KT CHINESE WISDOM

Friday, 23 January 2009 17:24
By TAY TIAN YAN/ Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE/ Sin Chew Daily

I would like to give a thumbs-up to the Kuala Terengganu Chinese voters and say: "You are so great!"

After the by-election result was announced, BN said: Chinese support BN; at the same time, Pakatan Rakyat also said: Chinese support Pakatan Rakyat.

KT Chinese were in fact having a laugh at it all. They have successfully pleased both sides. This is the highest life skill of Chinese.

Both the parties were gratified and they would believe that all their efforts paid off. This could help KT Chinese avoid facing revenge after the by-election and at the same time, the parties would keep pleasing them. KT Chinese are really brilliant.

In fact, KT Chinese's situation was very awkward originally. Even though it was only 11%, both BN and Pakatan Rakyat still regarded Chinese votes as the key of the by-election. They believed Chinese voters were "King makers". Thus, the little China Town was crowded like a playground, in which both parties tried to persuade Chinese to vote for them.

BN offered various benefits and funds, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak even had a closed door talk with Chinese community leaders. They could just voice out any dissatisfaction or request.

Of course, no one mentioned about sovereignty, nor did someone mention about "squatters". Chinese are first-class citizens, how touching.

As for Pakatan Rakyat, leaders of the three member parties took turn to pay visits and passionately spoke in every assembly and election campaign dinner. They walked down every street and alley and shook hands with every Chinese.

PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat and adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim got along with Chinese in non-halal restaurants while the party's president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang was gentle enough not to touch on Hudud, the Islamic criminal laws.
That was how KT Chinese had a fun-filled, exciting and great few weeks.

Until the eve of the polling day, both BN and Pakatan Rakyat had confidence in Chinese votes. But, they were really unsure how things would turn out. Both the parties believed that their success or failure lies with the Chinese votes.
However, KT Chinese knew that they do not need to be the "King makers". For them, such a role was too heavy, it was in fact a burden.

If they gave their full support to BN, it would affect the political process; if they fully supported Pakatan Rakyat, they would encourage the arrogance of the conservative group in Pas.

Intelligent KT Chinese voters had agreed by mere coincidence to bring their collective wisdom into full play. Generally, they kept their vote ratio at 6:4, 60% for BN and 40% for Pakatan Rakyat.

At the same time, voter turnout was low as many refused to vote, which meant to tell BN and Pakatan Rakyat that: "You have done not good enough, do better in the future."
Then, they just passed the problematic role of "King makers" to Malay voters.

Don't you think KT Chinese voters are brilliant?