It will be better for the BN to address the dissatisfactions of voters who did not support the coalition, rather than to resort to “racial profiling” to punish or reward them, MCA vice-president Gan Ping Sieu says.

NONE Commenting on the speech by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, he said the BN should instead look into the rural-urban divide, which tells another story about voting patterns.

“Rural support for the BN means people from rural areas demand better development and rural infrastructure.

“BN has delivered accordingly, hence the support. That doesn't mean BN should dismiss or discount urban voters' concerns.

“Assuming DPM (Muhyiddin) was correctly quoted, I would say that addressing the underlying causes of dissatisfaction of voters should be (his) primary concern, rather than a simplistic racial profiling of voters,” Gan ( above ) said when contacted.

All the same, he said BN has shown commitment to address the rural-urban divide through the new urban welfare portfolio helmed by cabinet minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan.

Muhyiddin, who is also BN deputy chief, was quoted by national news agency Bernama as saying that the government would give greater assistance to the racial groups that supported the BN in the 13th general election.

NONE "The clear message is that the majority of the Malays, Indians, bumiputera, Orang Asli, Siamese community as well as those in Sabah and Sarawak still support the BN.

“We will continue to give them greater assistance, that is what we will do," Muhyiddin reportedly said.

Bernama reported that he made this speech in the presence of Johor Menteri Besar Mohamed Khaled Nordin ( right ) and MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek.

'Baseline support for all'

Meanwhile, Kedah Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang said rewarding supporters is a “norm in politics” but Muhyiddin's statement “should not be viewed in the extreme”.

“There is nothing wrong with rewarding those who support you, that is the norm in politics. But those who do not support you shouldn't be sidelined... The government is for the country, not for a ruling coalition,” he said.

NONE Tan ( left ) said even though some would be rewarded, there should be “baseline support for all”, regardless of political affiliations, as this is part of the 1Malaysia policy.

“Areas that we won will be given assistance but that doesn't mean the area next to it, where we lost with a large margin, should not be supported,” Tan said when contacted.

He said that while he does not know if Muhyiddin had meant sidelining the Chinese, he believes it is erroneous to say that the whole Chinese community abandoned the BN.

“There are Chinese people who voted BN,” Tan added.

Is Muhyiddin DPM for 47pct of Malaysians only?