Leaders from BN component parties have blasted the 1Melayu 1Bumi concept mooted by a Malay daily yesterday, describing it as "divisive" and "outdated"

According to Gerakan secretary-general Teng Chew Yeow, Utusan Malaysia editor Zaini Hassan was "not seeing the bigger picture".

"It is safe to say that it is the urban vote (which has left the BN) and not Chinese, Malay or Indian. Even in semi-urban areas you can see all races voting against the BN.

"Otherwise how would Umno lose urban Malay-majority seats like Lembah Pantai?" asked Teng when contacted.

Teng was commenting on the article in the column Cuit , which called for Malay parties and NGOs to unite, following the example of the Chinese in Sarawak who had come together politically to reject the BN.

To prove his point, Zaini quoted an "angry Malay friend" who urged Malay-majority seats be contested only by Umno, and not non- Malay based component parties.

"We've had enough of having Umno's sacrifices paid back with poison," said the anonymous text message sender.

Can Umno exist by itself ?

While Zaini claimed that non-Malay based BN component parties to be all right with the 1Melayu 1Bumi call, Teng is evidently not amused, especially on keeping all Malay-majority seats by Umno.

"We have been practising a model of power-sharing and this extends to seats. If Umno is so strong why don't they try contesting all the seats and see what happens?" he fumed.

NONE Concurring with him, MCA vice-president Gan Peng Sieu ( right in photo ) said that the claim that the Chinese as a whole have rejected the BN is a "generalisation that is unsubstantiated by any empirical evidence".

"We had the Merlimau, Tenang, Galas and Kerdau by-elections where we saw a trend of the Chinese favouring the BN.

"You can come up with all sorts of conclusions but voter expectations vary with the education level, social class, urban-rural divide, etc," he said.

Utusan columnist akin to DAP

Respecting the editor's right to an opinion, Gan, however, said that such a mentality will only divide the nation.

"It's fine if people are united for the common good, but not to create fear and terror in other communities," he said.

Playing the racial card also puts the editor in the same ranks as the DAP, said Gan, as MCA believes the opposition party is doing the same.

"We condemn the DAP for this as we talk about inclusivity, so how different (is he) from (the DAP)?" he asked.

NONE Interestingly, MIC Youth Chief T Mohan ( left in photo ), however, sees nothing wrong with the 1Melayu 1Bumi proposal, saying that a community should be united.

"As long as it doesn't infringe on the rights of other races it's fine. I could also say 1Indian, that's okay," he said.

Mohan, however, frowned upon the labelling of communities who voted against BN as "ingrates".

"Maybe the local representatives weren't doing their job. Maybe the poverty level has not improved. There are lots of reasons, so what we need to do is to study the factors and improve," he said.