When I visited Salem, India in August last year, I said that Malaysia seemed to be trapped in an extraordinary situation which, if not addressed, will only lead to greater division and disunity, stagnation and failure to leverage on the best values and qualities of the Islamic, Chinese, Indian and Western civilisations which meet in confluence in Malaysia to build a great Malaysian nation.
This extraordinary situation was one where every community was made to believe that its ethnicity, rights, culture and future were facing an existential threat – where the Malays felt threatened, the Chinese felt threatened, the Indians felt threatened, the Kadazans felt threatened and the Ibans felt threatened.
Not only the various races felt threatened, Islam felt threatened and the non-Islamic religions felt threatened.
But who was creating all these threats to all ethnic groups in the country?
I said Malaysians must develop a new self-confidence of “reaching for the stars”, a new “Malaysia Boleh” spirit, to exorcise the various contrived, imaginary or other fears and demons for Malaysia to excel itself in various fields of human endeavour so as to achieve a golden age for Malaysia.
Five months have passed, and the extraordinary situation where every ethnicity, culture and religion felt it was facing an existential threat from others have deepened and plural Malaysia has never been more polarised, threatening not only the very basis of democracy in Malaysia but the success of the Malaysian nation-building process.
Instead of hope and confidence in a New Malaysia as a result of the May 9, 2018 peaceful and democratic transition of power, there seems to be doom and gloom and even despair.
Recently, there was the shocking disclosure of the audio recording of a prime minister involved in the high crime of treason participating in an obstruction of justice, and although the audio recordings raised many pertinent public interests issues, the shocking aspect that a Prime Minister could be party to a treasonous crime was not given sufficient attention.
It raises the issue as to what is the use of an individual winning if the nation loses as a result.
We must not allow the further polarisation of Malaysia through lies, fake news and hate speech exploiting the racial and religious cleavages in the country, which can only end in Malaysia becoming a failed state.
We must ensure that our ethnic, linguistic, religious and cultural diversities are our national assets and not our national liabilities!
(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Saturday, January 11, 2020)
#1 by winstony on Saturday, 11 January 2020 - 9:48 pm
Instead of hope and confidence in a New Malaysia as a result of the May 9, 2018 peaceful and democratic transition of power, there seems to be doom and gloom and even despair.
End of quote
Why the gloom & doom?
Because the PH government doesn’t know how to govern!
#2 by Jeffrey on Monday, 13 January 2020 - 8:37 am
We are supposedly a nation based on Rule of Law – more so in ‘New Malaysia’ under which (1) there is separation of power between 3 branches of government ie Executive, Legislative and Judiciary; and (2) Courts of law are legitimate arbiters in the innocence or guilt of individuals irrespective high crimes like treason where the state authorities prosecute the accused defends and the judges determine truth from this adversarial clash of arguments and evidence; and (3) courts do so by examination veracity and relevancy of evidence (including audio recordings). Right?
#3 by Jeffrey on Monday, 13 January 2020 - 8:46 am
No one says that audio recordings implicating guilt of individuals high or low should not be disclosed in the name of public interest. When Bar Council raises objections (sub judice contempt of court etc) it is merely saying that its ok for disclosure when the evidence is tendered to and reviewed by the court (the legitimate arbiter) and reported as part of disclosure. It should not be prior disclosed by authorities (accuser) against individual prior to this evidence tendered to the court of law to influence the court of public opinion since the former and not latter the arbiter of truth regarding evidence. Right?
#4 by Jeffrey on Monday, 13 January 2020 - 8:53 am
The courts are supposedly arbiters of guilt or innocence and bulwark against executive’s encroachment of citizen’s rights. So go through them first. This is an institutional safeguard that New Malaysia cannot cavalierly discard for expedience just because the majority of public opinion think the person caught in the audio recordings is guilty as hell – because once such precedent were set what about future cases where innocent accused may be both persecuted and prosecuted by the state where audio recordings are doctored and skewed to be heard out of context?
#5 by Jeffrey on Monday, 13 January 2020 - 9:01 am
You said that notwithstanding audio recordings raised many pertinent public interests issues (sub judice contempt of court etc), “the shocking aspect that a Prime Minister could be party to a treasonous crime was not given sufficient attention”. This begs the issue whether the determination of treasonable crime should be based only on your or our listening of the audio recordings going viral prior to Court’s determination of their veracity. Is this fair to accused under Rule of Law that you extolled?
#6 by Jeffrey on Monday, 13 January 2020 - 9:06 am
In the premises, your statement “This raises the issue as to what is the use of an individual winning if the nation loses as a result” poses binary (false) choice. If we circumvent Courts of Law as arbiters of truth of evidence, guilt or innocence of individuals, selectively put institutional safeguard like this is back burner due to urgent political expedience, all (whether individuals or nation) lose.
#7 by drngsc on Monday, 20 January 2020 - 9:21 pm
Kit, please work doubly hard o stop the rot. One fellow is manipulating all the agencies that he is controlling to disrupt and divide all of us. Please replace him please. The sooner the better before all our foreign investors flee and leave our economy in tatters. For no reason, he goes and upsets the Chinese in China. For no reason he upsets the Indians causing them to boycott our palm oil. That oldman is a walking nuisance. He has outlive hi usefulness. Please speak forcefully, with your other Harapan partners, and get him to step down. The sooner the better.