________________
Media Statement
by Dr Cheah Wing Yin
___________________

(Petaling Jaya, Wednesday) : I am proud and honoured to announce my entry into DAP. As long as I remember, I have always been a supporter of DAP’s vision of Malaysian Malaysia of uniting all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or background with one common vision of Bangsa Malaysia. 

Since DAP was formed in 1966, DAP had steadfastly battled against UMNO domination.  In recent years, I have found UMNO’s highly unMalaysian and increasingly desperate and dangerous ways to maintain domination abhorrent. 

The time has come for Malaysians to stand together with DAP to restore religious freedom, basic human rights and balanced economic growth that benefits everyone equally.  

As a doctor, I can assure you that there must be balance in life. Should there be any domination, balance is disrupted and equilibrium is lost. In this state of disequilibrium there would be sickness or in social terms, injustice and sufferings. 

I am a 53 year old doctor, specializing in psychiatry. I graduated in medicine from University of Malaya in 1979 and continued my post-graduate studies in University of Melbourne in 1988 and also obtained a Masters of Business Administration from University of Bath, United Kingdom in 1999.  

I was a lecturer at the Medical Faculty of University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) from 1986-1992. 

I was formerly the President of Private Medical Practitioners Association of Selangor/Kuala Lumpur from 2000 and President of the Malaysian Mental Health Association in the nineties. Presently I am a private consultant physician with several private hospitals and have two private clinics. 

My family was poor and grew up in the slums behind the old market behind Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. My father was a factory mechanic. He was an upright man, taught us to do the right things and never to claim things not earned by honest work. He was an admirer of courageous leaders who spoke fearlessly and defended the people such as Sdr Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh. 

I desire a Malaysia whereby everyone shows greater interest and respect in each other. And that there is a greater culture of shared interest, a genuine valuing of each other. Not a superficial veneer-thin layer of token Malaysianism, beneath which is much underlying agenda of dominance, superiority and non-authentic good-wishing. 

As a father of 2 children, I am disturbed that UMNO wishes to continue its domination of Malaysia by using divide and rule tactics of race and religion. At a time when we are celebrating 50 years of Merdeka, UMNO has no vision for national unity or economic growth except the discredited racial quota of the New Economic Policy and declaring an Islamic state. 

On the other hand, DAP has continued from its Malaysian Malaysia vision to Malaysian First. I am attracted to the Malaysian First vision presented by DAP Secretary-General Sdr Lim Guan Eng where he said, 

“We have a historical duty to renew our struggle for a Bangsa Malaysia. However this contest must not be seen solely from the perspective of political rights or social injustices but also from the economic perspective of wealth creation and distribution. Malaysian First is a continuation of Malaysian Malaysia with equal economic opportunity as its central core. 

Equal opportunity is not just giving everyone the right to study, the right to work, right to spend what is earned, right to own property and have the state as a servant and not as a master but also about our obligation to help the needy.  No one is fated to be poor just as no one is entitled to wealth. Social justice gives everyone the opportunity to improve their standard of living.  

We must free up the potential of our greatest resource - our human resources. We must empower every Malaysian with economic freedom and equal opportunity to achieve the great Malaysian Dream of success through hard work and ability. 

If we succeed, we can transform Malaysia into a united nation identified with a common destiny sharing values of democracy, freedom, justice, integrity and human dignity. If we fail, we have a sham democracy that can not differentiate between right and wrong.”

For the last 41 years DAP has stood for Malaysian values and Bangsa Malaysia. The time has come for all Malaysians like me to step forward and stand together with DAP for Malaysian First.

(4/7/2007)