I attended the launching of DAP State Assemblywoman for Subang Jaya Michelle Ng’s book, “Beneath Calm Waters” by DAP Secretary-General and Minister for Transport, Anthony Loke at Sunway yesterday.
I always have a lot of time for the youths of Malaysia, with over half our population below 30 years of age.
In fact, I look forward to the youths of Malaysia to save the country from continuing its national decline, to reset and to return to the original nation-building principles for a plural Malaysia to again became world champions and a world-class nation in excellence and achievements in various fields of human endeavour.
I had a chance encounter today with the Thomas Cup champions in the sixties, Tan Aik Huang, Yeo Cheng Hoe, Tan Yee Khan, and Billy Ng and it reminded me of the days of yore when Malaysia strived to be world champions and was not satisfied with anything else.
In the fifties, when I was schooling in Batu Pahat, Johore, I cycled from Batu Pahat to Malacca in Form One in 1955 with two of my classmates, and all the way, we were discussing the historic Afro-Asian Conference in Bandung where the Asian-African “greats” were meeting for the first time among themselves — leaders like Chou En-Lai, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sukarno, Nasser, Tito, and Nkrumah.
We were inspired by the vision of justice, freedom, and equality.
What is the vision of the youths for Malaysia and the world today?
Are they inspired by the vision of justice, freedom, and equality?
The concerns of the 21st century are not the same as those of the 20th century. There is now climate change, the post-truth era, the age of robots and the mysteries of outer space — but the pursuit of justice, freedom, and equality remain as valid as ever.
For the last few decades, Malaysia has lost its way and we have deviated from the original nation-building principles of a plural Malaysia our founding fathers have written into the Constitution and the Rukun Negara (which included the first three Prime Ministers who were also UMNO Presidents) to make Malaysia a world-class nation in excellence and achievements in various fields of human endeavour.
We must return to our original path as set out by the nation’s founding fathers and build a united, progressive, prosperous, and just nation.
We must be guided by the vision of Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahmn for Malaysia to be “a beacon of light in a difficult and distracted world” to be a role model for the world in inter-ethnic, inter-religious, inter-cultural and inter-civilisation dialogue, understanding, tolerance, and harmony.
This is why I put the question to the Malaysian youths of today — what is your vision of Malaysia when the country celebrates its first Centennial in 2057!
(Media Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on Sunday, 4th June 2023)