To attract the support from the non-Chinese, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng urged party members to abandon the old fashioned hard-nosed methods in favour of kinder, gentler approaches.

Officially opening the 17th Johor DAP congress in Batu Pahat today, Lim, who is also the Penang chief minister, recommended that party members show they understand the needs of the people and to tell them how they would benefit, should Pakatan Rakyat capture Putrajaya.

 

“When we are approaching the people, don’t be too hard. We cannot use the old ways, we need to use the new methods. We need to understand what the people need. Don’t just always talk about sacrifice.

 

“Don’t say, ‘Lim Guan Eng is a good guy, he had gone to jail twice’.

"Sometimes this is not good. The person you are speaking to might reply, ‘Wow, if joining DAP means going to jail, then I don’t want’.”

 

He also pointed out the huge new investment by Ikea in Penang, on 245 acres of land, with the total land cost coming to RM500,000,000, had created excitement and interest.

The Penang CM added that the news had created a huge impact on social media, which he never expected.

 

“Not just among the non-Malays, the reaction of the Malays is even bigger. I even read a blog by a Malay girl, (who wrote): ‘I will support Lim Guan Eng and Pakatan Rakyat because Ikea is coming to Penang’,” he said. 

Outflow

Meanwhile, Lim also warned that Malaysia stand to lose RM40 billion annually once Putrajaya's minimum wage policy is fully applied.
 
A solution to this, said Lim, was Pakatan Rakyat's policy of ensuring a RM1,100 minimum wage policy to entice locals to take up jobs currently performed by foreigners.
 
"Malaysian employers and employees should be looked after first by ensuring that employees enjoy a higher minimum monthly wage of RM 1,100.
 
"SMEs should be given a a grace period of at least fives years for SMEs to adjust before extending this minimum wage to foreign workers," said Lim, who is also the Bagan MP.
 
According to Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan, remittance by foreign workers hit RM20 billion in 2013 with Bangladesh and Indonesia topping the list of destination countries, followed by Nepal.