Chinese will back ‘intelligent’ leader
By Muda Mohd Noor and B Nantha Kumar, Free Malaysia Today
KUALA KUBU BARU: The tiger – quiet, proud, independent and as magnificent as it is – is not the king of the jungle. Likewise the Chinese community in Hulu Selangor – they aren’t, according to observers, the deciders.
Like the tiger stealthily observing its prey, the 16,964-strong Chinese voting community is watching by-election candidates P Kamalanathan (Barisan Nasional) and Zaid Ibrahim (PKR).
Come Sunday, they will pounce on the ballot box casting their vote in just as clinical a manner as would the tiger tear its prey, because in this “jungle” it’s survival of the fittest.
Political patronage, humility and bend-backward diplomacy are not necessarily traits that make for a strong and fine captain, according to a random poll by FMT on the Chinese community here.
“You can ask them (the Chinese), they will keep quiet until voting day,” said a trader who declined to be named.
His subdued tone in the midst of a bustling coffeeshop in Kuala Kubu Baru, tells of a mature understanding among the Chinese to keep mum and only flex their power at the box.
Prodded further, he quips: “But I will tell you now: most of the Chinese who once supported the BN are now looking at PKR.
“He (Zaid) looks more qualified and intelligent. Chinese like that. It is important for a leader.”
Warming to the promise of anonymity, he added: “The Chinese don’t like Palani (former BN four-term MP G Palanivel).
“He is arrogant. Last time he said ‘I don’t need the Chinese.’ It made us very angry.
“The Chinese don’t forget. Any candidate if he is from the MIC, the Chinese won’t support.”
Not far from the trader, a civil servant on tea-break described the Chinese community as “strong, free and independent”.
He said the Chinese were not bound by or in need of government assistance like the other communities.
‘A lot of aid comes every time there’s an election but the Chinese are not interested because it’s not for us.
“We are strong, free and independent. We can stand on our own,” he said. “We are not easily persuaded.”
Another senior citizen sharing his table, who lives in Kalumpang ,said the Chinese were fighters and “traditionally opposition supporters”.
“Before many Chinese supported BN… but not any more,” he said, attributing the shift in the community’s pattern to BN’s “greed and arrogance”.
“They (BN) don’t respect people,” he added.
Asked if having different BN candidate would have made a difference, he said: “If BN had field Mat Taib (former Selangor Menteri Besar Muhammad Muhammad Taib), he would win.
“The Malays loved him. He was a big man here. No need for BN to campaign much,” said the senior citizen.
