INSTEAD of falling for lies and hate speech that pit one race or religion against another, voters in the six states in August should vote for the future to make Malaysia world champions, such as making Universiti Malaya one of the 50 best universities in the world.
18 years ago at the Universiti Malaya’s centennial celebrations in June 2005, the then deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak threw the challenge to Universiti Malaya to raise its 89th position among the world’s top 100 universities in THES-QS (Times Higher Education Supplement-Quacquarelli Symonds) ranking in 2004 to 50 by the year 2020.
Universiti Malaya has been unable to meet this challenge as it is ranked No. 70 in the QS World University Ranking 2023 and ranked 351-400 in the Times Higher Education World Universities Ranking 2023.
The six state polls in August will not be about the future of Penang, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu alone but also whether Malaysia can reset and return to the original nation-building principles of a plural Malaysia and be world champions again like ensuring that Universiti Malaya is among the top 50 universities in the world.
Let Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, age or gender, unite as Malaysians in the six state polls to build a better tomorrow in Malaysia for our children and our children’s children.
There are political forces that are spreading lies, falsehoods, fake news and hate speech to make Malaysians suspicious about each other and polarise the country, whether based on race, religion or culture, when Malaysia should be the role model of the world in inter-ethnic, inter-religious, inter-cultural and inter-civilisation dialogue, understanding, tolerance and harmony.
This is the big picture and long vision for the six state polls in August.
It is not just about the future of Penang, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.
Even more important, it is also about the future of Malaysia—whether Malaysia’s fate is to be world champions again or to end up as a divided, failed and corrupt state in the coming decades. – June 29, 2023
Veteran lawmaker and retired DAP supremo Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang was the former MP for Iskandar Puteri.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
