What will the Malay Dignity Congress do for Malaysians? Kit Siang asks

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 — DAP lawmaker Lim Kit Siang wants to know the purpose and intention behind the upcoming Malay Dignity Congress and asked if its organisers were going to champion the rights of other Malaysians.

The Iskandar Puteri MP said that all races should be treated with the same dignity, stressing that there should be dignity for Malaysians regardless of their backgrounds, in line with the fundamental principles in the Federal Constitution and the Rukunegara.

“Would these four public universities be organising a Chinese Malaysian Dignity Congress, Indian Malaysian Dignity Congress, Kadazan Dignity Congress, Dayak Dignity Congress, Orang Asli Dignity Congress and most important of all, a Malaysian Dignity Congress?” he asked in a statement today.

The congress scheduled for this Sunday is jointly organised by Universiti Malaya, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Universiti Putra Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi Mara and will be held at the Malawati Stadium in Shah Alam, Selangor.

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is expected to deliver a keynote speech at the congress while Umno and PAS leaders have said they will attend.

Lim asked how the congress would benefit the nation and if they would reaffirm fundamental principles in the Constitution and the Rukunegara which denounce destructive and divisive principles.

“Principles which subvert the Constitution and the Rukunegara, such as the stand that one must vote for  a Muslim candidate  even if he is a kleptocrat or that a Malay can only support a Muslim candidate!” he said.

He also said that Malaysia had suffered enough from global news condemning its previous kleptocratic government and asked what contribution the Malay Dignity Congress can make to redeem Malaysia’s honour, dignity, reputation.

He also asked what the four public universities will be doing to ensure quality education for all Malaysians and restoring good faith among all ethnicities in Malaysia.

“Malaysia is now in a ludicrous scenario where every ethnic community, whether Malay, Chinese or Indian, is consumed with fear, distrust and hatred believing that it is facing an existential threat to its rights, position and future in Malaysia.

“This is the result of the untrammelled spread of fake news and hate speech especially on the social media to incite inter-racial and inter-religious polarisation and conflagration.

“Will the Malay Dignity Congress on Sunday spearhead a media literacy campaign to deactivate  these time-bombs to Malaysian nation-building which can only spell disaster for peace, tolerance, harmony and success in plural Malaysia?” he said.