SEPTEMBER 21 — First of all, let me congratulate Syed Saddiq for showing the way that Malaysia needs new thinking, that we must be colour-blind and cannot be bound by narrow views about nation-building, that we cannot and should not imprison ourselves by racial or religious exclusivity.
Syed Saddiq is forming a political party of youths.
But youth is a state of mind. There are young people who have very old thinking and old people with very youthful ideas.
Youth therefore cannot be defined by chronological age.
What Malaysia needs today is a unity of all Malaysians, irrespective of age, gender, race, religion or geography to build a New Sabah and a New Malaysia.
The Sabah state general election is distinguished by Warisan Plus on the one side which emphasizes unity and inclusivity in plural Sabah and plural Malaysia and on the other side, by the PN, BN and PBS “alliance within an alliance” and its 3Ds of discord, division and disunity.
The “alliance within an alliance” in Sabah is littered with bickering and contradictions, crowded by a record number of political frogs — which is why there are 447 candidates for 73 seats, which will put Sabah into the Guinness Book of Records, but an international achievement which Sabahans have no reason to be proud of.
The Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin wants Sabah Bersatu chief Hajiji Noor to be the next Sabah Chief Minister, but Muhyddin’s writ does not run among his “alliance within an alliance” in Sabah as Sabah Umno wants Bung Moktar Radin as the candidate for Sabah Chief Minister.
If the Sabah Umno had its way and Bung Moktar becomes the Sabah Chief Minister on September 24, the people of Sabah will not be able to raise their heads high in Malaysia or anywhere else in the world, as Sabah will have a foul-mouth Chief Minister who uses four-letter words liberally, and whose political career is infamous for insulting and derogatory remarks and attitudes towards the role and dignity of women in society.
In his pursuit of unity and inclusivity, Warisan Plus leader Shafie Apdal used the slogans of “In God We Trust, Unite We Must” and “We are here to build a nation, not a particular race or religion”, but this is opposed by the PN/BN/PBS “alliance within an alliance” led by Bung Moktar.
The message of Warisan Plus is unity and inclusivity, while the message of the: PN-BN-PBS “alliance within an alliance” in disunity and exclusivity.
It is very clear which combination has the best interests of the people of Sabah at heart.
*Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at the Live Facebook dialogue with former Youth Minister Syed Saddiq bin Syed Abdul Rahman, Sabah State Minister Phoon Jin Zhe, former Sabah State Assemblyman Tan Lee Fatt and MP for Kota Kinabalu Chan Foong Hin in Likas on Sunday, September 20, 2020 at 9pm.
**This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
