Chinese owe success to BN, says PM Najib

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 — The Chinese are successful because Barisan Nasional (BN) has ensured harmony and implemented good policies since independence, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said yesterday. 

The prime minister’s reminder to the Chinese community was made at the country’s last Chinese New Year before Election 2013 will be called in just a few months’ time. 

“The Chinese community’s success is also because the government has created an environment that enables the Chinese to make a good living,” said Najib (picture) in a speech at a 1 Malaysia open house in Puchong last night. 

“If not for the success of BN leaders in maintaining harmony and implementing good policies, even if we were hardworking and had good business skills, we would never have been successful,” he added in front of a multi-racial crowd of thousands. 

Najib will also call on Chinese education group United Chinese School Committees’ Association of Malaysia’s (Dong Zong) Chinese New Year open house in Kajang tomorrow to shore up more support for the coming national polls. 

Najib’s visit will be the first by a prime minister in the group’s 58-year history. 

An endorsement from Dong Zong, which runs the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) examinations for Chinese schools, will likely influence many Chinese voters as education remains a critical issue for them. 

Najib said yesterday that the country has experienced much success in the past four years under BN’s administration. 

“The Water Snake Year is a year in which we can achieve steady progress,” he added. 

The Chinese community comprises most of the fence sitters who will determine the results of the coming national polls, which must be called by April, according to a University of Malaya Centre of Democracy and Election (UMCEDEL) survey released last month. 

Out of 1,409 voters polled by the centre, the Chinese made up the majority of fence sitters at 53 per cent, while Malay and Indian voters stood at 37 per cent and 10 per cent respectively. 

About 61 per cent of Chinese voters also viewed Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as more suited to be prime minister compared to 35 per cent who chose Najib. 

Najib’s approval rating among Chinese voters, however, shot up from 37 per cent last May to 46 per cent last November, according to a Merdeka Center for Opinion Research survey last December. 

The PM’s overall approval rating went up to 65 per cent last November after he announced Budget 2013, a slight increase from 64 per cent last May. 

The mainly urban Chinese had voted for the opposition in the historic Election 2008 that saw Barisan Nasional (BN) lose its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority.