Solve land woes to woo Chinese votes, MB told

MCA president believes this strategy can help BN regain the confidence of Chinese voters in Perak.

LUMUT: MCA’s recipe for winning over the Chinese community in Perak hinges in the Barisan Nasional state government’s approach in resolving the thorny issue of land matters in the state.

While Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir seems to have made some headway in gaining the confidence of the Malays and Indians, he however continues to run into a brick wall with regard to the Chinese, who are seen as pro-opposition.

MCA president Dr Chuah Soi Lek said the major problems are related to land usage, aquaculture, agriculture, pig-farming, places of worship for non-Muslims and lack of land for non-Muslim burial plots.

“There will be hope for Perak BN to perform well (in the coming general election), if we can give hope to all the land applicants,” he added.

Chua also urged Zambry to visit the new villages, Chinese primary schools and markets to gain the confidence of the Chinese community.

MCA also called for an annual allocation of RM3 million for every Chinese and Tamil school in the state as well as for non-Muslim places of worship.

‘From master to servant’

Speaking at the state BN convention here over the weekend, Chua delivered a punchy speech, pointing out the weaknesses and the need for reforms in order to win the hearts and minds of the voters.

“BN can no longer live in denial, it must translate promises into action,” he said, adding that BN must shed its outdated thinking of being the masters of the voters and act as their elected servants.

“We are supposed to serve the people, not to be served all the time and ‘turun padang’ (going to the ground) should not be taken as a political show to gain political mileage only,” he said.

Chua said that when meeting people to address their problems, politicians should be humble and do away with all ceremonial formalities that prevent them from getting closer to the people.

MCA also wanted the BN theme of “Undilah Barisan Nasional untuk kestabilan” (Vote BN for stability) to be changed to “Vote BN +1Malaysia = High Income for All” to attract more voters.

“Power sharing within the coalition should be fully respected with each component party enjoying equal voice in bringing up issues affecting the rakyat,” he said.

He also advised Zambry as the state leader for all races to visit all areas and solve the problems of the people. - FMT