Twenty-eight years ago, in September 1995, the voters of Bagan saved the DAP and democracy in Malaysia after the DAP suffered its worst electoral defeat in three decades in the 1995 general elections.
In the 1995 General Election in April 1995, P. Patto won with a 118-vote majority.
Unfortunately, Patto died prematurely.
In the subsequent Bagan by-election, I asked for a 5,000-vote majority to save DAP and democracy and Lim Hock Seng won the Bagan by-election on Sept. 9, 1995 with a 11,802-vote majority and earned the title of Democracy City.
In 2008, the voters of Bagan elected Lim Guan Eng as MP with a 22,070-vote majority and started a new administration in Penang.
In 2018, the voter of Bagan re-elected Lim Guan Eng as a MP with a 43,902-vote majority and started a new government at the national level.
On August 12, 2023, the voters of Bagan Jermal, Sungai Puyu and Bagan Dalam which constitute Bagan parliamentary seat and the neighbouring Prai state assembly seat are asked to vote for a great international Penang as a forerunner of a great Malaysia in the Asian century and not a great international failure in two or three decades’ time.
In the six state polls on August 12, only the Coalition of Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional offers an agenda for Malaysia to rise again to become a great world-class nation in the Ekonomi Madani whose salient points include:
- 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 TI Corruption Perception Index. Current rank is 61.
The Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition has no plans for Malaysia to rise again to become a great world-class nation. In fact, the PN coalition proposes that the country continues in its present traje4ctory which will only end up with Malaysia as a divided, failed and corrupt state in the coming decades.
For the last few decades, Malaysia has been in national decline, losing out to Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Vietnam.
We are in danger of losing out to China, Indonesia and India in the near future.
In the six state polls on August 12, we must not only arrest the national decline, but vote to ensure that in our children and children’s time, Malaysia will rise again to become a great world-class nation.
The 21st century is said to be the “Asia Century” particularly a time when Asia, particularly East Asia and Southeast Asia, will play a significant and leading role in global affairs, economy, and geopolitics.
Penang and Malaysia must be in the forefront in the Asian Century.
We must not only arrest the national decline but vote to ensure that in our children and children’s time, Malaysia will rise again to become a great world-class nation.