The Oracle of Syed Putra is Going Off Key?

Malaysia Chronicle reproduced Daim's interview with Nanyang Siang Pau, the Umno veteran said it will not augur well for the country in the long run if the results of the next general election show that the Malay and Indian voters generally supported the Barisan Nasional (BN) while the Chinese mostly voted for the Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

"He said the Chinese voters should realise that Malaysia, being a multiracial country, cannot afford any risk of political instability.

Daim felt that Chinese voters should look at things from the Malaysian perspectives as all issues are Malaysian issues.

He said the electorate must know that no government is perfect, and the longer the government stays, the more mistakes it makes, and the Pakatan is no exception.

He said the Chinese voters should vote in the interest of the country and not based on sentiments, which is a very dangerous move.

He said he understood that some 80% of the Chinese voters have already decided to support the Pakatan, ignoring all the efforts of the BN. The bottomline is, they support the opposition, he said.

"To me, this is an emotional decision. You cannot say, 'no matter whether you (the government) are good or no good, all I want is to topple you'."

The Oracle of Syed Putra is going off key again in this interview. Perhaps Sakmongkol AK47 (Dap's Ariff Sabri) might want to help us verify if the Oracle is being forced to play "wayang kulit" (shadow play) or it's the reporter's fault again. 

Daim has said it again and he sounds as racist as the rest of the Barisan Nasional leaders who are trying to put the burden of preserving Malaysia's political stability on the shoulders of Malaysian Chinese. Unfortunately, the argument made by our learned Oracle can be easily rebutted because it contained contradictions and inconsistencies.

First, what makes him say that the Chinese voters are generally looking at issues through their ethnic lenses? Are the issues of corruption (PKFZ, NFCorp, Bakun, Perwaja, French sub-marine deal, the latest MEX deal etc.), institutional racism, custodial death, unlawful police actions, credibility deficit of public institutions such as MACC, the judiciary, the Attorney General Office etc., pervasive hooliganism in politics, poor public governance et cetera not Malaysian issues but exclusively Chinese? 

If this is Daim's argument, then kudos to the Malaysian Chinese voters for being loyal and patriotic citizens of the country. At least they have the right conscience and moral fiber to stand up against abuse of power and negative political excesses to stop this country from rotting at its core. 

Daim must not forget that the same voters he is blaming for being emotional had stood by the government during  its worse political crisis during the 1990 and 1999 massive split in Malay support for the UMNO/BN government due to internal bickering in the party. 

These voters had voted throughout the 90s and early 2000 for political stability hoping that the ruling coalition is ready to change for the better. These voters gave Abdullah Badawi his biggest mandate in the history of Malaysian politics to push through the reforms he had promised. What had happened? The overwhelming mandate did not bring about reforms but resulted in the worse political arrogance we had never seen for a long time - the Keris kissing and fanatical pro-Malay slogans aiming at the Malaysian Chinese in particular.

The voters are not being emotional for exercising their right to choose a government or elected representatives they deemed fit to govern this country and to represent them in the august house.

Until and unless the Barisan Nasional shows some political will and sincerity to bring closure to a growing number of 'mistakes' these voters, not just the Chinese but more informed urban voters, will reject the regime. 

Daim contradicts himself by admitting that the longer a government stays in power the more mistakes it is bound to make. This is what we called 'complacency' and taking their leadership for granted. Gone are the times when the people are willing to write the ruling government a blank cheque. 

Yes, I agree that Pakatan should not take their current gains for granted too. Many of us, the moderates, are willing to criticize leaders of the coalition for committing the same mistakes. 

In fact, Barisan should be held totally responsible for the current political situation. If not for their repeated folly and mistakes, albeit lacking any willingness to change or correct their mistakes, they are making the Pakatan leaders looking like angels. To a certain degree, it has made some of their leaders behaving arrogantly and becoming intolerable to legitimate and fair criticism. Some of their supporters are behaving no better than the Barisan's hardcore members. 

Rest assured, many Malaysian Chinese voters like myself will do our part to ensure that politicians from both sides of the divide will not take us or this beloved country  for granted.

So, to the Oracle of Syed Putra, who is being emotional? Daim should not look at the current electoral trends through his own racial prejudices. 

If not, Sakmongkol AK47 might want to declare the position of Oracle of Syed Putra vacant. Perhaps Sakmongkol might want to look for a more reliable Sifu of Petaling Street for his least skewed political vision. I can introduce him to the learned non-racial sifu.