I was in Kuching on Sunday night with former Prime Minister and now Chairman of Pakatan Harapan, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad for the launch of the Sarawak Pakatan Harapan, and the support and fervour at the gathering is proof that the country is on the move involving all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, socio-economic status or region, who want to save Malaysia from the trajectory of a failed and a rogue state.
If we love Malaysia, we must unite as Malaysian patriots to save Malaysia from corruption, kleptocracy, injustices, exploitation and the fate of a third-world nation.
Tun Mahathir will speak after me on why we must unite to save Malaysia.
It is public record that Mahathir and I had many great differences during his 22 years as Prime Minister, and Guan Eng and I became “guests of His Majesty’s Government” during his premiership in Operation Lalang dragnet nearly 30 years ago.
But I had never been personal, vengeful or vindictive – I had never called Mahathir “mahafiraun” or “mahazalim” – as our differences were always on government policies and actions.
I do not deny my differences with Mahathir in the past, but we are now united by a larger common goal to save Malaysia from kleptocracy, a failed and a rogue state, and the fate of a third-world nation.
There is a great difference between the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan coalitions.
The BN coalition leaders talk in forked tongues – UMNO leaders playing the race and religious cards among the Malays, inciting fears among the Malay voters with lies that DAP and I are anti-Malay and anti-Islam, that Tun Mahathir, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim , Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Mohamad Sabu are all my stooges and can only say and do what I told them to do; but MCA and Gerakan leaders say the opposite and try to scare the Chinese with a different story, that I am a puppet of Tun Mahathir and Anwar Ibrahim.
But we in Pakatan Harapan, whether DAP, PKR, Amanah or PBBM; whether Mahathir, Muhyiddin, Azizah, Azmin, Mohd Sabu, Guan Eng or I myself say the same thing whether to Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans – that the time has come for Malaysians regardless of race, religion, socio-economic status, region or even politics to unite and as summed up in the theme of the Oct. 14 Pakatan Harapan rally in Petaling Jaya – “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptocrasi”.
Only a change of Federal Government in the forthcoming 14th General Election can save Malaysia from global kleptocracy, for the UMNO/BN government of Datuk Seri Najib Razak has done absolutely nothing in the past few years to clear or cleanse Malaysia of the shame, indignity, infamy and ignominy of being regarded world-wide as a global kleptocracy.
But we do not want only a Pakatan Harapan Federal Government in the 14GE, we have higher goals – to maintain the Pakatan Harapan state governments in
Selangor and Penang as well as to win the state governments in Johore, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Perak and Kedah.
The forthcoming 14th General Election will cause the greatest political change in the electoral history of Malaysia, based on a rural political tsunami to match the urban tsunami in the 13th general elections so that Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans unite for the greatest political change in the nation’s history.
[Speech (2) at the DAP Port Klang Branch “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptocrasi” dinner in Klang on Thursday, 28th September 2017 at 9 pm]
#1 by good coolie on Friday, 29 September 2017 - 11:52 am
Another pitfall you did not mention is that of religious extremism. We know that Mahatir and Anwar Ibrahim systematically moved us in the direction of religious extremism hoping to undercut PAS’s religious fervour. But the tag-team eventually got what they deserved, while the country became polarised, its famed unity destroyed.
I trust you Mr. Lim. That is why I shall entertain those strange bedfellows. Higher goal, yes.
#2 by Bigjoe on Friday, 29 September 2017 - 1:05 pm
There is a great difference between Malaysia opposition and the Malaysia govt – the Malaysian opposition has never wavered in its universal agenda, charges against it of anti-Malay, anti-Islam has always been a propaganda and still is. Even in its most leftist and ideologial days of proposing an (over)idealistic equality, its agenda has always been universal. Its failure that of over-idealism.
The original Alliance govt even after becoming UMNO led BN, proposition was also universal – that of Malay Nationalism. That is why when Mahathir who reprsented the rise of the Malay Ultras, despite pursuing an aggressive Malay agenda, was in the end still a nationalist that grew the economy and insist on unity and peace first.
But today UMNO-BN, used to the hypocritical policies of Mahathirism, does not know how to do things any other ways than the short-cut ways of Mahathirism and the Nationalism is an afterthought to just holding power.
Najib’s UMNO does not stand for anything else but holding on to power and self-benefits of the leaders which means by default, on auto-pilot ideologically it drifts into the arms of the right-wing Islamist i.e., Hadi’s PAS. Mahathir, no matter how ultra a Malay he has been, is still primarily a pro-development nationalist. He is against PAS ideology because he sees no developed Islamic state anywhere. Mahathir believe, like the Sauds of Saudi Arabia and every Islamic dictator and monarchy, Islam as a social and political control, not its absolute ideology.
Would Mahathir betray PH if he can? Its besides the point because the possibility is remote because all he would do is create chaos and things would spiral out of control and by default fall into kleptocratic-theocratic hands i.e, ultimately Hadi’s PAS. Its not likely Mahathir would risk it.
#3 by Bigjoe on Friday, 29 September 2017 - 4:00 pm
To reply those who keep quoting the opposition old charges against Mahathir and what Mahathir may have or have not done.
Fact of the matter is every politician in Malaysia, and Najib is perfect example, is dictated by their party main narrative i.e, they say and do what they political party want them to do or allow them to do. Najib is perfect example, he steals, lie and abuse power because that is what UMNO does and let him do.
Hence to bring up old opposition charges against Mahathir is mostly irrelevant now that Mahathir is no longer with UMNO/BN. So Vell Paari is yapping like derogatory stereotype when he talks.
If Mahathir also did not do certain things like develop Sarawak or the mastermind behind Project I.C, its also because he was with UMNO/BN. No way he can or cannot do what he did or did not do back in UMNO/BN.