Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader and the DAP Secretary-General, Lim Kit Siang, when speaking at DAP solidarity dinner held at Raub, on Saturday, 19th November 1977 at 8 p.m.
DAP determined to introduce a strong Opposition into the Pahang State Assembly in the next general elections to ensure that the voice of the rakyat are heard.
The DAP is determined to break the Barisan Nasional monopoly of the Pahang State Assembly, and to introduce s strong Opposition group into the Pahang State Assembly in the next general elections. This will ensure that the voice of the rakyat and the poor will be heard and heeded in the Pahang State Assembly, whereas now, the voices and sufferings of the rakyat are virtually ignored.
One of the biggest problems facing the people of Pahang is the problem of land. It is a measure of the betrayal of the people’s interest that although Pahang has such wide and vast expanse of land, the landless continue to be landless, while the rich and well-connected become even richer and richer through land deals which result in the well-off and people from outside Pahang in getting land which is greatly needed by the Pahang landless.
Land for the landless in Pahang will be one of the DAP’s key general election issues. There has been too much abuse and misuse of powers in Pahang in connection with land.
The National Bureau of Investigation should conduct a full-scale inquiry into the land abuses in the State of Pahang, and I have no doubt that the land abuses in Pahang can keep the NBI busy for a long, long time.
The State of Pahang has been regarded as a ‘black’ state from the security point of view. The Federal and State Governments should consider why this is so, and whether the government policies in the State Government had in any way contributed to massive public frustrations and bitterness.
DAP calls foe a new deal for the poor people in Pahang
The DAP calls on the Federal Government and the Pahang Sate Government to jointly work out a master development plan to give the poor in Pahang, of all races, a new deal so that they could fully participate in and benefit from the economic development of the country.
The present situation where the economic development benefits only the well-off in UMNO and MCA and MIC, while the ordinary rakyat, whether Malays, Chinese or Indians, are left out in the mainstream of development is unhealthy and positively detrimental to the creation of a harmonious and united Malaysian society.
If Pahang is today a ‘black’ state from the security point of view, it is proof of the failure of the Federal and State Governments to bring developmental benefits to the people of Pahang.
The Barisan Nasional’s New Economic Policy has so far succeeded in widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots, and in accentuating the maldistribution of income and wealth in the country. The policy premise of the New Economic Policy that the creation of new rich and millionaires among the Malays to match the Chinese and Indian millionaires is completely unsound and dangerous, for this approach can do nothing to solve Malaysian poverty in general, or Malay poverty in particular.
The DAP calls for a full reappraisal of the New Economic Policy to end the enrichment of the few at the expense of the many.
Call on People of Pahang to come forward and jon the DAP to establish a democratic socialist Malaysia
I call on Malaysians of idealism and conviction in Pahang to come forward to join the DAP in our battle and struggle to create a just and equal Malaysia.
They should join our ranks not only oppose the economic policies of the Barisan Nasional, which is aimed at creating a small class of Malay millionaires, while leaving the Malay poor and non-Malay poor in their poverty, but also to rid our country of corruption, to preserve democratic way of life and defend the basic human rights of Malaysians.
Corruption in Malaysia has become rampant in the country, with UMNO and Barisan political leaders making use of their political positions to exploit the natural resources of the country – which belong to the people. The National Bureau of Investigations has no fully independent powers to combat corruption in high political places, and is therefore not an effective bidy to rid Malaysia of serious corruption.
Democracy and the democratic way of life is also constantly under pressure and threat. What happened in Kelantan is one example of the threat to democracy – where for party interests, the Kelantan State Government was taken over by the Federal Government.
Again, although the Malaysian Constitution guarantees fundamental liberties to Malaysians, the basic human rights have been violated so often that the Malaysian Government has refused to ratify the International Covenant of Political and Civil Rights 1966 passed by the United Nations General Assembly to give protection to human rights throughout the world.
In fact, on Oct. 27, the Barisan Nasional government rejected my motion in Parliament asking the Malaysian Government to ratify the International Covenant of Political and Civil Rights, which spells out the rights of individuals to freedom of speech, assembly, association and freedom from arbitrary arrest.
I think Malaysia must be the first country which has resolved not to ratify the International Covenant of Political and Civil Rights 1966 of the United Nations General Assembly, and which will bring shame and disrepute to Malaysia’s international standing,
If the people in Pahang and in Malaysia are conscious of their rights as citizens, and come forward bravely to help determine and decide Malaysia’s future, to fight for a democratic socialist Malaysia, where economic inequalities are abolished, and democratic and human rights of Malaysians are respected, then we will be creating a better Malaysia for us and our children to live in.