Chinese must decide which Malay they want as their leader
Umno-Barisan Nasional needs the Chinese and will pay a lot for their support. DAP-Pakatan Harapan can only promise all sorts of things but cannot deliver anything, even if they are in power, like what happened from May 2018 to February 2020. Good politics is to work with the winner, not work with the loser.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad once cried on stage in front of the Umno delegates and said he has failed the Malays. He said he tried to change the mindset of the Malays but had not succeeded.
Actually Mahathir is wrong. The truth is the Malays have changed a lot since the Merdeka days. In the old days, the Malays were humble and respectful. Today, 65 years later, the Malays are rude and arrogant.
But then, even in England, this is so. The British of today, especially the youth, are not nice people like they were back in the 1950s. So the ‘Bumiputeras’ all over the world are the same. They think highly of themselves and look down on others.
Anyway, the point is, the Malays think they own the country while the Chinese, Indians and ‘others’ are merely guests who have no right to claim ownership. The fact that Mahathir told the Malays that 90% of the personal income tax is paid by the Chinese angers the Malays even more.
Hence the Malays look at the Chinese like they look at the Jews in Israel, ‘pendatang’ who stole the country from the real owners — just like what the Chinese did in Taiwan.
Whether this is true or mere perception does not matter because in politics perception is what counts and perception is seen as the truth. So the future and security for the Chinese in Malaysia is not to be on the ‘other side’ of the Malays but to be on the ‘same side’.
But then which side, because the Malays are split into five sides? If the Chinese choose the ‘wrong’ side, and if there is a backlash, the Malays will lepas geram on the Chinese.
Like it or not, the Chinese cannot survive in Malaysia on their own. They need to align themselves to one of the Malay political groupings. And it is proven that the DAP-Pakatan Harapan grouping is not the right grouping for the Chinese to latch on to.
The Chinese need to reassess their situation and decide which political group their future lies with. Currently it looks like the Umno-MCA-Barisan Nasional group is the best bet for the Chinese. Umno is hungry for power and for the post of prime minister. If the Chinese help Umno win that, they can demand a lot from Umno-MCA-BN and can get it.
Umno-Barisan Nasional needs the Chinese and will pay a lot for their support. DAP-Pakatan Harapan can only promise all sorts of things but cannot deliver anything, even if they are in power, like what happened from May 2018 to February 2020. Good politics is to work with the winner, not work with the loser.
