By Mariah Doksil
Teo pledges LDP’s full support for moderate Najib
KOTA KINABALU: LDP pledges to be a voice of moderation that will speak up against extremism and bigotry.
Its president, Datuk Teo Chee Kang, said the party has pledged to be Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s closest comrade who will soldier on with him in his journey for a modern and moderate Malaysia.
“LDP pledges to be your strongest ally in your quest to transform Malaysia through the implementation of the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), Government TransformationProgramme(GTP) and Political Transformation Programme (PTP), and the New Economic Model that will speed up Malaysia’s transition into a high income economy.
“The world is changing quickly and we must be ready to change with it or risk being left behind. It is timely that the affirmative actions policies under the pretext of the 43 year old New Economic Policy should be reviewed. Malaysia must be courageous to change with time by transforming into a more liberalised economy, otherwise we will only be living in our castle and miss the world,” he said at the party’s 25th Congress at Magellan Sutera Harbour, yesterday.
The event was officially launched by Najib.
According to Teo, diversity in race, culture and religion has always been a unique strength for Malaysia in this highly globalised economy.
With the influence of the British for one and a half centuries, and the fact that the Malaysian society is formed by the local Malays, indigenous people together with descendants of the migrants from China, India, south Asian countries and the Malay archipelago, Malaysians have the best of both East and West.
“By and large, we are multilingual and we understand the different cultures practised by world citizens. It is also easy for us to adapt ourselves if we were to mix with different races.
“So much has been said about racial, cultural and religious diversities being the strength of our nation, but if issues on race and religion are mismanaged, it can also polarize and disintegrate our otherwise harmonious society. It is indeed a very difficult job to strike a balance among multiple competing interests that exist in our country, h he said.
Teo also expressed utter dismay when an Umno division deputy chairman in Petaling Jaya claimed that Chinese vernacular schools sow racist sentiments and hence should be abolished. However, LDP is grateful that our Prime Minister had given a timely assurance that Chinese schools will remain an integral part of the Malaysian education system.
"In the pursuit of a modern and moderate Malaysia, whatever the obstacles or impediments that stand on the way, no matter how difficult and drastic a decision has to be made, LDP will give you our full support when you do the right thing.
"We will work with you and walk with you until we reach our common destination," he added.
During Teo’s speech, he also said that the Barisan Nasional's strength is founded on the premise of mutual respect, consensus and power sharing among different component parties representing respective communities.
"Although most of us are communal based parties, Barisan Nasional as an institution is multi-racial. Big or small, every one of the 13 component parties has a place in Barisan Nasional. We must avoid one component party becoming too dominant that overpowers all others. More often than not, it is the lack of mutual respect, consensus and power sharing that results in inter-parties and intra-party disharmony.
"In the recent Teluk Intan byelection, the right candidate, right strategies as well as the true synergy among the component parties contributed to the victory of BN. It is proven that if BN can capitalize its institutional streng th in full, we can win back seats which we lost. It is therefore vital for BN to be more cohesive as a partnership to face the 14th General Election.
"In another few months, we will enter into the third year of the current term. I urge all my party leaders to pick up the momentum in serving the people, especially in the 4 State and 1 Parliamentary seats that were entrusted to us in the previous election, out of which we won 3 State seats and suffered defeat in the Sandakan parliamentary and the Likas State seats," he said.
their