Call on voters of Skudai to create history in Johore and Malaysia in pursuit of the Malaysian Dream for Malaysia to become a world-class great nation where the leaders are “Malaysian First” and not just Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans or Kadazans

There are those who regard the candidature of Marina Ibrahim in Chinese voter-majority seat of Skudai as suicidal and is bound to fail.

On the contrary, I call on the voters of Skudai to create history not only in Johore and Malaysia in pursuit of the Malaysian Dream for Malaysia to become a world-class great nation where the leaders are “Malaysian First” and not just Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans or Kadazans.

I have dedicated 55 years to Malaysian politics in pursuit of the Malaysian Dream of an united plural Malaysia which is a world-class great nation in more and more fields of human endeavour.

For the last half a century, Malaysia has lost out in one field after another to other nations in our national decline, and the latest is in the anti-corruption arena.

The 22-month Pakatan Harapan government which ended the UMNO hegemony in the 14th General Election in 2018 was an attempt to reverse Malaysia’s national decline and resume our journey to become a world-class great nation but it was subverted by the undemocratic and illegitimate Sheraton Move conspiracy which ended the five-year mandate of the Pakatan Harapan government.

Since then, there had been the 17-month Muhyiddin backdoor government and the six-month Ismail Sabri backdoor government, and the country is in a worst straits than the UMNO-hegemony government of the previous half-a-century.

This is reflected in the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of 2019, 2020 and 2021.

The TI CPI 2019 under the PH government was Malaysia’s best TI CPI performance in 25 years with a single-year improvement of six points for TI CPI score and 10 placings for TI CPI ranking, i.e. a ranking of 51 or a score of 53 out of 100.

But when the PH government was undemocratically and illegally toppled, the TI CPI 2020 and 2021 of the two backdoor governments saw an unprecedented fall of five points in score and 11 points in rank in two years – the worst two years in TI CPI in the last 27 years since 1995.

Now we are back on the slippery slope of corruption as before the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018 and the worst is yet to come as Azam-gate and worsening of the system of integrity in public life have yet to be taken into account.

We have been overtaken by many countries since the start of the TI CPI in 1995, like Taiwan and South Korea, but at the rate of our trajectory on anti-corruption field in the last 23 months, the two countries regarded as most corrupt in the TI CPI 1995 – China and Indonesia – may overtake Malaysia before the end of the decade.

We must check the national decline and turn the country around to become a world-class great nation and not continue in the trajectory of a kleptocracy, kakistocracy and a failed state where all Malaysians, regardless of whether Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban or Kadazan will suffer.

This can only come about if more and more Malaysians become “Malaysian First” and not just Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans or Kadazans.

The DAP, in its 55 years of political struggle, have fought for the rights and dignity of all Malaysians. Which political party, for instance, has produced a leader who had sacrificed his position as a Member of Parliament and even gone to jail for defending the honour and dignity of another Malaysian of another race? There is no such political party except the DAP, and that person is none other than Lim Guan Eng, the DAP Secretary-General.

In my 55 years in Malaysian politics, I have been demonised from one end of the spectrum to the other end.

I have been accused of being anti-Malay and anti-Islam. No Malaysian can be ‘Malaysian First’ if he or she is anti any race or religion in Malaysia because Malaysia is a multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural nation. To be Malaysian First, we must accept and respect all races, religions, languages and cultures that meet in confluence in Malaysia.

But strangely, I have also been accused of selling out the rights and interests of the Chinese in Malaysia as well. My stand on Jawi has been used as an example.

I do not know why there are people who are so gullible as to believe such lies and falsehoods. My stand on Jawi down the decades has not changed at all – that it should be not be a compulsory subject mandatory for all to learn but optional whether one wants to learn it. I learnt Jawi when I was detained in Muar for the first time under the Internal Security Act and I said it did not make me less of a Malaysian. This was twisted to mean that I had declared that those who do not know Jawi are not Malaysians.

The information era has its uses and abuses and Malaysians must be alert to the lies, falsehoods and fake news especially those who are well-funded and are capable of employing an army of cybertroopers who are prepared to perpetrate any lies, falsehood and fake news for money.

Is it possible that after spending more than five decades fighting for an integration instead of an assimilation policy, including being detained for 35 months, I would advocate the compulsory study of Jawi?

Similarly, the DAP candidate for Skudai, Marina Ibrahim, would be accused of wanting to make Jawi compulsory.

I have had a discussion with her and she had no hesitation in supporting the DAP position that Jawi should not be made a compulsory subject in schools and but should be optional whether one wants to learn it or not.

Marina will be attacked on this issue because two years ago, she disagreed with DAP leaders in Pahang for filing a judicial review challenging the state government requiring all signboards to include Jawi as she thought there were other avenues to be explored first – but she has no hesitation in accepting the party position that Jawi should not be a compulsory subject in schools.

After 62 years of nation-building, the time has come for more and more Malaysians to regard themselves as “Malaysian First” instead of being a just a Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban or Kadazan.

The DAP embraces the Malaysian Dream where Malaysians regard themselves as “Malaysian First” and not merely a gathering of Malays, Chinese, Indians, Iban or Kadazans. If we have a Malaysian First mentality, we can regain our position in the international place as a world-class great nation. If not, we will end up as a kleptocracy, kakistocracy and a failed state, selecting as leaders who do not what is right and what is wrong and who end up as corrupt leaders, thieves and crooks.

The Skudai contest is therefore very important for Johore and Malaysia, and for the future of the country, and I urge the voters of Skudai to make it a historic victory for the Malaysian Dream to restore Malaysia as a world-class great nation!