Lawyer Matthias Chang was today officially appointed as the Prime Minister's political secretary on matters relating to the Chinese community.

An aide of the premier, Sufi Yusoff, confirmed that the English-educated Chang, 51, was sworn in at the Prime Minister's Department this morning.

Last month, malaysiakini reported that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad would appoint two Chinese aides to assist him over the issues concerning the Chinese community.

Cheng Kee Chien, 46, currently a deputy editor of the Chinese daily Nanyang Siang Pau , will be appointed as one of the PM's press secretaries on July 16.

It is believed that the motive behind the appointments - the first from a non-bumiputra group for Mahathir - is to bridge the widening gap between the Chinese Malaysian community and the government.

Mahathir said Chang's appointment was a 'good thing" as 26 percent of the population in the country were Chinese.

"I think having a Chinese political secretary will be able to serve me where Chinese affairs are concerned," he said at a press conference after delivering a keynote address at the 10th World Economic Development Congress in Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur today.

Chinese alienated

Several issues are believed to have alienated the Chinese community from the Barisan Nasional (BN) government which they moved away from in 1999 general elections.

Last August, the Chinese pressure group Suqiu, which had appealed for affirmative action programmes to be extended to all those in need and not just the bumiputra, was rapped by the premier who likened the group to 'communists and the Al-Ma'unah militant Islamic extremists'.

The government's proposal to group different-medium schools under the controversial Vision Schools project was believed to have been the catalyst for BN's loss in the Lunas by-election last November, which saw a significant swing to the Opposition by the Chinese voters.

Early this year, the Chinese community was riled when students of SJK (C) Damansara School in the Federal Territory were forced to abandon their school.

While the Damansara primary school issue was still burning, that of top-scoring Chinese students being rejected by local universities or given courses not of their choice followed on its heels.

More recently, the takeover of Nanyang Press Holdings last month by MCA sparked off strong objections from the Chinese community as well as MCA rank-and-file party members who fear that the independence of the two major Chinese dailies under it, the Nanyang Siang Pau and the China Press would be compromised.