I am glad to be here to launch the Report Card of the DAP Selangor State Assemblywoman for Kampung Tunku, Lim Yi Wei.
The six state polls on August 12 is a battle between the future and the past, a Malaysia based on the unity of all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, gender or age and a denial of this concept.
The results of the six state polls in Selangor, Penang, Negri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu will not affect the position of the Anwar Unity Government at the national level, but it will decide whether we can reset and return to the original nation-building principles for a plural Malaysia which the nation’s founding fathers (which included the first three Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Razak Hussein and Hussein Onn, who were also UMNO Presidents), have written into the Constitution and the Rukun Negara — constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy, separation of powers, rule of law, an independent judiciary, Islam as the official religion of the country and freedom of religion for other faiths, Malay as the national language and the preservation and sustenance of the use and study of other languages, good governance, public integrity with minimum corruption, a clean and honest government, meritocracy, respect for human rights, an end to the various injustices and inequalities in the country, a world-class economic, educational, health and social system, and national unity, understanding, and harmony from our multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural diversity.
It is to decide whether Malaysia is to end up producing world champions again and be role model to the world for inter-ethnic, inter-religious, inter-civilisation dialogue, understanding, tolerance and harmony or whether Malaysia is to end up as a divided, failed and corrupt state.
There is no racial and religious animosities and no race or religion is out to wipe out other races and other religions, but there are political opportunists who want to set race against race, religion against religion.
Malaysia can only succeed if all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, gender or age can achieve their full potential capabilities. The alternative is the fate of Sri Lanka.
Right from the beginning of the formation of DAP in 1966, we catered for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, gender or age.
It is a forbidding task but we have never swerved from the challenge to build a great, just, democratic, progressive and prosperous Malaysia for all Malaysians.
That is why in the first general election contested by the DAP in the 1969 general election, the DAP slate of candidates was a multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-gender one.
According to the 2020 Census, about half the population or 9 million Malaysians are in 15-30 years age group, comprising 4.6 million males and 4.32 million females.
In the first elected DAP Central Executive Committee in 1968,the national chairman was 44 years old, the secretary-general 33 years old and the national organising secretary 27 years old.
Today, the DAP leadership has grown older – DAP Chairman is 62 years old, the Secretary=General 46 years old and the National Organising Secretary 41 years old.
It is a challenge to the DAP leadership, to regenerate and be in tune with the aspirations of the young in Malaysia!