COMMENT | Something amazing happened three weeks ago. For the first time in my life, someone rang the doorbell and yelled out my full Chinese name.

My father instantly thought I was in trouble. I walked slowly to the two men in long white robes wearing small pins of white and green.

We were greeted courteously, and they handed me an invitation card to a PAS event. I didn’t know how they got hold of my IC number, which was printed on the card, but they knew I was going to be a first-time voter. The “fruits festival” I was invited to was an obvious attempt to persuade me to vote for PAS.

PAS president Hadi Abdul Awang was on a similar mission at a Chinese New Year function in Kuala Terengganu recently. He is starting to realise that a party or coalition cannot govern without the Chinese votes.

The two men who came to my house had the same message to the Chinese as Hadi: Trust PAS.

But ever since PAS left Pakatan Rakyat and Amanah was formed, I haven’t come across a Chinese who would vote for PAS. An Oriental Daily survey that polled 14,602 people found that an overwhelming 71 percent of Chinese would rather spoil their vote than vote for either PAS or Umno (if those were the only choices).

The Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections were early evidence to show that PAS had virtually no Chinese support. In some saluran (streams) in the by-elections, PAS barely garnered more than two votes.

Therefore, it’s very likely that there are only three kinds of Chinese left who would vote for PAS.

First, the mistaken. These are the people who intended to vote for BN or Harapan but ended up validly voting for PAS....