Raja Azlan Shah J:

Dr Ooi Kee Saik (accusedNo. 1) is charged before this Court with an offence under s. 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act, 1948, in that on 22 November 1970, at Sun Hoe Peng Restaurant, 25 Light Street, Penang, he uttered seditious words, namely -

ALLIANCE POLICY OF SEGREGATION: 'EVIDENCE GALORE' - Tonight's dinner is in celebration of Sdr Lim Kit Siang's release from detention by the Alliance Government. While it is a matter for celebration, it is also an occasion to highlight the grave Alliance error in putting away a man whose speeches during the last election campaign, especially his warnings, have been more than borne out by the events since then. To say that Sdr. Lim Kit Siang's arrest was a mindless over-reaction on the part of the Alliance Government is to be kind to the Alliance Government. The fact that a true Malaysian like Sdr. Lim Kit Siang can be summarily put away without trial, is indeed a very sad testimony to the way democracy is being practised in this country.

The question I keep asking myself, and I am sure there must be thousands of other thinking people in this country who feel the same way that I do, in this: 'Is the Alliance Government making any headway in the problem of forging a new Malaysian nation, of creating a Malaysian identity which truly and honestly reflects the various racial strands in our country?' The answer, sad to say, is a firm and categorical No. And one of the main reasons for this is because the Alliance Government practises a policy of segregation. While we in the DAP preach a sincere and honest policy of integration , the Alliance policy merely pays lip service to it.

There is evidence galore of the Alliance policy of segregation.

No 1. TAKE OUR MALAYSIAN ARMY. New and better battalions are being formed from members of one ethnic group. Here you have an excellent opportunity for integration in a vital part of our national structure but this opportunity is being missed.

No 2. NEW POLICE CONTINGENTS. Here again. recruitment mainly from one ethnic group. Another excellent opportunity for integration being missed.

No 3. SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES are being organised by different ethnic groups, and everybody is moving along his own separate path. Therefore, the cleavage between our future leaders and intellectuals will be all that more difficult to bridge in years to come.

No 4. PUBLIC HOUSING. Another avenue for integration not being exploited. Instead, housing and shopping complexes for one ethnic group are still being built all over the country.

No 5. LAND SCHEMES. Vast land schemes with real opportunities for people of all races to live and work and grow up together. Here again a golden opportunity being missed.

No 6. GIGANTIC BUSINESS AND INDUSTRIAL CONCERNS are being organised, not for the benefit of ALL poor Malaysians, but again only for the benefit of one ethnic group. The latest of these is the National Corp. Even the Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak, says blatantly that this is for the benefit of one ethnic group, although this huge multi-million dollar corporation is called a 'national' corporation. Can't the Alliance Government imagine for a minute what the reaction of the country will be, and the far-reaching implication of this huge corporation a 'national' corporation when it serves the interests of only one ethnic group? Is it being suggested that other groups in this country are not part of the national structure? Or is this another bad example of governmental arrogance?

Therefore, while we in the DAP strive for a policy of integration, the formation of a solid infra-structure, a solid mesh-work, which will make it physically impossible for anyone in this country to act and to behave in any way except as a Malaysian citizen, the Alliance Government prefers to hold tea-parties.

The DAP is a clear-cut party with a clear-cut policy. But more than anything else, the DAP is a pro-Malaysian party, pro-every single Malaysian citizen irre