Chinese punishing ‘cocky’ Umno brother

The general economic independence of the Chinese community in Malaysia gives them the luxury of choice - to choose or not to choose Barisan Nasional.

COMMENT - FMT

All is not well with our country. The majority of the Chinese are not going to vote for Barisan Nasional.

Moving from one Chinese based party (MCA) to another( DAP) presents no mental hurdle for the Chinese. They are businesslike in their decisions.

For one, the Chinese are aware that Chinese interests are better looked after by a more aggressive political party.

Secondly, stepping out from Umno’s shadow offers some satisfaction for the Chinese because doing so remits a form of punishment to their cocky big brother

The Chinese have long wanted to teach MCA a lesson. MCA will not be able to stop this rising disenchantment.

Most important of all, the general economic independence of the Chinese gives them the luxury of choice.

They can choose and Umno and BN don’t appear on their radar screen.

MCA will probably be left with five parliamentary seats while MIC will be completely annihilated.

Umno deceiving itself

MIC will be reduced to another People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and Indian Progressive Front (IPF) and operate on the same level as KS Nallakaruppan’s party MIUP.

The more pragmatic Indian parties will chose to work with whoever comes into power for the sake of the Indian community.

The Indian parties do not have friends. They have only permanent interests.

Meanwhile Umno veteran Tun Daim Zainuddin’s prognosis of Umno is shattering. It seems Umno people continue to enthrall themselves into believing that all is still well.

They have no inkling that the next general election will be the most formidable fort them.
Some commentators in my blog have said that the opposition Pakatan Rakyat can never influence the kampung people.

What keeps the kampung people loyal at the moment is the reasonably good prices of rubber and palm oil.
They couldn’t care less about the quality of BN and Umno’s leadership.

New stories

They are worried about the roofs over their heads, food on the table, schooling for the children, jobs for them.

But the bumper years of good rubber and palm oil prices are slowly and painfully being cancelled out by the rising cost of living.

The price of essential goods keeps rising while incomes remain stable.

Once that tenuous balance is dislodged, then the full wrath of the people will be seen.
So Umno shouldn’t go on banking on the steadfastness of kampung people.

Their (kampung people) own political perceptions are continuously being moderated by those of their more socially and politically conscious children. Sons and daughters return to kampungs to debrief parents.

The younger generation’s views are shaped by the new media of the Internet, twitters and Facebooks. They tell a different story from those which parents are accustomed to.

The new stories the children bring demolish the once captive minds of the older generation – minds that were once shaped unchallenged by the old tired and boring media.

The excerpt is from the writer’s blog sakmongkolak47. The writer is an FMT columnist and former Umno state assemblyman .