Soi Lek lied: Chinese support is at a high for Pakatan and DAP

DAP leaders thumbed their noses at the MCA's claim that Chinese voters were starting to return to the BN coalition, saying it was the opposite that was true and the community becoming more frustrated with the federal government than ever before.
"The Chinese will continue to vote PR as they see that the government is lackadaisical in many issues. The Chinese are not easily deceived by smokescreens initiated by the government," five-term MP for Kepong Tan Seng Giaw told Malaysia Chronicle.
"Issues such as the deaths involving National Service trainees and the Teoh Beng Hock case are examples of issues where MCA could not provide satisfactory answers but instead accuse the opposition of politicking the matter. Yes, the Chinese support for Pakatan is strong and getting stronger."
What can RM50 buy these days
Indeed, the community has been upset at what they perceive as Prime Minister Najib Razak's spendthrift ways. One of the most recent exampples was the proposed construction of a RM5billion tower in Kuala Lumpur, when there was already a huge glut of office and commercial space.
They were also upset at spiralling living costs and regard the federal government as abandoning its duty to the people by chopping down subsidies on consumer essentials at a time when the man in the street needed aid the most .
"The Chinese are unhappy with the government's handling of the economy especially the constant price hikes in petrol as they are aware that Malaysia is a petroleum-producing country. The Chinese also do not see the rationale and the justification for the subsidy cuts and they rubbished the reasons given by the Federal Government," said Tan.
"In Kepong the wet market traders and the housewives always complain to me about the constant price hikes in just about everything and this irks them a great deal as they have to constantly make adjustments to their marketing budget. They always tell me that RM50 can't buy anything much these days as the price of fish, meat and vegetables have all gone up a lot."
PAS-bashing instead of helping the Chinese
Yet, MCA president Chua Soi Lek appears to have turned a blind eye on these complaints, preferring to focus on why the Chinese should support BN and not Pakatan because PAS was an extremist Muslim party.
According to Chua and other top MCA leaders, Pakatan would turn Malaysia into an Islamic state if they won federal power and introduce hudud laws that involve stoning to death or amputation of limbs if found guilty of crimes such as adultlery and stealing.
However, Chua has often omitted to mention that any hudud or Islamic laws would apply only to the Muslims.
MCA has also accused DAP of doing "nothing for Chinese education" and that it was MCA that is the champion of Chinese schools, higher education such as TAR College and getting the Unified Examination Paper to be recognised by the federal government.
"The Chinese know about their rights in regards to the Federal Constitution where Chinese education is concerned. Therefore, what MCA has done is nothing extraordinary. We also fight for Chinese schools to be built," said Tan.
The Chinese in Perak have not forgotten
Meanwhile, in Perak, DAP state chairman Ngeh Koo Ham said Chinese support was growing. Instead of forgetting Najib's toppling of the Pakatan state government in February 2009, DAP and PAS, especially former Mentri Besar Nizar Jamaluddin, were becoming more popular.
"Where Perak is concerned, the Chinese are still unhappy with the way BN seized power. In ceramahs where I have been, especially in Jelapang, the Chinese support for DAP has been overwhelming," Ngeh, the MP for Beruas and state assemblyman for Sitiawan, told Malaysia Chronicle.
Jelapang is the seat of Hee Yit Foong who quit DAP after 22 years in the party to help Najib topple Pakatan by becoming a BN-friendly Independent.
He also said the MCA was copying the policies of the Pakatan when it ruled Perak. Soi Lek and Chenderiang assemblyman Mah Hang Soon were now going all out to push Umno for land titles to be issued to new villagers whereas during the Pakatan administration, Umno had accused Nizar of being DAP's puppet.
"The Chinese are always keen to meet us after every State Legislative Assembly sitting as they want to know what went on during those sittings. In DAP fund-raising dinners, it has always been full-house. The Chinese in Perak are behind us and want Nizar to be retained as Menteri Besar and they are encouraging us to work hard to make this come true," said Ngeh.
Don't be deceived by Tenang
Kepong's Tan also warned the community not to be deceived by the MCA over the outcome of the recent Tenang by-election won by BN. Then, Soi Lek had rush to claim victory although independent researchers pointed out that the Chinese vote there had actually reduced drastically for the MCA.
"Tenang was a real washout and cannot be used as a yardstick. It was raining like cats and dogs on polling day and you can't expect the Chinese to come out and vote as they were in the midst of Chinese New Year preparations as Chinese New Year's eve is on 2nd February," said Tan.
"BN used the government machinery to the fullest to ferry the MCA supporters for voting and of course you will see that the Chinese votes seem to have gone to BN. PR's resources are limited and we could not do anything to ferry voters as we were also asked by the flood victims to help them to evacuate."