Category: By-Elections

The importance of Kajang

Speech by DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Bandar Melaka, Mr. Lim Kit Siang, at a Kajang by-election rally at Suntex Garden, on Tuesday, 30th October 1973 at 8 p.m.

Kajang voters urged to come out to the polls to vote solidly against the Alliance and for the Rocket to protest against rising food prices

Malaysians have just celebrated Deepavali and Hari Raya. Despite government talk of progress, prosperity and economic growth, the Deepavali and Hari Raya this year is the most subdued in recent years, for the simple reason that the people’s purchasing power are shrinking from day to day.

Food prices have shot up at a rate unseen in this generation, closely followed by the prices of all commodities and essential needs. Whether the products are imported from abroad or manufactured locally, they have all gone up in prices in large chunks.

Thus, while the poor become poorer, and more and more become unemployed, Alliance tycoons and compradors reap the fortune and profits of the sharp price increase for foodstuffs and commodities.

This is why the Alliance Government has allowed prices to catapult unchecked.

At this rate, the coming Christmas and Chinese New Year will be even more subdued, for by then, the people’s purchasing power would have become even less, with more price increases taking place.

The people of Kajang have an excellent opportunity this coming Saturday to register not only their protest, but the protest of the people of Malaysia, against the expensive food and high cost of living in the country, while their incomes remain static.

Let a vote in Kajang on Nov. 3, be a vote against rising prices. It is important that the people should come out to vote, for any low percentage of voting will benefit the Alliance, and give the Alliance a mandate to let prices soar up further.

However, it is essential that the voters of Kajang should not allow their votes to be split, for this again, will only benefit the Alliance

All concerned, whether it is the Alliance, or even the Pekemas President, Dr. Tan Chee Khoon, have admitted that the battle in Kajang is between the DAP and the Alliance. So let the people of Kajang cherish their vote on Nov. 3 and solidly vote for the Rocket to demonstrate the people’s protest against the Alliance policy in allowing prices of foodstuffs and all commodities to soar unchecked.

The importance of Kajang

Although the Kajang by-election cannot change the Selangor State Government, a solid popular vote by the people of Kajang will go a long way to force the Alliance to re-appraise the whole spectrum of its economic, educational, political and cultural policies if they are not to lose even more popular support in future. This will benefit the people and country.

Call on the voters of Kajang to vote for the DAP Charter for New Village Revolution on 3.11.1973

Speech by DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Bandar Melaka, Mr. Lim Kit Siang, at a Kajang by-election public rally at 11m.s. Cheras New Village on Monday, 22.10.73 at 9p.m.

Call on the voters of Kajang to vote for the DAP Charter for New Village Revolution on 3.11.1973

For over 20 years, through four Five-Year Plans of the Alliance Government – the First Malaya Plan 1956-60, the Second Malaya Plan 1961-65, the First Malaysia Plan 1966-70 and the Second Malaysia Plan 1971-75 – the 900000 new villagers in Malaysia have been ignored, neglected, starved of development funds and excluded from the mainstream of economic, social, educational and cultural development.

The 900000 new villagers suffered in silence for one full generation. What was more tragic was that not only had the government forgotten them, the people and the nation as a whole had also forgotten them and did not know or were not concerned that the 900000 new villagers were economically, socially, educationally and culturally deprived.

The DAP decided that the suffering by one full generation of new villagers was enough, and that the second generation of new villagers should not re-live the miseries and neglect of their people. Continue reading Call on the voters of Kajang to vote for the DAP Charter for New Village Revolution on 3.11.1973

Prices Inflation: COLA and Sales Tax

Speech by DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Bandar Melaka, Mr. Lim Kit Siang, at a Kajang by-election public rally at Reko Road, Kajang Town, on Sunday, 21st Oct. 1973 at 9 p.m.

Prices Inflation: COLA and Sales Tax

Yesterday, the Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak, announced a special allowance for government employees drawing $500 and less ranging from $15 to $30.

The payment of $15 to$30 to public sector employees below the $500 salary point is clearly inadequate to help the low and fixed-salaried government workers to cope with rising prices, especially of foodstuffs and basic essentials. Thus, many individual food items have shot up from 50 to over 100%.

The payment of cost-of-living allowance, especially to low-paid employees, should bear more realistically to the steep rise in prices of essential commodities in the last two years, and the DAP calls on the government to double the special allowance so that the payment rises to a maximum of $69 to the lowest salaried groups in the government service. Continue reading Prices Inflation: COLA and Sales Tax

The significance and meaning of the Kajang by-election

Speech by DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Bandar Melaka, Mr. Lim Kit Siang, at the first DAP Kajang by-election public rally at Kajang town on Tuesday, 16th October 1973 at 9.30 p.m.

The significance and meaning of the Kajang by-election

Although the Kajang by-election concerns only a Selangor State Assembly seat, its significance ranges far beyond Kajang or the Selangor State Assembly.

What is at issue is not merely whether the son of an Alliance Assemblyman has the right to succeed to his late father’s seat, as if it is part of family property, but whether the Alliance record of the past 18 years, especially those of the last four years, should receive public endorsement.

This is because although the voters of Kajang will be voting as to who is to be their new State Assemblyman, they will in fact be asked to endorse the entire spectrum of Alliance political, economic, educational and cultural policies and record, especially those of the last four years.

It would be useful to review the Alliance record in the political, economic, educational and cultural fields before the Kajang voters go to the polls to pass judgement on them on November 3. Continue reading The significance and meaning of the Kajang by-election

Why Sabah police had obstructed the USAP from contesting the ELOPURA State by-election?

Statement by Opposition Leader and Secretary-General of DAP, Mr.Lim Kit Siang, at a Press Conference given by Incik Nuai Chin, Secretary-General of USAP at Jalan Sultan, Kuala Lumpur on Friday, 17th August 1973 at 12 p.m.

Call on the new Home Affairs Minister, Tan Sri Ghazalie Shafie, to inquire as to why Sabah police had obstructed the USAP from contesting the ELOPURA State by-election on August 4

All Malaysians, I am sure, share with me the sense of shock on hearing Incik Nuai Chin’s disclosure as to how the USAP was prevented from nominating its candidate, Dr. Yap Pak Chau, for the ELOPURA Sandakan State seat on August 4, enabling the Sabah Alliance candidate to have an uncontested walkover.

As Incik Nuai Chin rightly pointed out, such high-handed police action makes a mockery of the Alliance’s professed commitment to the building of a democratic society, as enshrined in the Rukun Negara principles. Continue reading Why Sabah police had obstructed the USAP from contesting the ELOPURA State by-election?

DAP calls for a two-pronged policy to reduce the economic burden of defence

Speech by DAP Member of Parliament for Bandar Melaka, Mr. Lim Kit Siang, in the Dewan Rakyat during the Committee Stage debate on Ministry of Defence on 22th January 1973

DAP calls for a two-pronged policy to reduce the economic burden of defence by introducing compulsory national service and giving secondary civilian economic function to the armed forces

Years by years, the expenditures for the Ministry of Defence increase by leaps and bounds.

In 1965, the operating expenses of the Ministry of the Defence was $207 million. For this year, the operating expenses is $580 million, a three-fold increase. Even if we take into account the transfer this year from the development expenditure into the operating expenses, the increase in the recurrent annual expenditure in the last eight years is more than doubled.

This is a very serious state of affairs, as defence is one of the major items of government expenditure. If defence expenditures are allowed to increase yearly unchecked and unrestrained, the proper social, economic and educational development of the people and country are going to be distorted and retarded. Thus, as an example, there was a Ministry of Housing eight years ago, but today, there is hardly and funds allocated to the provision of housing for the millions of homeless in the country. Continue reading DAP calls for a two-pronged policy to reduce the economic burden of defence

Despicable and dirty election tactics in Kuala Kedah by-election

Press Statement by Member of Parliament for Bandar Melaka, Lim Kit Siang, on 20.1.1973

I am shocked to receive reports that the Alliance election workers in Kuala Kedah have resorted to the most despicable and dirty election tactics on the last day of the parliamentary by-election.

For today’s polling day, Alliance election workers are flooding Kuala Kedah constituency in tens of thousands of copies of spurious, false, counterfeit joint appeal purported to be signed by the Independent Candidate, Cik Siti Nor Binti Hamid Tuah and his father, Cik Hamid Tuah, urging the voters to vote the Alliance.

In this ‘cooked-up’ appeal, Cik Siti and his father were alleged to have said that they have realized that they were being made used off by opposition parties to betray the race and country.

The Alliance election strategists, in fear of a trouncing, are resorting to this despicable tactic on the last day – in order to create maximum confusion and damage as the Independent Candidate would have no time to rebut and expose the trickery and deception. Continue reading Despicable and dirty election tactics in Kuala Kedah by-election

DAP calls on Elections Commission to co – operate with Opposition Parties by furnishing them with forms to Register voters

DAP Secretary – General and Member of Parliament for Bandar Melaka, Mr. Lim Kit Siang, today issued the following statement:

DAP calls on Elections Commission to co – operate with Opposition Parties by furnishing them with forms to Register voters

For the first time in the history of Malaysia, the Elections Commission has refused to give forms to register voters to Opposition Parties to help in the registration of eligible voters. Continue reading DAP calls on Elections Commission to co – operate with Opposition Parties by furnishing them with forms to Register voters

The Results of the Rembau-Tampin by-election : An analysis

Issued by DAP Information Bureau

The Results of the Rembau-Tampin by-election : An analysis

The DAP Secretary-General, Sdr. Lim Kit Siang, has written to the Chairman of the DAP Rembau-Tampin Parliamentary by-election sub-committee, Sdr. Oh Keng Seng , commending the sub-committee and the DAP collection workers for a creditable showing in the by- election.

The lottery by Sdr. Lim Kit Siang reads as follows: Continue reading The Results of the Rembau-Tampin by-election : An analysis

The Results of the Rembau-Tampin by election: An analysis

Speech by DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Banda Melaka, Mr. Lim Kit Siang, when speaking to Malacca State Sub-Committee on Tuesday, 11th July 1972 at 7p.m. at 33A Jalan Munshi Abdullah , Malacca.

The Results of the Rembau-Tampin by election: An analysis

The main objective of the DAP’s participation in the Rembau-Tampin Parliamentary by-election was to begin the long political struggle to win over the Malay rural masses to democratic socialist Malaysian Malaysia. Continue reading The Results of the Rembau-Tampin by election: An analysis