Kit Siang warns: Without Malay support, New Malaysia will fail

INTERVIEW | After the 14th general election, pollster Merdeka Center estimated that Malay support for Pakatan Harapan was at around 25 to 30 percent.

Both BN and PAS proved to be more popular among Malaysia's largest ethnic group, garnering between 35 to 40 percent and 30 to 33 percent of support respectively.

Thus, the new government must grow its support among the Malays should it want to last more than one term and have enough time to implement the reforms that it has promised, argued DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang.

"There is a need for more Malays to come on board. This (the 25 to 30 percent) was enough for May 9 – for a change but it is not enough for a revival.

"[...] We must be able to increase the Malay understanding (of the government) and their support. More Malays must take ownership (of the change)," he told Malaysiakini in an interview at his party's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

This needed to be done while sustaining its sky-high popularity among non-Malay voters. The same poll had pegged Harapan’s support from Chinese voters at 95 percent while from Indian voters, it was 75 percent.

"If you can't, then Harapan will fail. The 'New Malaysia' will fail, and we can go back to pre-May 9," he warned.

Umno, PAS fighting a losing battle

Another issue Harapan needed to address was the rise of what Lim termed "toxic politics of hate and fear" espoused by Umno and PAS.

He referred to last Saturday’s mass protest against the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd) earlier this month as an example.

Organisers, which included Umno and PAS, managed to mobilise Malay Muslims in massive numbers to rally in central Kuala Lumpur around their claim that ratifying the UN instrument would threaten the special position of Malays and Islam.

This is despite assurances from Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, the Bar Council and Suhakam that doing so would not burden Article 153 of the Federal Constitution.

"There must be a rebuttal so that the people will come to understand [...] that this is toxic politics of lies, falsehood, hate and fear," Lim said in reference to the rally.

The rally went ahead despite the Harapan government reneging from ratifying Icerd, making Malaysia one of the 18 countries, and one of the two Muslim-majority countries, in the world that has not signed it.

While such rhetoric was at the front and centre of Malaysian politics today, the veteran politician believed that Umno and PAS would ultimately be rejected by voters as the latter became more knowledgeable.

"Here, it is Umno and PAS seeking survival. I believe they are fighting a losing battle, but we need time for this battle of ideas to be waged.

"[...] In the age of information, information travels at the speed of light and you just cannot keep people down. People will know and they will come to be exposed to ideas. But it takes time," he said.

'I am supposed to be an ogre'

Admittedly, a key target of such "toxic politics" has been DAP and especially Lim himself.

The 77-year-old, who has helped lead DAP for more than half a century as a key voice of opposition against BN, has been accused of everything from being a communist, a CIA agent as well as anti-Malay and anti-Islam.

In the lead-up to GE14, Mahathir was even labelled a Kit Siang stooge.

DAP, in turn, has been accused of being paid by the Israeli government and painted as the driving force behind Harapan. Umno politicians have further claimed the party has a hidden agenda to "Christianise" the government and turn the country into a republic.

Reiterating his claim that he was "the most demonised man in Malaysian history", Lim said time has shown these accusations to be baseless.

"I am supposed to be an ogre, a monster to Malays and Muslims, but I have not come across a single case of hostility among the Malays.

"Even when I go to the warung-warung (food stalls) in Kelantan and Terengganu, they come and take photographs (with me).

"[...] They have come to realise that (these claims) are not true.

"I am not such a monster, you know? Not such a ‘jembalang’ (demon)," he quipped before breaking into laughter. - Mkini