2018 Christmas Message: Let’s build Malaysia into one of the world’s top nations where Malaysians can accept and celebrate the diversities of faiths, and the peace, tolerance and co-existence among the diverse religions in the country. Merry Christmas to all Christians in Malaysia. Let us celebrate this first Christmas after the historic decision on May 9, 2018 to bring about a peaceful and democratic transition of power in the six decades of Malaysian history.
Let us unite to Save Malaysia from a global kleptocracy by becoming a leading nation in integrity. Even better , let us fulfil our destiny to be a world top-class nation in various fields of human endeavour, including becoming among the world’s top nations where there is peace, tolerance, acceptance and co-existence among the diverse religions in the country. The leader of an opposition party has warned Muslims not to post Christmas greetings on Facebook because there should not be any acknowledgement of the Christian religion in the country. He could not be more cock-eyed, extremist and unMalaysian, as Malaysians must celebrate the diversity of races, languages, religions and cultures in Malaysia and leverage on the assets and best qualities of this diversity to be the foundation for Malaysia’s greatness.
We must not deny or detract in any way from the rich diversity of races, languages, religions and cultures in Malaysia. The Sultan of Johore Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar’s Christmas greeting of a Merry Christmas to all Christians, wishing all Johoreans celebrating Christmas “love, joy and peace and a wonderful time with families and friends” is in the full spirit of a New Malaysia which is inclusive and all-encompassing of the diversity of races, languages, religions and cultures which have become Malaysia’s precious heritage. In his official Facebook posting, Sultan Ibrahim’s festive message was with a framed picture of him and Permaisuri Johor Raja Zarith Sofiah Sultan Idris Shah. Sultan Ibrahim and Raja Zarith Sofiah are models for Malaysians on the need for religious and cultural tolerance, understanding and acceptance among Malaysians.
All the great religions in the world share common values of love, truth, justice, compassion and community and we should celebrate the diversity of faiths in Malaysia with their respective Golden Rules, instead of inciting distrust, hate and fear among Malaysians with diverse faiths. It is shocking that the very people who are sowing distrust, hate and fear among Malaysians of diverse faiths are proposing a new political bloc to form an “unity government” as a viable political platform that could offer stability. But these people talk “unity” but perpetrate disunity among Malaysians to serve their petty political ends while claiming to embrace political Islam – yet they have no objection when Malaysia was condemned by the whole world as a “global kleptocracy”!
They are quite good in “building castles in the air”, the latest being that the Pakatan Harapan government would only last five years. I agree with the Bersatu President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin that these people will forever be the Opposition. In my 2018 Christmas Message, let me therefore make the call: Let us build Malaysia into one of the world’s top nations where Malaysians can accept and celebrate their diversities of faiths, and the peace, tolerance and co-existence among the diverse religions in the country!
Adib Mohd Kassim is not just a Malay hero, but a hero for all Malaysians and must be honoured as an inspiration to build a new and united Malaysia which can be a world showcase of a successful plural nation. I was in Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province in China, when I heard the sad news of the death of firefighter Adib Mohd Kassim, and I tweeted as follows: “Shocked over Adib’s death. He is a Malaysian patriot and hero. His perpetrators must be punished. Let Adib be our inspiration.”
Adib is not just a Malay hero, but a hero for all Malaysians and must be honoured as an inspiration to build a new and united Malaysia which can be a world showcase of a successful plural nation. It will be great if an annual Adib Award can be started on next year’s National Day to honour Adib’s services and sacrifices as an inspiration for Malaysians to dedicate themselves to the building of a new and united Malaysian nation which is also a showcase to the world of inter-racial, inter-religious and inter-cultural harmony, tolerance and understanding in a plural society. There are those who want to use Adib’s death to incite racial and religious tensions and unrest in the country.
I do not think this is what Adib would want to see, as he would want to dedicate his life to the building of a united, harmonious, successful and prosperous multiracial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural Malaysian nation.(Media statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang)
My 2018 Christmas Wish – that Pakatan Harapan can win the next few general elections to accomplish the building of a New Malaysia with the resolution of the inter-party and intra-party PH problems, differences and conflicts. I am making a Christmas wish today – that Pakatan Harapan will grow from strength to strength to win the next few general elections so as to accomplish the building of a New Malaysia with the resolution of the various inter-party and intra-party Pakatan Harapan problems, differences and conflicts.
I am not a Christian but that does not prevent me from making a Christmas wish, just as my making a Hari Raya wish would not make me a Muslim. One reason for making this Christmas wish is to elaborate on what I said in Luoyang, Henan last Thursday, where I responded to a FaceBook post from Tan Sri Clement Hii to explain why DAP would never become a MCA2. The five reasons I had given why DAP will never become MCA2 include DAP leaders fighting for the rights and interests of all racial groups so long as they are Malaysians, while MCA fights or claims to fight for the rights and interests of only the Chinese in Malaysia; that DAP want its leaders and members to be in politics to serve the nation and not to serve themselves, whether for wealth, titles or position; and that DAP politics of multi-racialism is the only way to build a united and successful Malaysia unlike the mono-ethnic politics of MCA.
My statement that in such circumstances, the DAP would have no hesitation in leaving the coalition government if the objective of a New Malaysia is abandoned as DAP leaders will never be as spineless as MCA leaders sent the Opposition into sixes and sevens, feeding on their fevered imagination. On the one hand, there was the attempt to provoke the DAP to quit Pakatan Harapan with one PAS leader alleging that I was “bluffing” about quitting the government, and on the other hand, a MCA leader urging the DAP to “grow a backbone” to exit the government. Most comical of all was the statement by a MCA leader professing hurt at my statement that the DAP will never become a MCA2, “hitting the jackpot” without realising it in claiming that DAP did not qualify to be MCA2.
One reason why the national education curriculum needs an overhaul is because we are producing political leaders who do not understand a simple statement – reading what is not there at all. I never said that DAP was quitting Pakatan Harapan. All I said was that the DAP would not be like the MCA leaders who were most famous for being spineless, and that DAP leaders, whether in government or outside, would have no hesitation in leaving the coalition government if the objective of a New Malaysia is abandoned. I have said many times that a New Malaysia is struggling to be born, and it will require the contribution and participation of Malaysians, both inside the country and among the Malaysian Diaspora worldwide, to ensure that this chance to re-set nation building policies is not wasted or does not fail, for there is not going to be another chance.
It will take more than 100 days, two years or even one five-year general election cycle to take its full shape and form and might even take a decade or two. This is why all Malaysians must develop a Big Picture and Long-term Vision perspectives and for my Christmas wish today that Pakatan Harapan will grow from strength to strength to win the next few general elections so as to accomplish the building of a New Malaysia with the resolution of the various inter-party and intra-party Pakatan Harapan problems, differences and conflicts. Malaysians want a New Malaysia which is united, democratic, just, progressive and prosperous.
Malaysians want a new Malaysia which is a world top class nation which is capable of leveraging on the best of the diverse races, languages, cultures and civilisations that meet in confluence in Malaysia so as to gain international respect and admiration as a successful nation which leads the world in integrity, human excellence and achievement, and not scorned as a global kleptocracy hurtling towards a kakistocracy and failed and rogue state status.
