We meet here especially in appreciation and honour of Chong Siew Chiang, whom I will name the Father of DAP Sarawak, for establishing DAP in Sarawak in 1978 to achieve the Malaysian Malaysian objective in pursuit of the Malaysian Dream.

Next year will be the 60th anniversary of the formation of Malaysia in 1963, and for the occasion, I propose that Sarawak and Sabah set up a joint MA63 Constitution Review Commission to review the fulfilment of Malaysia Agreement 1963 for Sarawak and Sabah.

The establishment of such a Joint Commission will be an important step to achieve the Malaysian Dream which should be the aspiration of every patriotic Malaysian.

The next national general election is not far off, but it will be a challenging one for Sarawakians and Malaysians, as the days of political hegemony by one political party is gone and a thing of the past.

Malaysians will have to learn to work together without sacrificing the basic principles of serving the national interest to promote unity, harmony, justice, democracy, good governance, prosperity and well-being of all Malaysians.

This is one aspect of the re-set of nation-building principles and policies which the country must undertake if Malaysia is to fulfil its potential to be a world-class great nation, instead of being overtaken by one country after another in the last half-a-century.

Malaysia is at the meeting-point of four great civilisations – Malay/Islamic, Chinese, Indian and Western – and there is no reason why we cannot leverage on the best virtues and values of these four great civilisations to build a great and world-class Malaysia.

But the journey to make Malaysia a world-class great nation is a marathon and not a sprint, it must be counted in decades and even centuries and not in days, months and years, which is why it is important that Sarawakians and Malaysians develop the long-term spirit of the long-distance runner to make Malaysia a world-class great nation.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at a DAP Sarawak luncheon ‘”In Appreciation and Honour of Lim Kit Siang and Chong Siew Chiang” in Kuching on Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 1 pm)