He said that while Chen was born in China, he regarded himself a Malaysian first despite his Chinese heritage and ethnicity.

He said Chen’s pursuit of the “Malaysian Dream” should be continued by all Malaysians if the country wanted to succeed and become a world-class nation.

This dream, he said, was the pursuit of justice, freedom, equality and progress for all Malaysians regardless of race or religion.

“Chen dreamt the Malaysian Dream, and Malaysia can only succeed if all Malaysians dream the Malaysian Dream – not a Malay Dream, a Chinese Dream, an Indian Dream, Kadazan Dream or Dayak Dream,” he said in a statement.

He also called on all Malaysians to regard Chen as a role model.

“Chen fought the fight for all Malaysians for four decades without asking anything in return for himself.

“Malaysia needs more Dr Chen Man Hins if the country is to achieve its potential and become a world-class great nation.”

Chen died at around 5am this morning. He was 98 years old.

He was the Rahang assemblyman between 1965 and 1982 and also served as the MP for Seremban Timor (1969-1974) and Seremban (1974-1982 and 1983-1990).

He was also the party’s chairman from 1966 to 1999 before being appointed as lifelong adviser.