MCA IN CRISIS – EXIT THE ONLY OPTION FOR SURVIVAL: BASHED DOWN BY UMNO, AS SURE AS THE SUN WILL RISE, CHINESE VOTES WON’T GO BACK TO BN

The percentage of Chinese votes returning to the BN will become one of the focal points of the upcoming GE14.

But judging from the existing circumstances, it appears that BN still needs to work a lot harder.

BN should seriously look into several aspects and issues. First and foremost, the economic plight of the rakyat.

Even though the economic growth rate is high, under the mounting inflationary pressure and skyrocketing cost of living, the rakyat generally do not feel the bliss of a sterling economic performance.

Majority of Chinese Malaysians are businessmen or working in the private sector, and consequently a drop in the economic conditions will have a direct impact on them, including their dwindling profits or bonuses.

If the economy is really good, why are some 5,000 Malaysians working illegally in South Korea? This only proves our low salary levels that have forced these people to work illegally overseas.

Lest we forget we were at more or less the same economic level as South Korea merely 40 years ago.

The IPI for January, meanwhile, expanded by a poorer-than-anticipated 3%, while the unemployment rate inched up to 3.4%. The number of unemployed Malaysians increased by 10,700 from end-2017 to 516,500.

Next in line is the weaknesses in governance. For example, foreign labor shortage has forced more than 2,000 coffee shops, mamak stalls and Indian restaurants nationwide to wind up. Local businesses are taking the brunt of unpredictable government policies.

The most recent ECA report revealed that Kuala Lumpur was ranked 126th among the most livable cities for Asian expatriates, down sharply from 25th five years ago.

Another report by Unicef showed that children living in KL’s low-cost flats were plagued by poverty and malnutrition at levels far above the national average.

All these point to the fact that our Greater Kuala Lumpur masterplan has been overemphasizing the implementation of mega infrastructural projects without making the effort to improve the people’s existing living conditions as well as the problems of air pollution, petty crimes and abject poverty. These are all instances of poor management.

Chinese Malaysians are highly concerned about the issue of corruption. Unfortunately the government lacks the solution to address the issue systematically.

The country’s CPI dropped to its lowest level in 23 years in 2017, ranked 62nd among 180 countries and territories, scoring only 47 points out of 100.

MACC revealed recently that up to 40% of government allocations were stolen, meaning only 60 cents out of every ringgit of allocation is actually used for development.

The government must be courageous enough to admit such mistakes instead of squarely denying the allegations.

UEC recognition is yet another point of concern. According to tourism and culture minister Nazri Aziz, UEC was previously not recognized by the government mainly because of then DPM cum education minster Muhyiddin Yassin.

Now that this “obstacle” is no more in Umno and the cabinet, shouldn’t BN make an effort to complete “the last mile” as soon as possible?

Chinese Malaysians also want to see predominantly Chinese parties in BN receive due amount of respect from fellow BN component parties, but the criticisms lashed out by DPM Ahmad Zahid at MCA recently have seriously hurt the party.

MCA’s image has been brutally assaulted over and again, by the racist remarks during Jamal Md Yunus’ Sept 16 rally, Umno’s support of RUU355 amendment bill, and Nazri’s vulgarisms against tycoon Robert Kuok.

MCA leaders have vowed to take actions against Nazri, but so far we have seen no substantial actions from them.

MCA has also repeatedly stressed unity, but the protest by Alor Gajah division grassroots against the fielding of PM’s political secretary Wong Nai Chee does not augur well for the party’s bid to win back the hearts of Chinese voters.

We cannot deny that many voters cast their ballots according to their feelings, as evidenced by their disgust at the lifting of keris during the Umno Youth assembly before the 2008 general elections.

Given the current passive atmosphere, it will indeed be an uphill task for MCA to try to woo back Chinese voters.

BN needs to put in a lot more effort within a very short period of time to remove these negative factors before talking about Chinese votes returning to BN.

– http://mysinchew.com