We seem to be in a new phase of politics in Malaysia.

UMNO/BN under Datuk Seri Najib Razak had never expected to lose the fourteenth General Election. In fact, he had believed that UMNO/BN would not only win big, but will be able to recapture two-thirds parliamentary majority which UMNO/BN lost ten years ago in the 2008 General Election.

Now Najib, UMNO leaders and cybertroopers are working on a new political agenda, as they have “psycho-ed” themselves into believing that the Pakatan Harapan government in Putrajaya would not last, that it is highly fragile and will crack and disintegrate before the full term is over – paving the way for their return to Putrajaya.

This is why there is an intensification of the politics of fear, hate and lies in post-14General Election which becomes doubly vicious and toxic when accompanied by the extremist politics of race and religion.

This is why there is the intensification of the baseless charges to arouse fear and hate among the Malays that the Malays and Islam are under threat in Malaysia, simply because the Finance Minister, the Minister in charge of law and the Attorney-General are not Muslims.

There are also lies being told against Pakatan Harapan leaders.

Two days ago, I was shown a WhatsApp message making the rounds of social media accusing me of being a communist, which among other things said:

“Lim Kit Siang yg lahir di Funan negara China datang ke Tanah Melayu dgn bapak dia ditahun 1957. Mereka dapat ehsan dari org-org Melayu di Batu Pahat Johor. Umur Lim Kit Siang masa tu 16 tahun. Mula-mula bapak Lim Kit Siang cuma ternak ayam je, tapi kemudian ternak babi pula. Lee Kuan Yew bersekolah di Batu Pahat. Lee Kuan Yew guru Lim Kit Siang didalam fahaman Kominis & Yahudi. Dharurat di Malaya bermula dari tahun 1948 & berakhir pada 1960. Selepas tentera British meninggalkan Malaya (sebelum merdeka) kominis semakin bermaharajalela selama 12 hari. Batu Pahat pada masa tu jadi pusat pengganas kominis. Rumah bapak Lim Kit Siang jadi pusat kominis & mereka banyak bunuh org-org Melayu bunuh askar-askar Melayu. Masa umur Lim Kit Kat 18 tahun ditahan 1960 dia dah pakai uniform kominis.”

There are over a dozen lies in that one vicious and toxic paragraph.

Such vicious and toxic politics of fear, hate and lies accompanied by the extremist politics or race and religion had failed in the recent general elections, as Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region have shown that their intelligence and wisdom must not be underrated or there would not be a change of Federal Government in Putrajaya and in six states apart from Penang and Selangor.

Although the practitioners of the politics of race, religion, hate, fear and lies are fighting a losing battle, their viciousness and toxicity cannot be underestimated, and Malaysians must continue to expose these political opportunists and crooks who want to destroy the Pakatan Harapan government and bring back UMNO/BN to power.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at the opening of the DAP Iskandar Puteri parliamentary service centre at Gelang Patah on Friday 3rd August 2018)