Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary- General and MP for Kota Melaka, Lim Kit Siang, at the meeting of DAP Chinese Education Committee held at DAP PJ Headquarters on Wednesday, May 28, 1986 at 6pm.
Call on Tung/Chiau Chung officials responsible for the 1982 strategy of ‘Attack into the Barisan Nasional to recrify Barisan Nasional’ to admit the grave error of their decision, and to direct these like Ker Choo Ting, Koh Tsu Koon and others who joined Gerakan on this mission to withdraw from Barisan or to lose all forms of Tung/ Chiau Chung support.
With the approach of the next general elections, Tung/ Chiau Chung officials who in 1982 mobilised electoral support for the Barisan Nasional seems to have swerved to the other extreme in wanting to mobilize electoral support for PAS and PAS CCC.
Before these Tung/Chiau Chung officials take a new political step, they owe it to the people, and in particular five million Malaysia Chinese, to fully admit that their 1982 strategy of ‘Attack into the Barisan Nasional to recrify Barisan Nasional’ was a grave error, which had opened the floodgates of the Barisan’s ‘One Language, One Culture’ Policy as well as the Islamisation campaign in the past four years.
In fact, the Tung/ Chiau Chung’s failure to ‘Attack into the Barisan Nasional to recrify Barisan Nasional’ has become very constly to the people on all fronts. We see today widespread and rampant corruption in high political places. Malaysia is swiftly becoming a nation of scandals, with one scandal following on another, like the $2.5 million BMF scandal, the Daim Zainuddin Scandal concerning the two UMBC transactions of Daim family companies, the EPF investment scandal where workers’ monies were used for investment which benefited a mysterious company with $2 paid-up capital, the Pan EL scandal and the Multi- Purpose Holdings Scandal, etc.
Is this one of the fruits of the Tung/ Chiau Chung’s ‘Attack into the Barisan Nasional to recrify Barisan Nasional’ slogan?
The Tung/ Chiau Chung officials responsible for the 1982 strategy of ‘Attack into the Barisan Nasional to recrify Barisan Nasional’ should admit that they had committed a grace and disastrous political mistake, which will not be easy for the Malaysian Chinese to undo.
In fact, they should invite a public debate and discussion as to why they could make such a grave political error with such heavy price being paid by the Malaysian Chinese and the Malaysian People, in terms of the unprecedented erosion of their rights in the past 49 months since the 1982 general elections.
I am mentioning this, not because we want to remind the Tung/ Chiau Chung officials of their grave misjudgment, but because this concerns the entire Malaysian Chinese community, for if we are not prepared to learn from our mistakes, then we are likely to keep on making mistakes, with each time having greater adverse repercussions to the Chinese community and the people of Malaysia.
If the Tung/ Chiau Chung officials concerned admit that their 1982 was a great political mistake, then they should take the next consistent step to direct all those like Ker Choo Ting, Koh Tsu Koon, who had joined the Gerakan with the mission of ‘Attack into the Barisan Nasional to recrify Barisan Nasional’ to withdraw the Gerakan, or they would lose all forms of Tung/ Chiau Chung support henceforth.
These Tung/ Chiau Chung officials had always said that persons and individuals are not important, but only the larger issues, principles and rights of the community. This is time for them to show their consistency.
Of course, if these Tung/ Chiau Chung officials maintain that their 1982 decision of ‘Attack into the Barisan Nasional to recrify Barisan Nasional’ is a correct, wise and commendable decision, this is a different matter. But then, why are then forsaking this slogan for the diametrically- opposite one of wanting to support PAS and PAS CCC, with their objective of an Islamic State and Islamic Constitution?