Tackling the Chinese vote
By Deborah Loh (The Nut Graph)
THERE is consensus among political analysts that one year on after the 2008 general election, Chinese Malaysians by and large remain "entrenched" in their support for the opposition. Despite problems within Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and conflicting stands on issues like hudud law among its parties, some analysts think that the trenches of Chinese Malaysian support have been dug even deeper.
How can Barisan Nasional (BN) win back the trust of Chinese Malaysians? For one, what Umno, as the lead party in BN, must learn is not to see demands by non-Malay Malaysians as attacks on Malay Malaysian privileges. To do so, a deeper understanding of the Chinese Malaysian community's thinking and dynamics is required.
The community is complex and non-homogenous, notes the MCA-backed Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research (Insap) director and chief executive officer Fui K Soong.
No common ground
One flaw in the Umno-led BN approach to Chinese Malaysians is to assume that all Chinese must think alike. Hence, the reasoning that a single act of allocating funds to Chinese schools would be sufficient to win votes. There's also the assumption that MCA, MIC and Gerakan can adequately cater to the non-Malay Malaysian communities.
Umno is likely reacting out of a Malay Malaysian worldview, where a common religion and shared customs are held by all Malay Malaysians. In contrast, Chinese Malaysians are a more disparate group. Soong categorises them broadly into the G1 and G2 Chinese.
Read more at: http://www.thenutgraph.com/tackling-the-chinese-vote
