KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 27 — Civil society organisation Gabungan Bertindak Malaysia (GBM) today expressed its disappointment with PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for his biting comments towards their adviser Professor Lim Teck Ghee, saying disagreements can be made rationally and not with personal attacks.
Its chair Zaid Kamaruddin said Anwar and other Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders can choose to disagree with Lim’s analysis of the nation’s political governance, but ought to do so civilly with statistics, facts and figures.
“The 27 affiliates in GBM like most other civil society organisations would like to see the new Pakatan government succeed in rebuilding a ‘Better Malaysia’ which cherishes the universal values of justice, equality, muhibbah, mutual benefit, shared prosperity and the brotherhood of every Malaysian rakyat,” Zaid said in a statement.
He said it was disappointing that Anwar chose to question Lim’s rights and credibility to express his thoughts and sentiments on the performance of the PH government.
“Dr Lim is one of our passionate and principled public policy scholars. He was vociferous on the corruption and excesses of the BN regime when Anwar was incarcerated in Sungai Buloh prison.
“A former UN regional advisor and World Bank senior economist , he was a recipient of many international academic awards. Though an academic, he had an uncanny ability to sense the pulse of the nation,” he said, adding Anwar would do well Lim’s book Challenging Malaysia’s Status Quo before doubting the latter.
Lim came under fire from Anwar during a public forum yesterday for saying the 17-month PH administration has been “disastrous”.
The PKR president accused Lim of having kept silent about widespread corruption during the previous Barisan Nasional administration and only voicing out his views after PH took over.
Lim raised criticism against the current administration in the areas of governance, education, religious matters, and especially inter-race relation issues such as the Malay Dignity Congress on October 6 and controversial Mumbai-born Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik whose past remarks have drawn backlash from non-Muslims in the country.
