining whether Pakatan Harapan can recapture the Perak State Government and even go one step further, to win the Federal Government in Putrajaya.

Malaysians who had rooted for political change in the 13GE went into the deepest and darkest despair at the demise of Pakatan Rakyat, for they see the hopes of political change being destroyed completely, at a time when the UMNO/BN government has proved to be such a national liability and disaster.

The formation of Parti Amanah Negara and establishment of Pakatan Harapan comprising DAP, PKR and AMANAH have however saved the political situation, filling the political vacuum and void caused by despair and seeming hopelessness for political change, with the country inundated by so many political, economic, good governance and nation-building scandals under the Najib premiership.

However, the battle for political change in 2018 GE will not be easy or smooth one, as the Najib strategists are doing their utmost to present the 14th General Election as a battle for the survival of Malays and Islam, equating the survival of Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Prime Minister with the survival of the Malays and Islam in Malaysia.

The challenge of Pakatan Harapan in Perak and in Malaysia is how to debunk these lies and falsehoods, and the politics of fear and hatred, of Najib and his political propagandists.

(Speech at the DAP “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” kopitiam ceramah in Kg Baru Liman Kati on Wednesday, January 13, 2016 at 2 pm)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 14 January 2016, 11:51 am and is filed under
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Ibrahim Ali must wrestle with his conscience, when he finds it, whether he had frantically phoned me in the seventies seeking my help when he was afraid of being detained under ISA

After the launching of Perkasa in March 2010, where Ibrahim Ali made his usual inflammatory speech, the press contacted me for my reactions and this was my response im  my media statement dated 27th March 2010:

“As the press have contacted me for my reactions to the Perkasa launch and its inflammatory speeches, this is my preliminary response until I have full access to the speeches concerned.

“From the incendiary speech of the Perkasa President, Datuk Ibrahim Ali, it is clear that Perkasa is built on stilts of lies.

“It is a lie that DAP and the Malaysian Malaysia slogan were among the main factors that caused the May 13 riots.

“Has Ibrahim Ali taken 41 years after the 1969 tragedy to make this ‘discovery’.

“If DAP and Malaysian Malaysia were the causes of May 13 in 1969, DAP would have been banned long ago and DAP leaders would have languished in jail and unable to participate in Malaysian electoral politics in the past nine general elections.

“Or is Ibrahim suggesting that the Special Branch and the past five Prime Ministers had been remiss in their national duties in failing to take action against DAP, which he alleged as a threat to national security and perpetrator of May 13 riots?

“It is a lie that the DAP is against the Malays, Islam and wants to do away with the Malay Rulers.

“In the seventies, Ibrahim frantically sought my help as Parliamentary Opposition Leader when he was trying to escape detention under the Internal Security Act for his activities as a student leader.

“Why sought my help if DAP leaders were so anti-national and disloyal as he now wants to depict?”

I mentioned my statement of March 27, 2010, to illustrate that I have not suddenly  invented the story of Ibrahim Ali “frantically” seeking my help in the 1970s to escape detention under the ISA.

Ibrahim has denied seeking help from me in the 1970s in order to evade arrest under the ISA, even calling me a “big liar”.

He said he never met me as Parliamentary Opposition Leader when he was a student activist.

I confirm that we never met in the seventies when I was Parliamentary Opposition Leader and he was a student leader.

He contacted me by phone one day when he frantically sought my help because  the Special Branch were after him  and he feared to be detained under the ISA.

Five years ago, Ibrahim did not deny or challenge the veracity of my statement that he had frantically sought my help as Parliamentary Opposition Leader  in the seventies when he was trying to escape detention under the ISA  for his activities as a student leader.

I leave it to Ibrahim to wrestle with his conscience, when he rediscovers it, as  to  whether to  admit that he had frantically sought my help in the seventies when faced with ISA arrest.

I only advise Ibrahim to be ever humble, honest, truthful and to stop living on a world built on  “stilts of lies” if he wants his words to be respected,  his deeds to be admired and be regarded as an honourable man.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 15 January 2016, 2:34 pm and is filed under
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Idris Jusoh should stop being elitist, patronising or even “Marie Antoinettish”,  as he should stop arguing whether there are hungry university students but  get down to resolve the problem of students cutting down on  meals because of economic exigencies

The Higher Education Minister, Datuk Idris Jusoh should stop being elitist, patronizing or even “Marie Antoinettish”, as he stop arguing over whether there are hungry university students but get down to resolve the problem of students cutting down on meals because of economic exigencies.

His statement  two days ago that he went hungry too when he was a student, but lack of money was not always the issue, was not on the level of  the infamous Marie Antoinette statement of “Let them eat cake!” when the French queen learned that the peasants had no bread, but was sufficiently unsympathetic to the students’ problems as to approximate Marie Antoinette in callousness and indifference to social  sufferings among the people.

Instead of spearheading a campaign to end such a serious problem, Idris could only think of browbeating the media by ordering them not to highlight such issues; while one Minister after another had followed Idris to express skepticism about the existence of  the problem of hungry University students.

This is most shocking for the problem of students cutting down on meals or even going hungry because of the economic strains on the students and their families, is not synthetic problem but a very real issue, as I had met university students in such straits in the past few weeks.

For this reason the initiative of a group of NGOs to help feed less fortunate university students who are in need of food assistance, under the name of Gabungan Kami Sayang Mahasiswa (Kasih), is most timely and welcome.

It is in such areas that the Higher Education Minister should devote energies and times, instead of orchestrating declarations by university deputy vice chancellors that their students are not “starving”!

By continuing to deny the existence of the problem although more and more students  have to  cut down on  meals or  subsist only on instant noodles or go hungry, Idris is not providing leadership or doing any service to  university students or higher education in Malaysia.

Idris  should take heed of  the call by student leaders and student organisations urging  administrators of public universities not to make their own assumptions on the “hungry students” controversy from the comfort of their air-conditioned offices.

Public university administrators should cut down on bureaucracy and help the students so that they do not have to turn to soup kitchens for food.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 15 January 2016, 5:42 pm and is filed under
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Malaysia is seriously sick and the only way for the country to be healthy, vibrant and vigorous again and stop being the “Sick Man of ASEAN”  is the cure of a change of government in the 14GE

The first fortnight of the new year, 2016, provided fodder for  the prophets of doom and gloom for Malaysia, as Malaysia is very sick, afflicted with a multitude of political, economic, good governance and nation-building ailments.

One indication of the seriousness of the Malaysian malady is my six-month suspension from Parliament, not because I had committed any heinous crime or guilty of grave misdemeanour causing Malaysia to be placed in the third ranking of world’s “worst corruption scandals in 2015”, but because of my persistence in the pursuit of the question to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak: “Mana RM2.6 billion?”

This is further proof that those who want answers to the “Mana RM2.6 billion?” are punished while those responsible for these scandals continue to enjoy immunity and impunity under our system of democratic governance!

It is sad is that Parliament has again  proven its utter irrelevance and impotence when the Najib government could blatantly break its promise to “answer all” about Najib’s twin mega scandals – the RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM55 billion 1MDB – on the last day of the 25-day Dewan Rakyat budget meeting on Dec. 3 and there was nothing anyone could do to demand full and satisfactory accountability from Najib and the Ministers for the twin mega scandals.

This is why I am using my six-month suspension from Parliament to tour the country – I have so far visited 66 of the 222 parliamentary constituencies – to feel the pulse of the people about Najib’s twin mega scandals.

What I had found and learnt is that Najib cannot be more wrong when he claimed that his twin mega scandals are “dead and buried” and no more burning issues of the country, for all over the country, in every nook and corner, Malaysians regardless of race, religion, region or even politics, age or gender,  are demanding answers to the teeming questions about Najib’s twin mega scandals.

The UMNO and Barisan Nasional Ministers, MPs and leaders – and even the top PAS leadership – may not want to pursue accountability for these scandals, but the people and ordinary members of the various political parties, whether in government or in opposition, including the three million UMNO members and one million PAS members, want answers from Najib about the twin mega scandals.

On the 58th Year of the nation’s Merdeka in 1957 and 52nd Year of the formation of Malaysia in 1963, Malaysia is very frail and seriously sick.

Signs of the advanced frailty and sickness of Malaysia are many and serious, viz:

Economic decline
– Malaysia was the second most developed country after Japan in Asia some five decades ago, ahead of Taiwan and South Korea which were poor nations compared to Malaysia. Today, Taiwan and South Korea have surged ahead to become richer, more advanced and developed nations while Malaysia has been left far behind struggling to get out of the rut of middle income countries and at risk of being overtaken by other countries. The value of the Malaysian ringgit is one eloquent indicator of our plight,  losing 25% of its value in 12 months as to hit RM4.4 to the US dollar. Fifty years ago, the Malaysian ringgit was equivalent one-to-one to the Singapore dollar but today it is in the pathetic position of  over RM3 to one Singapore dollar. The situation has got so bad that the Malaysian ringgit is not accepted in Hat Yai in neighbouring Thailand.

Educational decline
 – Half a century ago, Malaysia educational institutions at all levels of study are among the best in the world, with University of Malaya recognised as among the world’s  top universities.  Today, Malaysia’s public educational system has become a joke, to the extent that Malacca could be “moved” to the East Coast in a school history text book, and Malaysia’s universities have long  dropped out of the world’s ranking of top universities.

Sports decline
 – Even in sports, the nation’s decline is prevalent. Half a century ago, Malaysia was a top football nation in Asia but today we are ranked No. 171 in the FIFA rankings – 38 places away from the rock bottom in the Fifa rankings of 208 members. The same sorry tale apply to other sporting events for Malaysia.

Nation-building decline
 – the outrageous injustice of Indira Gandi from Ipoh who had been forcibly separated from her daughter for seven long years since when she was only 11 months old baby highlights the gross decline in human rights and dignity in our country in the past six decades.  The constitution, the laws and government of Malaysia, as well as the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, Parliament, Judiciary and whole system of governance, have failed Indira that she could be denied the basic human right and dignity of being with her own daughter, just to  touch and hold her. This is a  a manifest injustice for which the Prime Minister, all Ministers, all legislators, judges and civil servants should feel greatly ashamed at their failure to uphold the most fundamental and elementary of human rights and dignity in Malaysia – where  the country cannot uphold the right of a mother to see, touch and hold her daughter for seven long years.

Corruption
 – rife and rampant. But not everything had suffered a decline in the past six decades. Corruption is rife and rampant until the nation suffered the international shame of being placed third for the world’s “worst corruption scandals in 2015”,  the Prime Minister himself  being investigated by the US Federal Bureau of Investigations whether he is involved in corruption in the RM2.6 billion and 1MDB twin mega scandals and Malaysia the subject of investigations by at least seven foreign countries.

Malaysia has become the Sick Man of ASEAN. The only way for the country to be healthy, vibrant and vigorous again is the cure of a change of government in the 14th general election.

(Speech at the Ipoh Old Town “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” kopitiam ceramah on Thursday, January 14, 2016 at 1 pm)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 15 January 2016, 8:51 am and is filed under
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DAP at 50: Where do we go from here?

Where do we go from here? This is one the most intense debates we have had, and it is important because I think the DAP is at the crossroads after 50 years. As Dr Abdul Aziz Bari mentioned, we don’t have to believe everything that we hear about from pollsters but we will take it seriously.

In this case, our coalition Parti Amanah Negara is three months old. We have heard about the polling position of PKR, DAP and Amanah. The position of the poll reminded us the position of the DAP during in our early months (of 1966). What would be the poll of our standing among the Chinese, Malays and Indians in the early months of the DAP?

Amanah is three months old, similar to that three months of the DAP when it was formed, what would be the poll tells us? How many percent among the votes of the Malays, how many percent of the votes among the Indians, how many percent we got among the Chinese, and others? It was very hard.

We must give serious attention to polling results. But we must not be a slave to polling results. And if the polling results are adverse, it should be an encouragement for us to prove the polling results wrong. And I think that is why we must be serious about these results.

Change our modus operandi

I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding of the motion for the debate, i.e. “DAP needs to change drastically to be a more inclusive party so that the opposition can win Putrajaya”. I was not involved in the drafting of this motion. But I think I can suggest an amendment to the motion so that there will be less misunderstanding. I think the motion is something about the need to change drastically, to be a more inclusive party so that the opposition can win Putrajaya or something like that. Maybe what we can amend it so that the DAP should change drastically in our modus operandi.

I don’t think anybody ever assert that we should sacrifice our principles for justice for democracy, for social democracy, correct? Change modus operandi, so that we can move on, and to become a more inclusive party in Malaysia, especially in Sabah and Sarawak, for all the Malays, all the Ibans and all the Kadazans so that the DAP can become a party for all Malaysians by all Malaysians.

So let’s examine where we are today. When we were formed 50 years ago, and I think I’m the only one in this hall that can talk about the DAP 50 years ago, where none of us ever thought about becoming a member of parliament or assemblyman or even forming a government. We believed in the ideals of social democracy, for justice, freedom, for good governance, and for all races to come together, and of course the process we fought in elections and we reached today 50 years at this stage. Quo vadis? Where do we go from here?

We started as the party for all Malaysians. We never thought that we are a party for Chinese only, or Indians only. At the time of course we were focused on Peninsular Malaysia but we are Malaysians and later we became the first Pan-Malaysian party operating in Sabah and in Sarawak. I think it was why, in four by-elections that we contested before the 1969 General Elections, we went into UMNO strongholds. If we were a Chinese party, we would never contested these by-elections.

The first by-election that we contested was Kampung Baru. Imagine Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur, we contested in that seat. And the UMNO candidate, Ahmad Razali who later became the Menteri Besar of Selangor in 1982, who was the brother-in-law of Dr Mahathir Mohamad. The second by-election we contested was Tampoi, Johor where Daeng Ibrahim was our candidate. And the third by-election was Segamat Utara, also in Johor, the UMNO candidate was Musa Hitam who went on to become the Deputy Prime Minister. So we were not afraid to contest in UMNO seats because we believe in fighting and winning the hearts and minds of all Malaysians regardless of race.

And that was the beginning of the 1969 General Elections that we contested, and we had Malay candidates in Parliamentary and State Assembly seats, and we won one in Perak by Ibrahim Singgeh and another one in Negeri Sembilan in Si Rusa seat. And that has always been our creed, our belief and our mission that we are a party for all Malaysians.

But it was not easy because we had difficulties, we were demonised, we were attacked but these were the problems that we faced. In Malaysia the dominance is in the politics of race, question of politicisation of racial lines, second is the politics of religion, and the politics of class was a poor third, and that was why Parti Rakyat Malaysia have not been able to make a serious impact, despite the fact that it was led primarily by Malay intellectuals but yet to make an impact within the last 50 years.

That was in the early 1960s and that’s why I started off by saying that if there had been a poll in the 60s, what would be the results? Let’s say among the Chinese voters, I don’t think it could be very high. Would it? Today it’s 89 percent (of Chinese support for the DAP) but I think in 1960s it would probably be around 20 percent or even 15 percent. But we believed in our mission, we soldiered on, we struggle on and we spread our message because we believe we want to be a party for and by all Malaysians.

Are we satisfied with what we are today?

Today we are at a very critical juncture. Where do we go from here? Are we satisfied with what we are today? Undoubtedly in some areas, we are an established party because we are the country’s second largest party in terms of the number of seats. We are the party of choice in the urban area, whether in Peninsular, in Sabah and Sarawak. But is that all that we want? Are we content with that? Is that our main mission? Is that what the DAP for?

We are for Malaysia, for all Malaysians. That’s why we must be able to reach out, to reel in the support of not only from the Chinese and the Indians but also the Malays, Ibans and Kadazans; that is our responsibility, that is our job. Otherwise what are we in DAP for? To be champions of the Chinese only? Or Indians? No! We believe that this is a Malaysian country, we want a better Malaysia and we have our responsibility to do so for all Malaysians.

And how do we move on to the next step? I agree with some of the speakers who felt that we shouldn’t go on to soldier alone. We must face reality. Like it or not, we have our own limitations on how we function, not in terms of our ideology and our belief. Our belief is for all Malaysians. But in terms of practicality we are limited in the urban areas, mostly to non-Malays. We have to reach out to the Malays, to the Kadazans, to the Dayaks, to the Orang Asli. And it’s not something that we are doing right now.

The primary reason why I move to Gelang Patah (to contest in the GE13) from Ipoh Timur was because of that need. We have to move out and reach out to all Malaysians. It was a risk. I didn’t know whether I was going to win. A lot of people thought it was a foolish mistake. But I think that’s why we are in the DAP and Malaysian politics. Luckily I went through and I survived. But that was not the end of that journey. That was only the beginning of a second journey of a Malaysian Dream that was where it was born: Impian Malaysia, Impian Sabah, Impian Sarawak, Impian Kelantan, Impian Kedah, Impian Perak and Impian Johor. That is our second stage.

This Impian process is a post-2013 effort. Of course there were the highest hopes of people to see a change. It failed to materialise in the 2013 general elections because of the election process was not just and fair. Prime Minister Najib Razak despite having only 47% of the votes, got 60% of the parliamentary seats and he became the leader as a minority Prime Minister.

Then Pakatan Rakyat was dissolved, and here we are today. In the last picture Amanah was born, and Pakatan Harapan was born. We are able to register new hope. That is as far as the larger Pakatan Harapan is concerned. But what about DAP? Considering that our mission has always been a party for all Malaysians, we want to be a party that all Malaysians regardless of race, religion and region can look forward to. That continues to be our dream and our objective.

But the reality at present, at least for the foreseeable future, shows that the DAP will not be able on its own to form the Federal Government, not even a state government. It will have to be a coalition of the present opposition versus the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional coalition.

It’s not “Malays versus Chinese”

In a way that may be pertinent, because I think it is very important what researcher Dr Wong Chin Huat has mentioned, we should not fall into a position or trap to allow UMNO propagandists to present the battle as “UMNO versus DAP” because it is so easy for them to say therefore it is a battle between the Malays and the Chinese. It is not a battle between the Malays and the Chinese despite all the talk about it if UMNO loses the next election, Najib loses his position, then the Malays will lose political power. Therefore the DAP and the Chinese will grab political power. This is of course untrue, baseless but it is a powerful political propaganda. We must somehow be able to debunk and break these lies and falsehoods. How do you do it?

How do we prevent Najib from deflecting all these attacks on him for corruption and abuse of power, nation building policy failings by turning the whole issue into a communal and religious warfare between the Muslims versus the non-Muslims, the Malays versus the Chinese? And this is why it’s important that the DAP must continue our mission to transform ourselves into a Malaysian party accepted by all racial groups in the country. The question of compromising or selling out our beliefs and ideals doesn’t arise at all. But I think we must change our modus operandi.

We have tried our Impian projects but that is not good enough. We must double up, we must intensify, we must do more that what we have done, and we must change drastically our modus operandi.

We tend to fall into the trap of those who want to pigeonhole us into this communal slots. I want to be frank and quite critical. We fell into this trap in Perak. For two general elections we cannot put any Malay candidates because some people said that this would offend our friends that time in PAS. They think that we will try to compete the position for the Menteri Besar post. So we try to accommodate them. But I think that was a mistake.

The need for a coalition

We must cooperate with Amanah, we must cooperate with PKR, we must be a success of Pakatan Harapan in coalition. It’s a political future. It must be by way of a coalition. We must be able to continue our mission we have set out to do, to be a fully Malaysian party.

We must work with the other two political parties in Pakatan Harapan. We will cooperate with PKR, we will cooperate with Amanah, but we also must become a truly Malaysian party. That is important.

Our first test is going to be in Sarawak, the elections in the next two months. Whether we can somehow avoid or somehow keep the promise that we announced to all Malaysians: the Pakatan Harapan declaration that will be a one-on-one contest, it’s not going to be easy, it’s going to be difficult; it is now anyway being handled by Sarawak DAP chief Chong Chieng Jen.

But for a larger picture, we must somehow endeavour to the people of Sarawak, the people of Malaysia, a Pakatan Harapan coalition is here for them. How it’s going to be done, can it be achieved or not, I think we have to try, and wait and see. Because otherwise, it will be a great disappointment to the people of Malaysia and I think after the shocking experience of 2013 where the people were disappointed because of the death of Pakatan Rakyat, I’m not very sure that another shock of this nature the mere end of Pakatan Harapan is going to be good for the country or good for us in particular, in terms of toppling Najib and the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional government.

 I think what’s more important is how do we operate from here. Where do we go from here? How do we change drastically our modus operandi? This is something which I think all of the state leadership must discuss in great details and consider the ways and means in which we have never done before in the next two and a half years.

In a way, my tour of the country as a result of six months suspension on the “Mana RM2.6 billion?” movement, I think can be used as an opportunity to reach out into all the areas we have not reached out as yet. As I said I hope to visit more than 150 parliamentary constituencies out of the 222 parliamentary constituency by the time I return to Parliament sometime in June. And I hope all of you can help, all the states can help in terms of drawing up such programs and to come along, because that would be a useful way to reach out to areas that we have not been able to do so in the past.

Battling lies and dirty propaganda

We must be aware of these attacks that are going to come, we must be very sensitive to attacks alleging that we are a “Chinese party”, that we are an “evangelical party”. There’s this talk about there was a meeting in Penang to formulate an objective of a Christian Malaysia. There are people who put up a picture of the DAP as an evangelical party. There’s a new book “Sang Nila Utama and the Lion of Judah” which is a very serious and wicked attack that there is a conspiracy in the country to evangelize Malaysia, and the DAP is somehow part of it. Lim Guan Eng is mentioned, Hannah Yeoh is also mentioned, Teresa Kok is also mentioned, which is of course untrue. But this is something which can be of a fodder for the UMNO propagandists in order to demonise the DAP, threaten the Malays to picture this as a battle of Malays versus the Chinese and the Muslims versus the evangelical Christians. It is not true but how do we debunk these lies?

I have been a victim of many of these lies in the last 50 years. Starting with May 13 riots where I was accused of being responsible for the May 13 riots, leading the street demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur, making anti-Malay and anti-Islam epithets although I was never even in Kuala Lumpur on that day because I was in Sabah.

Of course after that there were all these allegations, the latest was the Israeli allegation that a RM1.2 billion offer by Israel in return for a naval base in Port Dickson. Why they want a naval base in Port Dickson I also cannot understand. But such lies and falsehoods are very, very powerful. How do we debunk it? How do we break it?

There’s a new word in the world of politics, ‘disintermediation’, the dumping of the middleman. At the age of internet, the dumping of the middleman, in commerce, industry, but also in politics. Who are these middlemen? They include the party, political parties, the press, pollsters, and we reach directly to the people. Because we don’t want to depend on the media, we don’t want to depend on opinion polls, that is why we have to reach out to the 3 million UMNO members.

Reaching out is no easy task but must be done

You must try to reach out the 1 million PAS members. How do you do that? Because I believe the 3 million UMNO members don’t support what Najib is trying to do with regards to the twin mega scandals, RM2.6 billion and the 1MDB scandal. I don’t believe the 1 million PAS members support their leader Hadi Awang in this so-called teaming up with Najib on the grounds of using Malay unity and Muslim unity in order to justify corruption and abuses of power. So how do we bring this process of disintermediation in Malaysia, in the age of internet? So these are the new challenges we have to face, go down to the people in peninsular rural areas to meet the Malay people,  and Iban people, Kadazan people, in Sarawak and Sabah. The question is the details of this modus operandi.

Of course we can say this is all very hard work. We are what we are today, people can accept it, take it or leave it. We believe in a social democratic Malaysia, we believe in justice and democracy; it is very clear our principles have been very well proclaimed. Either the Malays, Iban or Kadazan accept it, take it or leave it. I don’t think so. I don’t think we can take such an attitude because, otherwise we will be running away from our responsibilities.

We must be aware that in our country today, in a plural society there are Chinese who are living completely in the Chinese world. There are Malays who live completely in the Malay world. There are Indians who live completely in an Indian world. The same thing with Kadazans and Ibans. And it is our job to reach them, for them to see a larger Malaysian picture. You must dare to do such a mission.

Assuming there is 80% – 90% Chinese support and have hope in the DAP, it does mean that 80-90% of the Chinese share the Malaysian dream. But it could also mean opportunism in those the Chinese votes. Maybe they have no larger picture of a Malaysian vision. It is our responsibility, as their political leaders, people hope and put trust to lead them from their purely Chinese world to see a Malaysian perspective. That applies to those Indians living in the Indian world, Malays living solely in the Malay world, Kadazans and Ibans. Isn’t it? Are we prepared for such a challenge, to reach out to them?

It’s not easy. It could be difficult, you may even fail. But if we do nothing, are we going to succeed? If we are content with what we are today, are we going to succeed? The rural sectors of the country, in Sabah, in Sarawak, in Peninsular Malaysia, are we going to succeed? Are we going to continue forever and ever to be able to hold the support of urban voters of today? Don’t forget, they support us because they believe we can lead them to a better Malaysia. And we cannot lead them to a better Malaysia unless we are part of a coalition to be able to rule, formulate and implement policies for the whole country.

We will continue to be opposition. There’s no guarantee that in the 15th General Election that we will be able to hold our ground. We may hold our ground in the 14th General Election but not in the 15th General Elections.

So I put to you that we are in need of change, we must dare to reach out, we must dare to transform the DAP not only in terms of vision and ideal but in terms of reality, a party with the support of all Malaysians including Malays, Ibans and Kadazans.

Nobody is suggesting that we betray or compromise or sell out our principles, ideals and objectives. So I think that is important. And if it accepted, then I think with amendments to the resolution that “change drastically” means change the modus operandi n Malaysia especially Sabah and Sarawak.

(Speech by DAP Parliamentary Leader, Lim Kit Siang, at the conclusion of the DAP National Retreat’s party transformational debate at the Dorsett Grand Subang Hotel, Subang Jaya, Selangor on 16 January 2016)

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50 tahun DAP: Ke mana kita selepas ini?

Mahu ke mana kita sekarang? Ini adalah salah satu perbahasan paling sengit pernah saya hadapi, dan sangat penting kerana saya rasa DAP sudah sampai ke satu simpang selepas 50 tahun. Seperti yang disebut Dr Abdul Aziz Bari, kita tidak perlu percaya semua yang kita dengar daripada badan-badan kaji selidik, namun kita perlu ambil serius dapatan itu.

Dalam hal ini, rakan gabungan kita Parti Amanah Negara baru berusia tiga bulan. Kita juga telah mendengar hasil kaji selidik tentang PKR, DAP dan Amanah. Dapatan kaji selidik itu mengingatkan kita tentang kedudukan DAP pada usia-usia awal (tahun 1966). Apa agaknya pandangan orang Cina, Melayu dan India terhadap DAP pada bulan-bulan awal penubuhan parti?

Amanah berusia tiga bulan; kalau DAP pada usia itu ketika awal ia ditubuhkan, apa kata badan kaji selidik tentang kita? Berapa peratus undian Melayu, India, Cina dan lain-lain? Sangat sukar pada waktu itu.

Kita mesti memberi perhatian serius kepada hasil kaji selidik. Namun kita tidak boleh jadi pak turut sahaja dengan hasil dapatan tersebut. Dan jika hasilnya tidak baik, ia seharusnya menjadi pendorong kepada kita untuk membuktikan sebaliknya. Sebab itu saya rasa kita mesti serius tentang dapatan-dapatan ini.

Ubah modus operandi

Saya rasa ada banyak salah faham tentang usul perbahasan ini, iaitu “DAP perlu berubahan secara drastik untuk menjadi parti yang inklusif supaya pembangkang boleh menawan Putrajaya”. Saya tidak terlibat menggubal usul ini. Tetapi saya mungkin boleh mencadangkan pindaan kepada usul ini supaya tiada salah faham. Saya rasa usul ini ialah tentang perlunya perubahan drastik supaya menjadi parti yang lebih inklusif agar pembangkang boleh menang Putrajaya, lebih kurang begitu. Mungkin kita boleh pinda usul ini untuk menyatakan DAP perlu berubah secara drastik dari sudut modus operandi parti.

Saya rasa tidak ada sesiapa pun yang menyuruh kita mengorbankan prinsip perjuangan demi keadilan, demokrasi, dan demokrasi sosial, bukankah begitu? Yang perlu ubah adalah modus operandi, supaya kita boleh bergerak maju dan menjadi parti yang lebih inklusif di Malaysia, terutamanya di Sabah dan Sarawak, untuk orang Melayu, Iban dan Kadazan, supaya DAP boleh menjadi parti untuk semua rakyat Malaysia; dengan hasil usaha rakyat Malaysia juga.

Jadi mari kita memeriksa keadaan ini. Ketika kita ditubuhkan 50 tahun lalu, dan rasanya saya seorang sahaja yang boleh bercakap tentang DAP 50 tahun lalu, ketika tidak ada siapa pun di kalangan kita yang terfikir boleh terpilih menjadi Ahli Parlimen atau Adun, malah untuk berazam membentuk kerajaan. Kita percaya kepada nilai-nilai demokrasi sosial, demi keadilan, kebebasan, tatakelola yang baik, dan supaya semua kaum boleh bersatu padu, dan pastinya proses pilihan raya yang kita tempuhi untuk tiba ke hari ini selama 50 tahun lalu. Quo vadis? Ke mana kita mahu pergi?

Kita bermula sebagai sebuah parti untuk semua rakyat Malaysia. Kita tidak berjuang sebagai parti untuk orang Cina sahaja atau India sahaja. Pada waktu itu tentunya kita memberi tumpuan kepada Semenanjung, tetapi sebagai rakyat Malaysia kita menjadi parti SeMalaysia pertama yang beroperasi di Sabah dan Sarawak. Saya fikir itu sebabnya, dalam empat pilihan raya kecil (PRK) terawal yang kita tandingi sebelum PRU 1969, kita masuk ke kubu-kubu kuat UMNO. Kalau kita parti Cina, tentu kita tidak akan bertanding dalam PRK itu.

PRK pertama yang kita tandingi ialah di Kampung Baru. Bayangkan, Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur (pada masa itu Kuala Lumpur masih dalam negeri Selangor); kita bertanding di situ. Calon UMNO, Ahmad Razali yang kemudian menjadi Menteri Besar Selangor pada 1982, adalah juga ipar kepada Dr Mahathir Mohamad. PRK kedua yang kita tandingi ialah di Tampoi, Johor di mana Daeng Ibrahim menjadi calon DAP. PRK ketiga di Segamat Utara, juga di Johor. Calon UMNO ialah Musa Hitam, yang kemudiannya menjadi Timbalan Perdana Menteri. Jadi kita tidak pernah takut untuk bertanding di kerusi-kerusi UMNO kerana kita kita percaya dengan perjuangan untuk memenangi hati dan minda seluruh rakyat Malaysia tanpa mengira kaum.

Itulah permulaan PRU 1969 yang kita tandingi dengan calon-calon Melayu di kerusi Parlimen dan DUN, dan kita menang satu di Perak oleh Ibrahim Singgeh, dan satu lagi di kerusi Si Rusa, Negeri Sembilan. Itulah pegangan dan kepercayaan kita; bahawa DAP adalah parti untuk seluruh rakyat Malaysia.

Tetapi jalannya sukar dan kita berdepan banyak cabaran, kita dimomok, diserang; namun semua masalah ini telah kita hadapi. Di Malaysia, politik perkauman menguasai kita; selain persoalan berpolitik atas garis perkauman, diikuti politik keagamaan, dan politik kelas mengambil tempat ketiga. Itu sebabnya Parti Rakyat Malaysia gagal membawa sebarang impak serius walaupun ia dipimpin oleh cerdik pandai Melayu, dan dalam tempoh 50 tahun lampau ia masih belum berhasil membawa sebarang kesan.

Itu cerita awal 1960-an, dan itu sebabnya kenapa saya memulakan ucapan tadi dengan menyebut jika waktu 1960-an dahulu sudah ada badan kaji selidik, apakah hasilnya? Contohnya di kalangan pengundi Cina, saya tidak rasa hasilnya tinggi, bukankah begitu? Hari ini sokongan pengundi Cina kepada kita berada pada tahap 89 peratus, tetapi pada tahun 1960-an ia sekitar 20 peratus sahaja, malah mungkin setakat 15 peratus sahaja. Tetapi kita percaya dengan perjuangan dan kita terus berjuang; kita berusaha untuk menyampaikan mesej parti kerana kita percaya bahawa kita mahu menjadi parti untuk seluruh rakyat Malaysia.

Sudah cukup puas hati?

Hari ini kita berada di persimpangan yang amat kritikal. Ke mana kita mahu pergi dari sini? Adakah kita puas hati dengan kedudukan sekarang? Tidak dinafikan, di beberapa tempat kita adalah parti yang dikenali kerana kita dalah parti kedua terbesar dari segi bilangan kerusi. Kita menjadi parti pilihan masyarakat bandar, tidak kira di Semenanjung, Sabah dan Sarawak. Tetapi itu sahajakah yang kita mahu? Adakah kita puas hati? Itu sahajakah tujuan utama kita? Itu sahajakah fungsi DAP?

Kita berjuang untuk Malaysia, untuk semua rakyat Malaysia. Itu sebabnya kita mesti berupaya untuk mencapai lebih jauh, meraih sokongan bukan sahaja daripada orang Cina dan India tetapi juga orang Melayu, Iban dan Kadazan; itu tanggungjawab dan tugas kita. Jika tidak, kenapa kita bersama dengan DAP? Untuk menjadi wira orang Cina? Atau India? Tidak! Kita percaya bahawa ini adalah negara untuk rakyat Malaysia, kita mahu Malaysia yang lebih baik dan kita mempunyai tanggungjawab demi semua rakyat Malaysia.

Jadi bagaimana untuk kita bergerak menuju langkah seterusnya? Saya bersetuju dengan beberapa pembahas yang berpendapat bahawa kita tidak boleh berjuang sendirian. Kita mesti menerima hakikat. Suka atau tidak, kita mempunyai had untuk berfungsi, bukan dari segi ideologi dan kepercayaan. Iktikad kita adalah untuk semua rakyat Malaysia. Tetapi secara praktikal, kita terbatas di kawasan bandar, terutamanya kawasan bukan-Melayu. Kita mesti mendekati orang Melayu, Kadazan, Dayak dan Orang Asli. Ini yang kita tidak laksanakannya sekarang.

Sebab utama saya berpindah ke Parlimen Gelang Patah (untuk bertanding dalam PRU13 pada 2013) dari kerusi Ipoh Timur, adalah kerana keperluan itu. Kita mesti bergerak dan meraih sokongan seluruh rakyat Malaysia. Ia memang satu risiko. Saya pun tidak tahu sama ada saya akan menang. Ramai yang berpendapat ia satu langkah yang dangkal. Tetapi saya berpendapat itulah sebabnya mengapa kita menyertai DAP dan politik Malaysia. Mujurlah saya menang. Tetapi itu bukan penghujungnya. Ia hanyalah permulaan perjalanan seterusnya untuk kelahiran sebuah Impian Malaysia: Impian Sabah, Impian Sarawak, Impian Kelantan, Impian Kedah, Impian Perak dan Impian Johor. Inilah peringkat seterusnya.

Proses Impian ini adalah usaha pasca-2013. Tentunya ia adalah harapan rakyat untuk menyaksikan perubahan. Ia gagal dicapai dalam PRU 2013 kerana proses pilihan raya berlangsung secara tidak adil. Walaupun Najib Razak hanya memperolehi 47% undi, Barisan Nasional berjaya meraih 60% kerusi Parlimen dan menjadi perdana menteri minoriti.

Kemudian Pakatan Rakyat dibubarkan, dan kita berada di sini hari ini. Akhirnya Amanah lahir, dan diikuti Pakatan Harapan. Kita dapat memberi harapan baharu. Tetapi itu cerita Pakatan Harapan secara am.

Bagaimana pula dengan DAP? Memikirkan bahawa misi kita ialah untuk menjadi parti buat semua rakyat Malaysia, kita mahu menjadi parti yang menjadi inspirasi rakyat Malaysia tanpa mengira keturunan, agama dan daerah. Itu akan terus menjadi impian dan matlamat kita sebagai sebuah parti.

Namun realitinya, untuk jangka masa terdekat ini, DAP tidak boleh membentuk Kerajaan Persekutuan secara bersendirian; malah menubuhkan kerajaan negeri sendiri pun tak boleh. Tetapi ia boleh dijayakan dalam sebuah gabungan seperti yang kita ada sekarang ini untuk melawan gabungan BN pimpinan UMNO.

Bukan soal ‘Melayu lawan Cina’

Dari satu sudut, ia mungkin bersangkut-paut kerana saya rasa apa yang disebut oleh Dr Wong Chin Huat adalah sangat penting; kita tidak boleh terjerat dan membiarkan propagandis UMNO membingkai perlawanan ini sebagai ‘UMNO lawan DAP’ kerana adalah mudah untuk mereka mengatakan bahawa ia justeru perlawanan di antara Melayu dan Cina. Ia bukan soal perlawanan di antara Melayu dan Cina walaupun ramai yang bercakap tentang sekiranya UMNO tewas, Najib akan hilang kedudukan, maka Melayu akan kehilangan kuasa politik. Justeru itu mereka kata DAP dan orang Cina akan merampas kuasa politik. Ini tentunya tidak betul, tidak berasas, namun ia merupakan propaganda politik yang hebat. Kita mesti memusnahkan penipuan dan fitnah ini. Soalnya bagaimana?

Bagaimana kita boleh menghalang Najib daripada menepis serangan terhadapnya berkaitan rasuah dan salah guna kuasa, kegagalan dasar dalam membina negara dengan menukar seluruh isu menjadi sebuah pertempuran kaum dan agama di antara orang Islam dan bukan-Islam, Melayu lawan Cina? Inilah juga sebabnya kenapa penting untuk DAP meneruskan misi perubahan menjadi sebuah parti untuk rakyat Malaysia yang diterima kesemua kaum dalam negara ini. Soal kononnya kita kompromi pegangan dan nilai langsung tidak timbul. Tetapi kita perlu mengubah modus operandi parti.

Kita telah mencuba projek-projek Impian tetapi ia belum cukup baik. Kita mesti berusaha dengan lebih kuat, bekerja lebih keras dan mengubah modus operandi parti secara drastik.

Kita cenderung terperangkap dengan mereka yang cuba memperosok kita ke sudut-sudut pinggir. Saya mahu jujur dan mungkin sedikit kritis. Kita terjerat dalam perangkap ini di Perak. Untuk dua PRU lalu, kita terhalang daripada meletakkan calon Melayu kerana ada orang kata ini akan mengguris hati rakan kita ketika itu, PAS. Mereka rasa kita akan merebut jawatan Menteri Besar. Jadi kita berundur untuk memberi ruang kepada mereka. Tetapi saya rasa itu adalah satu kesilapan.

Perlunya membentuk gabungan

Kita mesti bekerjasama dengan Amanah, PKR dan menjadi faktor kejayaan Pakatan Harapan. Inilah masa depan politik Malaysia. Ia harus melalui jalan gabungan. Kita mesti mampu meneruskan misi yang telah kita tetapkan, untuk menjadi parti yang benar-benar untuk seluruh rakyat Malaysia.

Kita mesti bekerjasama dengan dua lagi anggota Pakatan Harapan. Kita bekerjasama dengan PKR dan Amanah, tetapi kita juga mesti menjadi parti untuk rakyat Malaysia. Ini penting.

Cabaran pertama kita adalah dalam pilihan raya negeri di Sarawak dalam tempoh dua bulan lagi. Sama ada kita mampu berpegang kepada janji Pakatan Harapan untuk rakyat Malaysia: supaya hanya ada pertandingan satu lawan satu, ia memang sukar, namun sedang diuruskan oleh Pengerusi DAP Sarawak, Chong Chieng Jen.

Tetapi untuk gambaran yang lebih besar, kita mesti bekerja keras untuk meyakinkan rakyat Sarawak serta rakyat Malaysia bahawa gabungan Pakatan Harapan ada di sini untuk mereka. Bagaimana ia boleh dilakukan, bolehkah ia dicapai; saya rasa kita perlu cuba, kemudian tunggu dan lihat.

Jika tidak, rakyat Malaysia akan kecewa dan saya rasa selepas pengalaman mengejutkan pasca-2013 ketika orang ramai kecewa dengan terkuburnya Pakatan Rakyat, saya rasa rakyat tidak bersedia untuk menerima satu lagi kejutan tentang kemungkinan matinya Pakatan Harapan. Ini adalah kerana Pakatan Harapan diperlukan untuk menewaskan Najib dan kerajaan BN pimpinan UMNO.

Saya rasa apa yang lebih penting sekarang ialah bagaimana kita bekerja dari detik ini. Ke mana kita dari sini? Bagaimana kita mahu mengubah modus operandi secara drastik? Ini adalah sesuatu yang perlu dibincangkan seluruh pimpinan negeri dan pertimbangkan cara-cara yang tidak pernah kita lakukan sebelum ini, untuk dilaksanakan dalam tempoh dua tahun setengah akan datang.

Siri jelajah saya akibat digantung enam bulan dari Parlimen kerana bertanya ‘mana RM2.6 bilion’ boleh digunakan sebagai peluang untuk masuk ke kawasan-kawasan yang belum kita dekati sebelum ini. Apabila saya kembali ke Parlimen pada Jun nanti, saya berharap saya sudah pun menjelajah ke lebih 150 daripada keseluruhan 222 kawasan Parlimen. Dan saya harap anda semua boleh membantu, semua negeri boleh membantu merangka program dan ikut serta, kerana itu adalah cara yang baik untuk masuk ke kawasan-kawasan yang kita belum lawati.

Melawan fitnah dan propaganda keji

Kita mesti awasi dan peka terhadap serangan yang bakal menjelang tiba, kita juga harus waspada terhadap serangan yang menuduh kita sebagai “parti untuk orang Cina sahaja”, dan kononnya kita parti “evangelis Kristian”. Ada cakap-cakap kononnya berlangsung mesyuarat di Pulau Pinang untuk merencana bagaimana menjadikan Malaysia negara Kristian. Ada pihak yang berkongsi grafik DAP sebagai sebuah parti evangelis. Sebuah buku bertajuk ‘Sang Nila Utama and the Lion of Judah’ yang merupakan satu serangan jahat dan serius telah diterbitkan, kononnya ada konspirasi untuk mengkristiankan Malaysia, dan DAP kononnya terlibat. Nama Lim Guan Eng, Hannah Yeoh dan Teresa Kok juga disebut; dan pastinya ini bohong dan palsu belaka.

Tetapi ini adalah peluru buat propagandis UMNO untuk memomokkan DAP, mengancam orang Melayu supaya membayangkan bahawa ini adalah pertembungan di antara Melayu dan Cina, kononnya orang Islam melawan Kristian evangelis. Ini memang fitnah tetapi bagaimana kita patahkan pembohongan ini?

Saya telah menjadi mangsa tipu-daya ini sepanjang 50 tahun lalu. Bermula dengan rusuhan 13 Mei 1969 di mana saya dituduh bertanggungjawab mencetuskan rusuhan itu, kononnya mengetuai demonstrasi jalanan di Kuala Lumpur, membuat kenyataan anti-Melayu dan anti-Islam sedangkan saya tidak berada di Kuala Lumpur pun ketika itu. Kerana saya berada di Sabah pada masa itu.

Selepas itu wujudlah semua tuduhan ini, yang terbaru kononnya pihak Israel telah membuat tawaran bernilai RM1.2 bilion, dengan balasan Israel diberi tapak pangkalan tentera laut di Port Dickson. Apa tujuan Israel mahu pangkalan di Port Dickson pun saya tidak faham. Tetapi pembohongan sedemikian adalah sangat berkesan. Ada orang percaya pembohongan itu. Bagaimana kita boleh patahkannya?

Ada satu istilah baharu dalam politik, ‘disintermediation’; membuang orang tengah. Pada zaman internet ini, membuang orang tengah, dalam urusniaga, industri, malahan dalam politik. Siapakah orang tengah ini? Mereka termasuklah parti politik, pengamal media, badan kaji selidik; dan kita berhubung terus dengan rakyat. Kerana kita tidak mahu bergantung semata-mata kepada media, kaji selidik pendapat, dan kerana itulah kita perlu menjangkau kepada lebih 3 juta ahli UMNO. Kita mahu menyampaikan maklumat yang benar kepada mereka.

Bukan senang tetapi mesti kena buat

Anda mesti mencuba untuk berhubung dengan 1 juta ahli PAS. Kita perlu menyampaikan maklumat sebenar kepada mereka. Bagaimana ini boleh dilakukan? Kerana saya percaya bahawa tidak semua 3 juta ahli UMNO  menyokong apa yang dilakukan oleh Najib dalam skandal berkembar 1MDB dan derma RM2.6 bilion. Saya juga tidak percaya kesemua 1 juta ahli PAS menyokong Hadi Awang dalam kerjasamanya dengan Najib atas alasan perpaduan Melayu dan Islam bagi menjustifikasi rasuah dan salahguna kuasa.

Jadi bagaimana kita membawa proses menolak orang tengah di Malaysia, dalam era internet ini? Inilah cabaran yang mesti kita hadapi, turun ke lapangan dan bertemu orang Melayu di kawasan luar bandar, orang Iban dan Kadazan di pedalaman Sarawak dan Sabah. Soalnya sekarang adalah perincian modus operandi ini.

Memanglah kita boleh kata semua ini adalah kerja yang susah lagi menyusahkan. Ada antara kita mungkin berkata: “Orang ramai boleh menerima atau menolak kita. Kita adalah kita. Kita mahu Malaysia yang sosial demokratik, kita percaya kepada keadilan dan demokrasi, prinsip kita jelas. Melayu, Iban atau Kadazan boleh terima atau boleh tolak.” Tetapi saya tidak fikir begitu. Saya tidak rasa kita boleh bersikap sedemikian kerana ia menunjukkan bahawa kita enggan berhadapan dengan realiti, malah kita dilihat mahu lari daripada tanggungjawab.

Kita harus ingat bahawa dalam negara kita hari ini, dalam sebuah masyarakat majmuk, memang ada orang Cina yang hidup dalam lingkungan Cina sepenuhnya, begitu juga Melayu yang hidup dalam lingkungan Melayu, India sesama India. Sama juga halnya dengan Kadazan dan Iban. Jadi, ia merupakan tugas kita untuk menghulurkan tangan kepada mereka, supaya mereka melihat gambaran Malaysia yang lebih besar. Anda mesti berani untuk melaksanakan misi yang sedemikian.

Katakanlah sokongan Cina sekitar 80-90% dan mereka yakin dengan DAP, ia bermakna 80-90% masyarakat Cina ini berkongsi impian Malaysia. Tetapi pada masa yang sama ia juga mungkin bermakna ada sikap oportunisme di kalangan pengundi Cina. Mungkin mereka tiada gambaran visi Malaysia yang lebih luas. Jadi ia merupakan tanggungjawab kita sebagai pemimpin politik untuk menarik keluar mereka daripada dunia keCinaan yang tebal untuk melihat sudut pandang Malaysia yang lebih luas dan inklusif. Ini juga terpakai ke atas orang India, Melayu, Kadazan dan Iban yang hidup dalam kepompong masing-masing. Bukankah begitu? Adakah kita bersedia untuk cabaran ini, untuk menghulurkan tangan kepada mereka?

Ini tidak mudah. Malah memang sukar, dan anda mungkin gagal. Tapi jika kita tidak buat apa-apa, adakah kita akan berjaya? Jika kita selesa dengan apa yang ada sekarang, adakah kita akan berjaya? Di kawasan pedalaman di Sabah, Sarawak dan Semenanjung, adakah kita akan boleh menang? Adakah kita akan terus menerus dapat mengekalkan sokongan pengundi bandar?

Jangan lupa, mereka menyokong kita kerana mereka percaya kita boleh memimpin mereka ke arah Malaysia yang lebih baik. Dan kita tidak boleh memimpin ke arah Malaysia yang lebih baik kecuali kita menjadi sebahagian daripada gabungan yang boleh mentadbir, merangka dan melaksana polisi untuk seluruh negara.

Kita akan terus menjadi pembangkang. Tidak ada jaminan bahawa pada PRU15 nanti kita dapat mengekalkan tapak sokongan. Mungkin pada PRU14, tetapi tidak pada PRU15.

Jadi saya nyatakan kepada anda bahawa kita perlu berubah, kita perlu menjangkau lebih jauh, kita mesti untuk mengubah DAP bukan sahaja dari segi visi dan nilai tetapi juga realiti, sebagai sebuah parti yang mendapat sokongan semua rakyat Malaysia, termasuk Melayu, Iban dan Kadazan.

Tiada siapa yang mahu kita menggadaikan prinsip, nilai dan matlamat. Semua itu kekal. Dan sekiranya diterima, maka saya fikir usul bahawa ‘perubahan drastik’ sesuai dipinda dalam erti kata perubahan modus operandi, kerana ia penting untuk negara, terutamanya di Sabah dan Sarawak.

(Ucapan oleh Ketua Parlimen DAP, Lim Kit Siang pada penutup debat transformasi Retreat Kebangsaan DAP di Hotel Dorsett Grand Subang, Subang Jaya, Selangor pada 16 Januari 2016)

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Five things Najib must do if he is to uphold Tun Razak’s legacy

At the Special 40th anniversary commemorative seminar on the death of the second Prime Minister, Tun Razak, on Thursday, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak vowed to live up to the legacy of his father.

There are at least five things Najib must do if he is to uphold Tun Razak’s legacy, as there is no doubt that the second Prime Minister would have done completely differently from what the sixth Prime Minister had done  on these issues.

These five things are:

Firstly
, stop prevaricating and procrastinating as he had done for the past six months since the Wall Street Journal expose of the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal banking accounts, and to give a full and satisfactory accounting for his RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM55 billion 1MDB twin mega-scandals at the  Special Parliament on Jan. 26 and 27 convened for  the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).

As Nazir, the younger brother of the Prime Minister,  said at the special commemorative seminar, their father was selfless in his dedication to nation-building and feared the corruption of absolute power, and would be disappointed that our version of parliamentary democracy has evolved into one where power is too concentrated and the system of checks and balances have broken down.

One example is the RM55 billion 1MDB scandal.  It would have horrified Tun Razak that the whole system of checks and balances have become so decrepit that Najib is the only person in the government and the country who knows the ins and outs of the 1MDB scandal in the past seven years – which qualifies as the “most heinous crime without criminals”  – as Najib, as  Prime Minister, must approve all the major transactions, deals and decisions of 1MDB.

Razak’s frugality and integrity are legendary, particularly the “swimming pool” episode, as recounted by Nazir about the failed attempt of the Razak children to ask their father for a swimming pool to be built at Seri Taman, the Prime Minister’s residence, and the “lecture” they received from Razak about the important distinction between public office and private use.

Razak told his children that anything spent on the proposed swimming pool in the Prime Minister’s residence would have to come from public funds, and there was no way he was going to allow the state coffers to be depleted on something as frivolous as a swimming pool.

What would be Razak’s thoughts about Najib’s RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM55 billion 1MDB scandals?

Najib should also end his pretension that his twin mega scandals have been resolved and are no more issues to the people in the new year.

The very fact that the Barisan Nasional director of strategic communications and Housing and Local Government Minister, Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, had to come out with a biased and  misleading statement asking DAP MP Tony Pua and PKR MP Rafizi Ramli to stop their “song and dance show” on the 1MDB issue is in fact a back-handed but open admission that the 1MDB and RM2.6 billion donation twin mega scandals remain very alive in 2016 and have in fact become even bigger and more monstrous not only among Malaysians but also  the world – even ranking Malaysia in the third place as the world’s “worst corruption scandals in 2015”.

Secondly
, convene a round-table conference of political parties, civil society representatives of  NGOs and NGIs, for a national consensus whether the National Security Council (NSC) Bill should be presented to the Yang di Pertuan Agong for Royal Assent in view of widespread opposition and nation-wide reservations about the Bill which, when it becomes law, will usurp the constitutional powers of the Yang di Pertuan Agong, the Cabinet, the Sarawak and State Governments with regard to autonomy guarantees in the 1963 Malaysia Agreement, as well as of the 11 State Governments in Peninsular Malaysia.

Former Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah, said Razak wanted to rule through democracy and not by emergency powers, which was why he returned power to Parliament and decided to do away with Mageran – the National Operations Council.

However, Najib is going against everything that his father stood for as the NSC will in effect vest in the Prime Minister the powers to declare a de facto emergency in zones declared as “security areas” without seeking any emergency proclamation from the Yang di Pertuan Agong.

Earlier this week, senior lawyer Philip Khor told a seminar in Penang that former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir had wanted to pass a similar legislation arrogating to himself the  powers to declare a de facto emergency without an emergency proclamation by the Yang di Pertuan Agong  but the Attorney-General  at the time, Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman, was objective enough to tell Mahathir that it was not constitutional.

Abu Talib told Mahathir that he cannot have such a law without amending the Federal Constitution (Articles 149 and 150), which deal with seeking consent of the Yang di Pertuan Agong to declare emergency.

Thirdly
, restore the importance and centrality of Rukunegara in nation-building policies, as the five principles have been largely forgotten not only by Malaysians but also by the Federal and state governments.

For instance, the principles on the Supremacy of the Constitution and the Rule of Law have never been under greater assault than today.

During Razak’s time, there was  no serious doubt about the independence, impartiality and professionalism of the Judiciary but today under Najib’s premiership, there is very little public confidence in the independence, impartiality and professionalism of the judiciary.

Fourthly
, the flagrant and manifest injustice of  the case of Indira Gandhi,  a mother who had been forcibly separated for seven years from her daughter when she was only 11-month old, unable to know about her condition or whereabouts, let alone touch or hold her.

This case must make all Malaysians ask what is wrong with our Constitution, Laws and Government that Malaysia is capable of such inhumanity and cruelty.

Our inability to uphold and protect the most elementary  of human rights and dignity in the relationship between a mother and her child must be  a source  of shame for every Malaysian!

I am sure Razak would have been horrified at  such injustice and inhumanity and would have long intervened to allow the mother to reunite with her daughter instead of allowing such inhumanity and injustice to drag on for seven long years, and still without any light at the end of the tunnel, as the inhumanity and injustice suffered by Indira is likely to continue for an indefinite period.

Fifthly
, extend the Special Parliament by two days for the presentation of the recalibrated 2016 Budget.

Najib is to present a recalibrated Budget 2016 because of falling crude oil prices and the weakening ringgit on Jan 28, but outside Parliament.

This would have been completely unthinkable to Razak, who would have presented any recalibrated Budget to Parliament.

Najib has convened a two-day Special Parliament to debate and approve the TPPA. This Special Parliament should be extended by another two days for Najib to present the calibrated Budget 2016.

If Najib is not prepared to do the above five things, then all his talk about upholding Razak’s legacy are empty and meaningless.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 16 January 2016, 9:00 am and is filed under
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To fight Isis, US should encourage moderate Islamic agenda in Malaysia, says report

The Malaysian Insider

15 January 2016

The US should encourage Malaysia to pursue a “genuinely” moderate Islamic agenda if it wants to thwart militant group the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis), according to a report titled “Indonesian and Malaysian Support for The Islamic State”.

The report, produced by the United States Agency for International Development, said Malaysia’s counter-terrorism efforts had achieved some success but was curtailed by government support for conservative Islamic interests.

It said Putrajaya’s right-wing bent, borne out of the need to arrest Umno’s declining support, alienated an important Muslim population that could have helped in combating the militants’ influence.

“At the broadest level, the US government should encourage and support genuinely moderate domestic Islamic agendas in both Indonesia and Malaysia,” read the report, published on January 6 and available online.

“In the Malaysian case, the moderate Islamic image it projects internationally is not reflected in domestic policy that is increasingly sectarian and hostile, not only to minority religious rights but also to progressive Muslim views.”

The report said the US State Department’s recent annual report on religious rights in Indonesia and Malaysia recorded declining tolerance in both nations.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak aligned himself with a “conservative, salafi influenced Islam” in Malaysia, despite being admired as an advocate of moderate Islam on the international stage, it said.

The report added that Malaysia’s primary response towards Isis had been to intensify police action, make pre-emptive arrests and strengthen “already draconian laws”.

“Malaysia’s Islamic bureaucracy has not been effective in opposing the Isis message, in particular its doctrine of jihad.

“A recent sermon failed to explain the relationship between jihad as war and other types of jihad, and rejected Isis jihad only because Isis inflicted atrocities on Muslims and non-Muslims without distinction.”

But the report added that the US had limited opportunity to engage with Malaysia on counter-terrorism issues compared with 10 to 15 years ago.

“Malaysia’s Special Branch allows only limited cooperation with foreign agencies and zealously guards its sources of information.”

The report was prepared by associate professor Greg Fealy, from the Department of Political and Social Change at the Australian National University, while Dr John Funston, visiting fellow at the Coral Bell School of Asia-Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University contributed the Malaysia sections.

The authors said their report did not necessarily reflect the views of the US Agency for International Development or the US government. – January 15, 2016.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 16 January 2016, 12:18 am and is filed under
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