Speech by DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Bandar Melaka, Lim Kit Siang, at a DAP Public Rally at Serdang Bahru new village on Saturday, 11th May 1974 at 8 p.m.
DAP Proud that it is not only the most credible opposition in Malaysia, but is the only opposition party in West Malaysia which won both Parliamentary and State seats in the last general elections which have stood firm and steadfast by the people
The Democratic Action Party can rightly be proud that it is not only the most credible opposition party in Malaysia, but is the only opposition party in West Malaysia which won both Parliamentary and State seats in the last general elections which have remained faithful to the hopes, aspirations and the mandate of the people.
In the 1969 general elections, the opposition parties which have won Parliamentary and State seats, apart from the DAP, were the Parti Islam, Gerakan Rakyat and the People’s Progressive Party.
All these three parties have betrayed their own political principles and the trust of the people.
The Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia, for instance, campaigned on the platform of denying the Alliance the two-thirds majority in Parliament so that it could not change and tamper with the Constitution as its whim and fancy.
But the first thing the Gerakan MPs did in Parliament was to provide the Alliance the two-thirds majority that they lacked so that the Malaysian Constitution could be drastically changed to abridge the freedom of speech of the people, and to enable MPs and State Assemblymen to be charged for sedition for articulating the voice of the people in the State Assemblies and the Parliament. The eight Gerakan MPs at that time were Dr. Tan Chee Khoon, Yeoh Teck Chye, Dr. Lim Chong Eu, Mustapha Hussein, V. Veerappen, Gabirel, V. David, and Ng Hoe Hun).
Not long after, the whole Gerakan party was pawned to UMNO as price for entering the National Front.
The story of the PPP and the Parti Islam are the same.
Although the DAP experienced defections and betrayals by some MPs and State Assemblymen, the DAP as a whole has stood up well to the test of time. In fact, it can be said that of all the opposition parties in the 1969 general elections, the DAP remains as the only one which have not betrayed the electorate, although we were not without our opportunists and traitors.
It is because of the DAP’s steadfastness and dedication to the cause of championing the rights of the downtrodden people that there are so many forces in the country which would like to see the DAP disintegrate, or go the way of the Gerakan and the PPP.
The leadership of the DAP will not allow the DAP to be wrecked by the opportunists from inside, nor would be allow the DAP to betray the people and follow the footsteps of Lim Chong Eu and Seenivasagam.
This is why, for instance, the DAP Disciplinary Committee had to expel Yap Pian Hon and his clique in Serdang, because they were not prepared to abide by the decision of the Party Congress to unequivocally oppose the concept of National Front, for the simple reason that this is the latest fraud on the people.
It is because the DAP, despite its problems, have been able to gain momentum and strength throughout the country, that there are many forces which are racking their brains to try to stall our progress. This is why there are so many professional mourners and vultures who at the slightest excuse would prophesy the end of the DAP.
Thus in June 1972, when Goh Hoch Guan was expelled from the Party for gross party indiscipline, a whole chorus of political leaders, both inside and outside the Alliance, predicted the end of the DAP. In fact, Tun Razak said that time that DAP has entered the grave.’
But 18 months later, in January 1974, Tun Razak had to go to Penang and appealed to MCA and Gerakan to help the UMNO to fight the DAP – a three-to-one contest. There is no better testimony than this that the DAP, far from ‘running out of steam’ or ‘disintegrating’, have gone from strength to strength as to worry the National Front leaders.
In the last few weeks, we lost two State Assemblymen in Selangor, one was expelled and the other declared that he had changed his political views and resigned.
These are local problems which will not be able to check the onward march of the DAP throughout the country, for the good reason that the people at large realize that the politics of the National Front is no different from the politics of the Alliance, which they rejected overwhelmingly in the 1969 general elections.
Of course, if we are in political because we are solely interested in the advancement of one or a small group of persons, there is no better way than to team up with the National Front. But we in the DAP, who remain steadfast to our beliefs and principles, are not interested in the advancement or enrichment of one, two or a small group of persons, but in the future and well-being of the new generation of Malaysians. We are prepared to make sacrifices so that the new generation of Malaysians can lead a better and more fulfilling life. Those who want to sacrifice the future and well-being of Malaysians for their personal advancement and selfish ends have no place in the Democratic Action Party.