Archive for category Personal

We were educated to be Malayans and later Malaysians six decades ago and it came as a shock that the Deputy Prime Minister said in 2010 that he was Malay first and Malaysian second

I was in Batu Pahat on Friday night to celebrate the 98th birthday of the my brother-in-law, Ho Lai Chee, which was also a reunion for me with Lai Chee’s far-flung offspring from Sydney, Singapore, and London.

Early before dawn on Saturday, I spent two hours walking the streets of Batu Pahat, to smell the air and revisit the sights of the town where I spent my primary and secondary years, starting from Cheng Siu Chinese primary school to Batu Pahat English School and then Batu Pahat High School.

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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Let Malaysians reaffirm the constitutional principle of Islam as official religion and freedom of worship for other religions and not succumb to the lies, false new and hate speech on social media that the various races and religions are facing an existential threat

Merry Christmas to all Christians in Malaysia.

The last 12 months have been testing times for Malaysia to achieve our goal to be a top world-class nation of unity, justice, freedom, excellence and integrity where Malaysians can celebrate the diversity of races, languages, religions and cultures in peace, tolerance, acceptance and co-existence.

Yesterday, I saw on the social media a denunciation of Malaysia of having become a communist state. There was also in the social media a denunciation of myself of having becoming a “hanjian” ( 漢奸 – a pejorative term for a race traitor and Han ethnicity).

Both are equally lies. Read the rest of this entry »

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DAP has made progress in ‘Malay-nisation’

By Kow Gah Chie and Adrian Wong | 9:29AM Jul 9, 2015
Malaysiakini

INTERVIEW In the attempts to get rid of its Chinese-based party label, DAP’s pro-Malay approach has caused some anxiety among certain members who feel the party may gone overboard for the ‘hypercorrection’.

To this, DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang said he wasn’t aware the party was now being perceived as pushing too hard towards being a Malay-friendly party.
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Door for PAS still open, says Kit Siang

By Kow Gah Chie and Adrian Wong | 8:31AM Jul 7, 2015
Malaysiakini

INTERVIEW While DAP may have repeatedly proclaimed that Pakatan Rakyat is “dead”, the party does not rule out the possibility of teaming up with PAS in the future.

Asked whether DAP and PAS would form an alliance, for their fourth time, in the next general election, veteran DAP leader Lim Kit Siang said it was a possibility.
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Karpal Singh in memoriam


@limkitsiang tweets :

11:32 am – 17 Apr 2015
Although 8,000 km away in Cairo, thoughts are on Karpal on 1st anniversary when a light was snuffed out on his sudden departure.

11:37 am – 17 Apr 2015
Karpal a towering Malaysian – leaving a void in public life which cannot be filled. Always an inspiration 2all 2walk tall 4justice n freedom

11:42 am – 17 Apr 2015
Msia in vortex of great uncertainties – Karpal’s example of uncompromising in principles but visionary in exploring new vistas remain guide.

11:45 am – 17 Apr 2015
Best tribute 2Karpal 2continue the path blazoned by Tiger of Jelutong – a Malaysia which is beacon of hope where all Msians can feel proud. Read the rest of this entry »

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Semoga mesej Deepavali merangsang dan menyatukan rakyat Malaysia bagi memastikan kemenangan cahaya ke atas kegelapan, serta agar kesederhanaan dan toleransi mengatasi ekstremisme dan sikap tidak bertolak ansur

Selamat Hari Deepavali kepada kaum India di Malaysia secara khusus dan semua warga Malaysia secara umum.

Deepavali membawa mesej kemenangan cahaya ke atas kegelapan serta kemenangan kebenaran, kebebasan, dan keadilan mengatasi korupsi, diskriminasi dan eksploitasi. Semua ini cukup relevan untuk kehidupan bernegara di Malaysia selepas pilihanraya umum ke-13.

Semoga mesej Deepavali merangsang dan menyatukan semua warga Malaysia bagi memastikan kemenangan cahaya ke atas kegelapan dalam semua sudut kehidupan bernegara dan semoga ia membolehkan kesederhanaan dan toleransi mengatasi sikap ekstrem dan tidak bertolak ansur dalam negara Malaysia yang berbilang kaum, berbilang agama dan berbilang budaya.

Rakyat Malaysia perlu sentiasa berusaha untuk mengukuhkan sikap sederhana dan toleransi dalam masyarakat majmuk serta tidak menyerah kalah kepada segelintir pihak yang bersikap ekstrem dan tidak bertolak ansur, terutama ketika pihak tersebut cuba untuk menampilkan diri sebagai suara baru dan pendukung kesederhanaan dalam negara ini.

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Let all Malaysians be inspired and united by the Deepavali message to ensure triumph of light over darkness and the victory of moderation and tolerance over extremism and intolerance

Deepavali Message

Happy Deepavali to Malaysian Indians in particular and Malaysians in general.

The Deepavali message of light over darkness and the triumph of truth, freedom and justice over all forms of corruption, discrimination and exploitation have never been so relevant and pertinent in Malaysian national life than in post-13th general elections.

Let all Malaysians be inspired and united by the Deepavali message to ensure the triumph of light over darkness in all spheres of national life and the victory of moderation and tolerance over extremism and intolerance in multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural Malaysia. Read the rest of this entry »

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On YouTube, Kit Siang opens up about Malaysia’s darkest chapter

The Malaysian Insider | August 19, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 — Claiming to have been maligned in the mainstream media and by pro-Umno bloggers over the film “Tanda Putera”, the DAP’s parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang has taken to YouTube to recount his version of events surrounding the bloody racial riots of May 13, 1969 — one of the darkest chapters in the country’s history that is still shrouded in secrecy.

In the past few weeks, Lim Kit Siang’s political enemies have accused him of instigating the May 13 riots that took place 43 years ago after hype over local filmmaker Datin Paduka Shuhaimi Baba’s latest movie — a historical portrayal of Malaysia’s first two prime ministers amid the racial bloodbath — went into overdrive.

A photograph posted on the film’s Facebook page and its controversial caption painted Lim — then a budding politician in the DAP — as being arrested for desecrating the national flag by urinating on it, triggering an outcry from the Ipoh-Timor federal lawmaker and his colleagues in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) opposition pact.
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Hari Raya Aidilfitri 2012 Message: Rendezvous with greatness

I wish all Muslims in Malaysia Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

On this auspicious occasion, non-Muslims join their Muslim compatriots in Malaysia to make this important Islamic calender a national celebration.

With the 55th Merdeka Day/49th Malaysia Day around the corner, this is a fit occasion for all Malaysians regardless of race, religion, region, class, age or sex to reaffirm our common national identity and destiny to build a nation strongly founded on the principles of democracy, justice, soliidarity, integrity and good governance.

Malaysians are bound together to a common future – either all Malaysians regardless of race, religion, region, class, age or sex unite to forge a progreesive and prosperous future for all Malaysians, or we will all suffer from man-made weaknesses and divisions which will prevent the country from fully exploiting her human and natural resources.

Let all patriotic Malaysians answer the call of the times – to work to achieve Malaysia’s rendezvous with greatness as a people and nation.

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Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir dan Batin.

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Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Lunar New Year 2012!

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Happy Chinese New Year! Gong Xi Fa Cai!

2012 CNY Greetings

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A long haul

Tweets @limkitsiang:-

5th day:
[Admin] LKS 5th day w/o vision on left eye. However surgeon optimistic of sight recovery after Vitrectomy op. Q: how much? Wil b longhaul

4th day:
[Admin] LKS w/o vision on left eye for 4th day. Depending on outcome of Vitrectomy op to restore sight. Pray for the best.

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Saluting a True Malaysian Son

by Koon Yew Yin

(Speech on the occasion of Perak DAP celebration of Lim Kit Siang’s 70th birthday in Ipoh at Tropicana Grand Ballroom on 25th Feb. 2011 after presenting a RM100,000 donation to Perak DAP to restore a legitimate and popularly elected government in the state )

Let me begin by thanking the DAP for its invitation to me to celebrate the occasion of Saudara Lim Kit Siang’s 70th birthday, and for this honour to say a few words to this distinguished audience.

Firstly, it is only right that we are gathered here to pay tribute to a giant of a politician, Saudara Lim Kit Siang. In my mind, there are two key people who have been responsible for this turning point that we have reached in our country’s politics.

One is of course Saudara Anwar Ibrahim who has been the glue in bringing the DAP, PAS and PKR together in Pakatan Rakyat to challenge the political hegemony of BN and UMNO and in galvanizing the electoral vote for the opposition. The Government has launched a ridiculous campaign to harass and destroy him by a fictitious charge but I am sure Anwar will prevail and will continue his struggle for a better Malaysia.

The second hero in Malaysian politics – someone who has put his heart and soul into transforming Malaysia, and who has paid the price for standing up for the ideals of parliamentary democracy – is Saudara Lim. This is a truly towering Malaysian who has stood unwavering on behalf of justice, truth and equality for over 40 years in the public arena. Many young Malaysians may not be aware that for standing up for our basic freedoms, Saudara Lim was put in detention on two occasions under the ISA, the first time for 17 months in 1969 and the second time under Operation Lallang in 1987, when Kit Siang and his son Guan Eng were detained for another 18 months, together with five other DAP leaders. Read the rest of this entry »

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70 and looking forward to more democratic breakthroughs (postscript)

Turning 70 was a good excuse for my batch of classmates of Batu Pahat High School to go down the memory lane of our school days in the fifties.

Michael Ong reminded me, which I could not remember, that in Form V in 1959, I had given the first talk to the school debating and literary society. Topic? “Malayan Consciousness”.

Allan Goh, who has retired from the teaching profession in Penang, has composed an ode to the Class of 59:

Ode to the Class of 59

What really made my classmates tick?
Competitiveness, work, but no trick.
With shoulders firmly to the rack,
Oft leaving foot prints on time’s track.

It never was a one-horse race,
But a constant multiple brace:
Leadership, routinely ceded
To better friends who succeeded. Read the rest of this entry »

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In praise of Lim Kit Siang

by Humayun Kabir | FMT

IPOH: DAP vice-chairman M Kulasegaran would have been one of the statistics of the brain drain from Malaysia if he had not read Lim Kit Siang’s book “Time Bombs in Malaysia”.

The book changed his destiny, he said in a tribute to Lim on the occasion of the opposition veteran’s 70th birthday.

Kulasegaran bought the book in 1978 – the year it first appeared – while he was en route to Subang airport for his flight to England for his law studies. He was then 21.

“On the long flight to London, I read the book and almost immediately began to rescind a prior decision I had made not to return to the country of my birth after my law studies for reason of its discriminatory policies,” he said in a statement released online yesterday.

He said it had kept alive his hope for political reform in Malaysia.
Read the rest of this entry »

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70 and looking forward to more democratic breakthroughs (3)

Many have asked whether I have plans to retire after 45 years of politics.

With the DAP founding chairman Dr. Chen Man Hin a hale and hearty 86, keeping vigilant daily scrutiny of political developments; the declaration by DAP Chairman Karpal Singh, who is eight months my senior, of unremitting commitment in the cause of justice and freedom despite his physical problems; and the “good wishes” of the doyen of Barisan Nasional politicians, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, 74, that I “continue to tread the rough and tumble of the Malaysian political road with even greater tenacity and thrust in the years ahead until we can all together ensured that no one in the country is allowed to create a situation of disaster of the type we have just seen in Tunisia and Egypt”, the least I could do was to pledge, as I did at my 70th birthday dinner at Hotel Equatorial Penang, that I will continue to contribute to party, people and the nation so long as I can be of use and contribution.

Three years ago in Feb 2008, I made a birthday wish that the DAP can succeed in winning the Penang State Government in the 2008 general election, which I had not made public at the time. This had come true.

My 70th birthday wish is that Malaysia will become a normal democratic country with the two coalition system fully institutionalized where change of political power would be regarded as a normal process and not once invoking threats and intimidations of national calamity like riots and unrest. Read the rest of this entry »

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Lim Kit Siang 70 years young

Oon Time By Oon Yeoh
The Sun
Wed, 23 Feb 2011

PREMESH Chandran, CEO of Malaysiakini, once referred to Lim Kit Siang as “a walking encyclopedia of Malaysian political history” and for good reason.
Lim was first elected to Parliament in 1969, during the waning years of Tunku Abdul Rahman’s tenure as prime minister. As a politician, he has outlasted Tun Abdul Razak, Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

When it comes to Malaysian politics this guy’s been there and done that, including being charged under the OSA and twice being detained under the ISA.

I’ve interviewed him about his time in Kamunting. For a guy as articulate as he is, he sure doesn’t have a lot to say about his experiences there. Some speculate that he feels bitter about being detained without trial. Others think he feels it was just a terrible waste of his time (although he did manage to learn Jawi and obtain a law degree while in detention).

Whatever the case, I’m sure he was never as down as he was after the 1999 general elections when he lost in Penang. Lim in his prime, could move to a new constituency and win that new area for DAP. Before the 1999 polls, he had been MP in Bandar Melaka, Kota Melaka, Petaling Jaya and Tanjung. Wherever he contested, he won.

He thought he could do it again in 1999 and instead of staying in the safe seat of Tanjung, Lim contested and lost in Bukit Bendera. It was a crushing blow. For the first time in his long career, Lim found himself in the political wilderness.

Sure, Lim continued to write press releases prolifically but his messages sounded tired and jaded. He was in danger of becoming a political has-been. A proverbial shadow of his former self.

Lim had one last chance at redemption. If he had lost in the 2004 general elections, that would have been the end of his career. It was a comeback bid worth watching and I wanted a ringside seat. I was working for theSun back then so I naturally chose to cover Ipoh Timur, the constituency Lim chose to contest in. Read the rest of this entry »

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70 and looking forward to more democratic breakthroughs (2)

This was not the only poem composed by Michael.

A fortnight earlier he had emailed me from Canberra the following acrostic on my 70th birthday. (Learnt a new word. acrostic: a poem or other composition in which certain letters in each line form a word or words. – Concise Oxford Dictionary)

Lim Kit Siang MP

Long has been the struggle
In your just journey of Life
Moving ever so slowly but surely

Knowing that the elusive end
Is well worth every sacrifice
To achieve the ultimate aim of

Saving the nation’s soul from
Insidious intolerance
And leading it increasingly towards a
New national harmony
Graced by a Malaysian majority

May this materialise in your lifetime, so
Press on, press on, as you see the finish line!

Michael did not bring along his wife but he brought Judith’s 100 hours of labour of love – a cross-stitch of the Chinese character “Longevity”. Thanks Judith. Most appreciated. Read the rest of this entry »

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A Malaysian Dream – Life and Times of Lim Kit Siang

Part 1

Part 2 Read the rest of this entry »

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