This is my 12th General Elections participation, but for the first time in five decades, I will not be using the Rocket symbol. Instead I will be using the Pakatan Harapan common logo of the PKR’s blue-eyes.

This is not an easy decision for DAP leaders to make, as for more than half a century, DAP leaders and members have fought and suffered in the name of the Rocket, endured the ups and downs, the trials and tribulations of staying true to the DAP objectives and principles for Malaysian unity, harmony, integrity, justice, freedom and the rule of law.

I was detained twice under the Internal Security Act, prosecuted in court and underwent various harassments as a DAP Member of Parliament; the DAP Secretary-General and Penang Chief Minister; Lim Guan Eng was detained under the ISA, disqualified as MP for Kota Melaka and went to Kajang Prison for a year for defending the honour and dignity of an underaged Malay girl and was disenfranchised and unable to cast his vote or stand for elective office for five years; many DAP leaders were jailed, prosecuted in court and their livelihood harassed in the past five decades because DAP leaders had remained true and loyal to DAP objectives and principles.

All this we did under the Roket symbol – so it was a most painful and heart-wrenching decision for DAP leaders to take not to use the Rocket symbol.

But extraordinary times call all for extraordinary responses – and the 14th General Election is indeed an extraordinary occasion.

The DAP decision not to use the Rocket logo in the 14GE but to use a Pakatan Harapan common logo of PKR’s blue eyes is to send a message to all Malaysians to make sacrifices in the 14th General Election to rise above race, religion and even political party affiliation to unite as one Malaysian people to vote Pakatan Harapan for change of Malaysian Government in Putrajaya to save Malaysia and re-set nation-building policies and direction to fulfill the Malaysian Dream in the hearts and minds of every Malaysian.

It is a message to the 3.6 million UMNO members, one million MCA members and one million PAS members that under these extraordinary times, when Malaysia is the laughing stock of the world as a kleptocratic state and rogue democracy, that it is our patriotic duty to unite as one Malaysian people transcending race, religion, region and political party affiliation to to Save Malaysia from a failed, rogue and kleptocratic state by voting for the Blue Eyes logo on May 9, 2018.

There are three reasons why the 14GE is unprecedented and historic.

Firstly, is the transformation of Johore from a UMNO/BN fixed deposit state into the front-line state for political change and national renewal in the 14GE.

Until the 2008 General Election, Johor was the impregnable and invincible state of Umno/BN, so much so that UMNO/BN leaders boasted about making Johore a zero-Opposition state in the 12th GE in 2008.

However, the political landscape in Johor underwent a drastic and fundamental change in the 12th and 13th General Elections, and Johor politics will never be the same again as compared to the first five decades after Merdeka in 1957.

In the 13th GE in 2013, the Opposition achieved the “Great Leap” forward in Johor trebling its representation in the Johor State Assembly from six to 18 seats, and with the formation of PPBM which had one State Assemblyman in the Johore State Assembly, the UMNO/BN lost its two-thirds majority in the Johore State Assembly for the first time since Merdeka in 1957.

In fact, if there was a fair and democratic “one man, one vote” delineation of constituencies in the 13th General Election, the Opposition should have won another eight seats, i.e.26 out of a total of 56 State Assembly seat in Johore, as the Opposition secured 46% per cent of the total votes cast for the Johore State Assembly seats.

Now Johor is one of the state governments that Pakatan Harapan hopes to win in the 14GE, paving the way to the capture of Federal power in Putrajaya.

Secondly, this is not just a general election to elect the MP and State Assembly representative for the area.

Although general elections in Malaysia are held at least once in five years, the 2014 General Election is different from all the previous thirteen General Elections as it will also decide who is going to be the Prime Minister of Malaysia – Najib or Tun Mahathir.

The 14th General Election is virtually a direct Prime Ministerial election, which will not come the way of Malaysian voters for a long time.

If on May 9 two years ago the Filipinos can change their President, and on the same day last year, South Korean can also change their President, the question on May 9 this year is whether Malaysians can change the Prime Minister!

Thirdly, most important of all, the 14th General Election presents a golden opportunity for the first time in the 61-year history of the nation for the country to apply the brakes and change course – to stop hurtling along the trajectory towards a failed, rogue and kleptocratic state and to begin to fulfill the Malaysian Dream of Malaysia as a world top-class natiohn.

Let me summarise the objectives of the 14th General Election in three words: “Set Malaysia Free” – from corruption, abuses of power, injustices and all forms of exploitation.

(Media Conference Statement at the Iskandar Puteri Nomination Centre in Johor Baru on Saturday, April 28, 2018 at 11 am)