Today’s launch of the DAP Penang Ubah fleet of 113 vehicles for the Pakatan Harapan 14th General Election machinery sounds the bugle of battle for the 14GE – not a war of cannons, guns or knives but a battle to win the hearts and minds of Malaysians to exercise their peaceful, democratic and Constitutional right to decide the next Federal Government through the ballot box.

I remember that when I first contested in Tanjong parliamentary constituency 32 years ago in 1986, it was to make the Penang the beach-head for a national campaign to make Malaysia an united, democratic, just, progressive and prosperous nation which would be a model to the world of how a nation of diverse races, languages and cultures could unite, succeed and prosper.

The last ten years since the political tsunami of 2008 has shown what the DAP-led Pakatan Penang State Government could do to give new hope to the people of Penang that the State could be a world-class centre in excellence and accomplishments in various fields of human endeavor and not just degenerate into the dirtiest rubbish dump for the region.

The target of the imminent 14th General Election is Malaysia, and not Penang – to use Penang as a solid base to restore hope to Malaysians and to achieve the first change of Federal government in Putrajaya, to start the process to stop the rot in Malaysia which has brought Malaysia to the lowest ranking of Transparency International Corruption Perception Index in 23 years and Malaysians constantly reminded like the FBI seizure of the billion-ringgit luxury superyacht Equanimity in Bali that Malaysia has become a global kleptocracy.

The Pakatan Harapan Manifesto launched on Thursday was a most powerful rebuttal of the lies, falsehoods and hypocrisies coming from UMNO/BN quarters and their army of quinoa cybertroopers that the Malays will perish if UMNO is defeated.

The Malays in Penang and Selangor, just like the Chinese and Indians, had a better deal under the Pakatan State Governments in the past ten years since 2008 than when under the previous UMNO/BN rule.

Similarly, all Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans or Orang Asli will have a better life under Pakatan Harapan Federal Government after the 14th General Election as spelt out in the Pakatan Harapan 14th General Election Manifesto.

This is because Pakatan Harapan wants to continue as the Federal Government in the 15th and 16th General Elections and in the decades after, and not just for five years after the 14th General Election – and we are fully conscious that if Pakatan Harapan Federal Government in Putrajaya fails to deliver its promises to all Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans or Orang Asli, to have a better life, the voters have the right to reject Pakatan Harapan in future general elections and elect a replacement, including UMNO/BN if they are still on the political scene.

In launching the Penang DAP Ubah fleet of 113 vehicles for the Pakatan Harapan 14th General Election machinery, we are embarking on a journey to bring change to the national landscape not only in the next five years but the next 10 to 20 years, where all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, will be proud to be Malaysians.

(Speech at the launching of the DAP Penang Ubah fleet of 113 vehicles for the Pakatan Harapan 14th General Election machinery at Jalan Padang Kota Lama, Penang on Sunday, 11th March 2018 at 5pm)