It is depressing to catch up on developments back home in the past nine days after being abroad.

The country seems to be stuck in time, dominated by petty issues with the obsession of navel-gazing instead of being inspired by great dreams and aspirations for the people and country.

The speech by the UMNO Deputy President, Mohamad Hasan that the 15th general election will be called by next year is the typical example of such narcissistic preoccupation

Mohamad Hassan said when officiating the Sepang UMNO division meeting: “Don’t worry, this is a half-term government, not a one-term government. It will not last.

“I am confident Pakatan Harapan won’t last long. I expect the election would be called between May to December next year.”

It is a triple irony that Hassan has unfurled the banner of Pakatan Harapan as a half-term instead merely a one-term government hours after Ahmad Zahid Hamidi unilaterally announced his return from garden leave to resume the mantle of UMNO President, which was itself hours after former UMNO President Najib Abdul Razak had prepared the ground for Zahid’s return from garden leave by declaring that Zahid does not require consent from the party’s supreme council to make his return as held by other UMNO leaders, like Khairy Jamaluddin.

At first, UMNO leaders who had never expected to be ousted in the 14th General Election consoled themselves with the belief that their sojourn in the wilderness will be a very short one as the Pakatan Harapan government would disintegrate in a matter of months because of inter and intra party differences of the Pakatan Harapan parties.

But as the few months dragged into more months without any sign of Pakatan Harapan disintegration, the three by-elections in Sungai Kandis, Seri Setia and Balakong were used as building blocks for creating the MCA/UMNO/PAS unholy alliance to topple the Pakatan Harapan government before 15th General Election in 2023.

The MCA/UMNO/PAS get-together was the most irresponsible, unprincipled, toxic and opportunistic alliance in Malaysian history as it is not founded on principles or any noble objective, but based on the selfish interests of the leaders to topple the Pakatan Harapan Government to save many of them from long jail sentences for corruption and to return to the kleptocracy, abuses of power and injustices of the Najib government which was thrown out peacefully and democratically in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018.

This unholy alliance with the superimposed “Malu Apa Bossku” campaign seemed to have developed some traction in the Cameron Highlands, Semenyih and Rantau by-elections, but the momentum of these three by-elections were pulverised by the historic Pakatan-Warisan victory in the Sandakan by-election, which also rendered a knockout blow to the “Malu Apa Bossku” campaign.

This morning, Vivian Wong was sworn in as Member of Parliament for Sandakan after polling a historic 16,012 votes, winning with a stunning majority of 11,521 votes in the by-election on May 11, 2019.

It took nearly two months for the Opposition to recover from the Sandakan blow, as talk of a one-term Pakatan Harapan government vanished but such a chicanery has returned with a vengeance with the new talk of a “half-term government”.

In the past six decades, Malaysia has slipped down the international rankings of excellence and good governance, losing out to countries which were previously at par or more backward than Malaysia like Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and even to countries like Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Malaysians regardless of race, religion, region or politics should be united with a common Malaysian Dream to establish a New Malaysia as a top world-class nation, now that Malaysians have saved Malaysia from the trajectory of a failed, rogue and kleptocratic state.

But this does not appear to be the case, with a sex video continuing to haunt and hound the nation in the past nine days while the national conference of a religious-based political party held recently was oiled with lies and falsehoods to engender hate and distrust of race against race, religion against religion, culture against culture – the recipe for disaster for any multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural nation.

Can Malaysians unite to build a New Malaysia where we can become a top world-class nation in every field of human endeavour; compete with the rest of the world instead of dissipating our energies and resources fighting among ourselves; restore the rule of law and good governance, and transform a global kleptocracy into a leading nation in integrity?

We are told today that Islam does not allow declaration of assets, but to these same people, Islam has not stopped them from spreading lies and falsehoods, sowing hatred and distrust, as well as support kleptocrats, kleptocracy and abuses of power.

In the second year of Pakatan Harapan government, we must see more progress to establish the fundamental principles of a New Malaysia and reset nation-building policies to achieve the five pillar promises of the Pakatan Harapan General Election Manifesto, viz:

· Reduce the people’s burden;
· Institutional and political reforms;
· Spur sustainable and equitable economic growth;
· Return Sabah and Sarawak to the status accorded in Malaysia Agreement 1963; and
· Create a Malaysia that is inclusive, moderate and respected globally.

It is not possible to achieve a New Malaysia overnight but the Pakatan Harapan Manifesto for the 14th General Election must remain the lodestar to guide Malaysia towards the achievement of the Malaysian Dream by all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or politics.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang Parliament on Monday, July 1, 2019)