Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Kota Melaka, Lim Kit Siang, at the DAP Federal Territory State Committee meeting held at Pudu DAP Branch, Kuala Lumpur, on Thursday, l3.6.l985 at 8 pm.
Local agents of foreign ships in Malacca deprived of their livelihood by Kotena Nasional regulations that disembarking agents of foreign shippers must be bumiputra companies.
The DAP, whether at the national, state or local level, cannot wait for the Barisan Nasional component parties to make more political mistakes or to get involve in more scandals to antagonise and alienate the people, but must actively create political conditions for the people to realise the importance of taking a stand against Barisan Nasional politics in the coming general elections.
lf we just wait for the MCA power struggle between the Neo Yee Pan
and Tan Koon Swan factions to get worse, or the UMNO power struggle to become
more intransigent, or the spate of resignations in Gerakan to reach a new
climax, and we do nothing ourselves, then we are being passive and helpless
agents of change.
We must take initiatives and launch political offensives to change
and create political conditions suitable to the DAP’s political objectives and struggle.
This is why the DAP national leadership has decided to launch a mass
signature campaign starting in Sitiawan, followed up in Perak State, and
later nation-wide, to protest against the injustices and inequalities of the
New Economic Policy.
When the New Economic Policy was proclaimed in l970, government
leaders from the Prime Minister downwards, gave an assurance that the implementation
of the New Economic Policy would not be at the expense of the deprivation or
loss of the rights of any group or person. But l5 years after the implementation
of the NEP, there are teeming examples that such governmental pledge had no
meaning whatsoever.
In Sitiawan, a family company, Boon Brothers, had been conducting a petrol station
business for over 60 years, but at the end of May, was told to stop business,
because the Perak State Government had given a lease of the land on which
the petrol station stands to a bumiputra company, Manjung Development
Sdn, Bhd, to operate a petrol station business! If this is not deprivation
of the right of Boon Brothers because of the implementation of the New Economic
Policy, I do not know what is.
For the last l5 years, the New Economic Policy had been
implemented in wide-ranging areas like trade, finance, economic, housing,
educational and even town planning spheres like the various town Master Plans,
which disregarded the long-standing rights of Malaysians completely
violating the NEP pledge that no person would be deprived or suffer any
loss because of the implementation of the NEP.
I just learnt that local agents of foreign ships in Malacca have
been deprived of their livelihood by Kotena Nasional regulations that disembarking
agents of foreign shippers which transport LPN rice consignments must use bumiputra
companies. As a result, the local agents of foreign ships, which are
non-Malay companies, have been thrown out into the cold.
In every area of economic life, the NEP has failed in its objective to eliminate
poverty or restructure Malaysian society to eliminate the identification
of race with vocation or location.
It is for this reason, that the DAP proposes to launch the mass protest signature campaign
against the NEP injustices and inequalities which have become the chief cause of
national disunity and racial polarisation.
The DAP has formed two committees in preparing for this campaign.
The first committee, which will study and publicise the full dimension of the
NEP injustice and inequality, would be chaired by Sdr. P. Patto, Deputy Secretary-
General and the secretary will be Sdr. Liew Ah Kim, National Publicity Secretary.
The second committee, which will work out the mechanics and be responsible for the
conduct of the signature campaign, will be chaired by Central Executive Committee Member,
Perak DAP, State Chairman and Assemblyman for Kepayang, Sdr. Lau Dak Kee, while its
secretary will be Central Executive Committee Member, Perak DAP State Secretary and
Assemblyman for Pangkor, Sdr. Ding Chek Ming.
DAP forms Policy Studies and Review Committee headed by Dr. Tan Seng Giaw.
The DAP Central Executive Committee has formed various committees
and bureaus to be responsible for various aspects of party work for the next three years.
Some of these committees and bureaus are:
1. DAP Policy Studies and Review Committee
This is a new committee headed by DAP National Vice Chairman,
Dr. Tan Seng Giaw, MP for Kepong. This Committee will study,
review and publicise party policies, whether domestic
or foreign. The DAP Policy Studies and Review Committee will
have its inaugural meeting at the DAP Headquarters in Petaling
Jaya on Sunday, June 16, 1985.
Some of the other committees which had been formed are:
2. DAP Organisation Bureau headed by National Organising Secretary
Sdr. Chian Heng Kai;
3. DAP Publicity Committee headed by National Publicity Secretary
Sdr. Liew Ah Kim;
4. DAP Finance Committee headed by DAP National Treasurer, Sdr. Lee Kaw;
5. DAP Chinese Education Committee headed by CEC Member and MP for
Sungei Besi, Sdr. Chan Kok Kit;
The DAP Central Executive Committee has also decided that DAP national
leaders should make regular visits to branches throughout the country.
A special committee, comprising myself and Deputy Secretary-General
Sdr. Lee Lam Thye, will be responsible for making visits to DAP Parliamertary
and State Assembly constituencies as well as non-DAP constituencies to
get to know the people’s problems and aspirations, as well as to let them
know the DAP’s objective in our political struggles.
The first such constituency visit was made in Raub last week,
and the second one would be made to Jelutong.
The full composition of the above-mentioned committees and
bureaus, as well as other committees, would be announced at a future date.