Will smaller rice bowls push Chinese to MCA?


MCA may be banking on a bad economy to snatch some Chinese support away from DAP, analysts believe.

(MMO) – Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia associate professor Kartini Aboo Talib Khalid said Chinese votes were not static despite DAP currently having almost absolute support from the community.

“Now that Pakatan Harapan (PH) is the ruling coalition, nothing is what they (grassroots) have expected, with bureaucracy and restrictions affecting everyone, even Chinese businessmen.

“They are now making comparisons and some have come to the realisation that MCA was a better choice,” she told Malay Mail.

Asked about MCA’s chances after it chose to remain part of Barisan Nasional (BN), with partner Umno allying with PAS, Kartini claimed that most Chinese voters were mature enough to view the racial and religious narrative pushed by Umno-PAS as harmless.

“Such narratives are played every time when an election is near, but none of this narrative has deprived the Chinese of their life, liberty and property.

“However, it remains to be seen if MCA will be able to convince voters if the coalition and its Malay-centric narratives will not erode what the community currently enjoyed,” she said.

Senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs Oh Ei Sun suggested that MCA was, at best, playing an opportunistic time game by staying in BN and hedging that the new Umno-PAS alliance would return BN to power in the next general election.

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