Month: June 1979

Parliament would have committed a grave abdication constitution responsibility if it refused to annul the Four Proclamations of Emergency of 1964, 1966, 1969 and 1977 when the emergency conditions giving birth to the emergency proclamation have ended

PART ONE of winding-up speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Petaling, Lim Kit Siang, in the Dewan Rakyat on Friday, June 29, 1979, in the DAP motion calling for the annulment of the Four Proclamation of Emergency of 1964, 1966, 1969 and 1977

Parliament would have committed a grave abdication constitution responsibility if it refused to annul the Four Proclamations of Emergency of 1964, 1966, 1969 and 1977 when the emergency conditions giving birth to the emergency proclamation have ended

Yesterday, when moving the motion that Parliament annul the Four Proclamations of Emergency now still in force today, namely the 1964 Proclamation of Indonesian Confrontation, the 1966 Proclamation aimed at toppling Stephen Kalong Ningkan as Chief Minister of Sarawak 1969 Proclamation of May 13 riots, and the 1977 Proclamation to oust PAS from its traditional rule over Kelantan State, I said that the four sets of conditions of the Proclamations have long ceased to exist. Continue reading Parliament would have committed a grave abdication constitution responsibility if it refused to annul the Four Proclamations of Emergency of 1964, 1966, 1969 and 1977 when the emergency conditions giving birth to the emergency proclamation have ended

Abdication of parliamentary responsibility

(Speech by the Parliamentary Leader, DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Petaling, Lim Kit Siang, in the Dewan Rakyat when winding up on the motion calling for the annulment of the Four Proclamation of Emergency of 1964, 1966, 1969 and 1977 on June 29, 1979)

Yesterday, when moving the motion that Parliament annul the Four Proclamations of Emergency now still in force, namely the 1964 Proclamation of Indonesian Confrontation, the 1966 Proclamation aimed at toppling Stephen Kalong Ningkan as Chief Minister of Sarawak, the 1969 Proclamation of May 13 riots, and the 1977 Proclamation to oust PAS from its traditional rule over Kelantan State, I said that the four sets of conditions of the Four Proclamations have long ceased to exist.

Unfortunately, during yesterday’s debate, Barisan and UMN0 back-benchers said a lot, but nobody really explained why for instance the 1964 Emergency Proclamation should continue when Indonesian Confrontation had ended or why the 1966 Emergency Proclamation-should continue when Stephen Kalong Ningkan had been toppled as Sarawak Chief Minister and three general elections had been held in Sarawak since then, or why the 1977 Emergency Proclamation should continue when UMNO is safely in control of the Kelantan State Government. Even for the 1969 Proclamation of Emergency, not a single Government MP dealt cogently, rationally ; soberly with my argument that as it was promulgated to deal with a grave emergency, namely May 13 riots, the Proclamation should be terminated with the end of that emergency situation Continue reading Abdication of parliamentary responsibility

DAP calls for annulment of Four Emergency Proclamations of 1964, 1966, 1969 and 1977 as the emergency conditions giving rise to the Proclamations have ceased to exist

Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Petaling, Lim Kit Siang, when moving a motion in Dewan Rakyat on Thursday, June 28, 1979 to annul the Four Proclamations of Emergency in Malaysia.

DAP calls for annulment of Four Emergency Proclamations of 1964, 1966, 1969 and 1977 as the emergency conditions giving rise to the Proclamations have ceased to exist

Firstly, let me place on record my thanks to the Prime Minister, Datuk Hussein Onn, for agreeing to allocate time for debate on this motion on the annulment of Proclamations of Emergency, although the promised three-day debate has been reduced to two; and although it would be at the expense of my other motion on the establishment of an all-party Speaker’s Conference on Parliamentary Reforms, which I hope and request the Prime Minister to consider granting parliamentary time at the very beginning of the next meeting of Parliament. Continue reading DAP calls for annulment of Four Emergency Proclamations of 1964, 1966, 1969 and 1977 as the emergency conditions giving rise to the Proclamations have ceased to exist

The four Proclamation of Emergency

(Speech by the Parliamentary Leader, DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Petaling, Lim Kit Siang, in the Dewan Rakyat when moving a motion to annul the Four Proclamations of Emergency in Malaysia on June 28, 1979)

Firstly, let me place on record my thanks to the Prime Minister, Datuk Hussein Onn, for agreeing to allocate time for debate on this motion on the annulment of Proclamations of Emergency, although the promised three day debate has been reduced to two; and although it would be at the expense of my other motion on the establishment of an all-party Speaker’s Conference on Parliamentary Reforms, which I hope and request the Prime Minister to consider granting parliamentary time at the very beginning of the next meeting of Parliament.

Mr. Speaker Sir, the motion that I am moving, with slight amendments, now reads: Continue reading The four Proclamation of Emergency

The Bank Rakyat Betrayal (2)

Speech by parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Petaling, Lim Kit Siang, in the Committee Stage of the Second Development Supplementary Estimates 1979 on Tuesday, June 26, 1979

Why UMNO and Barisan Members of Parliament have no sense of outrage at the hundred million dollar betrayal by Bank Rakyat? It is because the list of Bank Rakyat loan defaulters read like an UMNO roll call including State Chief Minister and Exco members?

Last September, the Prime Minister, Datuk Hussein Onn, scolded the UMNO General Assembly because no one had raised the question of Bank Rakyat’s bankruptcy and betrayal of its members who are mostly poor fishermen, farmers, and low-rung government servants. Continue reading The Bank Rakyat Betrayal (2)

DAP calls for a full-scale public inquiry into all public enterprises and companies

Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and Member of parliament for Petaling, Lim Kit Siang, in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday, 25th June 1979 on the second development supplementary estimates 1979

DAP calls for a full-scale public inquiry into all public enterprises and companies to expose and weet out Bank-Rakyat like scandals in their midst to protect hundreds of million of public funds from misuse and misappropriation by the Great Saboteurs of the NEP in these organizations themselves

Reading the Government White Paper on the Bank Rakyat, and the even more revealing Price Waterhouse Report on the Bank Rakyat, I am reminded of the judgement by Chief Justice, Tan Sri Justice Tan Sri Azman Shah, when convicting the former Selangor Mentri Besar, Datuk Harun Idris, of corruption in the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation case, in May 1976, that the hearing of the case suggested “a frightening decay in integrity of some of our leaders”. He added: “It has given horrible illustrations of Lord Acton’s aphorism ‘Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely,’ and has focussed concern on the need of some avowed limitations upon political authority. Continue reading DAP calls for a full-scale public inquiry into all public enterprises and companies

The Bank Rakyat betrayal – the great saboteurs of NEP

(Speech by the Parliamentary Leader, DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Petaling, Lim Kit Siang, in the Dewan Rakyat on the Second Development Supplementary Estimates 1979 on June 24,1979)

Reading the Government White Paper on the Bank Rakyat, and the even more revealing Price Waterhouse Report on the Bank Rakyat, I am reminded of the judgement by the Chief Justice, Raja Tan Sri Azlan Shah, when convicting the former Selangor Mentri Besar, Datuk Harun Idris, of corruption in the Hongkong and Shanghai banking Corporation case in May 1976, that the hearing of the case suggested “a frightening decay in integrity of some of our leaders”. He added: “Its has given horrible illustrations of Lord Acton’s aphorism ‘Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely,’ and has focussed concern on the need of some avowed limitations upon political authority.”

The Government White Paper , and even more so, the Price Waterhouse Report, tells a sordid tale of malpractices, mismanagement and misuse of public trust and funds, causing Bank Rakyat to pile up losses amounting to $65.233 million up to 31st December 1975, although there were attempts to cover up the losses by manipulating the accounts to alter its loss position to show profits, by for instance, including multi-million dollar management charges as income of the Bank for which there was no proper basis. Continue reading The Bank Rakyat betrayal – the great saboteurs of NEP

Industrial Co-Ordination Act short-falls

(Speech by the Parliamentary Leader, DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Petalibg, Lim Kit Siang, in the Dewan Rakyat on the Industrial Co-ordination Act (Amendment) Bill 1979 on June 21, 1979)

Industrial Co-Ordination Act – the cause of $6,224 million short-falls of domestic private investment under Third Malaysia Plan

On December 12 last year, my colleague, the MP for Seremban and DAP National Chairman, Dr. Chen Man Hin, sought to move a private member’s bill to repeal the Industrial Co-ordination Act as “the investment climate, already clouded by a world recession, has worsened because of the ICA.”

The DAP bid was defeated, with the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Datuk Law Sip Hon, painting a rosy picture of expanding investment in Malaysia. Continue reading Industrial Co-Ordination Act short-falls

Security of Work

(Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Petaling, Lim Kit Siang, in the Dewan Rakyat on 13th June 1979)

DAP seeks security of work, retrenchment, redundancy and retirement benefits for workers.

Pursuant to Standing Order 49(1), I rise to move:

“That this House pursuant to Standing Order 49(1) grants leave to the Hon’ble Lim Kit Siang to introduce a Private Member’s Bill intituled Employment Act 1979 (Amendment) to amend the Employment Ordinance (1955) to provide: Continue reading Security of Work

Restoration Of Workers’s Political Rights

(Speech by the Parliamentary Leader, DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Petaling, Lim Kit Siang, in the Dewan Rakyat when introducing a Private Members Bill to amend the Trade Union Ordinance on 11th June 1979)

DAP calls for restoration of the rights of trade union officials to hold office in political parties

I rise to seek leave of the House to introduce a private member’s bill, and my motion reads: Continue reading Restoration Of Workers’s Political Rights