Here a a piece: No reason to tick off voters by Wong Chun Wai to share with you.

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STAND-UP comic Harith Iskandar is the product of Malay-English parentage. He has acted in plays and movies speaking in Bahasa Malaysia and earns a living telling jokes, mostly in English with some Malay and Chinese words thrown in.

He has been telling his audiences that he plans to get married soon with a woman of Chinese-Indian parentage. “I do not know how our children will fill up those forms. I think they will have to tick every box – Malay, Chinese, Indian and lain-lain.”

The predominantly Chinese crowd in Petaling Jaya roared when he asked when Malaysians could stop having to state their racial background. Then he delivered his punch line: “But I am a Malaysian first.” His listeners were on their feet by then, which goes to show how much the issue had struck a chord with urban Malay­sia.

With certain politicians asking the Chinese community to be “grateful” for getting their citizenship and Perkasa asking the community to “repent”, it does not need a political scientist or a sociologist to explain why many Chinese voters have refused to vote for the Barisan Nasional.

Yet, the Chinese electorate has often been pro-establishment, except for 1969 and then in 2008. In 1999, when Umno suffered badly in the hands of PAS, it was the Chinese voters who came to the rescue of Umno candidates.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak retained his Pekan seat with a 241-vote majority against unknown PAS challenger Ramli Mohamed.

Ibrahim Ali, who was then a deputy minister, lost his Pasir Mas parliamentary seat and certainly his predominantly Malay voters rejected him. We don’t recall him telling off the mostly Malay voters for being ungrateful despite being benefactors of the New Econo­mic Policy.

The Chinese voters backed the Barisan so strongly that even the DAP’s Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh lost their parliamentary and state seats in Penang. The Chinese voters were angry at the DAP-PAS electoral pact and wanted to send a strong message of disapproval.

The irony was that then PAS Youth chief Datuk Mahfuz Omar – now a vice-president – said Umno was increasingly dependent on Chinese votes.

“This would be very dangerous to the Malay sovereignty,” he said.

Fast forward 2010, we are hearing such similar statements from the likes of Ibrahim Ali, who have forgotten or chosen to forget that the Chinese votes can help Umno.

When the MCA and Gerakan were weak, it would be the Umno votes that helped these two parties. That has been the way since the Alliance under Tunku Abdul Rahman, who was aware that the inclusion of non-Malays in the government would be crucial to its legitimacy as well as to keep intact the politics of consensus and accommodation.

The power-sharing concept has worked so well that now the Pakatan Rakyat has adopted it via a PKR, DAP and PAS coalition.

Immediately after the 1999 electoral bashing, Najib, who was an Umno vice-president, said the voting trend of Malays – who favoured the opposition – was a signal for Umno to work harder in ensuring the party and Barisan success in future.

Umno, he added, must correct its mistakes and look at itself before pointing fingers at others for the defeat. That, however, seems to be the pattern of some politicians after the Hulu Selangor by-election which the Barisan won. Imagine how these politicians would have reacted had the PKR won the seat.

But it is encouraging for Najib to ignore these hollow calls by going to the Chinese school in Rasa with a RM3mil cheque to construct a building.

Najib is obviously looking further ahead. The RM3mil is a political investment for the next general election, not just for Rasa but for every Chinese majority constituency, as his gesture went down strongly.

There is no need to tell the community to be grateful. After all, the Chinese and Indian communities helped build the nation and the bulk of income tax is said to be from the Chinese community.

A political party is just like any company. It has to sell its product by convincing its customers why it is better than its rivals. In meeting sales targets, no company picks its customers according to their race. Every customer should be treated like a king and every effort should be made to win his heart and mind. So it is incredulous that one would ask his customers to be “grateful” and to “repent” or, worse still, even ask what more the customers want.

The electorate, like the customers, expect their sales persons to be nice to them if they still want to do business. If these salesmen disappear when their services are needed or act arrogantly, then we can expect the company to be out of business.

All is not lost for the Barisan because the scenario has improved. Besides, Najib’s increasing favourable ratings and the economy – a crucial key indicator for the Chinese – has seen some positive outlook starting with a stronger ringgit.

The feel good factor seems to be coming around and while the government’s expectations for the GDP growth is between 4.5% and 5.5%, others believe that 6.6% is possible.

Local companies have reported better market confidence in the first quarter results. In fact, monthly car sales reportedly recovered from a low of 33,000 in October 2008 to an average of 42,000 per month over the last six months.

The transformation plans would certainly have an impact on the country’s economy and the political scenario.

There is no need for anyone to play the racial card and Umno should distance itself from groups or individuals fanning communal sentiments. The fact that the MCA and the MIC put the word “Malaysian” first when they were formed is sufficient proof of their allegiance to this country.

Strangely, comedians like Harith are making sense while our politicians have become comics instead, often with their foot in their mouth.

光华日报的一则消息
吉民联分裂加剧　居林公正党恫言集体辞官
二零零九年七月三日 晚上十一时四十九分


（居林3日讯）公正党居林区党要向党中央发出最后通牒，若党中央在1个月内没有解决吉打州非巫裔社会的问题，将集体辞去市议员和村长官职，以示对党中央和州政府的不满！

居林区州议员林思年说，居林区公正党村长和市议员在会议上一致通过，要求党中央处理华、印裔社会课题，尤其是宰猪场拆除事件，若党还是持不理不睬的态度，市议员与村长将集体呈辞。

他说，居林州选区3名市议员朱茂年、张应财和维克拉曼、46名村长以及6名巴东色海区村长参与这项行动，大家对州政府执政以来实施对非巫裔社会不公平的政策深感不满。

不满政策不公

他强调，此举并不是恐吓党，而是要带给党一个强烈的讯息，反映出对党和州政府的不满。

林思年周四晚是在居林公正党支部党所与各族市议员和村长开会后，在记者会上发布这项消息。

大臣态度嚣张

被询及若是辞退官职后，回教党或委任该党成员接任这些官位，林思年表示，也由得他们了，辞官的党员并不在乎。

谈到吉州大臣拿督斯里阿兹然不会阻止吉州行动党退出民联一事，林思年说，大臣态度有些嚣张，虽然行动党在吉州只有一席，不过，该党也是民联成员之一，他强调，民联是由公正党、行动党和回教党所组成，必须给予成员党尊重。

他也提醒大臣，若是少了公正党，回教党主导的州政府不能执政吉打州。

“308大选民联执政吉打，不只是巫裔社会的支持，华、印裔族群也投下一票，然而如今非巫裔社会被边缘化，我也不太有信心民联会在下届大选胜出。”

建议6新地点　全部遭否决

对于宰猪场被拆问题，林思年说，民联华裔议员在过去向州政府建议6个宰猪场新地点，可惜全被拒绝，就连本同县的，也被本同县长否决申请。

他说，大臣宣称批准新宰猪场是县市议会主席的权力，林思年质疑州务大臣权限到那里，他表示，新宰猪场的申请一波三折，州政府似乎要把责任推卸给其他人。

另一方面，谈到拖欠村长津贴的问题，林思年说，据他向当局了解，村长津贴是4至6个月发出1次，而村长这6个月的津贴也即将发出。

他个人认为有关拖欠津贴事件，或是吉打州财务出现状况，他说，据可靠消息，州库的2千万令吉已用了将近一半，惟这项消息有待查证。

若不能为民解困　当官失意义

居林市议员朱茂年、张应财和村长陈振发异口同声说，若非巫裔社会问题不获解决，就算保留官职，也毫无意义！

他们说，其责任是为民解困，若是人民问题久久不能解决，那么继续当议员或村长又有什么意思。

“我们不是要威吓党和州政府，只是要他们解决问题。”