Lee Kuan Yew is wrong about Pakatan Rakyat, says DAP
The
DAP is not amused with former Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew
calling Pakatan Rakyat (PR) an “opportunistic and ad hoc group” which
will break up or be paralysed if it was given the power to run the
country.In retaliation, DAP's vice-chairman M Kula Segaran (pic) said if PR was just a coalition with no coherent set of ideas, it could not have inspired “so much of hope and confidence among the people”.
"I certainly do not agree with Lee’s view and I believe the 51% of voters who had supported PR in the last general election too do not agree with him," he said in a statement.
In the May 5 polls, PR won 51% of the popular votes and claimed to have the support of the majority of Malaysian voters.
However, Barisan Nasional won 133 seats – 44 seats more than PR to form the federal government.
"Give us time and we will prove that a future PR federal government will be workable, reliable and stable, one which will bring about a better Malaysia for all," said the Ipoh Barat MP.
Commenting on Lee's observations in his book "One Man's View of the World" that the brain drain issue in Malaysia is caused by race-based policies, Kula agreed, pointing out that efforts by the government to woo back Malaysians from overseas could be too late.
Lee had said in his book, which was launched on Wednesday, that “Malaysia is prepared to lose its talent through its race-based policies in order to maintain the dominance of one race”.
Kula, stressing that Malaysia did not have to agree with everything the former leader of Singapore had to say, however maintained that the race-based policy was indeed the major reason for brain drain to the neighbouring country especially.
"Can the Malaysian government disagree with him that the race-based politics and policies have resulted in the nation’s brain drain to Singapore and many parts of the world?
“While it is true that there are other factors like economic aspects that have caused the loss of many Malaysian talents, nevertheless the race-based policy is the major factor for the brain drain."
He called on the Barisan Nasional government to make “affirmative policies based on need and not on race”, noting that race-based policies brought on more negative results than just brain drain.
"The nation’s problems must no longer be addressed in the wrong perspective – the dichotomy of bumiputra versus non-bumiputra. They also hamper efforts to bring about national unity," he said.
"The question is therefore does the government have the political will to bring the country out of the 'race quagmire' that BN has got the nation stuck into before it is really too late?” he asked.
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