One of the hottest topics in the Malaysian social media through WhatsApps and other devices is the following:
“Lim Kit Siang yg lahir di Funan negara China datang ke Tanah Melayu dgn bapak dia ditahun 1957.;…. Lim Kit Siang masa tu 16 tahun.”
I googled “Funan” and this is from the Britannica:
“Funan, ancient state in Cambodia that arose in the 1st century ce and was incorporated into the state of Chenla in the 6th century. Funan (perhaps a Chinese transcription of pnom, “mountain”) was the first important Hinduized kingdom in southeast Asia. It covered portions of what are now Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia. Funan had trade relations with India as well as China, to whose emperor the people of Funan sent tribute between the 3rd and 6th centuries. Archaeological evidence shows that Funan was influenced markedly by Indian cultures.”
I am not born in China or Cambodia, but in Batu Pahat in Malaysia. I attended SJKC Cheng Siew for two years in 1947 and 1948 before I enrolled in Batu Pahat English School in 1949 where I studied for the primary and secondary education. Its all in the school records.
A week ago, I went up Bukit China in Malacca with several hundreds of Malaysians to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the “Save Bukit China” campaign.
Bukit China in Malacca was the largest Chinese graveyard outside China, with over 12,000 graves, some dating back to the Ming dynasty.
Just as nobody expected the “Save Bukit China” campaign to be successful, nobody expected that there will be a change of government in the 14th general elections in 2018.
But we must learn from our experiences in life.
We must never deviate from our Malaysian Dream for Malaysia to be fairer, freer, more equal, prosperous and united but things cannot be accomplished overnight. We must develop a longer view for change and reforms as we practise a democratic system of government and must win over the minds of the people.
The DAP must remain united both in leadership and base, never forgo the principles for a Malaysian Dream for a better, united and diverse Malaysia.
This is also an age of information and misinformation and one of the skills of survival in the age of information/misinformation is the ability to differentiate between right from wrong.
(Speech by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang at the Majlis Penghargaan Tanjong at SRJK Shang Wu, Penang on Saturday, 4th January 2025)
