The second Prime Minister Abdul Razak Hussein would have been sympathetic with the eminent Malays’ group dubbed 'G25' and arranged to meet them sooner, said DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang.

"I wonder, if Tun Razak is still around, would he have been more sympathetic with the call made by Eminent Malays and their supporters, through an open letter for PM to provide leadership?” he asked.

"I would think that, he would be more sympathetic rather than asking them to cool their heels for over a month, with no appointment fixed to meet the prime minister," he spoke at a forum last night.

The G25 rose to prominence when it wrote an open letter to Najib last month, urging for the voice of moderation by asking him to show leadership in the wake of intolerant voices from right-wing groups such as Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) and Perkasa.

G25 is now waiting for Prime Minister's Office to arrange a meeting appointment with prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

The forum, dubbed "Remembering Tun Razak" was held last night in conjunction with the 39th anniversary of the second premier.

It was organised by Roketkini.com, the mouthpiece of DAP.

The other two speakers were PKR's Lembah Pantai parliamentarian Nurul Izzah Anwar and the editor of news portal The Malaysian Insider, Jahabar Sadiq.

The forum was moderated by DAP Seputeh parliamentarian Teresa Kok.

'Father hands-on, son hands-off'

Lim described Abdul Razak as a “hands-on" type of leader, who goes on the ground while his son, Najib as rather "hands-off", who played golf in Hawaii during the heavy flood period.

"For the nation to survive, we should be open, liberal and moderate. Moderate Malaysians should come out to reclaim their lands," he said.

Meanwhile, Abdul Razak's former political secretary Abdullah Ahmad, or fondly known as Dollah Kok Lanas, was moved by the forum held to commemorate his former boss.

"Ironically, this was not held by Umno to commemorate Tun Razak, but it was DAP commemorating him," he said.

In fact, a tahlil or special prayer was organised for Abdul Razak by Umno last night too.

With the inequality gap widening and more Malaysians becoming poorer, the Umno veteran advised that people should speak less on ethnicity but stand united.

"The rich stayed together to protect their wealth, but the poor quarrelling among themselves, so they keep on dividing.

"And, as long they can divide all of you, I feel sorry for you," he said.

Razak left a legacy in uniting the nation in the May 13 aftermath, as well as to better the living standard of Malaysians, he stressed.

'Nation-based party system unlikely'

Abdullah was pessimistic that with the deeply-rooted religious and racial sentiments and extremisms, it was hard for Malaysians to transform from race-based party to nation-based party system.

"This is very hard, as we lack the political will," he said, in response to the political secretary Dyana Sofia Mohd Daud of DAP during the question and answer sessions.

Malaysia needs someone like Lee Kuan Yew ( right in photo ), the strongman and former Singapore premier, he said, "but we don't have Lee Kuan Yew."

With such sentiments running deep among the voters, he said, there seems to be no future for both PKR and DAP for the time being.

He also opined that the nation need the talent of all races in order to progress and catch up with neighbouring countries like Singapore, he said.

"Malaysia is not performing badly, but it can be better or can be as good as Singapore," he said.

A DAP member from Kepong had asked what should be done so Malaysians could restore their pride following the regressive performance and few developments that “bring shame to the people”.