IS Anwar’s government a beginning of new political era or is it a false dawn? This is the most important question of the 15th General Election (GE15) on Nov 19.
I fully support the DAP’s secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook in taking a stand prior to the formation of Anwar Ibrahim’s coalition government, pledging DAP’s unconditional support to the Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as Prime Minister (PM).
But I can understand the frustrations, unhappiness and disappointments from DAP members, supporters and voters who felt that there was no fair reflection in the Cabinet composition based on DAP’s voting and parliamentary representation and this must be noted.
I was not a candidate in the GE15 but I have been to eight states and clocked some 15,000 kilometres in the two weeks of the election campaign.
Everywhere I went, I did not come across any anti-Malay, anti-Chinese, anti-Indian, anti-Dayak, anti-Kadazan or anti-Muslim, anti-Buddhist, anti-Hindu anti-Christianity sentiment on the ground, confirming that Malaysians are the most tolerant and sensitive of people.
But during the national poll, there are political parties and personalities who want Malaysians to believe that the Malays and Islam are under threat and face extinction.
Why is this so? Who want to threaten the Malays or wipe out Islam? I am optimistic about the future.
If the Anwar government can last five years, and we can explain the fear that the Malays and Islam are being downgraded is a figment of the propaganda and the toxic politics of lies, fear, hate, race and religion of irresponsible politicians in the information age, we stand a good chance to succeed in our mission to reset our nation-building principles.
This is as per what has been laid by our founding fathers who include the first four UMNO presidents for Malaysia to be “a beacon of light in a difficult and distracted world”.
The most important challenge faced by Anwar’s government is to ensure that it marks a new political era to reset the national agenda to return to the original nation-building principles of the nation’s founders, and that it is not a false dawn.
Now that I have withdrawn from the frontline of the DAP leadership, I will like to read the book “Why Nations Fail” which my friend, Kalimullah Hassan, has given me many years back but I have had no time to read it.
I will like more leaders and academicians to discuss why Malaysia had failed in the last six decades to maintain her position as first-rate world-class nation to become a second-class mediocre nation, and how Malaysia can avoid becoming a failed, divided and kleptocratic state on Malaysia’s Centennial in another four decades.
The Anwar Ibrahim government should mark the turning point of the country from a failing state to reset nation-building principles to restore our original dream to be one of the first-rate world-class nations in the world. – Dec 4, 2022
Retired DAP supremo and veteran lawmaker Lim Kit Siang was the former MP fir Iskandar Puteri.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Main photo credit: Malaysiakini
