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Clean, Efficient And Effective Local Councils That Deliver Services Requires Democratically Elected Local Governments Speech - At The DAP Serdang Combined Branches Meeting On “Restore The Third Vote” Campaign by Lim Guan Eng (Serdang, Sunday): Clean, efficient and effective local councils that deliver services requires democratically elected local governments. BN admits that local councils are badly run. But they are helpless and have no solution to this problem.
The reason that BN can not find a solution to the problems of local government is their refusal to admit that appointed councilors are part of the problem and not part of the solution. Appointed councilors have failed to perform for the past 40 years. This fundamental flaw of denying local democracy has resulted in the continuous failure in provision of basic services, breakdown of facilities and poor provision of amenities, disreputable and corrupt management as well as ineffective and inefficient administration.
Local councilors must be elected by the people or else those not qualified or with questionable backgrounds get appointed. There is no excuse when a communist country such as China and an Islamic country such as Saudi Arabia allow direct democratic elections of village heads and municipal councils. Neither is it logical that we can elect our Prime Minister and Menteri Besar but not our local councilors.
For forty years, Malaysians have been denied their freedoms and their democratic right to choose their local representative. Forty years is a long time to correct a wrong, but such continuous failure can not be allowed to persist. Reclaiming our democratic right is a worthy cause that deserves the support of all Malaysians regardless of race and religion.
The Malaysian Education Ministry’s Inclusion of The Words “Ketuanan Melayu” In The Form 3 & Form 5 School Textbooks Is No Different From Copying Japan’s Example In Rewriting History And Modifying Historical Truth About Japanese War Aggression
The Malaysian Education Ministry’s inclusion of the words “ketuanan Melayu” in the Form 3 & Form 5 school textbooks is no different from copying Japan’s example in rewriting history and modifying historical truth about Japanese war aggression during the Second World War. So far neither the Education Ministry nor the Deputy Education Minister Datuk Han Choon Khim can explain how including the words “ketuanan Melayu” in Form 5 History secondary school textbooks can look after the interests of all Malaysians, especially non-Malays.
There have been furious protests by Asian countries in China, Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia against the Japanese refusal to admit culpability and bear the guilt for their war conquests that caused not only loss of life, injury and destruction but also untold misery to tens of millions of people.
Japanese government’s refusal to acknowledge their wrongs in the Second World War has resulted in strong opposition to Japan’s bid to be a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Asian opposition to Japan being a permanent member was hardened by the Japanese’s 4 refusals which were as follows”
a) Refusal to show unqualified remorse with action for their heinous role in the Second World War; b) Refusal to pay compensation to victims, especially the large numbers of women forced to be sex slaves for Japanese soldiers or build a memorial in Japan for the victims of Japanese war aggression; c) Refusal to stop honouring the Japanese war dead who were involved in the Japanese war aggression; and d) Refusal to change Japanese school textbooks to record the historical truth about the victims of Japanese war aggression such as the Rape of Nanking became a mere incident and instead allowing right-wing scholars to rewrite the textbooks that indicate that the Chinese lived in peace after Nanking fell to the Japanese.
These four refusals of the Japanese explain why its application to be a permanent member is so widely opposed. Sadly the Malaysian Education Ministry has followed Japan’s example in rewriting history and modifying historical truth by including the words “ketuanan Melayu” in Form 3 & Form 5 history textbooks last year when they were never mentioned in any school textbooks for the last 36 years since Merdeka.
There is an urgent need for education to be a force of unity not as a political weapon to divide Malaysians. By adopting the “ketuanan Melayu” concept, the Education Ministry is trying to brainwash students into accepting that the Malays are the dominant race whilst the non-Malays have to be content with being dominated.
MCA may accept such second-class citizens status as long as MCA leaders are comfortable in their Ministerial posts. But DAP believes that the non-Malay community would not accept a discredited racial dominance concept that reduces non-Malays to second-class citizens.
The Education Ministry’s explanation was that “ketuanan Melayu” was merely reflecting reality as part of nation-building concepts after the Second World. In other words, if we accept the historical thinking of the Form 3 & Form 5 history textbooks, our nation is founded on the racial dominance concept of “ketuanan Melayu”. This is not just wrong but completely unacceptable and irresponsible that harms nation-building and national unity.
Racial dominance was the main cause of the Second World War under Hitler’ Nazist ideology, causing much tragic loss of life, bloodshed and suffering. For the Education Ministry to revive this racial dominance concept of “ketuanan Melayu” at our schools to brainwash our students is not just irresponsible but dangerous as it encourages both racial superiority and racial inferiority. MCA must bear full responsibility for failing to defend the historical rights and heritage of all Malaysians as peace-loving, democratic and respect for justice.
DAP reiterates our call that all references of “ketuanan Melayu” be removed from our history textbooks. Our children should be taught as being part of one nation and one Malaysian race not taught the dangerously racist ideology of “ketuanan Melayu” or “ketuanan bukan Melayu”.
(25/4/2005) * Lim Guan Eng, DAP Secretary-General |