KUALA LUMPUR (July 29): DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang said the passage of the constitutional amendment against party-hopping in Parliament was a historical step, but this is only the beginning of a reset of nation-building policies and principles if Malaysia is to achieve its potential as a world-class great nation.
In a statement on Friday (July 29), the Member of Parliament for Iskandar Puteri quizzed whether Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob will spearhead a movement for Malaysia to be a world-class great nation by returning to the nation-building principles agreed by the founding fathers in the Malaysian Constitution and Rukun Negara — constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy, the separation of powers, rule of law, good governance, public integrity, meritocracy, respect for human rights, and national unity.
“In the past half-century, Malaysia lost out to Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam.
“Will we lose out to China and Indonesia before the end of this decade in the annual Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index?
“Will we lose out to more countries in economic development, even to Indonesia and the Philippines, come 2040 or 2050? To become a Sri Lanka in future will be Malaysia’s nightmare,” he warned.