DAP proposes Tunku Prize comparable to Nobel Prize
DAP today called on the government to institute an annual prize in memory of the late Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj to be given to those who made distinguished achievements in various fields of human endeavour.
Party national chairperson Lim Kit Siang said the awards should be comparable to the Nobel Prize Awards to give credit to Tunku and the nation.
He said since the country could spend from RM200 million to RM1 billion for the recently concluded 13th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summiy in Kuala Lumpur, there was no reason which a similar amount of money and resourses could not be poured into the creation of the awards.
"The wisdom of expenditure of such vast sums of money (for NAM) is highly debatable especially when NAM has not established its relevance in the new age.
"RM100 million or RM200 million spent for establishing the Tunku Prize to commemorate Tunku's birthday centenary and to put Malaysia on the world map as an annual measuring rod of distinguished global human achievements would undoubtedly be a most deserving commitment," he said in a statement.
DAP today called on the government to institute an annual prize in memory of the late Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj to be given to those who made distinguished achievements in various fields of human endeavour.
Party national chairperson Lim Kit Siang said the awards should be comparable to the Nobel Prize Awards to give credit to Tunku and the nation.
He said since the country could spend from RM200 million to RM1 billion for the recently concluded 13th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summiy in Kuala Lumpur, there was no reason which a similar amount of money and resourses could not be poured into the creation of the awards.
"The wisdom of expenditure of such vast sums of money (for NAM) is highly debatable especially when NAM has not established its relevance in the new age.
"RM100 million or RM200 million spent for establishing the Tunku Prize to commemorate Tunku's birthday centenary and to put Malaysia on the world map as an annual measuring rod of distinguished global human achievements would undoubtedly be a most deserving commitment," he said in a statement.
Money no problem
He said the money would not be a problem as the recent issue of Malaysian Business which listed 40 richest Malaysians showed that there are many billionaires in the country.
"A joint government-private sector effort to fund the Tunku Prize should not be beyond the capability of Malaysians," he said.
He said although Tunku had stepped down as prime minister 32 years ago, "his influence continued to writ large in all aspects of Malaysian life".
The DAP chief said Tunku's "humanity, compassion or humility" could be felt in terms of his commitment to contemporary concerns such as nation-building, inter-religious understanding and harmony, democracy, the rule of law, human rights, security laws, press freedom and corruption.
National institution
Quoting his speech 18 years ago, Lim said "Tunku's influence and stature as Bapa Malaysia had grown with each passing year, and he has become a national institution and asset as the father-figure for all Malaysians".
He said DAP had proposed then that Tunku should head a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the problems of national unity in Malaysia to strengthen the inner applications of Malaysian nationalism and prepare Malaysia for challenges in the 21st century.
"The problem of racial polarisation, national unity and nation-building are still very much with us, 47 years after Merdeka," he said.
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
This action cannot be undone.