By Lim Guan Eng, Secretary General of the DAP
Malaysians must resist any socio-political engineering efforts to change our behavioural template from moderation to extremism, moving from results to racism and the dangerous ideology of special privileges that includes the right to be corrupt and to bully minorities or abuse basic human rights. The proponents of these socio-political engineers are supporters of the ruling status-quo but they spread a dangerous ideology of hostility towards diversity that directly threatens the peace and harmony of our multi-religious and multi-cultural nation.
DAP expresses appreciation for moderate Muslim groups for their support and condemning Minister of Law Nancy Shukri, for justifying the Attorney-General’s refusal to to prosecute Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali for threatening to burn copies of the Bible(in Bahasa Malaysia and Iban) with the term “Allah”, in that Ibrahim was merely to defend Islam which was in line with the Federal Constitution. This justification that defending Islam gives Ibrahim the right to burn the holy book of another religion is contrary to Islamic precepts that prohibits Muslims from burning holy books of another religion.
Such hostility towards non-Muslim and non-Malays can not be the future for Malaysia, especially when in doing so, all the wrongs associated with corruption and abuse of power are either ignored or tacitly condoned. What is the use of appointing a former Transparency International President Paul Low to fight corruption when Malaysia is perceived as one of the most corrupt country in the world, evidenced by the highest outflow of illicit money?
What is so difficult about implementing open competitive tenders, public declaration of assets by elected officials of the government administration or barring close family members of leaders from doing business with the government? If it can be done by PR in Penang, why can’t it be done by BN Federal government?
The Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry Malaysia(MICCI) said recently that Malaysia is 19 years behind South Korea in terms of productivity because of graft, leakages, complacency and archaic labour laws. Malaysia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per worker productivity last year was equivalent to South Korea’s – but in 1995.
On average, a worker in Malaysia in 2013 is as productive as a worker in Singapore 35 years earlier in 1979. Gross domestic product per worker in Malaysia last year is also equal to that of a Japanese worker in 1972, Hong Kong in 1982, Taiwan in 1990. MICCI asked the right question that “Putrajaya is always quick to point out that Malaysia is better than Thailand or Vietnam or Indonesia. But why is Malaysia choosing the worst and not the best to make comparisons?”
Putrajaya’s shocking inability to answer has caused them to turn to and rely on socio-political engineers to focus on emotional ethnic and religious hatred as well as bare-faced lies to distract attention from addressing the real problems. For this reason, the leaders who have failed are asking for the revival of preventive laws not against those who are responsible for oppression and corruption but against those who voice out against such injustices.
Let Deepavali remind us of our sacred duty to shine the light against the darkness of oppression and corruption.
