(Penang, Sunday): In the next general elections, DAP in Penang will not go for state power but to be a strong and effective Opposition to deny Barisan Nasional two-thirds majority in the State Assembly, as happened in the 1990 general elections.
This means that the DAP will aim to win from 12 to 15 seats in the Penang State Assembly in the next general elections.
We will be facing many hurdles and obstacles to achieve our Penang objective, including external threats and pressures, like the KOKS campaign outside the party caused by a combination of external forces which do not want the DAP to succeed in creating a new political equation and breakthrough in Malaysia.
These forces would include the Barisan Nasional and certain mass media under their control. I must say I was confounded that the mighty, wealthy and powerful mass media conglomerate, Nanyang Siang Pao, without provocation, had suddenly decided to declare war on the DAP by writing a most nasty and vicious editorial against the DAP leadership last Tuesday, which was even more ferocious than what our traditional political opponents, the Barisan Nasional parties whether UMNO, MCA, Gerakan or MIC, had ever said about the DAP.
Last month, NYSP carried an editorial when I was virtually compared to the mass murderer Pol Pot, who have the blood of one million Cambodians in his hands when he exercised supreme power in that country.
The "black hand" behind the Nanyang Siang Pau campaign to exploit the DAP crisis, destroy the DAP and "kill Lim Kit Siang" should step forward to reveal his identity or identities and declare why they want to see the DAP and Lim Kit Siang dead politically and whose agenda are they serving.
The NYSP has a history of inflicting a fatal blow on the DAP at the most strategic and critical time in every general election.
On the eve of the 1995 general elections, NYSP came out with a cartoon depicting me, drooling with saliva and dreaming in my sleep of becoming Penang Chief Minister. What is worse, NYSP claims that I had said at a Tanjong 3 DAP Ceramah admitting that even in my sleep, I had dreamt of becoming Penang Chief Minister - which was a downright lie and falsehood.
In the 1990 general election, just before polling day, NYSP came out with a full-page advertisement about bloodshed and May 13 riots, which was clearly aimed at intimidating voters from voting for the Opposition.
The "black hand" behind the NYSP campaign to destroy the DAP and "kill Lim Kit Siang" seems to have decided to strike earlier this time and not to wait for the eve of the next general elections.
This is because for the first time in Malaysian political history, the possibility of denying the Barisan Nasional a two-thirds parliamentary majority is very real. The recent Arau parliamentary by-election, which I had described as Richter 5 political earthquake, together with other seismic political events like the Bagan by-election (Richter 3) and the Teluk Intan by-election (Richter 6) point to a most exciting and challenging times in the coming general elections.
This may be precisely why the NYSP "black hand" has decided to strike out against the DAP well before the next general elections, and why the DAP is faced with such a great crisis at present.
I call on all DAP leaders, members, branches and supporters to stand solidly behind the DAP leadership, to persevere and not to allow any internal issue to cause us to miss the historic possibility of creating a new political paradigm in Malaysia for the new millennium.
This is probably my greatest political trial in 32 years. Who am I compared to the might, influence and the tens of millions of ringgit at the command of the NYSP. I am prepared to be crushed by the NYSP corporate empire but I will not bow down to anyone, regardless of how powerful, mighty or wealthy it might be. I will not sacrifice my principles.
Whether I survive this biggest test in my life depends in the end on the DAP members and the Malaysian people. The DAP will not burn or boycott Nanyang Siang Pao as we will leave it to the Malaysian public to decide whether the NYSP campaign to exploit the DAP crisis to destroy DAP and "kill Lim Kit Siang" should succeed or fail.
(19/7/98)