Category: Economy

DAP calls for withdrawal of 5% Sales Tax increase and the deferring of the $1,900 million defence development expenditure for 1983 until better economic times

Speech by Parliament Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Kota Melaka, Lim Kit Siang, on the 1983 Budget in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday, 25th October 1982.

DAP calls for withdrawal of 5% Sales Tax increase and the deferring of the $1,900 million defence development expenditure for 1983 until better economic times.

Last October, the Finance Minister, Tengku Razaleigh, presented the 1982 Budget deliberately to generate euphoria to win votes in the April general elections, hiding the grim truths of hard economic times from the people. Continue reading DAP calls for withdrawal of 5% Sales Tax increase and the deferring of the $1,900 million defence development expenditure for 1983 until better economic times

DAP calls for the establishment of an Ombudsman by Parliament

Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Petaling, Lim Kit Siang, at the Bedong DAP Branch Thousand-People Dinner to commemorate the Party’s 15th Anniversary help at Bedong New Village, Kedah, on Sunday, 1st Nov. 1981 at 9pm

DAP calls for the establishment of an Ombudsman by Parliament with powers to receive and rectify maladministration, abuse of power and deviations of the New Economic Policy by the Government

In recent years, the Government machinery grew by leaps and bounds and more and more power over the lives of the citizen had been acquired by government officials. Continue reading DAP calls for the establishment of an Ombudsman by Parliament

DAP extremely shocked that Datuk Dr. Neo Yee Pan is defending the correctness and propriety of the Johore State Government’s Sungai Abong and Tanjong Agas deviation of the New Economic Policy

By Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary- General and MP for Petaling, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Monday, October 19, 1981:

DAP extremely shocked that Datuk Dr. Neo Yee Pan is defending the correctness and propriety of the Johore State Government’s Sungai Abong and Tanjong Agas deviation of the New Economic Policy.

I am extremely shocked by the attempt by the MCA National Vice President and Minister of Housing and Local Government, Datuk Dr. Neo Yee Pan, to defend the Johore State Government in the scandalous Sungai Abong and Tanjong Agas public low-cost housing scheme allocations in his Muar Parliamentary constituency. Continue reading DAP extremely shocked that Datuk Dr. Neo Yee Pan is defending the correctness and propriety of the Johore State Government’s Sungai Abong and Tanjong Agas deviation of the New Economic Policy

DAP cables Dr. Mahathir Mohamed to take immediate action to reduce price of sugar to reduce the hardships of the poor

Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Petaling, Lim Kit Siang, when addressing the Petaling DAP Liaison Commission meeting at Petaling Jaya DAP premises on Thursday, 7th May 1981 at 7.30 p.m.

DAP cables Dr. Mahathir Mohamed to take immediate action to reduce price of sugar to reduce the hardships of the poor

Malaysia seems to be at the threshold of another runaway double-digit inflation, with prices of a whole range of goods leapfrogging each other. Continue reading DAP cables Dr. Mahathir Mohamed to take immediate action to reduce price of sugar to reduce the hardships of the poor

The Fourth Malaysia Plan

(Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Petaling, Lim Kit Siang, when speaking on the Fourth Malaysia Plan in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday, 30th March 1981)

The success of Fourth Malaysia Plan will depend on whether it could inspire and commit the energies, talents and resource of all Malaysians, regardless of race, to the challenge of building a united, peaceful, just and prosperous Malaysia

Firstly, I wish to congratulate the Prime Minister, Datuk Hussein Onn, on his speedy recovery from his open-heart surgery, and I commend he gets ample rest before he returns to the rigours of his office. Continue reading The Fourth Malaysia Plan

Role of a Budget

The annual budget should be an instrument of unity to unit Malaysians

(Speech by the Parliamentary Leader, DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Petaling, Lim Kit Siang, in the Dewan Rakyat on the 1981 Budget on October 22, 1980)

The finance Minister, Tengku Razaleigh, in his 1981 Budget, prides himself for presenting a ‘smallman’s budget’

Compared to previous budget, the 1981 Budget has given more thought to the plight of the smallman, for which I commend the Finance Minister. However, the 1981 Budget has not gone far enough to give the smallman his rightful place under the Malaysian sun. Continue reading Role of a Budget

DAP calls for correction of fundamental New Economic Policy implementation defects

(Speech by the Parliamentary Leader, DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Petaling, Lim Kit Siang, in the Dewan Rakyat on the 1980 Budget on October 22, 1979)

The 1980 Budget, presented by the Finance Minister, Tengku Razaleigh, has been generally well-received by the press and the people, in particular with regard to the long overdue increase of personal relief’s for individual taxpayers.

The DAP had consistently called for the upward revision of personal tax reliefs for individuals in this House, as the repeated bouts of inflation and the loss of the purchasing power of the ringgit since the formulation of the income tax laws in the 1940s have made the reliefs derisory! Although long overdue, we commend the Finance Minister for at long last taking heed of the crushing burden borne by the lower income brackets by revising the income tax personal reliefs to more realistic levels. Continue reading DAP calls for correction of fundamental New Economic Policy implementation defects

State revenue growth grants

(Speech by the Parliamentary Leader, DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Petaling, Lim Kit Siang, in the Dewan Rakyat on the Revenue Growth Grants Amendment Bill 1979 on October 11, 1979)

One of the economic imbalances in the country is the imbalance of economic growth between the states, and any Federal Government effort to rectify the economic imbalance between states will get full DAP support.

At present the most economically backward states, from the stand-point of per capita Gross Domestic Product for each state is Kelantan, which has only a ratio of 0.38 of the Malaysian per capita GDP, Kedah/Perlis which has a ratio of 0.54 of the Malaysian average, and Trengganu which has a ratio of 0.60. Continue reading State revenue growth grants

The Bank Rakyat betrayal – the great saboteurs of NEP

(Speech by the Parliamentary Leader, DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Petaling, Lim Kit Siang, in the Dewan Rakyat on the Second Development Supplementary Estimates 1979 on June 24,1979)

Reading the Government White Paper on the Bank Rakyat, and the even more revealing Price Waterhouse Report on the Bank Rakyat, I am reminded of the judgement by the Chief Justice, Raja Tan Sri Azlan Shah, when convicting the former Selangor Mentri Besar, Datuk Harun Idris, of corruption in the Hongkong and Shanghai banking Corporation case in May 1976, that the hearing of the case suggested “a frightening decay in integrity of some of our leaders”. He added: “Its has given horrible illustrations of Lord Acton’s aphorism ‘Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely,’ and has focussed concern on the need of some avowed limitations upon political authority.”

The Government White Paper , and even more so, the Price Waterhouse Report, tells a sordid tale of malpractices, mismanagement and misuse of public trust and funds, causing Bank Rakyat to pile up losses amounting to $65.233 million up to 31st December 1975, although there were attempts to cover up the losses by manipulating the accounts to alter its loss position to show profits, by for instance, including multi-million dollar management charges as income of the Bank for which there was no proper basis. Continue reading The Bank Rakyat betrayal – the great saboteurs of NEP

Industrial Co-Ordination Act short-falls

(Speech by the Parliamentary Leader, DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Petalibg, Lim Kit Siang, in the Dewan Rakyat on the Industrial Co-ordination Act (Amendment) Bill 1979 on June 21, 1979)

Industrial Co-Ordination Act – the cause of $6,224 million short-falls of domestic private investment under Third Malaysia Plan

On December 12 last year, my colleague, the MP for Seremban and DAP National Chairman, Dr. Chen Man Hin, sought to move a private member’s bill to repeal the Industrial Co-ordination Act as “the investment climate, already clouded by a world recession, has worsened because of the ICA.”

The DAP bid was defeated, with the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Datuk Law Sip Hon, painting a rosy picture of expanding investment in Malaysia. Continue reading Industrial Co-Ordination Act short-falls