The Nenggiri by-election in Kelantan has ignited the hope that Malaysia can rise again to become a great world-class nation and not doomed to become a failed state.
Anwar Ibrahim as Prime Minister has outlasted the three previous Prime Ministers – Ismail Sabri, Muhyiddin Yassin and Mahathir Mohamad in his second tenure as Prime Minister of Malaysia.
It has brightened the prospects of Anwar Ibrahim being re-elected as Prime Minsiter in the 16th General Election, whether in 2026 or 2027.
In recent years, Malaysia have regressed from its nation-building principles of moderation and inclusivity as embodied in the Constitution and Rukun Negara – to be a world example of the unity in diversity for various races, religions and cultures in the country.
The worsening of the Malaysian situation to greater polarisation is illustrated by more and more examples of intolerance and extremism as illustrated by the recent controversies where female singers were banned from performing on stage at temple functions, the role of brewery companies in facilitating fund-raising events in Chinese schools and the persistent spread of lies and misinformation that DAP wants to wipe out the Malays and Islam from Malaysia.
This is most unthinkable.
When I was a Form 3 student in Batu Pahat High ol, I wrote a poem titled My Dream for my class magazine, The Light, and it remains as relevant today some 67 years later:
One for all and all for one,
We care not what colour, creed or religion you belong,
For aren’t each of us Malaya’s son,
Then why let silly racial quarrels prolong?
This was why before the 1974 general election, I announced that Ibrahim Singgeh will be our Perak Mentri Besar if DAP formed the Perak State Government, why I insisted that Daeng Ibrahim and Nakhoda Hitam should stand in Ipoh in the seventies and Fadzlan Yahya in Teluk Intan in the eighties to become State Assemblymen and why I campaigned for Ahmad Nor in the Gopeng by-election in 1986 and Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud in the Teluk Intan by-election in 2014 although both lost.
This was also why Lim Guan Eng was disqualified as a Member of Parliament and went to prison because he defended the dignity of a underaged Malay girl.
There was never any thought or intention of DAP doing away with any race or religion in country for Malaysia belongs to all races, religions and cultures who have made Malaysia their home.
I have always believed that Malaysia can and must contribute to world civilisation dialogue and understanding because Malaysia is a confluence of world civilizations – Islam, Confucianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism, Taoism, etc.
Malaysians will have multiple identities – ethnic, religious, linguistic, cultural – but they have one common overriding identity as Malaysians.
Nobody is asking any Malaysian to forget that he or she is a Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan, Iban or Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Sikkh, Taoist, but everyone is first and foremost a Malaysian.
In 1995, the then Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad said that the policy of assimilation is not suitable for a plural society like Malaysia.
I am surprised that after six decades after the formation of Malaysia, there are still people preaching assimilation instead of integration in plural Malaysia.
This is best exemplified by Gerakan some of whose leaders think the Green Wave is inevitable, that they want to moderate this ‘inevitable’ Green Wave and help non-Malays and non-Muslims “swim” in the Green Wave.
Such thinking is against the Constitution and the five national objectives of the Rukun Negara, namely:
– Achieving and fostering better unity amongst the society;
Preserving a democratic way of life;
– Creating a just society where the prosperity of the country can be enjoyed together in a fair and equitable manner;
– Ensuring a liberal approach towards the rich and varied cultural traditions;
– Building a progressive society that will make use of science and modern technology.
It is also against the five principles of the Rukun Negara, viz:
– Belief in God
– Loyalty to the King and Country
– Supremacy of the Constitution
– Rule of Law
– Courtesy and Morality
The Deputy Yang di Pertuan Agong and Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrain
Shah recently called for greater tolerance and unity among followers of different faiths and urged the people to see one another as human first before judging them based on their religious beliefs.
He said at the Regional South East Asian Human Dignity Conference that those spouting the rhetoric of intolerance and exclusion wanted to convince people that those who were different from them were lesser than them, or “a threatening inhuman other”.
There is no inevitability in the rise of Green Wave in Malaysia as it violates the Constitution and the Rukun Negara.
Malaysia can only succeed and rise again as a great world-class nation if it remains true to the Constitution and the Rukun Negara.
(Statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang on Sunday, 18th August 2024)