Speech by DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Bandar Melaka, Lim Kit Siang, at a DAP Public Rally at Bekok Johore on Friday, 14th June 1974 at 8 p.m.
1. DAP calls for a ban on land alienation to foreign syndicates or companies until the crying needs of Malaysian landless for land have been met
Land is a source of wealth. It is also a source of corruption. Underhand land deals have brought ill-gotten riches to many supporters and leaders of the ruling party, while the genuine landless continue to be deprived and landless.
Large areas of land continue to be alienated to foreign companies or syndicates in preference to the claims of the Malaysian landless, and the State of Johore is a good example. It would appear that the Johore State Government is more interested in alienating land for foreign companies than giving land to the landless, whether in the kampongs, new villages or estates.
The DAP calls for a ban on land alienation to foreign syndicates or companies or local capitalists until the crying needs of the Malaysian landless for land have been met.
2. DAP wants the economic imbalance between Malaysians and foreigners to be rectified
The New Economic Policy and the Second Malaysia Plan talks about the restructuring of Malaysian society to correct economic imbalance, so as to reduce and eventually eliminate the identification of race with economic function.
It is one of the greatest myths of the Second Malaysia Plan drawn up and supported by the UMNO, MCA, Gerakan, PPP, PAS and MIC that the Chinese and Indians are rich while the Malays are poor. In fact, the overwhelming majority of the Chinese, Malays and Indians are poor. The real wealth of the country is not in the hands of the Chinese, Indians, or Malays, but in foreign hands.
In 1970, foreign ownership of the total share capital of limited companies operating in Penisular Malaysia was 60.7%. foreign interests still account for one-half to three-quarters of the share capital of limited companies in estate agriculture, mining, manufacturing, wholesale trade, banking and finance. They still account for more than one-third of the share capital of limited companies in construction, retail trade and other industries.
70.8% of the corporation sector of modern agriculture and 57.2% of the corporate sector of modern industry are owned by foreigners. 55.5% of the rubber estates, 73.2% of the oil palm estates, 66.7% of the coconut estates and 57.1% of the tea estates in the country are owned by foreigners.
The economic imbalance that must be rectified is the imbalance between Malaysians and foreigners, rather than between Malays and non-Malays.
There should be no more talk about the economic imbalance between Malays and non-Malays, until the economic imbalance between Malaysians and foreigners have first been tackled with.
It is for this reason that the DAP calls for a thorough review and change of the present government policy which permits such preponderant and unhealthy dominance of the foreign interests over the economy, jeoperdising not only Malaysia’s national economic independence, but also the full participation by Malaysians in our economic and natural resources.