Former Wanita UMNO Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz’s advocacy of “ketuanan Malaysia” as a more inclusive concept for all Malaysians should be welcomed by Malaysians to want Malaysia to fulfill her destiny as “a beacon of light in a disturbed and distracted world”.

These were the founding ideals when our nation achieved Merdeka in 1957 and Malaysia was formed in 1963, to be “an independent and sovereign democratic State founded upon liberty and justice, ever seeking to defend and uphold peace and harmony among its people and to perpetuate peace among nations”, where all citizens dedicate themselves “to work and strive with hand and brain to create a new nation, inspired by the ideals of justice and liberty – a beacon of light in disturbed and distracted world”.

It is no exaggeration to say that never before in previous thirteen general elections since 1959 had the country seen such intensity and viciousness in the politics of fear, hate, lies, race and religion as in the 14th General Election.

Despite all these poison in the election campaign and the other insuperable and undemocratic odds, the historic watershed results of the 14th General Election bringing about for the first time a peaceful and democratic transition in Malaysia gives hope that the future of Malaysia is not dark and gloomy, which is why many Malaysians dare again to dream big, and the Malaysian Dream which many have given up, is back on the Malaysian National Agenda.

It is time that Malaysians return to honest, decent and civil politics about policies and programmes instead of the dishonest, indecent and uncivil politics of lies, hate and fear arousing primordial racial and religious sentiments of fear and hatred.

I have never accused UMNO leaders of being anti-Chinese, anti-Indian, anti-Buddhism, anti-Christianity or anti-Hinduism and in post-14GE, UMNO leaders and UMNO propaganda apparatus should stop making wild and false allegations that DAP and I are anti-Malay and anti-Islam.

Unfortunately, this important lesson of Malaysian nation-building does not seem to have been fully learnt by all UMNO leaders, as there are voices suggesting that UMNO and PAS should join hands as the Malays and Islam are under threat.

This reminds me of the warning by UMNO leaders during the 14th General
Election that the Malays will perish in Malaysia if UMNO is defeated.

I find it most shocking that UMNO leaders, who have dominated the government in the country for more than half a century, had such low opinion of the Malays as to believe that the Malays are so gullible that they could believe such trash and falsehoods and they have been proved wrong by the Malay voters in the 14th General Election!

How can the Malays perish in Malaysia when Tun Mahathir will be the seventh Malaysian Prime Minister and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim the eighth Malaysian Prime Minister?

Three demographic factors will ensure that the Malays will not perish if UMNO is defeated in the 14GE: firstly, the increasing Malay percentage in the Malaysian population; secondly, the overwhelming majority of Malaysian voters are Malay voters and thirdly, the overwhelming majority of parliamentary and state assembly constituencies in the country are Malay voter-majority constituencies.

But apart from these three demographic factors, there is the critical democratic factor which will ensure that the Malays will not lose their rights and become strangers in their own land as warned by UMNO leaders.

We in Pakatan Harapan wants to win not just the 14th General Election, but also future general elections – the 15th, 16th and others thereafter.

A Pakatan Harapan Federal Government and State Goverrnment which want the government mandate to be renewed in subsequent General Elections must be able prove in the next five years before the 15GE that a Pakatran Harapan Government is better than UMNO/BN government for all Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans or Orang Asli or be voted out of Putrajaya in the 15th General Election in five years’ time.

Just as the Chinese in Malaysia do not perish without MCA, Indians do not perish without MIC, Malays will not perish without UMNO!

I do not believe there is any race, religion or culture which will want their leaders to come from the ranks of the 4Ps of pencuri, perompak, penyagak and penyamun for the country to be regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy.

I have no doubt that every Chinese, Indian and Malay (if he or she is aware of th1MDB scandal and the Implications of a “global kleptocracy”) will solidly support Pakatan Harapan to Save Malaysia from hurtling towards the trajectory of a failed, rogue and kleptocratic state.

Pakatan Harapan at the Federal and State level, where we are also State Governments, must be always be a government for all Malaysians, regardless of whether they voted for Pakatan Harapan or otherwise – that we must truly serve all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or politics.

We want to build a New Malaysia which is united, democratic, just and progressive, and this is where Rafidah’s call for a more inclusive concept of “ketuanan Malaysia” is most pertinent and relevant.

For a thriving democracy, we must operate in a new political environment and culture where checks and balances are institutionalised in our system of governance.

We must accept this challenge to promote democratic processes, not only ensuring that there are check-and-balance mechanisms within governing parties but also by the Opposition, the media and the civil society.

We will not harass and persecute the Opposition as we had suffered in the past 52 years, for this will be against our beliefs in a democratic society.

In five years’ time, Pakatan Harapan will have to seek a new mandate from the voters – a reminder that time is short for PH national and state governments to prove themselves that we deserve a new mandate in five years’ time and not just to be a one-term national or state government.

(Speech at the 80th birthday reception for DAP veteran Liew Ah Kim at Hong Kong Restaurant, Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, 2nd June 2018 at 8 pm)