Rafizi says what MCA, Gerakan dare not admit
YoursayPublished: Feb 8, 2015 2:44 AM | Updated: Feb 8, 2015 5:33 AM
YOURSAY ‘Umno no longer needs them because they can’t deliver Chinese votes.’
'For Umno, nothing to lose if Chinese offended'
Ferdtan: Together the Chinese and Indians are a sizable force. So for Umno to win, they will have to win big among the Malay population with at least 50 percent of their votes.
Even then they have to rely heavily on East Malaysian votes, and of course the BN-controlled Election Commission (EC).
Dynamics changes all the time; with the non-Malays not voting for BN because of Umno’s deliberate race-based strategy, will the East Malaysians continue to vote overwhelmingly for BN?
Didn’t the call for ‘Sabah for Sabahans’ (and to a lesser extent Sarawakians) getting louder and getting traction? So Umno, pursue this race-based strategy at your risk.
Jiminy Qrikert: PKR’s Rafizi Ramli has said what MCA and Gerakan are not brave enough to admit. Umno no longer needs MCA or Gerakan because neither can deliver the Chinese votes in GE14.
The fact is, Umno knows for sure that BN will not get the Chinese votes. So, what they have done instead is manipulate PAS into pissing off the Chinese so that Pakatan is weakened, attack the Chinese in order to strengthen their own appeal with Malays while they ensure Sabah and Sarawak to continue to deliver their part.
Using the Chinese as punching bags in order to look like heroes to the Malays is a very, very old Umno tactic. It works very, very well with the older Malay folk brought up on a daily diet of ‘ketuanan Melayu’.
But in the last 16 years, Malays have increasingly come to realise that Umno is bringing Malaysia and Malays to ruins and are beginning to abandon Umno for Pakatan.
In the last eight years, the Chinese have swung en masse to Pakatan. Today, Malay youth are gravitating to Pakatan and even DAP.
So, bashing the Chinese will only get the results Umno has always got, which is rallying the older generation Malays who become increasingly conservative with age. But Umno loses everyone else in the process.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Hplooi: A prescient analysis by Rafizi. IMO (in my opinion), Umno's (secret) strategy is to: (1) corral the Malay votes, (2) further disenfranchise the non-Malay votes (by stealth through the EC's delineation).
Strategy 1: Ramp up religion (which is more potent than merely race and royalty and it will probably get a lot more worst before it can get better in this department), create more incidents and sensitivities; isolate PAS from PKR, etc.
Strategy 2: EC electoral delineation is the most potent weapon. Delineation by stealth is the current modus operandi.
But a third strategy may be even more damaging - that is, asset strip the country (scorched earth policy) in the eventuality that BN implodes. IMO, 1MDB is such an attempt to build up a war chest to challenge the ‘old horse’ (the other active war chest).
And in case anyone still notices the big picture, Agriculture Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob is merely echoing the Umno grassroots. This propaganda (of demonising the Chinese) has been making its round at least since the least elections, but is now getting more strident though still covert.
I have a cartoon which ostensibly shows how the evil middle man, labeled ‘C’ cheats the retailers labelled ‘M’, while the retailer label ‘C’ is given a much better deal by the middle man label ‘C’.
The aforesaid cartoon is titled ‘Manipulasi Harga Oleh 'Kartel' Pemborong/Orang Tengah’. The fact that this cartoon is a slickly drawn affair points to a source of heavy funding.
So Ismail blurting out aloud was probably not an afterthought or even a deliberate attempt, but merely an echo of what is happening on the ground.
Little Sparrow: It looks like the Chinese have no choice but to vote Pakatan Rakyat in the next GE as Umno couldn't give a damn about then anymore. And what can MCA and Gerakan do when Umno keeps condemning the Chinese?
Umno will just ask MCA and Gerakan to leave BN if they are not happy. Do you think MCA and Gerakan leaders will do that? No of course, because they have to look after their own pockets.
Ratbatblue: It is not possible for Umno to go it alone, even if they garner 100 percent of the Malay mandate (which is not possible).
In 2013 as in 2008, BN depended heavily on the East Malaysian "premium deposit". If not for Sarawak, the majority would not have materialised. This, I am sure, Umno is aware of.
With ever dwindling support for their partners in the alliance, they must appear to be in a tricky position. The Bible issue has cast a very palpable dent in the feelings of most East Malaysians and this may be a poignant issue in the next GE.
Thus, it is puzzling why they (Umno) are going for the Chinese jugular. Not only the Chinese are not spared, other minorities are being drawn into it, too.
So, if what Rafizi said is true, I wonder what Umno hopes to gain by alienating the others. This is not a smart thing to do, as not all Malays are Umno supporters.
Ace: Good insight, Rafizi. Umno thinks that it's okay to lose Chinese votes if that means getting more Malay votes.
However, the Malays are not going to be fooled forever - a sizable percentage already knows that they were taken for a ride and robbed high and dry.
When the Malay tsunami comes (it may not be so soon), it's going to wipe out those who have been deceiving them for over 50 years.
FellowMalaysian: It is rightly pointed out by Rafizi that Umno has long given up hope of attracting the Chinese votes to the BN coalition since the 'political tsunami ' of 2008.
Umno's strategy now when it comes to handling the Chinese community is to ostracise them as the purveyors of the ills of the country.
Under the 'auspices' of Umno, the Chinese are being singled out as the rogue traders, stubbornly refusing to lower prices when petrol has seen recent monthly drop thrice.
When BN failed to garner enough votes to their satisfaction in the past two GEs, Chinese were blamed for their 'revolt'.
The way it is, Chinese are being treated like 'political footballs' for Umno ministers to kick around according to their whims and fancies and to suit the party's expediencies.
This being the case, I hope Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Utusan Malaysia and other Umno cahoots do not go berserk and hysterical again if BN fails to win Chinese votes come GE14.
Pro-Change: Moderate and wise Malays are in the majority although they seldom speak up. These people are not Umno supporters and will vote according to their integrity, sense of justice and their conscience in the GE.
Umno leaders are just fooling themselves that they will have majority Malay support.
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'For Umno, nothing to lose if Chinese offended'
Ferdtan: Together the Chinese and Indians are a sizable force. So for Umno to win, they will have to win big among the Malay population with at least 50 percent of their votes.Even then they have to rely heavily on East Malaysian votes, and of course the BN-controlled Election Commission (EC).
Dynamics changes all the time; with the non-Malays not voting for BN because of Umno’s deliberate race-based strategy, will the East Malaysians continue to vote overwhelmingly for BN?
Didn’t the call for ‘Sabah for Sabahans’ (and to a lesser extent Sarawakians) getting louder and getting traction? So Umno, pursue this race-based strategy at your risk.
Jiminy Qrikert: PKR’s Rafizi Ramli has said what MCA and Gerakan are not brave enough to admit. Umno no longer needs MCA or Gerakan because neither can deliver the Chinese votes in GE14.
The fact is, Umno knows for sure that BN will not get the Chinese votes. So, what they have done instead is manipulate PAS into pissing off the Chinese so that Pakatan is weakened, attack the Chinese in order to strengthen their own appeal with Malays while they ensure Sabah and Sarawak to continue to deliver their part.
Using the Chinese as punching bags in order to look like heroes to the Malays is a very, very old Umno tactic. It works very, very well with the older Malay folk brought up on a daily diet of ‘ketuanan Melayu’.
But in the last 16 years, Malays have increasingly come to realise that Umno is bringing Malaysia and Malays to ruins and are beginning to abandon Umno for Pakatan.
In the last eight years, the Chinese have swung en masse to Pakatan. Today, Malay youth are gravitating to Pakatan and even DAP.
So, bashing the Chinese will only get the results Umno has always got, which is rallying the older generation Malays who become increasingly conservative with age. But Umno loses everyone else in the process.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Hplooi: A prescient analysis by Rafizi. IMO (in my opinion), Umno's (secret) strategy is to: (1) corral the Malay votes, (2) further disenfranchise the non-Malay votes (by stealth through the EC's delineation).
Strategy 1: Ramp up religion (which is more potent than merely race and royalty and it will probably get a lot more worst before it can get better in this department), create more incidents and sensitivities; isolate PAS from PKR, etc.
Strategy 2: EC electoral delineation is the most potent weapon. Delineation by stealth is the current modus operandi.
But a third strategy may be even more damaging - that is, asset strip the country (scorched earth policy) in the eventuality that BN implodes. IMO, 1MDB is such an attempt to build up a war chest to challenge the ‘old horse’ (the other active war chest).
And in case anyone still notices the big picture, Agriculture Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob is merely echoing the Umno grassroots. This propaganda (of demonising the Chinese) has been making its round at least since the least elections, but is now getting more strident though still covert.
I have a cartoon which ostensibly shows how the evil middle man, labeled ‘C’ cheats the retailers labelled ‘M’, while the retailer label ‘C’ is given a much better deal by the middle man label ‘C’.
The aforesaid cartoon is titled ‘Manipulasi Harga Oleh 'Kartel' Pemborong/Orang Tengah’. The fact that this cartoon is a slickly drawn affair points to a source of heavy funding.
So Ismail blurting out aloud was probably not an afterthought or even a deliberate attempt, but merely an echo of what is happening on the ground.
Little Sparrow: It looks like the Chinese have no choice but to vote Pakatan Rakyat in the next GE as Umno couldn't give a damn about then anymore. And what can MCA and Gerakan do when Umno keeps condemning the Chinese?
Umno will just ask MCA and Gerakan to leave BN if they are not happy. Do you think MCA and Gerakan leaders will do that? No of course, because they have to look after their own pockets.
Ratbatblue: It is not possible for Umno to go it alone, even if they garner 100 percent of the Malay mandate (which is not possible).
In 2013 as in 2008, BN depended heavily on the East Malaysian "premium deposit". If not for Sarawak, the majority would not have materialised. This, I am sure, Umno is aware of.
With ever dwindling support for their partners in the alliance, they must appear to be in a tricky position. The Bible issue has cast a very palpable dent in the feelings of most East Malaysians and this may be a poignant issue in the next GE.
Thus, it is puzzling why they (Umno) are going for the Chinese jugular. Not only the Chinese are not spared, other minorities are being drawn into it, too.
So, if what Rafizi said is true, I wonder what Umno hopes to gain by alienating the others. This is not a smart thing to do, as not all Malays are Umno supporters.
Ace: Good insight, Rafizi. Umno thinks that it's okay to lose Chinese votes if that means getting more Malay votes.
However, the Malays are not going to be fooled forever - a sizable percentage already knows that they were taken for a ride and robbed high and dry.
When the Malay tsunami comes (it may not be so soon), it's going to wipe out those who have been deceiving them for over 50 years.
FellowMalaysian: It is rightly pointed out by Rafizi that Umno has long given up hope of attracting the Chinese votes to the BN coalition since the 'political tsunami ' of 2008.
Umno's strategy now when it comes to handling the Chinese community is to ostracise them as the purveyors of the ills of the country.
Under the 'auspices' of Umno, the Chinese are being singled out as the rogue traders, stubbornly refusing to lower prices when petrol has seen recent monthly drop thrice.
When BN failed to garner enough votes to their satisfaction in the past two GEs, Chinese were blamed for their 'revolt'.
The way it is, Chinese are being treated like 'political footballs' for Umno ministers to kick around according to their whims and fancies and to suit the party's expediencies.
This being the case, I hope Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Utusan Malaysia and other Umno cahoots do not go berserk and hysterical again if BN fails to win Chinese votes come GE14.
Pro-Change: Moderate and wise Malays are in the majority although they seldom speak up. These people are not Umno supporters and will vote according to their integrity, sense of justice and their conscience in the GE.
Umno leaders are just fooling themselves that they will have majority Malay support.
The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.
These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.
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