MP SPEAKS | One of the first things I did when I became an MP in 2013 was to read Lim Kit Siang’s “Time Bombs in Malaysia: Problems of Nation-building in Malaysia”.

The book was a compilation of Kit’s debate speeches in Parliament throughout the 1970s, following a dark period of a 21-month suspension from Parliament after the May 13 incident in 1969.

Since then, I have been encouraging new MPs and state assemblypersons to read the book – soak up the issues, the trains of thought, meticulous research, and articulation. This is the kind of quality a DAP wakil rakyat’s (people’s representative) debate should aspire to.

Reading the book gave me a strange sense of reverse déjà vu – what I read from a book written decades before sounded very similar to what I read in the news yesterday.

The names and figures might be different but the issues were the same.

Labour market in the 1970s

In 1973, amid booming petrol prices, inflation in Malaysia shot up so much that by the end of the year, then-finance minister Tan Siew Sin declared inflation to be “our number one economic problem”.

When Parliament convened to debate the national budget in December of that year, Bandar Melaka MP, 32-year-old Kit Siang in his usual eloquence called on the government to implement several “anti-inflationary” measures in the budget.

Other than fiscal restructuring and tax reform measures, Kit pushed for more drastic labour market reforms to be implemented.

The logic is obvious: any economic reforms must empower ordinary Malaysians, the workers.

In Kit’s own words: “Economic growth and prosperity must be translated into personal terms for every Malaysian, particularly the poor”.

At that time, unemployment was high and wages were low.

Against reports of a labour shortage, Kit succinctly said: “What Malaysia had was not labour shortage, with our eight percent unemployment rate, but cheap labour shortage.”

As such, he called on the government to increase allowances for public sector workers, implement a minimum wage policy for private sector workers, ensure better social security, and arrest brain drain, among others.

One must remember that this was a speech made more than half a century ago, demonstrating Kit’s vision ahead of his time.

About half a year later, he stood up in Parliament to move a private member’s bill to introduce a basic living wage for workers.

Dr Chen Man Hin, Kit Siang, and the DAP have been advocating for minimum wage since the early 70s. This was, in Kit’s words, “to prevent capitalist exploitation of cheap labour”.

In fact, Kit criticised Malaysian ministers at that time who went overseas to attract foreign investment with the offer of “very cheap and docile labour, where the capitalists are allowed free rein in their exploitation of labour”.

He argued that “the enactment of minimum legislation would be an instrument to ensure a fairer distribution of incomes from the fruits of economic development for the workers”.

In July 1976, Kit also championed a new anti-discrimination at work legislation “to confer upon an employee the right not to be unfairly dismissed, whether it is for reasons of race, colour, marital status, religion, political opinion…”

This not only stemmed from his steadfast commitment towards ensuring job security for workers but also his firm belief in a just Malaysian society, regardless of race, religion, and social class.

Building on Kit Siang’s legacy

When I became an MP in 2013, on the one hand, I felt proud to be the latest in a long line of tradition in which DAP MPs stood up in Parliament to speak for the people in the august hall.

My maiden speech in Parliament on June 26, 2013, addressed the issue of unemployment, underemployment, women in the labour force, and social security.

On the other hand, mindful of this privilege to stand on the shoulders of giants like Chen, P Patto, Karpal Singh, and Kit Siang, I was extremely humbled.

Then about one year ago, I was appointed human resources minister.

I know this was my opportunity to implement what we have been preaching, tracing back 50 years ago to the time when young Kit Siang stood in Parliament.

I laid down a vision for the 15,000-strong staff in Kesuma (Kementerian Sumber Manusia):

Every worker in Malaysia can go to work in an honourable environment, receive dignified compensation, and at the end of every work day, every worker in Malaysia can go home safely to be with their family and loved ones.

To achieve these objectives, in the last year, Kesuma moved eight major labour legislations to improve wages, increase social security, strengthen occupational safety and health, promote the union movement, provide more training opportunities for workers, and protect workers’ rights.

When Kit spoke in 1973, unemployment was almost eight percent. Unemployment today is at a 10-year low of 3.1 percent.

Not only does Malaysia now have a minimum wage law, but we also recently increased the minimum wage by RM200 per month. This was complemented by other wage growth strategies such as the Progressive Wage Policy, stronger collective bargaining power through labour unions, and upskilling efforts to improve productivity.

Civil service salaries were also increased after 12 years of stagnation.

Kesuma is targeting to table a historic gig workers law in two weeks to ensure protection for workers in the new economy emerging out of new technology of the 21st century. We would be one of the earliest countries to do so globally, demonstrating Malaysia’s commitment towards justice for workers.

In July 1976, Kit first called for legislation on anti-discrimination at work to be enacted in Parliament. Exactly 48 years later in July 2024, I tabled the amendment to the Sabah Labour Ordinance, and later, the Sarawak Labour Ordinance, so that now we have anti-discrimination clauses writ into all three labour legislations in the country, namely the Employment Act for Peninsular Malaysia, the Sabah Labour Ordinance, and the Sarawak Labour Ordinance.

Carrying the torch in our generation

Kit Siang served as an MP for 48 years. Through these years, he not only became the archetype of a fearless politician who gave a voice to the voiceless, he also became a model MP whose debate speeches were exemplary of articulate and forceful yet well-researched, no-nonsense oration.

But Kit himself never became a minister or deputy minister.

One question I am often asked is, “Is Lim Kit Siang qualified to be a minister?”

I am convinced Kit is more than qualified to be a minister. Yes, he may have been known as Mr Opposition throughout his career in politics, but the vision he had half a century ago eventually became the defining policies and laws of our times. That itself is a vindication of both his foresight and ability to be part of the governing leadership.

Yet he did not become minister. He had an opportunity in 2018, to be part of the leadership of Pakatan Harapan during the historic regime change in Malaysia. Kit instead gave way to younger leaders and eventually even announced his retirement from frontline politics.

The magnanimity is clear, but also the selfless spirit. He covets neither power nor positions, always putting the nation’s interest above his own.

After winning 16 parliamentary seats in the 1978 general election, the biggest ever by an opposition party in Malaysia up to that time, there were rumours that DAP was in negotiation to join the government.

Dispelling those rumours, Kit wrote:

“We in the DAP are reasonable people. But we will be firm and unyielding in a reasonable way. We will seek, for the interests of the country and for the future of our children, to make the government see our point of view, to understand the people’s deepest hopes and dreams. We will do this by speaking up inside and outside Parliament and the state assemblies, and in meetings with the prime minister and other government leaders. We will do so, not to ask for minister or deputy minister posts or to get entry into the ruling coalition, but to change thinking and assessments by all political leaders on basic problems of the nation.” (emphasis mine)

This is the value we, the younger generation members of DAP, inherited from Kit Siang. Value encapsulated in Kit’s own words:

“We in the DAP are Malaysian patriots from all racial backgrounds, who want to see the preservation and strengthening of a democratic political system, where every citizen has an equal stake in the political and economic future of the country, with the right to lead a meaningful life and ample opportunities to achieve self-fulfilment.

“It is only such a society that can defuse the multiple time bombs ticking away in Malaysia.

“The DAP will give the government every cooperation and support in policies which will contribute to greater national unity, a stronger democratic system, and a more just economic and social order. We will not hesitate, however, to continue to speak out and oppose what we see as forces and developments and policies which will create greater national disunity and weaken the forces of democracy and social justice.”

(Speech by Opposition Leader and DAP MP for Kota Melaka, Lim Kit Siang, in the Dewan Rakyat on the Third Malaysia Plan debate on July 20, 1976, extracted from “Time Bombs in Malaysia, 1978”)

Happy 84th birthday, Lao Da, Saudara Lim Kit Siang. We will keep the flame burning and in due time, pass on the torch.

STEVEN SIM CHEE KEONG is the human resources minister and DAP’s national organising secretary.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.