Malaysia would have achieved important political transition if  UMNO-PAS “Malay Unity” talks give  way to  Barisan Nasional-Barisan Alternative “National Unity” talks

(Penang, Saturday): I want to thank Penang DAP for organising this 60th birthday party for me. I have devoted the prime of my life, and more than half my life, to the task of Malaysian nation building in  pursuit of a Malaysian Malaysia where there is justice, freedom, democracy and  good governance for all Malaysians, regardless of race or religion.

I want to thank leaders  and members of  the DAP who have pursued these political and national ideals together with me and Malaysians outside the party  whose support and encouragement down the years and decades have made the successes and breakthroughs in the past 35 years most exciting and  meaningful and the setbacks,  trials and tribulations more bearable.

We are on the threshold of a new Malaysia, with the  emergence of a new multi-ethnic national and political consciousness to bring about a political transition in the country where politics would be more  issues-centred rather than race-dominated.

The  DAP has succeeded in our first phase to break  the  hardening mould of a nation-building  policy based on assimilation to establish that Malaysia is a multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious nation which must be fully reflected and represented in the nation-building process.

Our next national challenge is to break the Barisan Nasional mould of political hegemony which is the root cause of the multiple crises of confidence afflicting the country  characterised  by  political repression,  corruption and cronyism, economic mismanagement and the erosion of a just rule of law and a truly independent judiciary.

In the 15 months since the last general elections, far from settling down, there has been a further simmering of the political cauldron - raising questions about the legitimacy of  the rule of Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad  although he had just been returned with a two-thirds parliamentary mandate for the fifth time in the national polls.

Mahathir’s denial syndrome and refusal to heed the aspirations  of Malaysians for political and economic reforms, and his attempt to win back Malay political support and restore UMNO’s hitherto unchallenged position as the Malay majority party by countenancing the recommunalisation of politics in Malaysia has cast a dark shadow on the future of Malaysia.

There are however several silver linings - the most significant of which is the emergence of a new multi-ethnic political and national consciousness as manifested by the following:
 

• Growing multi-ethnic and multi-religious support for the cause of mother-tongue education, in sharp distinction from the early days of the DAP when defenders of Chinese education were generally regarded as Chinese communalists, chauvinists, extremists if not communists!  Today, the battle for the preservation of the SJK © Damansara has found support across race and religion - reflecting the fact that over 70,000 non-Chinese students prefer to study in Chinese primary schools instead of national primary schools.
• Failure of UMNO communalists to recommunalise Malay and Malaysian politics by escalating ethnic tensions whether over the 83-point Suqiu election appeals or the “Takkan Melayu Hilang Di Dunia” gathering with its provocative posters and banners suggestive of a Malay keris in a sea of blood.
• PAS demand that the UMNO-initiated “Malay unity” talks should become “national unity” talks to address issues such as  Anwar Ibrahim and the judiciary, democracy and  economic mismanagement.

Malaysia would be making  another major stride in the political transition from the old politics of communal “divide and rule” and ethnic polarisation to the new politics focussed on  issues of justice, freedom, democracy and good governance when the UMNO-initiated “Malay Unity” talks with PAS gives way to the  “National Unity” talks between the Barisan Nasional and the Barisan Alternative as the real crisis confronting the country is not Malay unity but national unity.

The Barisan Nasional has still to respond to Barisan Alternative’s invitation for  “National Unity” talks, which is another testimony that the Barisan Alternative has become the leading advocate for a multi-racial Malaysia eschewing communal politics as compared to the Barisan Nasional.

(17/2/2001)