Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tunjung, Lim Kit Siang, at the official opening of the Malacca State Convention 1987 on Sunday, 7.6.1987 at 10.a.m.
Urgent cable to MCA and Gerakan a Ministers to do their duty to 588,000 depositors by getting Cabinet on Wednesday to adopt the principle of full cash refund by latest March 1989
I have sent urgent cables to the four MCA Ministers, Datuk Dr. Ling Liong Sik, Lee Kim Sai, Chan Siang Sun and Ng Cheng Kiat and the Gerakan Minister, Datuk Dr Lim Keng Yaik to do their duty to the 588,000 co-operative depositors by getting the Cabinet on Wednesday, June 10, to adopt the principle of full cash refund to the depositors, including interest, by latest March 1989.
In my separate cables to the MCA and Gerakan Ministers, I also said:
“Depositors will be gravely disappointed if MCA and Gerakan Ministers continue to fail them in the Cabinet, as the highest-level government decision is needed to bail them out.
“You should understand that if you cannot get the Cabinet to do justice to the depositors by ensuring a full cash refund by March 1989, there is no point in your continuing in the Cabinet. You must there fore do your duty to the depositors on June 10 and give them the good news after Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.”
DAP can feel proud of our role to demand justice for the 588,000 depositors when MCA and Gerakan had abandoned them, and will continue to be in the forefront to champion the rights of the depositors
The DAP can feel proud of our role to demand and fight for justice for the 588,000 co-operative depositors in the last ten months, when both the MCA and Gerakan had virtually abandoned them to Bank Negara officials and the receivers.
I dare state that if not for the DAP’s uncompromising stand in Parliament and even in the streets keeping alive the issue of the sufferings of the 588,000 co-operative depositors in the past ten months, the cause of the depositors would have been a lost and dead one by now.
Although the battle for justice to the 588,000 depositors had taken a new development, the battle is not over yet , and the DAP will be particularly vigilant to ensure that nobody in any political party or in Cabinet and Government would be up to any trickery to deceive the depositors of their right to full refund of their co-operative monies.
It is important however that the 588,000 depositors should know where the primary battle for full refund has to be fought – not in Bank Negara, or receivers’ offices, but in Cabinet!
Why appoint receivers in the first place if the Cabinet had agreed in the first place to full refund to depositors?
It is most regrettable that in the past ten months, the MCA and Gerakan Ministers had failed to safeguard the rights and interests of the depositors when the Cabinet first met and took policy decisions on the issue.
In fact, the receivers should not have been appointed for the 24 DTCs, for what is the purpose of appointing such receivers if the Government or Cabinet is prepared to agree to the full refund of co-operative monies to the depositors?
If the MCA and Gerakan Ministers had been responsible and conscientious in their duties, and got the Cabinet to agree to the principle of full refund to the 588,000 depositors, the last ten months could have been better spent on devising a formula to implement the full refund principle, instead of appointing receivers.
The question now is when the Cabinet is going to adopt the principle of full refund to the depositors – whether it is going to be this Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting, or in another 10 months or 10 years?
The depositors are now confused with conflicting claims and even plans by the MCA and Gerakan. In my view, all these plans are not important, as the only important thing now is to get the Cabinet to agree to the principle of full refund to the depositors, inclusive of interest, by latest March 1989. Once such a principle is established, the drawing up of a plan to implement the decision is a simple one.
I hope the MCA and Gerakan Ministers are not again misleading and deceiving the people, as had happened on a variety of issues, like the repeal of Section 21(2) of the 1961 Education Act, the ARE nuclear waste issue in Perak, illegal Indonesian immigrants, etc.
Both MCA and Gerakan leaders had been fond of alleging that there is a conspiracy which “Uses Chinese to control Chinese.” From the recent conflicting claims and mutual back-stabbing of MCA and Gerakan leaders over the co-operative issue, the people may be entitled to ask as to whether they are seeing this conspiracy of ‘Using Chinese to control Chinese’ at work in the Barisan Nasional itself!
DAP 1990S Movement Task Force to go on a two-month nation-wide tour in August/September
The DAP had formed a DAP 1990s Movement Task Force with two objectives:
(i) to make Malaysians to have longer-term political perspectives, and in particular to be aware that Malaysia in the 1990s will be decided by their political action or inaction now;
(ii) to be the executive arm of the DAP Central Executive Committee, to reach out to the branches and members in a more regular and intimate manner than is possible with the national leadership at present.
The DAP 1990s Movement Task Force, which is headed by DAP Deputy Secretary-General, Sdr, Ahmad Nor, has the specific mission to gear the party as well as the people to the need to work now or changes in Malaysia in the 1990s.
In August and September, the DAP National Task Force will go on a country-wide tour, and this will represent an important political offensive and initiative of the Party in preparation for the next general elections, which will greatly determine and influence the early years of Malaysia in the 1990s.
Voters Registration Campaign from June 16 to July 27
Political rights of Malaysians are illusory and meaningless unless they are fully exercised, especially during elections to decide who should be the MPs or Assemblymen in the area, and form the government of the state or nation.
Unfortunately, in Malaysian, there are large numbers of Malaysians who are eligible to vote who cannot cast their vote during elections, because they have not registered on the electoral rolls. There is no doubt that there is a higher incidence of registration of eligible Malay voters as compared to eligible non-Malay voters. This means that more Malays exercise their political rights than non-Malays.
The DAP calls on all Malaysian, regardless of race, to ensure that they are registered voters, for they will have forfeited the right to complaint about injustice, inequality, corruption or discrimination in the country. The voters’ registration campaign will be held on June 16 till July 27 this year, and this is the time for those who had not registered as voters to sign up. The DAP has formed a National Voters’ registration Campaign Committee, headed by Sdr. Lee Lam thye, and comprising Sdr. Fadzian Yahya, Sdr. P. Patto (Secretary) Sdr. Gooi Hock Seng and Sdr. Hu Sepang to ensure a maximum registration of eligible voters.