This week the
New Malaysia government got down to work and named Lim Guan Eng as the Finance
Minister.
Of the many
statements made by the newly elected the statement by Lim Guan Eng “
I AM A MALAYSIAN” was to me the most formidable and reflected the mood of the moment
of a country that had experienced a new MERDEKA.
Guan Eng was
replying to a journalist who asked how it felt to become Malaysia’s ethnic
Chinese Finance Minister.
He immediately responded "I’m sorry, I don’t consider myself a Chinese, I am a Malaysian.”
All these
years we have been labeled by our ethnic background but this statement at this
moment in time clearly defines our identity as only wanting to be known as MALAYSIAN. Lets hope this statement is followed through.
Guan Eng is
a former banker and a qualified chartered accountant and until the 14thGeneral
Election the Chief Minister of Penang.
JAG