Ijok – full Parliament debate next week if PM wants to know reasons for Chinese swing to Opposition

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should honour his promise to be Prime Minister of all Malaysians and allocate time for a full debate on the meaning of the Ijok by-election on Saturday before the current Parliamentary meeting adjourns next Thursday after a four-day resumption beginning on Monday.

Two days ago, Abdullah conceded that there was a swing against the Barisan Nasional among the Chinese voters in the Ijok by-election and asked the MCA and Gerakan to explain why the Chinese had supported the Opposition.

However, MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting still disputes that there is any significant swing, claiming that while “there was a certain extent of swing in the votes but as a whole, Barisan still obtained a substantial number of the Chinese votes”.

With such hidebound denial syndrome with the classic complex of the ostrich hiding its head in the sand, how can the Prime Minister expect to get any truthful answer from MCA and Gerakan leaders as to why there was a swing of the Chinese voters to the Opposition in Ijok?

MCA leaders are quite united in publicly pinning the primary blame for the swing of the Chinese voters to the Opposition in Ijok on the MIC and the poor service record of its former Assemblyman Datuk K. Sivalingam. Ka Ting said a secondary factor was the unhappiness of the Chinese with “certain statements which had hurt their feelings”.

This has further reinforced public doubts about the ability of the MCA and Gerakan to tell Abdullah the truth as to the reasons for the swing of Chinese voters in Ijok to the Opposition, especially when:

Ka Ting and MCA leaders are trying to play down the “unhappiness” of the Chinese voters by confining themselves to “certain statements which had hurt their feelings” when the unhappiness embrace a much larger front, covering not only “certain statements which had hurt their feelings”, but actions and Barisan Nasional government policies and failures in the past three years;
MCA and Gerakan leaders dare not even publicly mention who are the leaders who had made “certain statements which had hurt their feelings” let alone to ask the guilty leaders to make a public apology for their “hurtful statements”; and
MCA and Gerakan leaders dare not boldly and frankly state the truth to the UMNO leaders — that the primary reason for the swing of Chinese voters to the Opposition was because of the “hurtful statements” and actions of Umno leaders and unfair Barisan Nasional government policies and failures rather than deflecting attention to MIC and Sivalingam.

However, the Prime Minister must also take pains to find out the reasons why the Malay and Indians voters had voted against the BN in Ijok, although Umno has managed to secure majority Malay support for the BN candidate in three districts which had gone to the Opposition in the 2004 general election — namely Jaya Setia, Bukit Badong and Simpang Ijok — while MIC President Datuk Seri Samy Vellu had locked up the overwhelming bulk of the Indian votes.

Abdullah had promised to be Prime Minister of all Malaysians and that must include the 40.1 per cent or 4,034 Ijok voters of all races who had supported the Opposition in the by-election.

As Parliament will resume on Monday for another four days before adjourning its current session which was officially opened by the Yang di Pertuan Agong on March 19, Abdullah should agree to have a full parliamentary debate on the Ijok by-election as the entire Federal Cabinet, including the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, had descended on Ijok transforming it from a mere state assembly by-election into a major test of the 42-month Abdullah premiership — with many Cabinet Ministers guilty of “ponteng” from the parliamentary meeting during the last week in April.

The Ijok by-election result will have the most significant impact as compared to the four previous by-elections of Kuala Berang, Pengkalan Pasir, Batu Talam and Machap in determining the timing of the 12th general election — bringing it earlier rather than later.

The country must be prepared for the next general election to be held as early as in five months’ time.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, 2 May 2007, 11:52 am and is filed under Election, nation building. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

#1 by Libra2 on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 - 12:58 pm

“or 1,649 Ijok voters of all races who had supported the Opposition in the by-election…”

Kit,

The figure should be 4,034.

Quote

#2 by dawsheng on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 - 1:00 pm

“However, MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting still disputes that there is any significant swing, claiming that while Ã¢â‚¬Å“there was a certain extent of swing in the votes but as a whole, Barisan still obtained a substantial number of the Chinese votesÃ¢â‚¬Â.”

The party under Ong Ka Ting has gone soft when MCA suppose to be hard on issues like racial discrimination and economy. The party did exactly the opposites of what the chinese want, this is because MCA has transformed from a chinese party for the chinese to a party that is chinese for its cronies.

It has becoming a trend for BN leaders to dispute against facts nowadays in Malaysia. The level of their denials and BN’s insistant that everything is ok and under control is akin to digging their own graves, and at the same time, ours.

#3 by pulau_sibu on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 - 1:01 pm

mahathir knew the answer. he asked BN to define out the exact reason why BN won, if it was due to the support of the people or due to the ang pau.

if it was a winning due to the support of the people, then the victory should be celebrated.

he also thought keadilan would not die just because of the defeat in this byelection.

he also said fortunately malaysians are not cruel people, else they would kill the politicians in order to get development.

some guys here mentioned that mandarin should not be posted here. come on, if you read only english and bm, you will never find something true. you think those media dare to publish something negative about bn?

#4 by burn on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 - 1:16 pm

pulau-sibu…
when adding-in chinese characters on eng website, you have make it difficult for others to view and scroll down this page. most ppl do not have chinese fonts on their computers. is it possible of you to use the LKY chinese website instead. much appreciate!

#5 by burn on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 - 1:19 pm

corrections…
slow/jamming scrolling down on comments,
and LKS chinese website…!

#6 by babique on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 - 1:50 pm

“The country must be prepared for the next general election to be held as early as in five monthsÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ time.”

Hope your party as well as other opposition parties such as Keadilan and Pas are fully prepared too especially on the united front to fight BN. Without which there is no way the opposition parties can win more seats than current. Get help from bloggers too!

#7 by Bigjoe on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 - 2:06 pm

Well, we all know the MCA/Gerakan are eunuchs who primary job is ‘pai ma pee’ (kiss ass). So when the emperor says to ‘look into why’, its a clear signal to the eunuch that the emperor don’t want to know the truth. What else is a eunuch to do?

This is a test of the eunuch-system. What is going to happen is perfectly predictable. They need to go back to the emperor to ask for something that they can use to hold the voter hostage. There have to be very careful about this because it has to work or their heads will roll. And that thing is Chinese education.

This is a perfect opportunity for the Chinese community to force MCA/Gerakan hand to finally make good on all the past false promises of Chinese primary shcool. Its time to realize the move the marginal schools into urban crowded areas. The campaign cry should be ‘land for new Chinese primary school or bye-bye’.

DAP should make it their priority to make it an issue even now. After all its the biggest broken promise of Badawi from the last election.

#8 by pulau_sibu on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 - 2:12 pm

just ask LKS to delete my messages. i would not be offended

#9 by Taiko on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 - 2:19 pm

There is no point in finding out the root problem if no one is to blame within the BN and no specific action which caused the problem is to be spelled out.

It would be a waste of time and it’ll be just a show.

#10 by Godfather on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 - 2:23 pm

The Chinese are simply tired of the stealing, the cheating, the lying and the arrogance of the BN. Keep it up, and we shall see what happens nationwide.

#11 by Billy on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 - 2:37 pm

Besides those blood curdling calls to kill the Chinese during the recent UMNO GA by some UMNO leaders, what about name callings like “pendatang”; and if that was not bad, how about remarks like, “If you don’t like this Islamic country, you can leave this country!” made in Parliament? The list goes on and on, and I believe we are almost at our patience ends. We do not believe in causing trouble, but come the next GE, we will know what to do.
But what really shocked me was when all the seditious remarks were made and the keris weilding antic was going on, none of the MCA or Gerakan members stood up and walk out. Instead they just sat there meekly absorbing all the verbal abuses. By such an inaction, MCA and Gerakan is directly condoning the actions of these wanton UMNO leaders, and yet these fellas want to know why there was a swing in Chinese votes to the opposition. For the ears of OKT and KTK, more bad news await the both come the next GE and you both have better get your bag of excuses ready NOW why you’ll be losing so many seats!

#12 by cherasusie on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 - 2:48 pm

i think badawi should start a national debate….titled,

‘why pick on chinese’

the answer could possibly be found.

#13 by smeagroo on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 - 3:00 pm

i think it is rather foolish for opposition now to debate on this issue as the PM might use the trick of “looking into it” and then “say a few words” to get back the support from the chinesecommunity and only to go back on his word after GE. I say just let the whole thing sink into the hearts of the chinese and let them vote “wisely” and know how to differentiate between a wolf and a sheep. The damage has already been done and this is the time now for the opposition to gain a foothold on the situation. Why bother in teaching them on how to win back the chinese votes?

#14 by somaris on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 - 4:32 pm

To all Malaysian.
Time to work hard and help DAP & PKR to win this GE.Most of the chinese are waiting for your call.Let s pass all the message to all the kampong people the time as come.
Hidup MALAYSIAN.

#15 by oversee on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 - 5:11 pm

–

http://scribe10.blogspot.com/2007/03/trust.html

http://bakrimusa.blogspot.com/2007/03/warrior-from-silicon-valley.html

http://arahkita.blogspot.com/2006/07/pak-lah-letak-jawatan.html

#16 by accountability on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 - 5:19 pm

Uncle Kit,

please forget about talking to BN, especially MCA & MIC – the latter are just cowards who bow to UMNO’s demands.
these group of BN cronies have nothing but selfish personal interests to protect and preserve.

focus your energy on educating the public on the corruption and excesses of the ruling BN coaltion, especially the racist UMNO and their rempit-putras.

#17 by letsbefair on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 - 6:46 pm

Anwar said many times that the NEP should be reviewed due to its ineffectiveness and is already outlived its purpose. That in itself help swing Chinese voters to the opposition. But this may be used against him by the BN. Thus the switch in Malay votes.
Of course the live televised UMNO general assembly also help convinced the Chinese voters to switch sides.
The other problem is the PKR candidate. Khairy dares anyone to sue him for uttering Tan Sri Abdul Khalid dubious past. It seems he borrowed one hundred million Ringgit from Bank Bumiputra and Anwar was the one who approved the loan when he was the DPM. The loan was never settled.
So Khalid can be a future liability unfortunately!

#18 by undergrad2 on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 - 7:12 pm

“After all its the biggest broken promise of Badawi from the last election.”

[deleted]

#19 by DiaperHead on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 - 10:45 pm

What happened to freedom of speech?

#20 by democrate on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 - 10:50 pm

Dolah is now tickling the balls of the MCA and Gerakan members.and let them scratch hard . Dolah knows what the Chinese wants and why they vote for the opposition, but he has to satisfy his own race before saying yes to the Chinese…….or he dare not take action against his own people cos he will lose supports from his own race. He has no more MARUAH as a PM as he had quarreled with TDM over who is getting more from projects. just like A father and a mother quarrel in front of their children. how do you expect their children to respect the parents ?

#21 by DiaperHead on Wednesday, 2 May 2007 - 10:58 pm

Oh. oh….! What is it now? Tickling balls???

#22 by dawsheng on Thursday, 3 May 2007 - 12:57 am

Maybe Ong Ka Ting thinks the chinese folks in Ijok are stupid. Ong Ka Ting needs to know one fact very clear, if not for Singapore’s employment opportunities and strong currency, MCA has long gone not in existense, completely forgone.

Stop giving us this crap and do your job properly, walk and talk like man, you may save MCA from extinction. Don’t proclaimed MCA as the guardian of malaysian chinese when you don’t even know why we are going against you and your party.

We have waited long enough for your promises to come true, some folks has passed away worrying about the loves one they left behind, today is not the time to test our patience anymore. All my life I have not seen what you have done for many of us, but let me tell you what I’ve seen around me. It is not good Ka Ting, we are going down.

#23 by bennylohstocks on Thursday, 3 May 2007 - 1:31 am

Her’s the reason…
http://malaysiancartoons.blogspot.com/2007/05/ijok-chinese-swing-thingy.html

#24 by WFH on Thursday, 3 May 2007 - 1:39 am

PM AAB only NOW asking MCA & Gerakan to find out why there is a Chinese Swing against BN?

Well, how can he forget one of the reasons contained in the “memo” from the 9 non-Muslim Ministers, and which he forced a retraction?

Classic selective memory lapse…..!!

Pm, tell you that time, you dont want to hear.
Now you say to mca/gerakan “Go find out WHY..!!!”

WTF!!!

#25 by pwcheng on Thursday, 3 May 2007 - 4:41 am

Most of the time as we can see the Chinese Ministers pretend to be naive just to please their boss. Anyway lets see how long they can pretend before they are being kicked out by the Chinese voters.

#26 by Godfather on Thursday, 3 May 2007 - 9:10 am

Those of you who don’t know OKT and CKC should ask those of us who know them better – from school days to Universiti Malaya days. These guys are what I would describe as good soldier ants – born to work hard and never to question the rights of their masters.

A large part of the blame must go to TDM – he “planted” these guys so that they are no threat to UMNO and to make life easier for TDM’s successor. Now the Chinese are reaping the seeds of capitulation via such spineless “leaders”.

#27 by Jimm on Thursday, 3 May 2007 - 10:01 am

It’s AAB mirror of reflection that he have been trying hard not to face since he knew that he have lost control of his main function as PM. His son and SIL are running the second tier ‘government’ where the younger group are ruling and driving them. Those ‘old horses’ are merely trying hard to ‘salvaged’ what they can within the ‘given’ time frame before the ‘tsunami’ crashes in for new political front with the BN.
Yes, BN have achieved their goals all these while without much of a struggle as they have all the powerful and authorities to back them up. Everyone have enjoyed their ‘fair’ shares all the while.
BN knew that the good times will soon be end and they have to work harder to keep their momentum and seats. All their ‘supporting’ team players from the authorities have also been enjoying their ‘wealth’ and fame. They too have not been able to take charge of their downlines effectively. Why ? They have been busy with their own fortune until they have lost their footings.
It’s a way that the action creates reactions.
BN knew that they have to come out with better incentives for these groups as they have grown up and eats more now. They are a very expensive affair to keep….

#28 by ihavesomethingtosay on Thursday, 3 May 2007 - 5:09 pm

“However, MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting still disputes that there is any significant swing”

Let the sleeping dog lie I say, if in power of 50 years still has this deniel syndrome, let them feel happy, offer no solution let them doom themselves.

MCA, go lick your master’s balls.

#29 by sammyvellu on Friday, 4 May 2007 - 7:30 pm

Wait for the results of the altantuya trial.

We may have a new DPM

#30 by ihavesomethingtosay on Friday, 4 May 2007 - 10:15 pm

“Wait for the results of the altantuya trial.

We may have a new DPM” – sammyvellu Says:

hehehehe, nope, we will have another new coconut head.

Ijok – full Parliament debate next week if PM wants to know reasons for Chinese swing to Opposition

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