MCA is actually right

Let’s hope I don’t get to say ‘I told you so’ after the Galas and Batu Sapi by-elections. Let’s hope the opposition, for once, gets to prove me wrong. I would love to be proven wrong and having to eat my words once the by-election results are in.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

MCA's Wee says Chinese in Galas "actually don't like" Pakatan

(Bernama) - MCA Youth chief Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong is convinced that voters in the Galas state constituency, particularly the Chinese community, are not easily influenced by the tactics employed by the opposition.

Dr Wee, who is also the Deputy Education Minister, said the Chinese voters were now more mature in choosing leaders in their constituency.

"The Chinese community has made a clear stand that they actually don't like the opposition (PAS) because the party had never been concerned before and had never visited them to give any assistance.”

"The situation is so different with the Barisan Nasional (BN) and MCA leaders showing interest on their living condition and giving immediate aid if necessary," he told reporters after visiting Chinese homes in Kampung Baru, here Saturday.

As such, Dr Wee said the MCA machinery would continue to monitor the tactics of the opposition who tried to incite the Chinese voters to the extent of affecting racial harmony.

The by-election for the Galas state constituency seat is being held on Nov 4 following the death of the incumbent (PAS) assemblyman Chek Hashim Sulaima who died on Sept 27.

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What the MCA Youth chief said is actually quite true. And when the government leaders say something that is true we should admit so and not disagree with them just because they stand on the opposite side of the political fence. The Chinese from the three villages in the Galas constituency are very angry with the state government. And this anger has been there for some years now.

The state normally appoints the ketua kampung or village heads as well as the local councillors -- as there are no local council elections as what we from the civil society movements would like to see. Most times these village or council heads would be cronies of those in power. That is sort of how politicians reward their supporters -- by giving them positions in the local councils and villages.

But these Chinese heads of the villages have been behaving like Little Napoleons or warlords (taiko in Chinese). And they have been bullying the Chinese villagers.

For example, in one incident, the Chinese villagers had applied for a piece of land to build their temple. However, since that land is a very nice piece of land the Chinese village head hijacked it for his holiday resort. This has of course angered the Chinese villagers.

Complaints have been made to the state, in particular to Husam Musa, but no action was taken and these gangster village heads continue to terrorise the Chinese villagers. So now it is payback time. The villagers are going to teach the state a lesson by voting for Umno -- whereas it was the Chinese votes that gave that Galas seat to the opposition in the last election.

Then we have the significant number of Orang Asli voters who are very angry that the local council demolished their church and still refuses to allow them to rebuild it even though the court has ruled in favour of the church. No doubt it was the local council that did this and not the state government. However, since the local councillors are selected by the state and not voted into office, the Orang Asli blame the state government.

And this matter is still unresolved. So the Orang Asli may want to teach PAS a lesson by voting for Umno.

Can PAS win the Galas by-election? With Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, the taiko of Gua Musang, leading the charge (which means the Malay votes are in jeopardy) and with the Orang Asli and Chinese both angry with the state, it will be an uphill battle for PAS. And maybe it is good they lose this by-election or else they will not listen when we tell them of the problems on the ground. They will go on thinking that they need not listen to us since they and not us are the politicians (so they know better).

Of course, it is not too late to salvage things but PAS will need to bend over backwards if they want to win back the support of the Orang Asli and Chinese. And, considering that the Malay votes are in jeopardy, it is either they win back the support of the Orang Asli and Chinese or else they will lose the by-election.

The Batu Sapi by-election in Sabah is not any better for the opposition. With a one-to-one contest it is already difficult to beat PBS, especially when the widow of the late candidate is contesting the seat. But in a three-corner fight it will be plain sailing for PBS/Barisan Nasional.

The situation is so hopeless that there are some in DAP who are saying they had better not waste their time by going to Sabah. BN is going to win anyway. Yong Teck Lee of SAPP is going to grab the Chinese votes while Ansari Abdullah of PKR is going to grab the Malay votes. But with the Chinese and Malay votes split, all PBS needs is 40% of the votes to win. And it is not that difficult to win at least 40% of the votes.

The logic of both SAPP and PKR contesting that by-election in a three-corner fight is to see who wins second place. In an election, winning second place means losing because only number one counts. So what is the novelty of winning second place when second place is a loser just like third place?

This is so that they can decide who contests that seat in the coming general election. If SAPP wins more votes than PKR then SAPP will contest that seat in the next election -- and vice versa.

Okay, that may solve Batu Sapi (and I say ‘may’). But what about the 84 other seats in Sabah? There are 25 parliament and 60 state seats in Sabah. They can arrive at a formula for Batu Sapi but what formula are they going to use for the other 84 seats?

Are they also going to contest in three-corner fights in the coming general election for these other 84 seats and then decide, based on who wins number two spot, who should contest that seat come two general elections from now?

What if it is a four-corner or five-corner contest two general elections from now? SAPP and PKR can agree on the formula and shake hands on the matter (and it is only a handshake, mind you, not a sealed contract) but what is there to stop another party other than SAPP or PKR from joining the contest and, again, turning it into a three-corner fight?

This ‘gentleman’s agreement’ thing does not make sense. You can come to an agreement but you can’t control what others do. Someone can always resign from their party and contest the election as an ‘independent candidate’ like what happened back in 2004. So we shall still see a three- or four-corner fight.

The trouble is the politicians always think they know better what they are doing than those of us who ‘comment only’. But then, those of us who 'comment only' always get to say ‘I told you so’ later.

Let’s hope I don’t get to say ‘I told you so’ after the Galas and Batu Sapi by-elections. Let’s hope the opposition, for once, gets to prove me wrong. I would love to be proven wrong and having to eat my words once the by-election results are in.