Meaning of Port Dickson by-election: Solid endorsement for a New Malaysia and the vision of a New Port Dickson to restore its previous greatness as a premier tourist destination

The Port Dickson by-election on October 13 is important not only for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to return to Parliament in preparation for his becoming the eighth Prime Minister of Malaysia as decided by the Pakatan Harapan leaders, but is an important building block of the New Malaysia the country has an opportunity to build after the reset of nation-building policies following the historic 14GE election on May 9, 2018.

The Port Dickson by-election on Oct. 13 has two major objectives: Firstly, as a solid endorsement of the building of a New Malaysia; and secondly, the vision of the building of a New Port Dickson to restore its previous greatness as a premier tourist destination.

The building of New Malaysia and the undoing of the corruption, abuses of power, injustices and repression of the past decades cannot be accomplished in one hundred days or five months, but is a sacred mission and task which needs the support of more and more Malaysians and may take a decade or two.

Only recently, we read about reform measures like the Cabinet decision to set up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), the lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18 and the appointment of Art Harun as Election Commission Chairman, which heralds far-reaching electoral reforms.

With every month we must continue in the direction of a New Malaysia, as on May 9, 2018 we have fortunately saved Malaysia from the trajectory of a failed state, rogue democracy, kakistocracy and global kleptocracy.

We must now dare to dream great dreams for Malaysia to be world top-class nation in every field of human endeavor.

But while we must have the Big Picture and Long Vision perspectives to realise that “Rome is not built in a single day”, and time is needed to carry out all the reforms, we must lose sight of our reform objectives.

Although in the last few days, Malaysians were agog with the former Prime Minister and his wife charged in court for 49 counts of corruption and money-laundrring, a murder trial had remined Malaysians that the country was notorious in the world for several unresolved and mysterious deaths.

I would urge the Pakatan Harapan Government to give thought as to how these mysterious deaths could be resolved, including the re-opening of investigations and and establishment of special inquiriesl

These mysterious deaths would include mysterious deaths linked to the investigation of 1MDB, such as the murder of AmBank founder and banker Hussain Najadi; the mysterious death of deputy public prosecutor Kevin Morais; the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu and the death of DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock.