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Call on Malaysians to rally to DAP's "Love Malaysia, Save Malaysia" campaign in next general election to uphold 1957 Merdeka Constitution and honour Tunku Abdul Rahman's legacy and injunction that Malaysia continue forever as a democratic, secular, multi-religious, tolerant and progressive Malaysia   Speech - thousand-people Perak DAP State Dinner by Lim Kit Siang (Ipoh,  Sunday): The thousand-people Perak DAP State Dinner tonight is historic, as it unveils for the first time the DAP's "Love Malaysia, Save Malaysia" campaign theme. Twenty years ago, the people of Kinta Valley and Perak were in the forefront in DAP's first "Love Malaysia, Save Malaysia" campaign to reject the assimilationist nation-building policy of "One Language, One Culture, One Religion" and reaffirm that Malaysia is a multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious nation and a nation-building policy based on integration. DAP is now launching a second "Love Malaysia, Save Malaysia" campaign and we call on all Malaysians to rally to this campaign in the next general election to uphold the 1957 Merdeka Constitution, the "social contract" and the 1963 Malaysia Agreement and honour Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman's legacy and injunction that Malaysia continue forever as a democratic, secular, multi-religious, tolerant and progressive Malaysia. Malaysia is at the crossroads and the eleventh national general election, which should be held next year, will have far-reaching consequences as it will make the most critical national decision in 47 years whether Malaysia remain true to the vision of the nation's founding fathers to remain as a democratic, secular, multi-religious, tolerant and progressive Malaysia or take the fundamental shift in nation-building by embarking on the road of an Islamic State. In the next general election, the choice is not between the "extremist" Islamic State of PAS or the "moderate" Islamic State of UMNO as declared by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in his "929 Declaration" that Malaysia is an Islamic State at the Gerakan national delegates' conference on Sept. 29, 2001, but between Malaysia remaining a democratic, secular, multi-religious nation with Islam as the official religion but not an Islamic state or Malaysia embarking on the road of an Islamic State, starting on UMNO's "929" model but heading towards the PAS' version. Barisan Nasional political propagandists would be exerting their utmost to convince the voters that the only say to reject PAS' "extremist" Islamic State is to accept UMNO's "moderate" Islamic State. This is a great fallacy and a colossal misjudgement, as the best way to reject the "extremist" Islamic State of PAS is to reject the "moderate" Islamic State of UMNO. If in the next general election, whether from ignorance or deliberate choice, the voters give a resounding victory to the Barisan Nasional, it would be construed as a national mandate to begin Malaysia on the road of an Islamic state starting with the "929" model. Malaysians are already very concerned about various developments in the country after the "929 Declaration" that Malaysia is an Islamic state without the benefit of a national mandate in a general election, as in the recent ruling of the Johore Bahru City Council that dog owners in Johore Baru whose immediate neighbours are Muslims are required to seek their permission when renewing or applying for a dog licence. This new ruling of the Johor Baru City Council from Jan 1 requiring a written approval from Muslim neighbours before seeking a dog licence is most unreasonable and against the spirit of a tolerant, sensitive, harmonious and progressive plural Malaysia of diverse races, languages, cultures and religions. This was reported in the local press and by the Singapore media yesterday. In a multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious nation, Malaysians must learn to be sensitive of each other's feelings, but this cannot be brought about by insensitive and high-handed decisions like that of the Johore Bahru City Council - which can only aggravate and not improve inter-racial relations undermining national unity. Can the insensitive and high-handed Johore Bahru City Council decision be curbed or is it a sign of more insensitivity and high-handedness to come after the "929 Declaration" is given a national mandate with a resounding victory for the Barisan Nasional in the next general election? (2/3/2003) * Lim Kit Siang, DAP National Chairman