DAP today commended Acting Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for the national agenda to eliminate the Malaysian malaise of "Third World mentality" and corruption.

Party chairperson Lim Kit Siang ( photo ) applauded Abdullah, who spoke at a talk organised by the Oxford and Cambridge Society of Malaysia yesterday, for focusing o­n corruption and abuse of trust both in the public and private sectors.

"Abdullah has made a commendable start as acting prime minister with his attack o­n the Malaysian malaise of having 'First World infrastructure and Third World mentality', the 'Ugly Malaysian' disposition marked by lack of civic virtue, and corruption," he said in a statement.

However, he cautioned that "Malaysians have heard for too long speeches about fighting corruption not backed up by deeds" and this time "want to see results".

He said DAP will write to Abdullah ( photo ) seeking for a meeting to present the party's ideas and concrete proposals for a blueprint to root out the country's malaise in order to clear the way to achieve Vision 2020 objectives.

KLIA best example

"The Malaysian malaise does not appear overnight but is the direct result of the government's development and nation-building policies of the past few decades.

"If these problems are to be rooted out, the clean-up process must start from the top, beginning with the cabinet," said Lim.

Responding further to Abdullah's speech, he said the acting premier had "rightly posed" the question as to whether Malaysia can achieve the Vision 2020 objectives despite having world-class facilities.

"The Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) is the best example to illustrate Abdullah's point," he said.

He criticised Transport Minister Dr Ling Liong Sik ( left ) for his announcement yesterday that the baggage handling system in KLIA which was o­nce boasted to be o­ne of the world's best, had become obsolete and needed upgrading.

"The system is going to be upgraded without ever having proved its capacity and money's worth in the past four-and-a-half years.

"The RM400 million 'world's fastest and most sophisticated baggage handling system', starting in total chaos at the opening of KLIA in mid-1998 which resulted in passengers having to queue for five hours to reclaim their luggage, is now ending in further infamy - with the fourth breakdown last Sunday in the past three months," he said.

Lim said Ling's description of the latest breakdown as "a minor glitch" is proof that "Third World mentality" was prevalent at the highest reaches of the government.

Dengue mishandling

The DAP chief also criticised Health Minister Chua Jui Meng ( right ) for mishandling the dengue epidemic in Malaysia through a deliberate blackout of information and refusal to sound a national alert.

"Malaysia is relegating itself to a sort of 'Fourth World' status after more than 100 dengue deaths last year, at least 20 of which occurred in the first two months of this year," he said.

He said the health minister can learn much from some Third World countries that are handling dengue outbreaks and epidemics appropriately.

"For example, El Salvador declared an emergency last July after a dengue epidemic claimed nine lives since January, and Honduras declared an emergency last July after dengue killed a dozen people," he said.