Don’t give in to calls to snub the Chinese, Umno leaders told

(MM) – With displeasure towards the Chinese community expected to bubble over at Umno’s general assembly beginning tomorrow, Berita Harian today told the party’s leaders they must consider the nation’s interest and not succumb to emotions.

In an editorial published in its weekend edition today, Datuk Mior Kamarul Shahid, the group editor of the Malay language newspaper, predicted that the palpable support of the Chinese community for the opposition would take centre stage in debates at the party’s annual gathering.

Mior said that while the issue was a regular subject at previous general assemblies, it was never openly debated and only made its rounds on the sidelines.

But the gloves are set to come off this year, he said, with Umno delegates expected to press the party’s leaders on whether to continue reaching out to the Chinese or to abandon them completely.

“Leaders cannot decide emotionally like the delegates. Leaders often make sensible decisions for the long-term interests of the people and country,” Mior wrote today.

Saying that there was anger in the ranks of the party’s grassroots over the view that the Chinese have abandoned Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno, Mior said some consider that the Malay nationalist party no longer needed the group’s support.

“If they (the party) leaders neglect the Chinese, they will keep losing the community’s votes.

“But if they keep co-operating, there is a possibility the Chinese may return to BN,” Mior added.

The Chinese community must also be aware that their actions in the previous general election has irked the Malays, Mior said when claiming the country’s dominant community considered voting for the opposition to be unsupportive of the government.

In the aftermath of the fractious 13th general election that saw BN register its worst-ever electoral results, attempts were made to frame the outcome as the result of a so-called “Chinese tsunami”.

While BN also lost the popular vote to the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact, the narrative has gained traction within Umno and BN.

The view was exacerbated when Umno emerged as the biggest winner within BN, winning 88 of the 133 federal seats that the coalition managed to retain in the May 5 polls. Nearly all other component parties registered declines, with the Chinese-based MCA hardest hit.

This led to calls for the country’s dominant Malay community to be rewarded for their show of support and for the BN government to stop courting the Chinese due to their lack of support.

Since then, sporadic calls have been made for a “national reconciliation” process, but this has not been formalised and continues to remain a talking point.