We are now in the most critical make-or-break period of the country in the last six decades as to whether Malaysia can reset and return to the original nation-building principles to become a first-rate world-class nation, or we are fated to become a divided, failed, and kleptocratic state.
Recently, I came across a 54-year-old Official Secrets Act (OSA) document, which was declassified on 24th February 2020 as a result of a defamation suit I instituted against the former Inspector-General of Police, Tun Hanif Omar, that stated that in my statement to the police during my first Internal Security Act detention in 1969, I told the Police that I wanted a “clean, honest, efficient, incorruptible, and effective government”.
That was the reason why I came from Malacca to contest in Tanjong in Penang for parliamentary election in 1986, to make Penang the “front-line” state in the twin DAP mission to make Malaysia have a “clean, honest, efficient, incorruptible, and effective government” and to ensure that Malaysia is a world-class plural nation where there is “unity in diversity”, whether of races, languages, religions, or cultures.
It is noteworthy that although the PAS President, Hadi Awang, made the preposterous allegation that the DAP was promoting Islamophobia, he has not been able to cite an iota of evidence, whether from the 57 years of DAP history or the 15 years of Penang administration, to substantiate his allegation.
Malaysia have irresponsible political leaders who are prepared to promote fear and hate among the people against other races or religions, which will destroy plural Malaysia if they succeed.
In the 29-year series of the annual Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Malaysia is one of the countries which had regressed since the first TI CPI in 1995. We have lost out to Indonesia, China, and India and to more and more Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) states in the TI CPI series.
This was what struck me when we fell to the lowest point of good governance last Friday — when a second former Prime Minister was charged for corruption in court, while at the other end of the world in New York, a Malaysian who was former manager of Goldman Sachs in Malaysia was imprisoned for 10 years for the 1MDB scandal.
Muhyiddin Yassin said he has been selectively prosecuted, but both the Attorney-General Idrus Harun and the MACC Chief Commissioner Azam Baki were his nominees when he became the first “backdoor” Prime Minister after the Sheraton Move political conspiracy in February 2020.
Is Muhyiddin accusing his nominees Idrus Harun and Azam Baki of selective prosecution?
There must be no selective prosecution whether in corruption or other crimes, but Muhyiddin must adduce more evidence of selective prosecution.
But what is conspicuous is the lack of co-operation of Perikatan Nasional to heed the advice of the Yang di Pertuan Agong to ensure that there is political stability in the country — instead of having four Prime Ministers in five years — and to put anti-corruption as an important agenda to promote good governance in Malaysia.
(Speech by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang on the opening of the Tanjong parliamentary service centre in Penang on Sunday, 12 March 2023 at 1pm)
