I had proposed the establishment of an Opposition-headed Parliamentary Select Committee on 1Malaysia which had been met with indifference and disinterest from Muhyiddin and the overwhelming majority of Barisan Nasional Ministers.
This is really quite ridiculous as Muhyiddin and the Najib Cabinet should be persuading the Pakatan Rakyat MPs to agree to the establishment of a Parliamentary Select Committee on 1Malaysia and not the other way round!
Why is this so? Is this because the Najib Cabinet is full of Ministers who are quite skeptical about the 1Malaysia concept treating it as nothing more than political theatre not to be taken seriously?
Who are the Ministers in the Najib Cabinet who have the 1Malaysia DNA? I do not see anyone. No wonder neither Muhyiddin nor the other Cabinet Ministers comport themselves with any conviction that they are the standard-bearers of the 1Malaysia slogan and concept.
There are three simple tests as to whether Muhyiddin and Cabinet Ministers are sincerely and seriously committed to Najib’s 1Malaysia, viz:
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Whether he or she agrees to the establishment of an Opposition-headed Parliamentary Select Committee on 1Malaysia;
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Is he or she prepared to declare that the basis of 1Malaysia is “ketuanan rakyat Malaysia” and not “ketuanan Melayu”; and
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Is he or she prepared to endorse the objective of 1Malaysia as defined by the 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme (GTP) Roadmap to create a nation where every Malaysian perceives himself or herself as Malaysian first, and by race, religion or region second.
Are Najib, Muhyiddin and all the Umno leaders prepared to stand up and declare that they are Malaysian first and Malay second?
I declare that I am Malaysian first and Chinese second. Is every Cabinet Minister prepared to make a similar declaration?
How many Cabinet Ministers, including the DPM, have the 1Malaysia DNA and able to pass these three simple 1Malaysia tests?
For that matter, how many Barisan Nasional MPs have the 1Malaysia DNA and able to pass these three simple 1Malaysia tests?
Evidently, 1Malaysia means “a thousand-and-one” different things to the Najib Cabinet and government – both to Umno and non-Umno Cabinet Ministers.
When non-Umno Ministers like the KPI Minister responsible for the 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme (GTP) Roadmap, Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon, and Ministers from the MCA, MIC and Sabah and Sarawak BN component parties dare not defend the 1Malaysia concept to speak up in Cabinet over the Jakim insubordation and insurrection, or irresponsible exploitation of the “race and religion cards” by Umno media and agents, questions are legitimately asked whether 1Malaysia has any real meaning after its articulation by Najib last April.
In fact, I would be speaking a truism when I say that the biggest enemies of 1Malaysia is not from outside Barisan Nasional, but from inside Umno.
This is why my proposal for a Parliamentary Select Committee on 1Malaysia had not received any support – not even from the KPI Minister, Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon, which can only mean that he has no confidence that the 1Malaysia GTP Roadmap can go very far out of the laboratory stage with withstand public and parliamentary scrutiny.
[Speech by DAP Parliamentary Leader and MP for Ipoh Timor Lim Kit Siang in Dewan Rakyat on the Royal Address on Thursday, 18th March 2010]