DAP and Pakatan Harapan are neither anti-China nor anti-America although patriotic Malaysians criticize Najib’s kleptocratic policies trying to use China to save him from the international 1MDB scandal or hope Trump will drop the US DOJ litigation/investigations on 1MDB

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak cannot be more wrong when he accused the Opposition of being anti-China when speaking at the 60th anniversary dinner of Federation of Hokkien Associations of Malaysia (FHAM) in Serdang yesterday.

He said that the Opposition’s criticisms of BN’s efforts to draw investments would make things worse for the Chinese business community.

DAP and Pakatan Harapan support foreign investment for Malaysia whether from Malaysia, the United States or Europe because it is good for the economy.

DAP and Pakatan Harapan are not anti-China, anti-America or anti-Europe, although patriotic Malaysians criticize Najib’s kleptocratic policies trying to use China to save himself from the international 1MDB scandal or his attempt, through his subservient and supplicant’s visit to the White House and meeting with President Trump to cause Trump to drop the US Department of Justice (DOJ) litigation and investigations on the 1MDB scandal.

The question of more foreign investments from China, the United States or from any country is different and separate from the issue of Najib trying to save himself from the biggest financial scandal in the nation’s history, the 1MDB international multi-billion 1MDB money-laundering scandal which had turned Malaysia overnight into a global kleptocracy, and Malaysians must not fall victim to the propaganda wiles and trickeries of UMNO/BN propagandists who want everyone to believe these two issues are one and inseparable.

Malaysians are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the nation’s attainment of Merdeka in 1957. We must dare to dream again the great Merdeka Dream of 1957, reaffirmed as the Malaysia Dream in 1963, where all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or politics, can hold their heads high as citizens of a great achieving nation in every field of human endeavour.

We set out as a young nation, brimming with hope and confidence, dedicated, in the words of the Merdeka Proclamation 1957 and reaffirmed in the Malaysia Proclamation six year later, that the nation “shall be for ever a sovereign democratic and independent State founded upon the principles of liberty and justice and ever seeking the welfare and happiness of its people and the maintenance of a just peace among all nations”.

I have a lot of differences with the former Inspector General of Police, Tan Sri Rahim Noor, in particular the infamous black-eye which he inflicted on former Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, but he has paid his dues for his greatest mistake in his life with jail time, a fine and loss of position as the top policeman in the land.

But I appreciate his views at a forum “Malaysia in the Future” in Kota Kinabalu onTuesday where he warned Umno its concessions to PAS, particularly over the controversial Islamic penal code hudud, could lose it Sabah and Sarawak support.

Abdul Rahim Noor warned that the federal government would not only lose the goodwill and support of the East Malaysian states, the latter may even agitate to leave the Federation if the government submits to PAS' demands to implement hudud just to ensure that Umno remains in power.

He said: "If the (BN) federal government wants to defend the political power of the people in Umno by submitting to the demands of PAS inch by inch, I'm afraid this can happen.”

Abdul Rahim Noor warned that “"If people's anxiety over the issue of religion gets heated up, Malaysia may be thrown into chaos” as “Sabah and Sarawak they may think twice whether to continue to be in Malaysia or not",

In his speech, the former Inspector-General of Police stressed that the Federation of Malaysia was never meant to be an Islamic country because if it was, Sabah and Sarawak would never have agreed to it.

He said when the idea of Malaysia was mooted, religion was the main issue addressed by the Cobbold Commission.

“The people in the Bornean states, all of them, regardless of race and religion, did not want an official religion for the new federation.

“The demand was reasonable. After all, there are many Muslim-majority countries in the world that do not have Islam as their official religion, for example Egypt and Indonesia, a country with the highest number of Muslim’s in the world.”

This is one important area where Malaysia had lost its way in the last 60 years, and we are now in the trajectory towards a failed and rogue state despite the Prime Minister’s international initiatives like the Global Movement of Moderates (GMM).

But the GMM initiative has proven to be neither global, nor a movement, nor moderate and the latest example is the fiasco of the ban in Kuala Lumpur on the Better Beer Festival on the ground security and terrorist threat, which no sane or rational Malaysian will believe or accept.

Only Malaysians through the Pakatan Harapan in the 14GE can save Malaysia to stop the rot, bigotry and extremism in the country and to achieve the Merdeka and Malaysian Dream of a Malaysia of Excellence, Justice, Compassion, Freedom, Tolerance and Diversity?

A great political change and revolution is taking place in Malaysia, especially in the rural areas, today.

There was a political tsunami in the urban areas in the 13th General Election in 2013, resulting in the majority of the national voters (some 53%) voting for a change of government in Malaysia.

But without a political tsunami in the rural areas, this was not enough to effect a democratic change of government, as the present electoral system was so unfair and undemocratic that with only 47% of the popular vote, Najib could still win 60 per cent of the 222 parliamentary seats, allowing him to continue in power although as the first minority Prime Minister of Malaysia.

In the next 14th General Election, there is a great likelihood of a political tsunami among the Malay voters in the rural areas, to match the political tsunami of the urban voters - Chinese, Indian and urban Malays.

If there is swing of 10% of the Malay voters and 5% of the non-Malay voters from UMNO/Barisan Nasional to Pakatan Harapan in the 14GE as compared to the 13GE, Pakatan Harapan would win 113 of the 165 parliamentary seats in Peninsular Malaysia, leaving 50 to BN and two to PAS.

Together with support from Sarawak and Sabah, Pakatan Harapan would have 125 to 130 out of 222 parliamentry seats – and possibly more – to form the new Pakatan Harapan Federal Government.

If Malaysians miss this golden opportunity to save Malaysia and reset nation building policies and directions so that Malaysia can be a united, harmonious, successful, progressive and prosperous plural nation, Malaysia will be heading for greater setbacks in the years ahead.

I call on the people of Penang, together with the people from all over Johore and Malaysia, to meet in Kuala Lumpur on Oct. 14 for the Pakatan Harapan “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptocrasi” gathering to demonstrate our resolve, commitment and love to save Malaysia from kleptocracy and return our nation firmly and solidly to the path of democracy.

And on the 14th GE, whether it is held this year or next, to elect a new Pakatan Harapan Federal Government in Putrajaya, re-elect the Penang and Selangor State Governments for Pakatan Harapan, as well a new Pakatan Harapan State Governments in Johore, Negri Sembilan, Perak, Kedah and Malacca.