Prices of goods and the assessment rate going up is a sign of bad economic management. This sort of Chinese thinking is based on ancient Chinese civilization.
COMMENT
A survey done by this columnist and a PAS friend pertaining to the recent notice issued by KL City Hall (DBKL) pertaining to the impending assessment hike has revealed that Malaysian society is now divided over this issue.
Surveys after GE13 have shown that the Malays are going back to Barisan Nasional and that is why the Malays in KL who will be affected by the hike are not protesting against it. This is because the Malays are supporting every initiative by the BN government.
Why is this so?
It is due to none other than the mainstream dailies who have portrayed the Chinese as overwhelmingly voting against what the former labels as the ‘Malay government’. One of these dailies also urged the Malays to rally behind their Malay government and this is what is happening now.
To put it simply, this particular daily stressed that the Chinese are opposing a Malay government. Sad to say, the Malays have obeyed what this daily has urged them to do. Therefore, even if the government were to hike up the prices of goods, the Malays will be keeping quiet.
Thus the rift in society deepens as the Malays are fully backing the government now while the non-Malays will be protesting against the price hikes.
This also explains why PAS has been struggling to obtain the Malay vote – it is because PAS has been portrayed as kowtowing to DAP and giving too much leeway to the Chinese. In GE13, the Malay vote for PAS has dropped from 45% to 40%.
Still, the Chinese are adamant that the assessment hike is too excessive. It is illogical as it is between 100% to 300%. The bottom line is that the Chinese view the government as having mismanaged the nation’s economy and the price and rates hikes are due to this said mismanagement.
Prices of goods and the assessment rate going up is a sign of bad economic management. This sort of Chinese thinking is based on ancient Chinese civilization.
In ancient China during the era of the dynasties, each time taxes are raised, it was due to the emperor’s extravagance. And each time the emperor was extravagant, the court officials, the provincial governors and judges also became corrupt.
When this happens, there never fails to be an uprising by the common citizenry.
Clash of philosophy
Therefore the Chinese opposing bad governance is something that is imbued deep in the heart of Chinese philosophy. Of course now in modern times, the only way to change a government is via the ballot box. And that is the reason why the Chinese use the power of the vote to reject BN.
However, the Malays due to baseless and unfounded fears of a Chinese becoming prime minister, swung their vote in BN’s favour at the eleventh hour.
In this issue of the assessment hike, the Chinese deem that the excessive increase is wrong but for the Malays, everything that the government does is right because the government is Malay.
This means that all the government’s initiatives, whether good or bad will get the total and undivided support of the Malays.
Of course this is only a generalisation but the fair-minded Malays are few and are an exception to the norm.
This columnist’s friend who conducted the survey among Malays found them agreeing to the assessment hike as they say that the hike is good for the nation.
The Malays are unhappy that the Chinese are opposing it, saying that the Chinese always oppose anything that the government does.
This assessment hike is really an eye-opener on the clash of philosophy between the Chinese and the Malays and the whole exercise shows how divided Malaysian society has become.
The pre-Merdeka Malays were a gentle and friendly people but this all changed after the late sixties.
Still, the situation is not all that bad. The PAS Malays will protest the massive assessment hike and in them there is still hope that the Malays will be able to see the difference between right and wrong without using racist lens.
The PAS lawmakers have always highlighted that the federal government is bullying the PAS Kelantan state government by not paying the Kelantanese their rightful oil royalty payments but other Malays are not bothered by this fact.
A columnist in Harakah named Zulkifli Yahaya in the Harakah issue dated Nov 22-24, 2013 has lamented that it is very difficult to awaken the Malays and the stumbling block facing Pakatan Rakyat in its quest towards capturing Putrajaya is of course the Malay vote.
Thus, PAS has the most difficult task in Pakatan as PAS has to find a way to change the thought process of the Malay mind.
Thus the future of the nation depends on the largest voting bloc to make a wise decision at the ballot box. Whether this nation progresses or regresses, it all depends on the Malays. Therefore they need to vote wisely as it is their decision that affects the destiny of the nation
Selena Tay is a DAP member and a FMT columnist.
COMMENT
A survey done by this columnist and a PAS friend pertaining to the recent notice issued by KL City Hall (DBKL) pertaining to the impending assessment hike has revealed that Malaysian society is now divided over this issue.Surveys after GE13 have shown that the Malays are going back to Barisan Nasional and that is why the Malays in KL who will be affected by the hike are not protesting against it. This is because the Malays are supporting every initiative by the BN government.
Why is this so?
It is due to none other than the mainstream dailies who have portrayed the Chinese as overwhelmingly voting against what the former labels as the ‘Malay government’. One of these dailies also urged the Malays to rally behind their Malay government and this is what is happening now.
To put it simply, this particular daily stressed that the Chinese are opposing a Malay government. Sad to say, the Malays have obeyed what this daily has urged them to do. Therefore, even if the government were to hike up the prices of goods, the Malays will be keeping quiet.
Thus the rift in society deepens as the Malays are fully backing the government now while the non-Malays will be protesting against the price hikes.
This also explains why PAS has been struggling to obtain the Malay vote – it is because PAS has been portrayed as kowtowing to DAP and giving too much leeway to the Chinese. In GE13, the Malay vote for PAS has dropped from 45% to 40%.
Still, the Chinese are adamant that the assessment hike is too excessive. It is illogical as it is between 100% to 300%. The bottom line is that the Chinese view the government as having mismanaged the nation’s economy and the price and rates hikes are due to this said mismanagement.
Prices of goods and the assessment rate going up is a sign of bad economic management. This sort of Chinese thinking is based on ancient Chinese civilization.
In ancient China during the era of the dynasties, each time taxes are raised, it was due to the emperor’s extravagance. And each time the emperor was extravagant, the court officials, the provincial governors and judges also became corrupt.
When this happens, there never fails to be an uprising by the common citizenry.
Clash of philosophy
Therefore the Chinese opposing bad governance is something that is imbued deep in the heart of Chinese philosophy. Of course now in modern times, the only way to change a government is via the ballot box. And that is the reason why the Chinese use the power of the vote to reject BN.
However, the Malays due to baseless and unfounded fears of a Chinese becoming prime minister, swung their vote in BN’s favour at the eleventh hour.
In this issue of the assessment hike, the Chinese deem that the excessive increase is wrong but for the Malays, everything that the government does is right because the government is Malay.
This means that all the government’s initiatives, whether good or bad will get the total and undivided support of the Malays.
Of course this is only a generalisation but the fair-minded Malays are few and are an exception to the norm.
This columnist’s friend who conducted the survey among Malays found them agreeing to the assessment hike as they say that the hike is good for the nation.
The Malays are unhappy that the Chinese are opposing it, saying that the Chinese always oppose anything that the government does.
This assessment hike is really an eye-opener on the clash of philosophy between the Chinese and the Malays and the whole exercise shows how divided Malaysian society has become.
The pre-Merdeka Malays were a gentle and friendly people but this all changed after the late sixties.
Still, the situation is not all that bad. The PAS Malays will protest the massive assessment hike and in them there is still hope that the Malays will be able to see the difference between right and wrong without using racist lens.
The PAS lawmakers have always highlighted that the federal government is bullying the PAS Kelantan state government by not paying the Kelantanese their rightful oil royalty payments but other Malays are not bothered by this fact.
A columnist in Harakah named Zulkifli Yahaya in the Harakah issue dated Nov 22-24, 2013 has lamented that it is very difficult to awaken the Malays and the stumbling block facing Pakatan Rakyat in its quest towards capturing Putrajaya is of course the Malay vote.
Thus, PAS has the most difficult task in Pakatan as PAS has to find a way to change the thought process of the Malay mind.
Thus the future of the nation depends on the largest voting bloc to make a wise decision at the ballot box. Whether this nation progresses or regresses, it all depends on the Malays. Therefore they need to vote wisely as it is their decision that affects the destiny of the nation
Selena Tay is a DAP member and a FMT columnist.
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