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Speech by Lim Guan Eng during the Penang DAP State Ordinary Convention in Dewan Tunku, Komtar, George Town on Sunday, 12th December 2010: Leading Penang's future by embracing moderation, rule of law and a government trusted by the people The venue of the Penang State Ordinary Convention, the seat of power of the Penang state government, reminds all DAP leaders and members how far we have come from being an opposition party since 1966. However there is no time to lose if Penang DAP is to maintain the hard-earned gains of democracy, freedom and dignity. Two years from now, the next DAP Penang State Ordinary Convention will be either celebrating in here again with PR winning a second term; or meet in some other place both defeated and miserable as a one-term wonder. Whether we succeed or fail will be determined by decisions made by all of you. Can we stand together united by our hard work, commitment to each other and loyalty to our ideals to make a difference to Penang? The next general elections will decide whether democracy can survive, a people's government can function and integrity in government exist. We have promised to transform Penang and we shall deliver. Let me share with you not just our words of promised changes, but changes that the people can see, touch and feel.
There are many more changes such as implementing open tenders, 50% discounts for license fees of hawkers and fishermen, the stop-work order on MMC-Gamuda on the double-track railway project to prevent massive flooding and restoring dignity to the people with a people-centric government. Theres is so many more changes we need to do such as:-
We must boldly lead Penang's future by embracing moderation, rule of law and a government trusted by the people. What is Moderation? Moderation is justice! We are committed towards our cause for freedom, democracy, justice, truth, social welfare and piety in God. Let no one question our loyalty to the Malaysian Constitution. When BN and their allies accuse DAP of being anti-Malay, anti-Islam, anti-Rulers and anti-Bahasa Malaysia, they could not provide any proof. How can DAP be anti-Malay, anti-Islam, anti-Rulers and anti-Bahasa Malaysia when our struggle is rooted in the Malaysian Constitution itself which enshrines the special position of Malays and bumiputeras, Islam as the religion of the Federation, the status of the Malay Rulers and Bahasa Malaysia as the official language of Malaysia? We refuse to be what we are not. To remove any doubts, DAP amended our party constitution in 2006 to abide fully with the Merdeka Constitution that gave our country independence. However showing what we are not is not enough. We must show what we are. We are Malaysian First. DAP fights for the aspirations of all Malaysian regardless of race and religion. We reject the discriminatory politics of UMNO that insists that we are Malay first, Malaysian second. We also condemn UMNO and their allies for treating as traitors and enemies of Malays those who disagree with their racist ideology of Malay first and Malaysian second. We must not allow UMNO to hijack the Malaysian Constitution to split and and divide Malaysians that it is somehow wrong to fight for all Malaysians. UMNO always cites Article 153 of the Federal Constitution on the special position of the Malays as justification for their racist Malays-only approach. However UMNO invariably fails to mention that Article 153 also mention that the the legitimate interests of other communities must also be protected. Perkara 153 Perlembagaan Persekutuan Adalah menjadi tanggungjawab Yang di Pertuan Agung memelihara kedudukan istimewa orang Melayu dan bumiputera mana-mana Negeri Borneo dan kepentingan-kepentingan sah kaum-kaum lain mengikut peruntukan Perkara ini. Article 153 of the Federal Constitution It shall be the responsibility of the Yang di Pertuan Agong to safeguard the special position of the Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak and the legitimate interests of other communities in accordance with the provisions of this article. In other words, the Malaysian Constitution is about Malaysian First, not Malaysian Second! UMNO's racist mindset of putting race before nation is the reason why the Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi refused to apologise for saying that the low percentage of non-Malays in the armed forces shows a lack of patriotism. Or the derogatory and racist remarks by school principals who instill hate by calling Indians dogs and Chinese are "pendatang" who should go back to China or the BTN official who call Chinese mata sepet and Indians si botol. Or UMNO leaders openly saying they do not need Malay and Indian votes. Worst of all, UMNO's paper Utusan Malaysia even called the bloody tragedy of May 13 1969 where many innocent Malaysians lost their lives a sacred day! How low has UMNO stooped until UMNO can even celebrate the murder of innocent men women and children? Yet no action has been taken against Utusan for such a inhumane and horrifying act of calling May 13 a sacred day and suggesting another May 13. DAP safeguards the special position of Malays and Malaysians by honouring their dignity. In Penang the PR government works together with Class F contractors who are all Malays for contracts below RM200,000. For contracts above RM200,000 there are open tenders where over 70% is won by Malay contractors. Clearly it is not Malay contractors that can not compete, only UMNO ones. Just because we do not work with UMNO contractors do not mean we do not work with Malays. On Islam, PR has doubled the allocation from RM 12.5 million in 2008 during Koh Tsu Koon to RM 23.5 million in 2010, given for Muslim cemeteries and mosques, giving money to Sekolah Agama Rakyat, celebrating para huffaz who memorise the Quran and the Prophet Mohamad Birthday Procession. Rule of Law Economic success depends on a rules based system that promotes clarity and certainty. Rule of law ensures that justice is not only done but also that what you know is more important than who you know. With a rules-based system, no one needs to know someone or a third party to get things done. You only need to know the rules. What you know therefore becomes more important than who you know. The highest accolade for a PR government is not that we are the best Chief Minister or EXCO member but that any member of the public or businessman does not need to know the Chief Minister to get things done. We need rules-based system if we are intelligent cities with integrity. No city can survive without being an intelligent city. Therefore, Malaysia must reverse the brain drain that has driven away 2 million talented Malaysians overseas since 1960. Increasingly many Malays are also leaving, just look at Dubai. Malaysia can no longer afford to lose such human talents. The terrible cost we are paying can be seen by the failure to realize our full economic potential causing Malaysia to lose out to other countries that were far behind us previously. For instance, Gross national income (GNI) per capita of South Korea in 1970 was below that of Malaysia ($260 versus $380), but by 2009, South Korea's was three times larger than Malaysia's ($21,530 versus $6,760). Singapore has also overtaken Malaysia as South-East Asia's third-largest economy, after Indonesia and Thailand. The report cited official estimates that Singapore's gross domestic product (GDP) would grow at its fastest pace this year at 15%, hence generating a value of US$210bil; while Malaysia's 2010 GDP would grow 7% to US$205bil. We have failed as a country to grow the size of its economy and lost out in the race towards economic competitiveness. Singapore is significantly smaller in size and in terms of population, compared with Malaysia. Malaysia is 478 times the size of the republic and its population, at 27 million, much larger than its tiny neighbour's 4.8 million. In addition, the country is not blessed with as much natural resources as Malaysia. And yet, Singapore has been actively transforming its economy over the years and it now stands as the easiest place to do business in the world and an important regional financial hub. Can Malaysia catch up when last year, Singapore's GDP per capita was US$36,537 (up from US$512 in 1965) compared with Malaysia's US$ 6,975 (US$ 335 in 1965)? We must build human capital, develop creativity and promote innovation. We need human and collective intelligence to not just train, retrain and retain human talent but also attract new ones. To do that we must have the basic intelligence infrastructure both physical such as digital and broadband connectivity but also in institutional and integrity terms. A Government Trusted By The People After BN's misrule, the people have learnt not to trust the government. BN's was not only seen as incompetent and corrupt, its governance was seen as an institution that harms rather than helps the people. If we are to retain power at the next general elections, then PR must be a people's government trusted by the people to help and not harm them. PR can be trusted by the people not only by showing competency and honesty, but that we are a people's government that listens to the people, does the people's work and gives hope to the people. No genius wants to work for a fool. A stupid government or private sector will only drive the best and brightest away. Whatever our individual abilities and capabilities, we are only as good as the combined intelligence of our team. If our team is better than us, then we perform above ourself. But if our team is worse than us, then we perform below our own abilities. BN will always use its resources in the media to diminish our strong team spirit and solidarity. BN's efforts will fail if we stand united. But if we fall into BN's trap and publicly diminish our ownselves without first discussing such issues internally, then we risk losing the people's trust we have worked so hard to earn. Integrity in leadership is crucial towards fighting corruption. No point having the brightest people if he or she is a crook as they will only find clever ways to steal everything from us. For this reason, not only must there be open tenders, stern action must be taken against the corrupt. Sadly corruption is the culture of all BN component parties. In MIC, there is the MAIKA Holdings scandal, in MCA the RM 12.85 billion Port Klang Free Trade Zone scandal and in UMNO the RM 52 billion bumi shares scandal. No wonder foreign analysts have estimated up to USD 100 billion has been lost to corrupt practices in Malaysia. The failure to establish a Royal Commission of Enquiry and act against those responsible for such massive corruption is not only a huge financial loss to 27 million Malaysians but helps to increase racial tension and hatred. For instance UMNO relies on racist attacks to distract attention, cover up and avoid answering why BN leaders were allowed to steal RM 52 billion in shares meant for the poor bumi and Malays. If these shares were given to the poor Malays/bumis, the 30% bumi target would have been achieved. However DAP can not move alone. We need to work cohesively in concert with PAS and PKR. Pakatan Rakyat needs to move forward as one. Despite our differences, Pakatan Rakyat offers the best hope to realize the aspirations for all because we are moderate and inclusive as against our exclusive, racist, extremist opponents. There are many in our party, past and present party leaders and members, who sacrificed themselves for their dreams so that we may live in ours. Let us honour them by working together so that we may make everyone's dreams of a country that is intelligent, clean, upholds rule of law and basic human rights, offer equal opportunity for all and respects human dignity that everyone is a Malaysian first and last, come true. For those who wants to see DAP split, let all of us today show our unity and team spirit to disappoint the BN press, crush BN's fantasy of an upset victory in Penang and give fresh hope to the people. Let us lead Penang's future with moderation not extremism; rule of law not personal whims and fancies; as well as a government trusted by the people. Let me end by paying our respects to Tun Dato Seri Utama Dr Lim Chong Eu who passed away on 24 November 2010. Tun was a giant of a man and his achievements marked for posterity with the longest Expressway in Penang of 18km and the PDC Building in Jalan Mayang Pasir named after him. Tun Dr Lim's shoes are too big to fill but we should at least try to follow in his footseps.
*Lim Guan Eng, DAP Secretary General & Penang Chief Minister
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