Chinese votes for opposition??

PETALING JAYA: MCA will look seriously into why there was a swing in the Chinese votes against Barisan Nasional in the Ijok by-election.
Party president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting said several factors led to the swing in the votes, including their dissatisfaction with the service provided in the past as well as several sensitive national issues.
He said the Chinese in Ijok told MCA campaigners that since the 2004 general election, they had also been unhappy with certain statements which had hurt their feelings.
“We tried to explain to voters the statements and views that created unhappiness in the community did not reflect the top leadership’s stand.
“But some people still could not forget these issues,” he told reporters after attending the Wesak Day celebration at Kwan Inn Teng temple here yesterday.
However, Ong expressed his confidence that the new assemblyman K. Parthiban would serve the Ijok community well.
Ong said the party would continue to work hard to win back the Chinese votes.
He revealed that in the Chinese-majority Pekan Ijok, Barisan obtained 21 more votes than Parti Keadilan Rakyat and won in Pekan Berjuntai Bestari (South) and Pekan Berjuntai Bestari (North) by 562 votes.
“No doubt there was a certain extent of swing in the votes but as a whole, Barisan still obtained a substantial number of the Chinese votes.
“The result of the by-election showed that a large number of the new villagers who stayed in Ijok still voted for Barisan – these people still have confidence in the ruling coalition,” he added.
Ong said they would go down to the ground and listen to the people’s views and opinions.
“We are paying attention to the voice of the community. We will continue to bring their problems, views and feedback to the Barisan leadership so that their needs will be attended to,” he added.
In KLANG, MCA vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said the swing in votes in Ijok did not reflect the overall sentiment of all the Chinese in the country.
He said there were some factors that could have caused the swing in Chinese votes.
“First was the unsolved local problems that had dragged on for years including drainage, land, lamppost and street problems.
“People became frustrated to see things settled when there was a by-election. They felt the local and state governments were not committed in this aspect,” he said after launching the Klang Pantai Teochew Association building.
Dr Chua said MCA wanted to thank the voters who supported Barisan.
He said the party would not be complacent and would continue to work for the people there.
In PENANG, Gerakan acting president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said the Prime Minister gave a positive suggestion to the two parties to further understand the reason behind the swing in Chinese votes.
“He did emphasise to us to approach the Chinese community to understand them better and at the same time continue to serve them well,” he said after attending the Wesak Day celebration at Malaysia Buddhist Association.
He added that they had also been consistently providing feedback to the prime minister and other Barisan leaders on the feelings of the Chinese and other races.
In the Ijok by-election on Saturday, Barisan candidate Parthiban defeated PKR’s Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim by a majority of 1,850 votes.


tunku: well chinese voters are not traditional voters, they will vote whom they like, may it be from BN or opposition.To them its all about survival. We have seen this in Sarawak state election where bn lost most of the chinese majority area. If the economy is really GOOD than i believe they will throw strong support to bn, but nowadays everyone struggling to survive, although on paper the economy is good but in reality it's not. Ask any tom dick and harry , how is their business, everyone complaining.pak lah should do much better than what he's doing now to make our economy really GOOD.If he can't do it than it is best for him to resign or else next GE we will see lots of bn seats will go to the opposition.