Attempts by Barisan MPs to cut the allowance of the Leader of Opposition show that the Leader of Opposition is doing his work, while attempts to cut the salary of Ministers of Deputy Ministers show that Ministers or Deputy Ministers concerned not doing their work

Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Kota Melaka, Lim Kit Siang, when declaring open the Scudai DAP Branch in Johore on Saturday, 20th Nov. 1982 at 6 pm

Attempts by Barisan MPs to cut the allowance of the Leader of Opposition show that the Leader of Opposition is doing his work, while attempts to cut the salary of Ministers of Deputy Ministers show that Ministers or Deputy Ministers concerned not doing their work

During the current meeting of Parliament, various Barisan MPs demanded for the abolition of the post of Leader of Opposition in Parliament. Some Barisan MPs even suggested that there should be a $10 cut in the allowance of the Leader of Opposition.

I am really flattered, for I regard attempts by Barisan MPs to cut the allowance of the Leader of Opposition as indication that the Leader of Opposition is doing his work. This is in a completely different category from attempts to cut the salary of Ministers or Deputy Ministers. This is because a proposal to cut the salary of the Ministers or Deputy Ministers by $10 is indication that the Minister and Deputy Minister concerned is not doing his work!

The Barisan Nasional, after their great overwhelming victory in the April general elections, thought that the voice of the DAP would be silenced. But they were mistaken, for although we suffered a reduction in Parliamentary numbers – and in Peninsular Malaysia we fell from the previous 15 Parliamentary seats to six – the DAP MPs stood firm on their political principles and commitment to speak up for the people, as could be seen by the DAP MPs’ parliamentary performance in the current session.

The DAP has a very difficult battle ahead of us, as with our general elections defeats in April, our voice in Parliament and the State Assemblies had been much weakened. But I do not believe that our defeats in the April general elections was because the people had ceased to support the DAP’s cause of a democratic socialist, genuinely multi-racial Malaysian Malaysia.

The Kepayang victory of the DAP on Oct. 16 had shown that the Barisan Nasional’s general elections success was a ‘freak’; that the MCA’s so-called ‘political breakthrough’ in the general elections was only a ‘breakthrough’ for more MCA leaders to become MPs and Assemblymen.

After the Kepayang by-election defeat, the MCA is trying to regain public confidence in its political image. This is why one MCA thrice-a-week publication has come out with a gimmick, to select the so-called 10 Chinese leaders out of a collection of 50 Chinese leaders, the bulk of whom are MCA leaders. This is an attempt to influence public opinion to try to restore the MCA’s stocks after its disastrous Kepayang by-election defeat.

Party members, and the people at large, must be more discerning about the various tactics and tricks of the MCA to mislead the people. I believe that the MCA may deceive the people for a while, but not for long; as the Kepayang by-election has shown that within a short period of six months, the people have realised that the MCA’s politic breakthrough in fact means even more disastrous losses of their political, economic, educational, social and cultural rights.

The DAP must in the next few years rebuild itself into a stronger force based on mass following and support. This could only be achieved if party leaders and members show discipline, sense of sacrifice, commitment and unquestioned loyalty to the party cause. There will be opportunists who will try to infiltrate into the party for self gain, or to advance the cause of the Barisan Nasional who are their real masters, but such opportunists would be exposed sooner or later.