Fears that Chinese may lose out
Published on: Sunday, September 03, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: Minister of Special Tasks Datuk Teo Chee Kang said there must be sufficient Chinese representation in the government should Barisan Nasional continue to govern in the next general election."Chinese support is very important to BN. We need more Chinese representatives in BN to serve as bridges (between the government and the people)," he said at the Federation of Sabah and Labuan Hokkien Associations' 43rd anniversary celebration and installation of committee members, Friday.Teo said things have not changed for the better for the Chinese community even though the majority of Chinese voters supported the opposition during the 13th General Election (GE13).
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"The Chinese community have been at a loss of what to do since the last general election. Most of the Chinese voters had believed that the opposition would speak up for them and defend their rights, but the opposition parties have lost sight of their directions."He said there had been media reports on an opposition party that was struggling as they could not agree on whether to work with PAS. "I believe most of you know the repercussions as PAS grows stronger."
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At this crucial moment, another opposition party with the highest Chinese votes have remained mum instead of rejecting the proposal for the opposition coalition to collaborate with PAS. "I hope the Chinese community will give some thought as to whether the opposition parties can deliver their promise of a better future."
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Hence, Teo hoped that the Federation of Sabah and Labuan Hokkien Associations would give strong support to BN in GE14 to ensure more Chinese representation in the government not only to safeguard the rights of the community, but also to work with the government in propelling our economic growth. Teo said the Malaysian economy, under the leadership of the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, was on the road to recovery. He said Malaysia was ranked the best country to invest in based on the joint survey by BAV Consulting and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, with the U.S. News and World Report. "The World Bank is optimistic about the economic growth of our country for 2017 and 2018, especially in view of our 4.9 per cent growth rate this year," he said.However, Teo lamented that the opposition kept talking bad about Malaysia and saying that our country would go bankrupt by 2019. "In my view, the opposition parties hope that our economy will not recover at all so they have an issue to attack the government with. "The reality is that the opposition chooses to ignore the foreign organisations' positive outlook on our economy and instead continue to spread nonsense among the people."Come the next general election, he believed that the opposition parties would mislead the rakyat with more distorted facts. Earlier in his speech, Teo said the business environment was increasingly challenging with the emergence of e-commerce. However, he said businesses have to embrace the latest trends and seek the opportunities within. Also present at the event were Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Edward Yong Oui Fah, Deputy Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly Datuk Dr Johnson Tee, Acting Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Kota Kinabalu, Zhang He and Federation of Sabah and Labuan Hokkien Associations president Datuk Seri Panglima Dr T.C. Goh. Meanwhile, Sabah Pakatan Harapan (PH) Chairman Christina Liew accused Teo of using "scare tactics" to coerce the Chinese community to support BN in the coming general election.She said in a statement that when the people of Sabah voted for the opposition in the last election, it was a vote for a change of government."The result showed that majority of the people voted for a change. However, due to the kind of voting system, the majority party did not form the government."It does not mean the people will give up their desire for change. Please stop using your scare tactic on the people, especially the Chinese community, by saying that we are at the crossroads due to the opposition," she said.Liew advised Teo not to underestimate the wisdom of the Chinese community, saying they are very much aware of the underlying causes of many pressing issues that are affecting the country and their wellbeing now.On Teo's remark that PH is in disarray as the result of bickering over cooperation with PAS, Liew said the PKR national leadership had decided last week they will not be negotiating with PAS anymore."PH is even prepared to go for three cornered fights. This position was confirmed by the Menteri Besar Selangor Dato Sri Azmin Ali. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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