In his Malaysia Day message, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak expressed strong opposition at the rise of extremism which is a stumbling block in the nation’s progress.

He said he is “saddened” that despite living in an independent multi-cultural nation, there are still those who cannot tolerate, much less accept the benefits of a diverse society and reject the 1Malaysia concept and policy propounded by him since becoming Prime Minister in April last year.

Najib’s job as Prime Minister is not just to express sadness at the rise of extremism but to provide leadership to stamp out racial bigotry and religious extremism especially when they come from UMNO and allied or outsourced groups.

There can be no question that the rhetoric of race and religion had reached an unprecedented level in the past 17 months since he took over the helm of federal government, and what compounded the problem was that the racial bigotry and religious extremism were all coming from one direction – UMNO and its allied or outsourced groups, raising the fundamental question whether Najib has the political will and leadership to stand up and be counted to stamp out extremism coming from his own camps.

Who for instance is the most prominent antagonist of Najib’s 1Malaysia policy if not his Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin?

The objective of Najib’s 1Malaysia is to build a Malaysian nation where every Malaysian regards himself or herself as Malaysian first and race second – but Muhyiddin had publicly declared that he is Malay first and Malaysian second.

As result, despite my challenge in Parliament, there is not a single Barisan Nasional Minister in Parliament who dared to contradict Muhyiddin by declaring that he or she is a Malaysian first and race second.

With the strongest opposition to his 1Malaysia policy coming from within his own camps and even in Cabinet, is Najib prepared to take a stand that there is no place in his Cabinet for any Minister or Deputy Prime Minister who is not prepared to declare that he or she is Malaysian first and Malay second?

What Malaysians are seeing is the colonial tactics of “Divide and Rule” of the races in the country taken over by Umno and acquiesced by the other subservient Barisan Nasional component parties being practised at the most opportunistic and irresponsible degree.

In contrast, Pakatan Rakyat formed by PKR, PAS and DAP is offering a completely different formula of nation-building and governance based on “Unite and Rule” – to unite the various races, religions, cultures and regions in the country as one national identity to fulfill Malaysia’s potential for greatness which we have lost along the way in the past five decades of Barisan Nasional stewardship.

This is the significance of the official launching of the Pakatan Rakyat Sabah secretariat tonight with some 1,500 Sabahans as witnesses to history in the making – to embrace and endorse the Pakatan Rakyat’s “Unite and Rule” to govern and Sabah Malaysia in rejection of Umno/BN’s discredited formula of “Divide and Rule” which ultimately benefitted only a handful from the various racial groups and their cronies.

[Speech at the Malam Pakatan Rakyat organized by Sabah DAP at Putra Seafood Restaurant, Kota Kinabalu on Wednesday,15th September 2010]