Vote Chew Mei Fun for More Representation

Dear voters

There are 56 seats in the Selangor state assembly. Before the resignation of Lee Chin Shih, Pakatan has 44 seats. While BN has 12 seats which is only from UMNO.

The result of this by-election neither change the current state government and PR's more than 2/3 majority nor enable PR to capture Putrajaya.

However, the Chinese community should have a representive in the opposition to provide check and balance  and be the voice of the Chinese.

The local community also need someone who can dedicate themselves to the Kajang people and not someone too busy as party President, attending rallies and demo, and husband matters.

Do ponder over this before you vote.

Survey: BN to slash PKR's majority

PKR's winning majority will dip by about 2,000 votes tomorrow with a turnout of 85 percent, a UCSI university poll found.

UCSI Poll Research Centre founder Ngerng Miang Hong said that out of the 400 voters polled via phone and face-to-face interviews, only 54.25 percent said they will vote for PKR's Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Whereas 34.5 percent said they will vote for BN's Chew Mei Fun and 11.25 percent were undecided when surveyed on March 18-20 during the campaign period.

"If you split the undecided votes (with the same proportions of those supporting PKR and BN) we can see that BN has raised their support compared to 2013," he told reporters today.

He said that the bulk of those who said they will vote for Chew are Malays, at 54 percent.

However, the survey does not state why they are backing the BN.

In the 13th general election, 37 percent of Malay voters in Kajang voted for PKR, but the party now claims it has raised its support to 45 percent over the campaigning period.

PKR took 58 percent of the votes, BN 38 percent while Independent candidates garnered the rest in GE13.

Kajang has 48 percent Malay voters, 41 percent Chinese voters while the rest are Indians or other races.

PKR won the seat in 2013 with a 6,824-majority vote.

Campaign ends tonight

The private university found that up to 60 percent of those polled in Malay-majority areas of Sg Sekamat, Sg Kantan, Taman Delkma, Batu 10 Cheras and Kantan Permai back the BN.

Those polled in the majority Malay upper middle class in Saujana Impian were split between PKR and BN, as were those in Bandar Kajang, Taman Kota Cheras, Taman Mesra and Taman Kajang Baharu.

In Chinese-majority voting districts of Sungai Chua 1 to 5, over 70 percent of respondents back PKR.

Ngerng said support for PKR from Chinese majority areas remain the same despite Chew's candidacy as voters decide on party lines.

"The respondents say that she is a good person but one or two good people in a party does not help so the decision (to vote) goes to the other side," he said.

However, he said, 23 percent viewed that the new MCA leadership can win back Chinese support - a signal that the party can pull itself up from the doldrums if it digs its heels in for the long haul.

Only 36 percent of respondents said PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy conviction which rendered him ineligible to contest will affect their vote.

Similarly, a minuscule three percent said their vote is affected by the handling of the MH370 crisis.

Both issues have featured prominently in PKR's Kajang campaign, raising questions on whether the polls will be the referendum on alleged injustice PKR has called for.

According to Ngerng, this also shows that incidental issues or recent developments have "marginal" impact on voters compared with long-term partisan ties and support.

The 12-day Kajang by-election campaign ends midnight tonight.

Shouting is no solution to solving national woes

PETALING JAYA: Amid the protracted religious and racial row drummed up by Perkasa bigots linked to Umno, MCA vice-president Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun said “we cannot keep shouting our way through”.

She said although the relevant parties were expected to state their stand, “we are here to solve problems, not shout or create more controversies”.

Chew, who is slated to be Barisan Nasional’s (BN) candidate for the March 23 Kajang by-election, agreed that “there should be more dialogues between the ruling component parties to solve public interest issues, especially those that are sensitive”.

“Maybe we need more BN meetings … we need to improve on the way we handle such national problems and come up with solutions based on consensus. This will then not cause us to differ in opinions and public statements.

“We may then be able to improve public perception on BN,” she told theantdaily in an interview.

She said racial and religious tension started to rear its ugly head due to the lack of dialogue and communication between all stakeholders.

“I believe we should create more avenues for the stakeholders and the people to let them have their say in interfaith dialogues,” Chew said.

She said MCA should always keep communication channels between component parties open and refrain from antagonising one another in the BN coalition.

“In short, we are leaving room for discussions,” she added.

On the public perception that MCA is an Umno stooge, Chew said: “The MCA has been playing a key role in the BN government. We are not subservient to Umno but we don’t shout about it.

“We are in the business of administration, not a contest to shout the loudest.”

Asked whether the Perkasa links to Umno would be a liability to her election campaign, Chew said: “No. When a BN candidate is fielded, all the component parties will be roped in to help in campaigning.”

“Just because Umno is helping MCA in an election campaign, it does not mean that we are subservient to them. We have been doing this for 57 years.”

Deputy Prime Minister and BN deputy chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had on Feb 21 announced Chew as the BN candidate to face PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the by-election. To date, Muhyiddin, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and Umno vice-president and Home Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi are the key leaders who have gone to the ground to help in Chew’s campaign.

From the MCA, so far, only president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and his deputy Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong have stepped into Kajang to help in BN’s campaign.

However, various MCA leaders have been actively issuing statements to the media to help Chew’s campaign.

On Pakatan Rakyat labelling her as a “sacrificial lamb”, Chew retorted: “BN should not stay out of this forced by-election.”

“The former Kajang assemblyman Lee Chin Cheh had to step down to make way for Anwar to contest. They keep on saying we should stay away from the by-election as it is a waste of public funds and a clear abuse of power.

“But I think we should contest because they have created a vacancy to serve their own purpose; we must use this chance to replace them.

“If we stay out of the election, it is as good as acknowledging and condoning that they have the right to abuse their powers. We should be competing on the premise of clean and healthy democracy.”

Chew urged the public not to view BN’s entry into the by-election as a “losing battle”.

“We must do whatever is right, even if it is risky, so that we can lead by example. For example, the late Tun Dr Tan Cheng Lock took a risky political decision in urging the Chinese to register themselves as Malayans before Independence, even though they were hesitant to do so.

“If we keep worrying about the other possibilities like rejection from the voters or the inability to gain public confidence, we end up being indecisive instead,” she added.

Source: The Ant Daily

Kajang - Safe for PKR?

Here's a commendable analysis by Lim Soa Goan.

I formatted the fonts for emphasis.

Is Kajang A Safe Bet for PKR?

Nomination for the Kajang by-election has yet to open, but it has already brought out a whole lot of political feuds to warm up for the intensive election war to come.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Anwar Ibrahim should take responsibility for the 1987 Ops Lalang while MCA president Liow Tiong Lai accused Anwar of suppressing Chinese education during his tenure as education minister, citing the record of a RM10 symbolic allocation for a Chinese school.

The ill-feeling between Mahathir and Anwar lives on, and there is no way the former would want to see his ex-deputy win his way to the office of menteri besar. The election war will surely be an eye-catcher if Mahathir goes down to Kajang to campaign for BN's candidate in a heads-on clash with the PKR advisor.

Former minister in the Prime Minister's Department Zaid Ibrahim has joined in the race, citing the need to keep Khalid in his MB's office. But lying behind this outward excuse is his love-hate relationship with Anwar, as well as PKR's deputy president Azmin Ali.

When Zaid declared he was out of the PKR deputy presidency race in 2010, he made it clear that the party's de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim and his election rival Azmin were the "root of the problem," and had urged both to step down so as to remove the last hindrance for Pakatan and PKR to keep growing.

Given his hard stance back then, it is no doubt Zaid is now back to stand in Anwar's way. If Anwar were to become the Selangor MB, Azmin would have a hand in the state's political resources, and Zaid is determined to teach both a lesson by diluting the ballots.

Zaid was able to garner so many votes in Ulu Selangor by-election not because he had the guts to break ranks with Umno but because the voters were unhappy with BN and had responded to the calls of Pakatan Rakyat. If he were to plant his feet in Kajang this time, he will surrender whatever residual support he still has now.

BN goes specifically for Anwar because it knows Kajang is not a place it can capture easily. Moreover, the ruling coalition's lackadaisical performance in running the country over the past one year is not going to be convincing to many a Kajang voter.

According to a recent survey by the UM Centre of Democracy and Elections (Umcedel), 59% of Kajang voters say the by-election should be held so that Anwar could become Selangor MB. The UM study comes close to that of PKR's, which shows that 47% of voters are positive about the by-election. Majority of them believe the by-election has been created by PKR out of political and strategic needs.

69% of UM's respondents say they will support Pakatan because of the rising prices while 65% will vote for Pakatan because of BN's power abuse.

Meanwhile, PKR's survey shows that 42% of Kajang voters feel that crime and safety are priority issues while 38% and 30% are more concerned about traffic jams and garbage disposal problems, respectively. Only 11% care about the municipality council's services.

Inflation, corruption, public safety and traffic all fall within the jurisdiction of the federal administration. BN can turn the tide around if it is able to come up with solutions to address these issues.

But, these problems remain very much apparent during the past one year due to BN leader's incompetency. They have nothing to show to the Kajang residents what they have done since the last general election.

The Ops Cantas by the police on August 17 last year indeed produced some early results in battling serious crimes, especially shooting incidents, but it appears that such cases have made a comeback of late.

As for traffic congestion, the federal government has failed to put in an effective strategy to tackle the problem despite the fact several highways skirt the town. These additional highways will not solve the people's problems, thanks to a poor public transportation system that makes driving.a necessity.

Even the Malay votes that Umno is quite comfortable with will not be a sure bet on the back of rising goods prices. According to UM's study, 62% of Malay voters may lean towards Pakatan just because of this.

Another unfavourable factor for BN is the untimely resignation of Hindraf chairman P. Waythamoorthy as deputy minister in the PM's department, citing BN's failure to honour the promises it made to Hindraf.

Although Malays and Chinese make up the majority of the voters in Kajang, the 10.29% of Indian voters there do play a pivotal role. If Hindraf still has its influence in the Indian society, Waytha can always bank on the by-election to hammer Najib. Najib will have a hard time facing the conservatives in his party if Chinese votes do not go back to BN and more Indian votes are drained away.

While Chew Mei Fun can look to voters who give her the thumbs-up for fulfilling her electoral promises, that does not give her an upper hand in the race under the weight of a multitude of national issues and widespread frustration.

Unless BN can tip the balance over the next one month, Anwar is expected to sail past his first hurdle towards the MB's office easily. As for how he is going to pick up the pieces for the state PKR, that is another question altogether. – Sin Chew Daily, February 23, 2014.

By Lim Sue Goan, MySinChew