Kit Siang urges ‘silent majority’ to save Malaysia

“All Malaysians, regardless of politics, race, religion, gender or age can stand as one to promote tolerance, harmony and unity.”

PETALING JAYA: Only Malaysian moderates, regardless of politics, race, religion, gender or age, can save Malaysia from the extremism, intolerance and bigotry that the advocates of the policies and politics of exclusion have in store for the country.

This, urges DAP elder statesman Lim Kit Siang, must be a sobering thought for all Christians and Malaysians on the eve of Christmas 2014.

“Let Malaysian Christians and all patriotic Malaysians reaffirm on Christmas 2014 to provide greater support to the policies and politics of inclusion,” said Lim, who is also DAP Parliamentary Leader and Gelang Patah MP, in a statement. “All Malaysians, regardless of politics, race, religion, gender or age can stand as one to promote tolerance, harmony and unity.”

“I had hoped that the police return of the 31 Christian hymnals meant for Orang Asli parishioners to Catholic priest Father Cyril Mannayagam in Tangkok, Johore on December 18 would start a virtuous cycle of inter-religious respect, tolerance and acceptance of Malaysia as a plural nation.”

He added that the return of the hymnals could have ended the rhetoric and politics of hate, extremism, intolerance and bigotry which had recently hounded, haunted and disgraced Malaysia.

But this was not to be, he continued, and there had been no let-up in the rhetoric and politics of extremism, intolerance and bigotry.

There’s plenty of evidence, according to Lim.

ISMA, the NGO in the fringe, demanded that Muslims should not wish “Merry Christmas” to Christians, and warned that Christmas celebrations were only a ploy by the Christian community to proselytize among Muslims.

Again, a Perkasa protester tore a DAP banner wishing “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year” gracing the Perak DAP headquarters last Friday.

“But Malaysian moderates of goodwill and reason must not despair at such setbacks but must persevere in their mission for harmony, tolerance and moderation in the country,” urged Lim.

Lim pointed out that he had a lot of differences with Minister of Housing, Local Government and Urban Well-Being Abdul Rahman Dahlan. Still, he commended him for standing up and telling ISMA to “butt out” with its claims that Muslims should not wish “Merry Christmas” to Christians.

“The advocates for policies and politics of exclusion would not only forbid Muslims from wishing Christians ‘Merry Christmas’.

“They would want to ban shops from selling or promoting Christmas-related items; prohibit the display of any Christian items, even for commercial purposes; regard the ‘Christmas tree’ as a grave threat to Islam with the final objective to prohibit the celebration of Christmas altogether.”

Malaysia must not go down this slippery slope of extremism, intolerance and bigotry which will be a betrayal of the founding principles of Malaya and Malaysia as well as the vision of the founding fathers of the nation, urged Lim.

He referred to Tunku Abdul Rahman, Abdul Razak, Ismail, Tan Cheng Lock and V.T. Sambanthan in 1957 and the founding fathers in Sabah and Sarawak of the 1963 Agreement with the peninsula or Malaya (now known as Malaysia).

Victims of imaginary fears, threats and enemies.

“Malaysians must be united by an inclusive vision of tolerance, respect and acceptance of our diversity of races, religions, languages and cultures,” pleaded Lim. “They must not be divided by an exclusive vision separating Malaysians into their different racial, religious, linguistic and cultural compartments.”

“Malaysians must be self-confident, forward-looking and visionary to accept global challenges at a time of explosive changes when information travels at the speed of light 24/7.”

He encouraged them not to be timorous souls, hidebound by reactionary and extremist ideas, and victims of imaginary fears, threats and enemies.

Among others, he cited the “ludicrous” claims that Christians want to turn Malaysia into a Christian state, that the Chinese in Malaysia were out to grab political power from the Malays, and that Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharavic’s Old Town Ipoh mural of an old man sipping coffee, completed half-a-year ago, resembled the late Malayan Communist Party (MCP) leader Chin Peng “when there was no resemblance whatsoever”.