Don’t snub the Chinese, Berita Harian tells Umno

Umno leaders have been told not to demonise the Chinese at the Umno general assembly next week as the issue of the community’s continued rejection of Barisan Nasional in the 2013 general election is expected to be raised at the gathering.

In its weekend editorial, Malay daily “Berita Harian” advised party leaders not to succumb to emotions and should instead consider the nation’s interests.
Its former group editor, Datuk Mior Kamarul Shahid, predicted that the Chinese support for the opposition at the 13th General Election will be raised by delegates at the assembly, where they are expected to push the party’s top leadership to make a stern stand whether to continue working with the Chinese or to abandon them. Previously, such a topic was never debated openly.
“Leaders cannot make emotional decisions like the delegates. They need to make logical decisions for the long-term interests of the people and country,” Mior wrote today.
He said if leaders continued to neglect the Chinese, they would lose the Chinese votes, but if they persevered and continued to work together, there was a possibility that the Chinese might change their stand and return to support Barisan Nasional.
He acknowledged that while there was still anger among the grassroots that the Chinese had abandoned BN and Umno, with many feeling that the Malay party no longer needed the community’s support.
“The Chinese are aware that their action in throwing their support behind the opposition in the last election has raised the anger of the Malays.
“The Malays feel there is no point in helping the Chinese if they are not supportive of the Government,” he said.
In the May polls, BN won 133 of the 222 parliamentary seats, ceding seven seats to the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition compared with the 2008 polls. It also lost the popular vote, securing only 47% compared with the opposition’s 51%.
However, Umno won 88 seats, up from the 79 it had previously, thanks to support from rural Malays and Bumiputeras.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had termed the outcome as a “Chinese tsunami” although analysts had said data from voting trends showed it was a major swing in urban and middle-class electorate.
In May, Umno’s “Utusan Malaysia” front paged the question “Apa lagi Cina mahu?” (What else do the Chinese want?) in what appeared to be an attempt to shape the results of election 2013 as a Chinese-v-Malay vote. – December 1, 2013.