Malays feel Penang under Chinese rule, survey shows


By G. Manimaran, Bahasa Malaysia Editor | November 17, 2011
The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 — Malay voters in Penang say the state is being run by the Chinese despite backing Lim Guan Eng over other leaders.

A survey of 720 Malay voters by researchers Ilham Centre found that when the island was under a Gerakan-led administration until 2008, Malays saw the Barisan Nasional (BN) government as being led by Umno.

“Lim Guan Eng (picture) is popular and respected for being humble, approachable and being on the ground. But because of the sentiment and prejudice from Umno, he is seen as a Chinese who is threatening Malays,” said the study on perceptions of Malay voters towards Penang and its Pakatan Rakyat (PR) government.

It said this showed the media has indoctrinated Malays to see the current administration as “a Chinese or DAP government.”

“It is seen as a DAP, not a Pakatan Rakyat government,” the study concluded, despite nearly 30 per cent of respondents picking current Chief Minister Lim as the most popular and respected leader in the state.

The Malaysian Insider reported last month that a survey commissioned by the DAP showed that less than a third of Malays now back the party, down from nearly 50 per cent just a few months after Lim took office in 2008.

The DAP made a clean sweep of all seats it contested in the island and obliterated Gerakan in the process.

But Umno has eroded Malay support for PR with repeated claims that the coalition is anti-Malay.

Its newspaper Utusan Malaysia also claimed earlier this year that the DAP had conspired with the church to turn Malaysia into a Christian state.

The DAP has tried to reach out to Malays by recruiting Malay leaders such as Transparency International Malaysia founder Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim and Zairil Khir Johari.

Tunku Abdul Aziz is now a vice-chairman while Zairil, son of former Education Minister Tan Sri Khir Johari, is Lim’s political secretary.

The DAP secretary-general is followed by Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Mansor Othman, state Opposition Leader Datuk Azhar Ibrahim and Penang Umno chief Datuk Zainal Osman in popularity.

The study was conducted from October 7 to 9 and polled voters in the Kepala Batas and Tasek Gelugor federal constituencies and the Bayan Lepas state seat, all currently held by Umno.

Of the total, 43 per cent said they were Umno supporters while the rest were fencesitters.

The study also found that PAS was not seen as a champion for Malay-Muslims as its state leaders were not as popular as Umno’s.

“PAS under (state chief) Salleh Man is too weak and has failed to make PAS popular and respected whether in terms of welfare, community and sermons. PAS is seen as DAP’s puppets,” Ilham said.

The researchers also said two of the party’s top leaders who hail from Penang, deputy president Mohamad Sabu and central committee member Mujahid Yusof, are seen to be removed from Penang politics and not interested in helping Penang Malays.

It also said respondents did not see PKR as capable of helping the Malays as it is a multiracial party.

“(PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim is not seen as influential over the majority of Malay voters in Penang, just certain areas such as Permatang Pauh,” the study said.

  1. #1 by boh-liao on Thursday, 17 November 2011 - 5:42 pm

    A wonderful insight in2 things 2 come, esp GE13; also, no wonder UmnoB/BN can continue 2 rob d nation n sodomise rakyat; no fear as most Malays will support them

  2. #2 by Jeffrey on Thursday, 17 November 2011 - 5:47 pm

    “…..a survey commissioned by the DAP showed that less than a third of Malays now back the party, down from nearly 50 per cent just a few months after Lim took office in 2008….” The Malaysian Insider.

    So how do you Pakatan propose to do away with the politics of race, which UMNO is leveraging to the hilt, when the very people on the ground (ie the voters) are still being moved principally by consideration of race as more important than being Malaysian under 1 Malaysia?

  3. #3 by Loh on Thursday, 17 November 2011 - 6:36 pm

    ///A survey of 720 Malay voters by researchers Ilham Centre found that when the island was under a Gerakan-led administration until 2008, Malays saw the Barisan Nasional (BN) government as being led by Umno.///

    That shows that Mamakthir’s poison has gone into Malays’ mind. In a democracy, the elected representatives serve the people, they do not rule. Mamakthir makes Malays believe that once elected, the politicians can do what they please, and they rule. Mamakthir is crying that Malays are united into three factions, and UMNO which accepts those who profess Islam as Malays might not rule. They should not rule in the first place, but they serve under the guidelines of the constitution and obey rule of law.

    Only one state in the country is headed by a non-Malay and Malays are complaining. Does it mean that non-Malays should complain that Malays rule over the whole country?

  4. #4 by country for good malaysian on Thursday, 17 November 2011 - 6:48 pm

    Instead of supporting good governance and no corruption petty rakyat talk about race. Such petty rakyat with petty mindset is really a setback for the country.

  5. #5 by undertaker888 on Thursday, 17 November 2011 - 7:33 pm

    Bodoh punya umno Melayu. Lge itu orang Malaysia ke atau dari negeri china?

  6. #6 by Bigjoe on Thursday, 17 November 2011 - 8:31 pm

    Congratulation to UMNO..They have officially made the Malay racist and put them in the same group as Nazis, Communist, Witch-hunters, Akaza Hutus of Rwandas, Serbian Scorpians of Bosnia. Sudanese Arabs of Darfur…

  7. #7 by joean on Thursday, 17 November 2011 - 8:35 pm

    what to do? these people are ok with BN legal rob. maybe they are not tax payer so they dun feel the pain. Najis sure laughing all d way to these stupid ppl.

  8. #8 by loongym on Thursday, 17 November 2011 - 9:02 pm

    It is sad to hear that some Malays could not break out of the race mindset. Is it really important on which race is governing the state rather the integrity and development? Govern by same race does not guarantee the integrity, this is what happened to Tunisia, Arab, Thailand and etc.

  9. #9 by monsterball on Thursday, 17 November 2011 - 9:11 pm

    This Malaya…..Chinese or Indians and not Malaysians is the work of BN parties….to dived and rule.
    DAP is not a Chinese party….but majority Chinese supports DAP because the Chinese is the minority that suffer most from an unjust unfair BN government….which infact…it has always been UMNO b governing all.
    Get rid of UMNO b…then all will know Lim Guan Eng is a good Malaysian CM from DAP ..not a Chinese at all.

  10. #10 by monsterball on Thursday, 17 November 2011 - 9:14 pm

    First sentence should be……..
    “This Malays..Chinese or Indians and not Malaysians is the work of BN parties…..to divide and rule.”

  11. #11 by tak tahan on Thursday, 17 November 2011 - 9:18 pm

    Which ocean BN parties are to dived?Ya,they better dive into deep ocean and not to be found

  12. #12 by cintanegara on Thursday, 17 November 2011 - 11:06 pm

    LGE might indulge in a little self-publicity in his daddy’s blog. O yea… as a none performer..where else can he gain this cheap publicity……even the down south country he adores hardly publish his unknown achievement. Despite trying hard to get a little attention by insulting another state his effort has never been recognized by that country. It is a sad story indeed.

    “Malay voters in Penang backing Lim Guan Eng over other leaders” …I beg your pardon… This is the joke of the day or in Malay ‘Lawak Antarabangsa’????? If this is a factual statement… I suggest him to contest in KEPALA BATAS in the next GE…… knowing LGE lah… will he take the challenge????

  13. #13 by iceblender on Thursday, 17 November 2011 - 11:39 pm

    DAP needs to recruit capable malay personalities, Tunku and Zairil we all know they’re half breeds.

  14. #14 by monsterball on Thursday, 17 November 2011 - 11:49 pm

    LGE a non performer?
    Are you sure you are not talking about BN Ministers…cintanegara?

  15. #15 by assamlaksa on Thursday, 17 November 2011 - 11:52 pm

    well, cintanegara, if LGE achieves nothing, why did the Auditor-General keep praising the Penang state administration every year since PR took over after the 12GE, do you think the Auditor-General is that dumb.

  16. #16 by waterfrontcoolie on Friday, 18 November 2011 - 6:42 am

    We certainly have to leave cintanegara to sleep under his rambutan trees. The issue of teaching English has all to do with mindset of the majority of the population. We all know the key to knowledge is communication through the most used medium and in today’s world; what else? Of course policy of blinkering people like cintanegara has been successful as his usual reasoning reveals.
    Why ask LGE to stand at a UMNO-Malay area? The numdness of the mind after over half a century of indoctrination will take a few more of postive governance to wear out. Without the indictrination, cintanegara, I can bet you, the majority of the Malays will learn to see the clear blue sky of this nation!

  17. #17 by Bigjoe on Friday, 18 November 2011 - 7:21 am

    Like it or not UMNO has been successful to make racist Malays which they were not before. Its why the smart choice is to migrate. It does not matter what this country ‘develop’ into. Its will be ugly no matter what..

  18. #18 by Ray on Friday, 18 November 2011 - 9:38 am

    Today Penang had been transformed into a Prosperous harmonious city Island state by LGE plusthe respective ministries creative civic minded teamwork with minimum federal resources support.
    LGE as CM dont rule Penang,Malaysia as being wrongly percepted by Umno Bigots,all sorts of RACISM policies .
    Since as CM he was rather focus on economical devt for the benefits of all penangnites ,malaysians with meritocratic values regardless of races .
    Kudos to LGE

  19. #19 by jus legitimum on Friday, 18 November 2011 - 9:52 pm

    Malays have been indoctrinated by the Umno devil for far too long and many of them still see things from the narrow racial and religious angles.By right,if a leader is good regardless if he is a Chinese or a Malay should be given support totally.However very unfortunately this is still not the case in Malaysia because of racial politics.Anyway all right thinking people should continue to give support to LGE to rule Penang.He has proven to have served as the best head of a state government in this country so far.

  20. #20 by Sallang on Saturday, 19 November 2011 - 3:31 pm

    This is the main reason why Pakatan Rakyat is not allowed to be registered under one flag.
    So that UMNO can divide and attack.
    Was Koh Tsu Khoon not a Malaysian Chinese? How come for 18 years these Malays do not feel being ruled by Chinese?
    It is now proven that KTK was a puppet. UMNO makes all the decisions.

  21. #21 by boh-liao on Sunday, 20 November 2011 - 9:52 am

    Malays in Pg do deserve UmnoB n some nonMalays there too deserve MCA/Gerakan
    Let them hv UmnoB/BN again if they outvote PR supporters, by hook or by crook
    Anyway, nothing 2 worry cos d world is coming 2 an end b4 31.12.2012, dis is Y UmnoB/BN jiak jiak jiak lor, bankrupt so what, KA LIAO SI mah

  22. #22 by Not spoon fed on Sunday, 20 November 2011 - 4:54 pm

    Malays in Singapore and Brunei are more smart and educated and good thining than Malaysian Malay. Sorry to say this frankly, this is because Malaysin Malay are mostly think Chinese are a threat. So, we see UMNO and its BN members are eating national resources.

    So, we see Malay in Singapore are much better off than Malaysian Malay:

    5th most wealthy country in the world:
    5. Singapore $284,692 per adult.

    The tiny island nation of Singapore has the busiest port in the world and is the fourth largest foreign exchange trading center in the world. Singapore is a world leader in several economic areas including finance, casinos, oil refining and foreign trading. Singapore attracts business because its economy is known as one of the freest, most innovative, most competitive, most business friendly and LEAST corrupt in the world.

    Full report from Credit Suisse:
    https://www.credit-suisse.com/news/en/media_release.jsp?ns=41874

    Malaysian Malay fail to see the corruption of UMNO. Like the rural area Bumi and Malay fail to see clearly how corrupted is Taib.

    Malaysian Malay prefers to remain poorer than Singaporean Malay.

  23. #23 by Not spoon fed on Sunday, 20 November 2011 - 4:58 pm

    Majority of Malaysian Malay prefer to buy Proton and desktop while Majority of Singapore and Brunei Malay are able to buy imported cars, LCD TV, laptops etc.

    You could see in the area of Kepala Batas, majority of Malay there do not own computer to know the truth of how corrupted UMNO.

    To support corrupted leaders by looking at race, do you think the Almighty would be happy for being racial?

  24. #24 by Not spoon fed on Sunday, 20 November 2011 - 5:04 pm

    If all human regardless of race are created the this Almighy Creator, do you think this Almighty would look at race or skin colour? It is human that causes too many religions and doctrines. It is human that created all evils, corruption, crony, etc.

    Malaysia is a totally failed state under UMNO. Malaysia gets worse and worse since Mahathir’s time.

    Just look at how low value is Ringgit compared to Brunei and Singapore dollar which were same value to Ringgit 40 years ago. Just look at how super rich is Taib (see http://www.sarawakreport.org), etc.

  25. #25 by Not spoon fed on Sunday, 20 November 2011 - 5:07 pm

    Malaysian Malay should learn more from Singapore Malay for supporting least corrupted government like Singapore government which is commented as LEAST CORRUPTION by Credit Suisse:

    5th most wealthy country in the world:
    5. Singapore $284,692 per adult.

    The tiny island nation of Singapore has the busiest port in the world and is the fourth largest foreign exchange trading center in the world. Singapore is a world leader in several economic areas including finance, casinos, oil refining and foreign trading. Singapore attracts business because its economy is known as one of the freest, most innovative, most competitive, most business friendly and LEAST corrupt in the world.

    Full report from Credit Suisse:
    https://www.credit-suisse.com/news/en/media_release.jsp?ns=41874

  26. #26 by Not spoon fed on Sunday, 20 November 2011 - 5:11 pm

    Malaysia Malay are not smart. Just look at Christianity is less than 10% in Malaysia. You need to vote in parliment to change Malaysia to be a Christian state.

    Do you think 60% of the MP would be Christians?

  27. #27 by miaj on Wednesday, 23 November 2011 - 2:01 pm

    for the sake of argument – Penang had been under Gerakan control (another Chinese majority party) for donkey’s years before the Pakatan government swept in in 2008…. even though it was a castrated Gerakan “running the show” at best. there were complaints then too…ask any Penangite aged over 50. they can vouch. but the bigger question is whether we still want to be trapped in such narrow based, narrow minded political parties or move on to something that would want to work for all Penangites and Malaysians, irrespective of the color of their skin.

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