Extracts of speech by DAP Secretary-General, Mr Lim Kit Siang, at the inaugural meeting of the National DAP Rural Oganisation Sub-committee held at the DAP Headquarters in Petaling Jaya on Sunday, 8th August 1971 at 10am
DAP’s Rural Drive
The DAP is now embarked on the second phase of its party programme. This is the organization of the rural areas.
The task of organizing the party in the rural areas is any times more difficult than the organization of the urban areas. In the rural areas, we are going to encounter many obstacles, for instance, the use by UMNO of religion to buttress their political influence.
In the long run, however, the arguments of class and economics, of poverty and exploitation, must prevail over the misuse of religion for political ends.
The DAP is determined to develop a strong rural base, to match the strong urban base which we have succeeded in establishing.
Out message for a democratic socialist, a more just and equal Malaysia is as relevant to the have-nots and the downtrodden in the rural areas as it is to their counterparts in the urban areas.
We in the DAP are equally concerned with the poverty and human suffering in the rural areas as in the urban slums.
The task of the DAP National Rural Organisation Sub-Committee is to spearhead the DAP’s drive into the rural areas.
Although the Committee’s task s very heavy and great, I am convinced that with hard work, dedication and sacrifice, we can get the support of the rural Malaysians – because they also want a better life, for themselves and for their children.