Will BN court DAP?
If the Chinese community wants proper representation in the federal government, it will not come from MCA or Gerakan right now.
Athi Shankar, FMT
No doubt it was a Chinese tsunami that swept across Penang on Sunday’s polling day.
Pakatan Rakyat retained this island-state with an increase of one state seat to 30 against Barisan Nasional’s 10, all won by Umno.
BN compensated its one seat loss in Seberang Jaya by regaining Balik Pulau parliamentary seat, also by Umno.
Like the 2008 general election, MCA, Gerakan and MIC have all been wiped out yet again. Predictions that BN may give a closer fight this time was a false alarm.
It was a worse defeat for BN than in 2008 looking at size of majority gained by Pakatan winners, especially in Chinese areas.
With just a stroke of a pen, the Chinese have sent a clear message to BN that they wanted the coalition out of their political system.
Humiliated state BN chairman Teng Chang Yeow, who lost in Bukit Tengah state constituency, took responsibility for the defeat and resigned immediately from his position.
He had also quit as Gerakan secretary-general, noting that the Chinese had rejected his leadership and his party in Penang.
It is amazing to see the change of fortune of a party that once ruled Penang for 39 years.
It is true that the Chinese tsunami wiped out Gerakan and MCA, enabling the DAP to emerge as champion of the community.
The main reason for the ethnic Chinese community to back Pakatan, especially the DAP in Penang, is their hatred against Umno and BN.
It was clear in the run in to the election, Pakatan supporters, dominated by Chinese were in uncompromising mood.
Their drive for “Ubah … Ini Kalilah” was beyond reasons. One can’t talk to them with justified reasons. They were simply not listening. They didn’t want to listen. They had made up their minds.
They were unmoved no matter how much one exposed flaws, shortcomings and wrongdoings of Pakatan.
They were confident that Anwar Ibrahim and company would capture the central government, and they were single-minded to change the central power.
What’s next?
Former Gerakan and MCA assemblyman Lim Boo Chang said the Chinese got carried away and went for overkill after putting false hopes on Anwar.
“Chinese voters believed Pakatan would capture the federal government,” he said.
Some blamed the overdose of “IMalaysia” parties for two weeks for BN’s electoral debacle.
But the Chinese tsunami was national phenomena, not just in Penang. The Chinese were feasting themselves, eating freely all food items, receiving angpows, goodies and lucky draw prizes at these parties.
But on polling day, they voted against BN, and cast their ballots for DAP and company.
Many are proud that they have outsmarted BN this time, fully satisfied with their revenge.
But, what now after this?
Some suggested that everyone put the election behind them and concentrate on national unity and socio-economic growth.
They said winners and losers should never be carried away with the results.
“Don’t over politicised the results. Stop the blame game. Don’t waste time and government resources in politicking,” were their wishes.
Some expressed concern that Penang may not be able to survive with an “opposition” state government for another term without the support of the federal government.
Naturally those who backed Pakatan hopes that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak government would not discriminate, isolate and sideline Penang.
They are praying that Putrajaya would not resort to “punitive actions”. If Putrajaya punished Penangites, especially on fiscal policies, the Chinese here can be crippled.
The economically vibrant Chinese and “privileged” Malays may be able to survive for few more years but the downtrodden Indians would be the biggest victims.
Some said BN should do some soul-searching if it wants to win back the Chinese voters. They want BN to accept the people’s verdict and, be fair and just in its future policies.
At the same time, some observers said the Chinese should also wake up and reflect on what they want. They said Chinese must see on what were their actual needs than mere material needs.
It is also amazing and amusing to notice the anti-graft stance among Pakatan supporters who before the polls were hitting hard at BN as a corrupted entity that should be wiped out from the earth.
After polls, they suddenly and surprisingly expressed hopes that the DAP join the same “corrupted” BN to provide Chinese representation in the federal government.
