I call on all Malaysians to campaign for the Malaysian Dream in the six state polls on August 12 so that Malaysia can rise again and be a great world-class nation and to avoid the fate of a divided, failed and corrupt state.
We want not only Chew Seh Yong to be re-elected as Negri Sembilan State Assemblyman for Lobak, Aminuddin Harun returned as the Negri Sembilan mentri besar, but Malaysia to rise up again to become a great world-class nation.
There are those who think that the six state polls on August 12 concern only Negri Sembilan, Selangor, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu and have nothing to do with the rest of Malaysia or Malaysia as a nation.
They cannot be more wrong.
The six state polls on August 12 is probably the most important elections in the history of Malaysia.
For the last few decades, Malaysia has been in national decline, losing out to Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and even Vietnam.
We are in danger of losing out to China, Indonesia, and India in the near future. We will lose to Indonesia and China in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index before 2030 – unless we buck up in our anti-corruption campaign.
The six state polls on August 12 will not topple the Anwar unity government at the national level but it will decide whether Malaysia will powerfully reverse the national decline or whether the Perikatan Nasional (PN) will succeed in defeating the Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional plan for Malaysia to rise again and become a great world-class nation – whether the nation continues to pursue the Malaysian Dream or otherwise.
The Malaysian Dream started in Seremban in Negri Sembilan when the DAP was formed in 1966 under the chairmanship of a great Malaysian patriot, Dr. Chen Man Hin.
When we started in 1966, we had six branches, but now we have more than 200 branches.
When DAP fought the first general election in 1969, we had less than 2,000 members. Now, we have more than a hundred times the membership.
Our commitment to the Malaysian Dream was stated in the great cultural public debate in November 1968 where I said 55 years ago: “Malaysia is a multi-racial nation and does not belong to any one particular race but belongs to all races who have made the country their home”.
In pursuit of the Malaysian Dream, we do not want a second Malaysian Diaspora. In the first Malaysian Diaspora, some two millions Malaysians emigrated worldwide to make other nations like Singapore great.
We want Malaysians to stay in Malaysia to make Malaysia a great world-class nation.
For the first time in the 21st century, we have a Prime Minister who understand the Malaysian Dream.
The Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim recently spelt out his Malaysia vision in Ekonomi Madani which among others, has the following objectives:
- Top 30 biggest economies in the world in terms of nominal gross domestic products. Malaysia currently ranks 35.
- Top 12 in IMD World Competitive Index. The current rank is 27.
- Top 25 in the UN Human Development Index. Current rank is 62.
- Top 25 in the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI). Current rank is 61.
It is in conformity with the Malaysian Dream which started in Seremban 66 years ago that Malaysia should a great world-class nation – to be one of the world’s 30 biggest economies, world’s 12th most competitive economy, world’s top 25 countries in fighting corruption and the world’s top 25 countries in the UN Human Development Index.
We want our universities and health system to be among the world’s top 25.
But we need the support of the people in the six state polls on August 12.
We not only want Negri Sembilan, Selangor and Penang to be world-class, we want Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu to be like Selangor, Penang and Negri Sembilan and not Selangor, Penang and Negri Sembilan to be as poor and under-developed like Kedah, Kelantan and Terenggganu although this will not be achieved overnight but would take years and even decades.
We all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region must be united in pursuit of the Malaysian Dream.
Let us start with the six state polls on August 12.