Mr. Lee Kuan Yew: On Malaysian Malaysia

Fortunately for Lee Kuan Yew he did not make the judgmental error of making Singapore stay within Melayusia. He withdrew Singapore out! And I do not believe an iota on what was said that Singapore was booted out of Melayusia as claimed by leaders in Tanah Melayu. Bollocks!

Sabah could have done better if it had done same. And it's too bloody late for Sabah to make the exit now since so many Bajaus, Kadazans, Dusuns, Muruts, Bruneis, Bisayas, Sinos have become Malays and unfortunately, they appear to be more Malays than the Melayus of the West.

I have not taken into consideration the Filipinos, the Bugis, the Timorese, the Pakistanis who each have been 'given' the most doubtful MyKad to give to us the impression that they are Sabahans, thus Malaysians. These groups of people tend to show that they are more Sabahans than the Sabahans!

Need I say more to show my disgust? Are you not?

Idrus al-Haj.

You might have already read Mr. Lee Kuan Yew’s speech at the 4^th Anniversary Celebrations of Delta Community Centre on Sunday, 30^th May, 1995, but for those who haven’t had a chance yet, the following has been reproduced for your history lesson … and ponder on it. - LINUNDUS

REPORT OF MR. LEE KUAN YEW'S SPEECH AT THE 4TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS OF DELTA COMMUNITY CENTRE ON SUNDAY, 30TH MAY, 1965.

The Singapore Prime Minister, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, has declared that Singapore had never agreed to Malay rule when she joined Malaysia. What she had agreed to was Malaysian rule. He stressed that talks that the people of Singapore were not accustomed to Malay rule like the people of Kelantan and Trengganu were "all bunkum". He added, "Somebody is making a grave error of judgment if he thinks the people agreed to Malay rule in joining Malaysia."

Mr. Lee said the Malaysian constitution spelt out a democratic rule by representatives of the people by adult franchise. This meant one man one vote, and Malaysia ruled by Malaysians. Mr. Lee said that any talk of Malay rule was foolish and reckless because that was the surest way to bring about a great deal of unhappiness in Malaysia.

In his speech, Mr. Lee also explained why it was better to decide now and not wait till five or ten years' time whether there is going to be a Malaysian Malaysia. He stressed that if Malays were daily exhorted to unite on the basis of race and not nation, in five years' time it would be very difficult to change the thinking on the ground. Mr. Lee noted that the UMNO Secretary-General, Dato Syed Ja'afar Albar, had said in Parliament that there was no harm in calling on the Chinese to unite. Mr. Lee described Dato Syed Ja'afar Albar as "a man who does not spend his time calculating the significance of what he is doing. "Dato Syed Ja'afar Albar knew that the Chinese would never unite under the MCA. But if the Chinese who comprised 42 per cent of the population in Malaysia unite under a virile party, there would be real trouble for the country.

Describing such talk as foolish, Mr. Lee said, "This is the sort of thing we fought against in Singapore from 1959 to 1963. You know that the Barisan Sosialis used to go round and work people up on the basis of race. There is no future that way".

Mr. Lee went on to say that the present internal and international situations favoured an immediate decision on whether there is going to be a Malaysian Malaysia.

He said, "Another reason why it is necessary to decide now, not later on, is because it is easier for us, if they do not want a Malaysian Malaysia, to make a alternative arrangements, some other way. The Agreement in the Constitution must lead to a Malaysian nation, a Malaysian Malaysia, and if they want to stop it, they must use unconstitutional methods to stop it. So I say, if they want to do that, do it now. It will be easier for us to make other alternative arrangements. If that is what they want, we have got other ideas of looking after ourselves."

Mr. Lee said he did not want to talk too much about the alternative constitutional arrangements. One of these arrangements could be the getting together of all those states which want a Malaysian Malaysia. He said he could think of three states which would get together on this basis. They are Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak. Other possible states are Malacca and Penang. He said even the Sultan of Johore would not want his state to join Indonesia as suggested by the UMNO organ, Merdeka. Mr. Lee said he read from the newspapers that the Secretary-General of UMNO came from Celebes, born and bred there, and came to Singapore before the war. Mr. Lee added: "Maybe he wants to rejoin the Celebes, but I am sure the Sultan of Johore does not want to join Celebes, because it means joining Java and Indonesia."

Another point which Mr. Lee made on the necessity to decide now whether there is going to be a Malaysian Malaysia is that 61 per cent of the people in the country could not become Malays. However they could become Malaysians, loyal to Malaysia and accept the concept of Malaysian Malaysia.

Mr. Lee stressed that Malaysia does not have the capacity and not enough guns to govern the country by force -- with 80,000 square miles in Sabah and Sarawak, one-and-a-half times the size of Malaya, and with 1,000 miles of ocean in between. Mr. Lee reaffirmed, "The best way of all is to stick to the Constitution for a Malaysian Malaysia, honour and accommodate each other, make adjustments, live happily in a multi-racial society where everybody in an equal Malaysian citizen, regardless of race, language and religion."

Earlier, Mr. Lee said he was very proud to see what a tremendous transformation the Delta constituency had gone through since the big fire in 1961. Mr. Lee said, "From the ashes of that fire, we are building a new community. And this is a forerunner of what is possible in the rest of Singapore, and indeed in the rest of Malaysia, if we are prepared to be forebearing with each other to build a Malaysian Malaysia -- a Malaysia in which all Malaysians, regardless of race, language and religion share equally in the opportunities of life."

PRESS SECTION,

MINISTRY OF CULTURE.

MAY 31, 1965.