Kit Siang: I’ve never hated Dr M

DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang had only one thing to say of his one-time foe now turned ally Dr Mahathir Mohamad – that he had never hated him.

“I've never hated Mahathir, I've never hated anybody. Because in politics, you cannot be personal,” said Lim at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

Lim’s statement today is despite the fact that he spent 17 months at the Kamunting detention camp after he was arrested under the ISA during the 1987 Operasi Lalang (Ops Lalang) during Mahathir’s tenure as premier.

Explaining further, Lim said he had in fact met Mahathir after he was released to ask him why he did not arrest Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak who was then Umno Youth's leader.

“I told him, ‘I didn't come to ask you why you arrested me. I came to ask why didn't you arrest Najib’. So there's nothing personal […]."

Najib, in a rally in October 1987, made the infamous speech where he stated that he wanted to 'soak the keris with the blood of the Chinese'.

Najib has denied making the statement.

Ops Lalang was launched on Oct 27, the same year by Mahathir to defuse 'racial tension'.

But almost 19 years later, in a historic albeit bizarre moment, Lim and Mahathir were among the notable figures who signed the Citizens’ Declaration to demand for the resignation of Najib as prime minister.

In his speech earlier at the forum organised by the Federal Territories Wanita DAP, Lim pointed out how he and his son Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng were among the first to be detained and the last to be released during Ops Lalang.

“But in the interest of the nation, we must not be too personal […] it's about the interest of the people and country,” he said, stressing that all personal feelings and differences must be put aside.

National interest

Admitting that he was at the receiving end of brickbats after signing the declaration last Friday, Lim said some had even claimed that he and Mahathir were each other’s puppet.

This, said Lim, was nothing but 'lies and untruths' spread by cybertroopers.

On claims that he had made use of Mahathir, Lim pointed out how he did not have the power, financial means or the machinery to do so.

“That Mahathir made use of me […] what can he make use of me for?” he queried.

Lim said that they had tried to find a way out for Malaysia in the interest of the nation.

Branding last Friday’s event as 'historic and unprecedented', Lim admitted that no one knew how far the movement could go.

It's steps, he said, must be taken one at a time.

“An equal place under the Malaysian sun. That's all we are asking for, nothing more, nothing less.

“So that our children and children’s children can be proud of this country. This goes above politics, personal differences,” he said. -Mkini