Today is the birthday of one of the great Malaysians in the nation’s history – P. Patto.
DAP and the nation miss Patto for the past 20 years since his premature death in July 1995, for if Patto had been with us in the political struggle for justice, freedom and good governance in Malaysia in the past two decades, the political picture of the day may be very different today – with UMNO/Barisan Nasional toppled from Putrajaya and the Prime Minister today would have been Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and not Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
I have just come from Kopisan in Gopeng, which is the first of five “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” whistlestop tour today together with DAP National Assistant Publicity Secretary and MP for Kulai, Teo Nie Ching and DAP Perak leaders.
Kopisan is where Patto stayed for some five years and where his first daughter, Kasthuri Patto, was born. Kasthuri is now the DAP MP for Batu Kawan.
When a band of young Malaysians got together some 50 years ago to form the Democratic Action Party, we did it not because of any thought of becoming MP, State Assembly representative or forming a state or national government, but because of our patriotic convictions and principles to make our country, Malaysia, a better place for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, to ensure that all Malaysians can enjoy freedom, justice, good governance, development, progress and prosperity.
There is a second reason why today is an important day for DAP, for on this day 50 years ago, the DAP’s founding Chairman Dr. Chen Man Hin contested and won the Rahang State Assembly by-election in Negri Sembilan as an independent candidate, as DAP’s application for registration had not yet been approved by the Registrar of Societies.
From that small beginning of winning one seat in the Rahang by-election 50 years ago, we have become the second largest political party with parliamentary and state assembly representation – winning 38 Parliamentary and 107 State Assembly seats since 2013.
We must keep always alive the principles nd goals which had kept DAP alive for the past five decades, never for any personal advancement or material gain, but to see the realisation of our principles and ideals and most important of all, the Malaysian Dream.
Malaysia is in the throes of unprecedented political, economic, good governance and nation-building crisis never seen before in the history of the nation.
This year alone, there were five major national crisis: –
(i) The scandal of the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal banking accounts;
(ii) The RM50 billion 1MDB scandal;
(iii) The implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) adding to the hardships of low-income Malaysians, already sandwiched between rising costs of living and falling incomes;
(iv) the racist and provocative Sept. 16 “Red Shirts” rally in Kuala Lumpur; and
(v) The National Security Council Bill which usurps the constitutional powers of the Yang di Pertuan Agong, the Cabinet and the 13 State Government empowering the Prime Minister to exercise dictatorial powers.
The National Security Council Bill is a double “national insecurity” move, caused by Najib’s sense of insecurity and would cause insecurity to Malaysians living in areas declared as “security areas”.
Clearly there is a lot Najib is trying to hide, which is why a retired Air Force officer was instructed by Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) chief Jen Roslan Saad not to speak at a forum yesterday on the National Security Council (NSC) Bill 2015.
This is most undemocratic and deplorable. What could RMAF’s former policy and legal adviser, Lt. Col (Rtd) Mohamad Daud Sulaiman possibly reveal at the NSC Bill forum as to endanger Malaysia’s security?
It would appear that Najib and his advisers feel such intense “national insecurity” that they are afraid of their own shadows and are prepared to go all out to undermine the democratic and human rights of Malaysians.
(Speech at the “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” ceramah kopitiam in Bidor on Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015 at 1 pm)