J-Star says DAP “got walloped” in S’wak (hint: Chinese will vote BN in coming by-elections)

J-Star CEO Wong Chun Wai wrote about the Sarawak election in his column today,

“… the Barisan Nasional won by a massive landslide. In a nutshell, the Opposition got walloped. The DAP lost five of their seats, a clear indicator that the urban Chinese votes, their traditional stronghold, had swung back to the Barisan. As for PKR and PAS, they got clobbered.”

Chun Wai declared that the Sarawak results showed “urban Chinese votes” had swung back to BN. He also took great delight that PAS “got clobbered”.

For the record, the five seats lost by DAP have the following percentage of Chinese voters:

• Repok — 75.0%
• Batu Kawah — 62.3%
• Piasau — 61.1%
• Meradong — 55.0%
• Dudong — 54.2%

Chun Wai goes on to say the Chinese votes are crucial this time in the Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar by-elections “but if PAS hopes to secure the community’s votes, they can forget it”. He is certain that DAP will not be helping PAS in the twin by-elections fixed for June 18.

Since the Chinese votes will not be for PAS this time, then BN stands a good chance of recovering the community’s support is what Chun Wai is implying.

Going by Chun Wai’s theory of returning Chinese support, anticipated lower voter turnout as well as the expected split in opposition votes, victory is as good as in Umno’s hand.

BELOW: Wong Chun Wai proclaims “Lest we forget … We are a secular and liberal country”

http://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/columnists/on-the-beat/2016/05/15/lest-we-forget-we-are-a-secular-and-liberal-country/

Chun Wai’s moderation advice for Umno

Discussing Umno’s defence of its seats in Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar, Chun Wai advised,

“As for the Umno candidates, it is important that the national leaders who show up at the campaign trail tell the voters that it is a moderate party. It is time that its leaders come out to show that it is entirely different from PAS, which wants to set up an Islamic state.”

So Chun Wai feels that Umno must underline its “moderate” credentials as well as disavow any inclination to go the PAS Islamist way.

The J-Star boss proceeds to explain why PAS is bad:

“This is a secular and liberal country, as clearly stipulated in the Federal Constitution and the Rukunegara, and certainly the kind of politics advocated by PAS will be disastrous to the future of Malaysia.

He further stressed that the Sarawakians in the urban seats were right to reject PAS.

J-Star says even urban Chinese votes have returned to BN

The MCA and its media are so happily ‘tumpang glamer’ on the clawback by Chinese-dominated SUPP against DAP in Sarawak.

MCA is confidently telling taiko Umno that the Chinese are returning to the BN fold.

Well, MCA can easily prove its claim in Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar where Chinese make up almost one-quarter and one-third respectively of the voters.

In fact, MCA can take the next step and pledge that it will recover those Chinese majority seats that mirror the ethnic demography of the five recently lost by DAP in Sarawak.

It is a bridge too far to hope that MCA will be able to beat DAP in the Cina pekat seats which the evangelical  party successfully held on to in Sarawak — see table.

However there is no reason for the MCA not to be able to match the achievement of SUPP which is only a small state party.

Below are five seats lost by MCA in GE13 which mirror the percentage of Chinese voters in the five seats where BN Sarawak got the better of DAP.

• Batu Gajah, Perak — 74% Chinese — matching Repok in Sarikei, Sarawak
  .
• Ipoh Barat, Perak — 64% Chinese — matching Batu Kawah in Stampin, Sarawak
  .
• Kota Melaka — 62% Chinese — matching Piasau in Miri, Sarawak
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• Bakri, Johor — 54% Chinese matching Meradong in Sarikei, Sarawak
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• Rasah, Negeri Sembilan — 52% Chinese matching Dudong in Lanang, Sarawak

So come on, MCA. You contested Batu Gajah, Ipoh Barat, Kota Melaka, Bakri and Rasah in the last general election. You lost all five Parliament seats to DAP.

Now if SUPP can beat DAP in Sarawak seats that have an equivalent percentage of Chinese voters (albeit at DUN level), there’s no reason for a national party like you MCA to not be able to catch up with the performance of a state party.

Since MCA is so gungho about the return of Chinese votes based on SUPP’s performance, then MCA should guarantee the BN that it will win back Batu Gajah, Ipoh Barat, Kota Melaka, Bakri and Rasah in GE14.

But in the meantime, let’s see MCA steer the Chinese voters of Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar into the BN stable, yah.