Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Petaling, Lim Kit Siang, when addressing the new Selangor/Federal Territory DAP State Committee at its first meeting at KL DAP premises, 63-D Jalan Sultan, Kuala Lumpur on Monday 13th July 1981 at 7.30 p.m.
Gerakan’s ‘ambivalent stand will encourage Suhaimi and his kind to espouse and demand extremism to be integrated into the New Economic Policy in the 1980s
Two days ago, Gerakan Deputy President, Datuk Paul Leong said Gerakan did not wish to “waste time” criticising the UMNO Youth leader, Datuk Haji Suhaimi Kamaruddin, for calling on the Government to restrain non-bumiputra growth on the ground that the statement did not reflect the official view of the UMNO leadership.
This appears to be the first official stand by Gerakan following my letter to the MCA, Gerakan, SUPP and MIC inviting their Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries and Members Parliament to join all DAP MPs in the next Parliamentary meeting to move a motion to condemn Suhaimi for his extremist and chauvinist speeches which gravely undermine national unity.
I have not received a reply yet from Dr. Lim Keng Yaik, the Gerakan President, but if what Datuk Paul Leong said represented Gerakan and his kind to espouse and demand extremism to be integrated into the New Economic Policy in the 1980s.
Datuk Leong said the Gerakan believed that Suhaimi’s view did not reflect official UMNO policy. Datuk Leong appears to be very naïve, for whether Suhaomi’s extremist demands represent UMNO policy or not depends on whether such views find widespread support from the UMNO rank-and-file and the various leadership levels- which, in a multi-racial society, again is dependant on the preparedness of the forces of moderation and reason to oppose extremism and chauvinism of any form from raising its ugly head.
For instance, a few months ago, Datuk Suhaimi successfully opposed acquisition of UMBC by Multi-Purpose Holdings Bhd. Can Datuk Leong now say this was not representative of UMNO leadership?
Last year, Suhaimi made the extremist calls for the imposition of control on the economic grwoth of non-Malays, the raising of housing quota in housing schemes for bumiputras from 30% to 55%, and the implementation of Clause 21(2) of the 1961 Education Act to convert Chinese and Tamil primary schools into national primary schools.
What did the Gerakan do then? It kept quiet, again signalling Suhaimi that the Gerakan has no strong objections to his demands. And to cap the Gerakan’s ambivalent stance, Suhaimi was invited and treated as a guest-of-honour at a Getakan branch function in Sekinchan immediately after his extremist and chauvinist demands in June last year.
I hope the Gerakan Central Committee will give deeper thought and consideration to the DAP’s proposal to Gerakan Ministers, Deputy Ministers and MPs to condemn Suhaimi to nip in the bud such extremist demands, for if the Gerakan is not prepared to make such a stand, then O do not see what else Gerakan is capable of doing in terms of defending the basic rights and interests if Malaysian citizens of all races, and of future generations.
Although Datuk Leong said that the policy of the Government was not decided by the youth wing of a component party of the Barisan Nasional, there is no doubt that as the position stands at ptessent, the UMNO Youth is capable of influencing Government Policy more effectively and permanently than the entire Gerakan.