I was sent by DAP to fly the DAP flag in Malacca and stood as a candidate for the then Bandar Melaka parliamentary constituency in 1969.
I believed that I had discharged the trust and the mandate of the party to the best of my ability from 1969-1986 when I was for three terms MP for Bandar (and then Kota) Melaka and Malacca State Assemblyman.
In my years as elected representative of Malacca, I had raised in Parliament the grievances and legitimate expectations of all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region – whether the economic, political, social and cultural expectations of the Chinese in Malaysia, the plight of the padi farmers and the Felda settlers, the impoverishment of the estate labourers, the grievances of the Orang Asli or the legitimate grievances of the Sarawakians and Sabahans.
I remember that although the thought of becoming a Minister at the age of 30 was tempting, I had no hesitation in rejecting the MCA proposal from the then MCA President, Tun Tan Siew Sin for DAP’s dissolution and join MCA for Chinese Unity as we are not just Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans or Kadazans, we are first and foremost Malaysians.
After the 1986 general election, where I campaigned in Penang to be the front-line state for change and a better Malaysia, Lim Guan Eng took over as the MP for Kota Melaka.
He continued the DAP battle for all Malaysians, and went to jail and was disqualified as a Member of Parliament for fighting the cause of an underaged Malay girl – for DAP is committed to the well-being and welfare of all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region.
This is the first time, and remain the only case, of a political leader going to jail and sacrificing his MPship for championing the cause of a Malaysian involving another race.
That we are first and foremost Malaysians, and not just Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans or Orang Asli, must remain at the very core in the battle for the Malacca state general election on Nov 20, 2021 which is being forced on the Malacca voters in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Lim Kit Siang,
MP for Iskandar Puteri
