JELEBU: DAP have always painted political parties as bad or good depending on whether it suits the party’s own interest, says Datuk Chong Sin Woon.
Speaking at a ceramah in Chennah, the MCA secretary-general said DAP had set itself up as the judge of who was good and who was bad in Malaysian politics, and that its verdicts shifted with its needs.
He pointed to PAS, saying DAP had defended the Islamist party as moderate and committed to a welfare state rather than an Islamic state while the two were allies, and would look after Chinese and Indian interests, effectively cleaning up its image.
“When PAS is no longer with them, they call PAS extreme,” he said.
DAP and PKR previously cooperated with PAS under Pakatan Rakyat in 2008.
Pakatan Rakyat was dissolved in July 2015 following the fallout between DAP and PAS.
Chong said DAP had criticised UMNO for 60 years but rehabilitated the party once it needed UMNO to form the unity government, recasting it as the best party and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as among the best leaders.
The same pattern would repeat if DAP fell short of the seats needed to govern, he said, predicting it would soften its stance even towards Perikatan Nasional when convenient.
Chong said DAP had spent recent days warning Chinese voters that Barisan Nasional’s cooperation would open the door to PAS, and that it fell to MCA to set the record straight.
The Chinese community, he said, had had enough of being labelled racist, extreme, religious or communal.
Urging voters to bring back the “blue” era of Barisan rule, when communities lived together in harmony, he said MCA preferred to rely on facts and statistics rather than hurl abuse.
Chong said Johor’s economy grew 8% last year under Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi, while Negeri Sembilan’s had consistently lagged the national average under Pakatan Harapan.
Growth mattered because it brought jobs and opportunity, he said, and voters should return to Barisan.
He then rallied support for the local Barisan candidate, Siow Kong Choon, better known as John Siow, the state MCA Youth chief.
Describing Siow as friendly and a local who had long served the community, he said MCA wanted to make him a “giant killer” against an opponent dubbed a “giant” on the campaign trail.
Chennah is a straight fight between Siow and incumbent Anthony Loke, the DAP secretary-general and Transport Minister, who has held the seat since 2013.
MCA last won there in 2008. Polling is on Aug 1.
