It’s Christmas, but scandals are scandals

“Let bygones be bygones” must not be just sheer complicity, aiding and abetting in the commission of wrongs, injustices and transgressions in the country says Kit Siang.

KUALA LUMPUR: Suspended Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang has cautioned that no one can talk about “let bygones be bygones” when scandals and injustices are haunting and hounding Malaysians all over the world.

“Malaysians can’t tell the world that we have forgotten and forgiven all these current wrongs, injustices and transgressions and there was no need to rectify or right these wrongs, injustices and transgressions.”

“The bombshells on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s two mega scandals are exploding in foreign countries, totally beyond his control or prior knowledge.”

Lim was commenting on “there being already a lot of talk about forgiveness and forget about the past” given that Christmas was days away.

In principle, the DAP veteran leader hastened to add, he supports the philosophy of being prepared to forgive and forget past transgressions.

“This would promote greater amity, understanding and tolerance among individuals and groups of people, not just because it is a teaching by all great religions but a good philosophy of life.”

However, Lim has a caveat. He thinks that it’s indeed odd to talk about forgiving and forgetting another political party’s past transgressions when the other party had never confessed or owned up to any past transgression or wrongdoing.

The DAP veteran ventured that five issues must be resolved before anyone talks about “let bygones be bygones”. Otherwise, he said, it was just sheer complicity, aiding and abetting in the commission of wrongs, injustices and transgressions in the country, “which no fair-minded and justice-loving Malaysian can or should agree”.

He listed the five issues:

• The immediate release of jailed de facto Opposition Anwar Ibrahim from Sungai Buloh prison;
• Drop all politically-motivated charges against all accused including cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar (Zunar), blogger Khalid Ismath, academic Azmi Sharom, political dissidents Khairuddin Abu Hassan and Matthias Chang and human rights activists Lena Hendry and Maria Chin Abdullah;
• Withdraw the monstrous and pernicious National Security Council Bill which will usurp the constitutional powers of the Agong, the Cabinet and the 13 state governments;
• Suspend the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for causing great hardships to low-income Malaysians sandwiched between falling incomes and rising cost of living; and
• The full and satisfactory accountability by the Prime Minister for his twin mega scandals viz. the RM2.6 billion political donation “donation” controversy and the RM55 billion 1MDB scandal.

Malaysia’s international reputation has fallen to an unprecedented abyss because the nation’s Prime Minister was being investigated by at least seven countries for corruption, money laundering and other illegal activities, added Lim who is also DAP Parliamentary Leader.

He reiterated that it was all very good to adopt the religious teaching or philosophy of “let bygones be bygones”. However, he argued that this readiness to forgive and forget all the sins and transgressions of the past must be accompanied by the readiness and resolution to right all current wrongs, injustices and transgressions or it is totally premature for any talk about “Let bygones be bygones”.