Malaysian Insider
APRIL 29 — Indeed, this kind of voice emerges as soon as the by-election is over.
Perkasa has stepped in. Its chief Datuk Ibrahim Ali said Chinese were ungrateful and ought to be punished.
He felt that since Chinese voters had not supported the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate, the government should stop all the allocation pledges made to the Chinese community in Hulu Selangor.
Ibrahim Ali should take pride in draining away the Chinese votes for BN.
As BN has not drawn a clear line between itself and the Perkasa chief, Chinese ballots are expected to drift away further.
Some more, the once hushed Datuk Seri Dr Khir Toyo has found good reasons to lambaste again.
He said since Chinese Malaysians had not reciprocated the prime minister’s goodwill, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his government should review their policies and turn their attention to the Malays and Indians who supported the BN, otherwise it would be like “feeding the monkeys in the woods but starving the kids at home.”
Huh! Monkeys will grab the bananas and run away. How do we expect them to be thankful? What a magnificent metaphor!
Perhaps we should look at it the other way: The politicos, having finished up the bananas in the woods, get thrown out of the woods by the people bosses, and can only put up a howl outside.
The Pakatan Rakyat state government will feel very much at ease so long as Khir remains in Selangor!
Yes, the rightists and opportunists in Umno will try to interpret the by-election outcome in their own unique ways.
And the message from their interpretations goes this way: Since the benefits provided by Najib’s new policies and administration have not been reciprocated by the Chinese, perhaps they should forget about Chinese ballots and go for a more racist approach in getting more Malay votes to return to BN.
Over-simplistic brains. Fallacious logic. Extremely dangerous motives.
1. A shift towards racism will not translate into more Malay support. Fundamentally all the conservative Malays have already moved over to BN’s side, and such preposterous shift will not win it any more votes. On the contrary, it will invite repulsion from more open-minded Malays and non-Malays.
2. The return of Malay votes shows that Najib’s liberal policies have not caused a backlash among Malay voters. Upon this foundation, Najib should adopt even more open and liberal policies to earn the support of all Malaysian.
3. Government policies should by right benefit the people, and all government allocations have been sourced from taxpayers’ pockets. Just as the prime minister himself has said, BN is not buying over the people, but helping them.
4. Racism is a dead-end road which will not only spawn political instability, but also batter the national economy. No one will stand to gain in the end.
5. It takes sound political philosophy to run a government, not threats, intimidation or bribery. “1 Malaysia” is a kind of philosophy that puts together the common understanding of all Malaysians, and from there we create a progressive and prosperous nation.
6. The government should honour all its pledges, including RM3 million promised to the Rasa Chinese primary school. Besides, the government must also show its sincerity in recognising the certificates of independent Chinese secondary schools as it strives to mould a more democratic, equitable and open society. — mysinchew.com

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.