Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leaders, DAP Secretary General and MP for Petaling , Lim Kit Siang, at the official opening of the new premises of Petaling Jaya DAP branch at 21A Jalan SS 21/1A, Petaling Jaya on Thursday, 11th Dec. 1980 at 7 p.m
DAP to set up a watch-dog committee to oversee and supervise the performance and service of DAP MPs and State Assemblymen
The opening of the new premises of the Petaling Jaya DAP Branch marks the resumption of the DAP’s march forward towards our political objective of mobilising greater number of Malaysians to our causes of building a just, equal and genuinely multi-racial Malaysia.
The next 12 months will be hectic months for DAP leaders, branches and members for this is the period when the DAP will gird itself for the challenge of the 1980s with new organisational, political, publicity initiatives.
So long as the DAP, and it leaders, branches and members remain faithful to the political ideals and objective for which the DAP was formed,
whatever storms and hurricanes the DAP faces can only strengthen the DAP’s political effectiveness.
The 1980s will bring new challenge and tests for the DAP, and one of the biggest of the newest challenges the DAP will face in the 1980s is how to deal with the Barisan-controlled press which in normal times will cultivate the image of journalistic objectivity, but at crucial political period like general elections or some problems faced by the DAP, will go all out including inventing report to try to disrupt and destroy the DAP.
In preparing for the challenges of the 1980s, the role and contribution of every State in the country will come under intense review, and I propose in the next few weeks to discuss and meet DAP leaders in Selangor and Federal Territory to make the DAP an even more effective, cohesive and disciplined political movement in Selangor and the Federal Territory.
The DAP will also review the performance of the DAP MPs and State Assemblymen with a view to upgrade their performance and service.
The DAP will set up a watch-dog committee to overseer and supervise the performance and service of DAP MPs and State Assemblymen, and this committee will be headed by Central Executive Committee member, Sdr. Lau Dak Kee.
In this review of party progress, I propose to call a meeting of branches in the Petaling Parliamentary Constituency to establish a Petaling Constituency Liaison Committee to provide a more systematic network of service and political mobilisation in Petaling.
Call on Petaling Jaya Municipality to heed the protests and objection of the people of Petaling Jaya to reduce the scale of increase of assessment.
The move by the Petaling Jaya Municipality, with the backing of the Barisan State Government of Selangor, to revalue properties in Petaling Jaya, has created enormous increases of assessments although the assessment rate has been reduced from 16% to 8% in Petaling Jaya.
The Petaling Jaya Municipality and the Barisan State Government of Selangor should heed the objective of the people of Petaling who face increase of assessment of few hundred per cent, as this would not only lead to spiraling of rentals, but cause another upward movement of prices creating great hardships on the people.
Residents who wish to appeal to the Municipality over the assessment increase, and who need help, can continue to come to the DAP branches and offices in Petaling Jaya where we provide assistance to lodging objective, but the people should remember that the last date for filling of objections is Tuesday, December 16, 1980.
Call on the Education Ministry of explain why the Poh Chai Chinese Primary School construction work has stopped
The DAP, regardless of the personal sacrifices of the leaders or the repression of the Barisan government will continue to stand up fearlessly for the basic right of Malaysian to educational, economic, political, social and cultural justice and equality.
Near the branch premises, we see another instance of gross injustice of the Barisan Nasional Government. In 1977, in Damansara Utama, following approval by the authorities for the building of two primary school, one Chinese and the other national primary school, UMNO objected even to the putting up of a billboard announcing the site of the Chinese primary school in Damansara Utama.
Early this year, pilling work for the Chinese primary school in Damansara Utama started, and was stopped again because of UMNO objection.
Meanwhile the national primary school in Damansara Utama is nearing completion –while the Chinese primary school appears to have been put in cold storage.
The Education Ministry, in particular the Deputy Education Minister, Datuk Chan Siang Sun, should explain to the people not only in Petaling Jaya, but also throughout the country, the reason for such uneven and unequal treatment of the two primary school projects.
Unless the Education Ministry can give the people a satisfactory explanation, the DAP will not allow the matter to rest and will pursue it further.