PETALING JAYA: The focus on the transition of power is turning into an obsession and there is an urgent need to shift our attention towards the well-being of the country, said DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang (pix).
The Iskandar Putri MP who was on a two-day visit to India recently said, Malaysians abroad shared his sentiments on what is being done to fulfil the pledges in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) manifesto.
“I spent two days in Chennai where I had the opportunity to meet Malaysians in the Tamil Nadu capital.
“Firstly, there is too much obsession with the Prime Minister issue when ordinary Malaysians are more interested whether Pakatan Harapan (PH) government could fulfil the PH promises of a New Malaysia of unity, freedom, justice, excellence and integrity and for Malaysia to be respected and admired by the whole world as a top world-class nation in many fields of human endeavour, whether in good governance in the battle against corruption, far-reaching education reforms in training the workforce for the digital age or in becoming a Tiger economy,“ he said.
PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is the designated successor to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) succession plan.
Kit Siang reiterated his call for the PH government to review the promises it made in the 14th general election (GE14).
“I believe Malaysians can understand that it will not be possible to build a new Malaysia and to undo all the wrongs and injustices of six decades in a year or two, or even in one general election cycle, but the country must be set firmly and solidly on the trajectory of a New Malaysia! Are we doing so?
“This is why I have called for a major review of the PH Manifesto of the 14th General Election and the PH objective of a New Malaysia in view of the disappointments and disillusionment of many Malaysians that reforms and changes under the PH government had not been faster or more far-reaching.”
He also called for an end to the siege mentality that results in everything being viewed in race-tinted glasses.
“This extraordinary situation is one where the Malays feel threatened, the Chinese feel threatened, the Indians feel threatened, the Kadazans feel threatened and the Ibans feel threatened.
“One question all Malaysians must ask: Who is the “Other” in the Malaysian context? Is the “Other” the Chinese and Indians to a Malay Malaysian, the Malays and Indians to a Chinese Malaysian, and the Malays and Chinese to an Indian Malaysian?
“If this is the answer, then we have not yet succeeded in Malaysian nation-building, for the “Other” must be a non-Malaysian, whether from Indonesia, China or India or any other part of the world.”
