'Convincing opportunistic Chinese to vote BN easy for DAP'

MAHKOTA BY-ELECTION | Johor BN deputy chief Nur Jazlan Mohamed is piling pressure on DAP to ensure that Mahkota's Chinese voters turn up and vote BN on Saturday.

In a lengthy Facebook post, he said this should be an easy task for DAP and its network of cybertroopers, dubbed the “Red Bean Army”.

Jazlan (above) noted that whether or not Chinese voters will vote depends on whether they see long-term benefits from voting for the BN candidate supported by DAP.

“When we talk about Chinese voters and Chinese parties, we can see that there are a group of voters who are opportunistic in making their choices.

“It is not that the Chinese don’t care about politics, but they lean more toward evaluating the benefit they would get before giving their support and votes.

“They will see first, who can offer something on the question of what’s in their pockets and their opportunities to cari makan (earn a living),” the former Pulai MP said.

Such sentiments will determine whether Chinese turnout in Mahkota will be high or low, like in the Sungai Bakap by-election, he added.

Make or break

About 35 percent of the Mahkota electorate are Chinese, 54 percent Malay, and eight percent Indian.

The Chinese vote could make or break BN's bid to defend the seat, and there have been persistent concerns that turnout among the community may be low.

One major factor is perceived unhappiness among the Chinese towards Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh’s attacks on Seputeh MP Teresa Kok over the halal certificate issue.

Kok had raised concerns about a proposal to make halal certification mandatory for eateries that don't sell pork and alcohol, saying it would be a burden to businesses.

Akmal in response told the DAP lawmaker to stay out of Islamic matters and threatened to paste a “non-halal” logo on her forehead.

Kok is suing Akmal, while the government has decided to scrap the mandatory certification proposal.

Jazlan said on Umno’s part, they had fielded a young candidate who is fluent in Chinese and could explain the halal certificate issue in that language.

“If the Chinese still don’t understand, then I don’t know. Maybe they are not interested because the candidate is not of their race, unlike in the Kuala Kubu Baharu (by-election),” he added.

It will be ‘peanuts’

Jazlan urged voters to think long and hard about the possible impact on the federal coalition government if they want to justify their voting decisions on Akmal's stance on the halal certification issue.

“Demographically and simple calculations of the racial composition of this country, they (Chinese) will be the ones who might face a loss,” he said.

However, the Johor BN deputy chief opined that it would be “peanuts” for DAP’s “Red Bean Army” to tackle the halal certificate issue, which he claimed was being manipulated to turn the Chinese against BN.

He said DAP and its machinery have years of experience playing up issues, especially when attacking Umno, and thus must also know how to defeat political spin.

“I don’t think it’s difficult for DAP to start a campaign to convince Chinese voters not to be influenced by these false narratives,” he said.

If BN’s Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah loses on Saturday, DAP will be the most embarrassed, especially since Mahkota is part of DAP’s Kluang stronghold, Jazlan added.

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