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Lim asserted that Malaysia must reset and return to the original nation-building principles the country’s founding fathers (which included the first three prime ministers who were also former Umno presidents) had written into the Malaysian Constitution and the Rukun Negara for a plural Malaysia. — Malay Mail photo
KUCHING (June 11): The upcoming six state elections in Peninsular Malaysia should serve as a platform for Malaysians to show that they can be world champions again and not to degenerate to be a failed and divided state, said Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang.
The Democratic Action Party (DAP) veteran leader said he was at the Dataran Pahlawan Negara in Putrajaya yesterday to attend the Trooping of Colours Ceremony where the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah inspected the guard of honour.
“It was a colourful and meaningful ceremony, and I thought of the six state elections in August which will provide a test for Malaysians to show that they want Malaysians to be world champions again and not to degenerate to be a failed and divided state.
“Nobody is asking a Malaysian to cease to be a Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban, Kadazan, Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu or Taoist, but we must be Malaysian first and our ethnic, religious or regional identity second,” he said in a statement today.
Lim asserted that Malaysia must reset and return to the original nation-building principles the country’s founding fathers (which included the first three prime ministers who were also former Umno presidents) had written into the Malaysian Constitution and the Rukun Negara for a plural Malaysia.
According to him, a plural Malaysia means constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy, separation of powers, rule of law, an independent judiciary, Islam as the official religion and freedom of religion for all faiths in the country, good governance, public integrity with minimum corruption, a clean and honest government, meritocracy, respect for human rights, an end to the various injustices and inequalities in the country, a world-class economic, educational, health and social system, and national unity, understanding, and harmony from our multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural diversity.
“This is the challenge of the six state elections in August. Can Malaysia be saved? I believe Malaysia can be saved.
“But it is not enough to save Malaysia, as Malaysians must apply their thoughts and energies to save the world and prevent a clash of civilisations,” he said.
Lim asserted that Malaysia, with its plural characteristics at the confluence of the four greatest civilisations of the world – Malay/Islamic, Chinese, Indian and Western, is uniquely placed to be a role model of the world for inter-ethnic, inter-religious, inter-cultural and inter-civilisation dialogue, understanding, tolerance and harmony.
He opined that the greatest threat to world peace is the refusal of the United States to accept that it is no more the world’s number one power.
“How this facet of international relations can be accepted by the United States is the greatest challenge of mankind in the 21st century, and it is a challenge which Malaysians can and must play a part,” he said.
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