Speech by YB Dato’ Sri Ti Lian Ker,

MCA Vice President cum Deputy Minister of National Unity, Malaysia

At the Thematic Briefing by International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party Of China (IDCPC)

MAINTAINING NATIONAL UNITY

22 February 2021

Mr Song Tao, Minister of the International Department, CPC Central Committee

Mr Chen Quan Guo, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

Ladies and gentlemen.

Greetings from Malaysia, and good evening.

Thank you very much for inviting me to participate in this programme.

Malaysia is a multi-ethnic country where people from diverse backgrounds have lived in harmony. Malaysians have been proud and unapologetic of their cultural and ethnic identities. And it is precisely these that has allowed us to live as one, in spite of differences. The social fabric of Malaysia has been weaved through years of accommodation, tolerance and respect.

The Malaysian story is one that included rapid expansion of the economy driven by opportunities of high-income employment in the urban areas, and the modernisation of the agriculture sector.

This modernisation and progress would not have been possible without a stable government under the Barisan Nasional coalition that ensured unity and harmony prevail. From the beginning, Barisan Nasional or BN was the magic political formula for a multi-ethnic and multi religious people to co-exist. Power sharing, mutual respect, and every ethnic group represented at one or another level of government helped maintain an equilibrium in the society.

As the second largest component party in BN, the MCA played a key role in that process as a moderator and also internal check and balance especially at a time when race and religion increasingly came into the fore of the Malaysian national politics. Over the decades, MCA did its part to keep the administration on its track of moderation, respect diversity and protection of minority interests. Standing firmly by the principles of the Federal Constitution, MCA was able to defeat all attempts to disrupt peace and harmony in this country.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Following a sad episode of racial unrest in 1969, the then government led by Tun Abdul Razak endorsed a national aspiration which we now calle as the Rukun Negara. The guiding principles in the Rukun Negara encompasses the essence of unity, freedom and justice that has until this day become the bedrock of the country’s unity.

On 15th February, the Malaysian Prime Minister launched a National Unity Blueprint 2021-2030, thus renewing the government’s commitment and plan to forge greater integration of our people.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In conjunction with today’s event, I would like to congratulate the CPC and your leadership for having successfully uplifted over 100 million people out of poverty within a period eight years. It is indeed a daunting but enormous feat that required absolute focus on the part of the central and provisional leadership, as well as well coordinated implementation and roll-out of programmes.

Like China, our work is not done. Poverty eradication and the task of providing good livelihood to our people never ends. For Malaysia, decades of pragmatic and targeted approaches have helped us uplift the economy and bring people out of poverty. However, the outbreak of the pandemic last year had pushed us back to the drawing board, as the economic landscape of the country was severely affected by closures, suspension of trade, pull back of investments, and heavy job losses as a result. 

Ladies and gentlemen,

Malaysia is a progressive country with strong economic fundamentals waiting to return as the Asian Tiger. We will not be doing this alone and Malaysia is moving ahead with great hope to work with neighbours and strategic partners to grow this country.

The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) is proud to have played an active role in keeping Malaysia-China relationship strong over the past four decades, and rest assured, we will continue to do so to help our nations prosper together.

Lastly, I am looking forward to today’s briefing and wish to again thank the International Department of the CPC for this opportunity to share my thoughts.

Thank you.

Video of speech available here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xfeaPZjZr9FM-EeuBIEPff53HhWNGsdU/view?fbclid=IwAR091dAoc_7uVaiHxErlGn5kifXLG3e2Ybex1r6orGYWl27OGQsUX3IJLpA

-MCA onine-