Don't bark from outside, CM Taib tells Chinese

It is the responsibility of the Chinese community in Sarawak to elect good leaders during the next election to enable effective representation in the government, Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud said today.

Taib, who is also state BN chairperson, said the community could come up with ideas of how to make the economy inclusive of Chinese interests by participation instead of merely criticizing from outside.

"Generally the government does not adjust its targets (programmes to develop the country) easily. So if you talk by shouting, you don't get results," he said in his Chinese New Year message.

He said the community would deprive the best of Chinese leaders from sharing their experience with those of the Malays, Iban, Bidayuh and other communities and, more importantly, deprive the government of getting input if there was no effective Chinese representation in the government.

The opposition told members of the Chinese community to vote for its candidates so that they could criticize the government but the areas lost by the BN-led government might not get anything, as happened in Taiwan or America, which was the rule of the game, he said.

"I must admit of being a bit worried with the attitude of urban voters to vote for someone to bark at the government but, the BN, without sounding boastful, will be able to form the next government probably with a two-thirds majority," he said.

"As I started being multi-racial, I have also to think for the Chinese too.

"But I am helpless, there is nothing I can do to change the Chinese mindset towards the government. I cannot speak Chinese," Taib said, adding that he was too busy to go all the way down to quarrel with some small politicians with their lies and propaganda.

Citing the early 1970s, just after the state's first direct election when leaders of Sarawak United Peoples' Party (SUPP) and Parti Pesaka Bersatu (PBB) formed a coalition to provide a stable government for the people, he said the people must learn to change their mindset to become more conscious about the interest of other races.

He was confident that Sarawak would become more prosperous towards 2020 and beyond, provided there was continued cooperation between the Chinese and other communities, especially with clear government directions, strategies and objectives for growth and development.

- Bernama