DAP-Guan Eng plays the race card again
Racism or discrimination have nothing to do with this. The entire world is in trouble. And if the federal government or Petronas does not pay the money it owes Terengganu, how can Guan Eng expect the state government to give free money to every Chinese businessman who is in trouble? And did Guan Eng think about this when he was the finance minister?
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
After nearly four years of PAS rule, the Chinese community of Terengganu said they have been neglected by the Islamist government.
Having lived through two of those years under Covid-19 restrictions, a resort owner said he had tried but failed many times to get financial aid from the state government to save his pandemic-stricken business. (The Malaysian Insight, 12 Feb 2022).
Discrimination faced by non-Muslim communities due to government policies deprive them of developmental and financial aid, Lim Guan Eng said today.
The DAP secretary-general was responding to an article published by The Malaysian Insight, in which the Chinese community of Terengganu complained that they have been neglected by the Islamist government. (The Malaysian Insight, 13 Feb 2022).
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The Chinese first came to Terengganu during the Soong Dynasty in the 10th century, or more than 1,000 years ago. According to Malay scholar Munshi Abdullah, who visited Kuala Terengganu in 1836, there was a large Chinese quarter (Kampung Cina) with a Kapitan Cina named Kapitan Lim Eng Huat.
Terengganu has 32 DUN or state assembly seats. Thirty-one of those seats are contested by Umno while one seat, Bandar (N14), has always been given to MCA since Merdeka. Sometimes MCA wins and sometimes it loses. But whether MCA wins that seat or not depends on the Malay voters, not on the Chinese voters, because there are not enough Chinese voters to give MCA a win.
In the first seven (7) general elections from 1959 to 1986, MCA won the Bandar seat. In 1990, Harun Jusoh of PAS won that seat because the Chinese voters boycotted MCA’s candidate, Wong Foon Meng. Wong won the seat in the 1995 general election but lost it again to Azmi Lop Yusof of PAS in 1999 (during the Reformasi Tsunami).
In the 2004 and 2008 general elections, MCA took back the Bandar seat, and in the last two general elections (2013 and 2018) MCA lost the seat again to PKR and PAS respectively.
In 1999, when PAS formed the state government, Menteri Besar Abdul Hadi Awang called the Chinese community for a meeting and discussed the issue of liquor and gambling, which are haram or forbidden for Muslims. The Chinese agreed that gambling is a social disease and should be banned, while liquor or drinking is part of Chinese culture and should not be banned.
Hence liquor was not banned in Terengganu, and neither were pork, lion dances, and all forms of Chinese culture and traditions.
The Christian community also met up with Hadi to discuss matters related to Christianity and to get an assurance there will be no restrictions imposed on the church and on the Christians. In fact, I helped arrange the meeting with Hadi and the church leaders were very happy. (I met up with them again in Kuala Lumpur and in London later).
The Chinese have been living in Terengganu for 1,000 years and those I know personally have no complaints. The last time I met up with the Kuala Terengganu Chinese voters was in January 2009 during the Kuala Terengganu by-election — and many voted for the PAS candidate, Mohd Abdul Wahid Endut. The Umno candidate, Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, who was expected to win with a majority of 5,000 votes, lost by a majority of 2,631 votes, thanks to the Chinese voters of Kampung Cina.
What discrimination due to government policies are the Kuala Terengganu Chinese facing, which Guan Eng is talking about? And what development and financial aid are the Chinese being deprived of? Guan Eng needs to be specific because I personally know the Menteri Besar, Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, and he is a fair man and certainly no racist.
Guan Eng is making very vague allegations of discrimination and deprivation without any specific details.
One (just one) Chinese businessman said he wants the state government to help his struggling business, but he cannot get money from the state government. Did he fail to get money from the state government because of the colour of his skin? Were all the Malay businessmen given money and only the Chinese businessmen were not given money?
This towkay makes it sound like he did not get financial aid from the state government because he is Chinese while, if he were Malay, he would have been given money. How much is the federal government or Petronas holding back from Terengganu? RM10 billion? RM20 billion? RM30 billion?
If the federal government or Petronas pays what they owe Terengganu, the state government will be able to help the rakyat, especially Chinese businessmen whose businesses are in trouble and who need free money from the government.
Racism or discrimination have nothing to do with this. The entire world is in trouble. And if the federal government or Petronas does not pay the money it owes Terengganu, how can Guan Eng expect the state government to give free money to every Chinese businessman who is in trouble? And did Guan Eng think about this when he was the finance minister?
