Targeting the Intended Targets

Pete came up with a very interesting topic about how Malaysians are voting now. Some vote where the cash is while others vote where their conscience are. Some vote for a reason while others vote for rewards. 

By Hakim Joe

Saying thus does not detract from the fact that Pakatan really needs to buckle up and do more than whatever they are doing now. They have to be offering the voters a choice of government, not merely a change of government. Doing exactly the same thing albeit a bit better is not something the voters are looking for. People are seeking a permanent change for the better, not purely improvement.

The DAP is still targeting the Chinese voters even though they have enlisted other races to join them. PAS is still targeting the religious Malays even though their membership into Pakatan has somewhat tamed their hardcore religious outlook and thus being more acceptable as a whole to those that are non-Muslims. PKR is targeting the modernized Malaysians who are not easily influenced by petty cash rewards and the younger generation of Malaysians. 

So who is targeting the Indigenous people of Malaysia? 

Before we get to that, let us analyze the three component partners. 

DAP is a majority Chinese political party that is trying very hard to enlist the other races into its fold to show a multiracial face. So far so good but until the Constitution is amended to include non-Malays as a potential MB or PM, they are getting nowhere. Gobind Singh Deo might look like the potential new DAP chief when the current crop of leaders retire but that is as far as he is going to go, no insult intended. 

PAS is a majority Malay Islamic political party that is trying very hard to shed its hardcore values that is alienating certain quarters within its organization let alone the voters. They need to be relevant to all Malaysians of all races before their leaders can stand up as potential PM material. Subscribing purely to Islamic fundamentalism is never going to cut it at all and they know it. 

And finally there is PKR, the PM-in-waiting who urgently needs to settle their internal problems before being granted this lofty position and having a large group of discarded ex-BN members is not the correct way of influencing the voters to elect their candidates in an election. 

So who do we have to represent the indigenous people of Malaysia? Pakatan needs to know and understand that they cannot depend entirely on urban voters alone to elect them into office. 

There are about 19 sub-groups of Orang Asli making up approximately 11% of the entire population of Malaysia. That is about as many indigenous people in Malaysia as there are Indians here. Does Pakatan ignore the Indians and exclude them from mainstream politics? I think not but why then are there no representation and targeting of the indigenous people of Malaysia? Doesn’t their vote count? Last time I looked each individual vote still count as one vote regardless of whether the voter is a Malay, Chinese, Indian, Dayak, Sakai or Iban, or even homosexual, pedophile, cross-dresser, boy-toy or he-girl. We need to be revoking BN’s fixed deposits.  

There are 56 parliamentary seats across the ocean out of the total of 222 seats representing over 25% in all. In 2008, the three Pakatan coalition parties won a combined grand total of 2 seats (3 seats now after the Sibu by election). With only DAP raising the flag there, the other two coalition members must work harder to break this iron-clad hold that BN has in East Malaysia. PKR needs to target the working class Indigenous people there whilst PAS targets the religious Malays. This can be achieved by the recruiting of more Sabahans and Sarawakians into the Pakatan fold. Ditto in West Malaysia where two-thirds of the Indigenous people of Malaysia resides and unless this issue is addressed properly, Pakatan will remain the bridesmaid.