COMMENT | Former finance minister Lim Guan Eng and DAP were not fully committed in incorporating funding towards the Chinese community in policy frameworks when they were part of the government and in charge of the Finance Ministry. 

The approaches by DAP and Lim on the needs of the Chinese community were ad hoc in nature to suit their vested political interests or to score political brownie points. 

Firstly, he declared that he was not a Chinese to the applause of the public. Nowhere were the allocations included as a policy or institutionalised despite Lim having the absolute control and authority over the Finance Ministry as its minister at the time.

However, once he was no longer in power, Lim and DAP have reverted to harping on the Chinese and Indians dissatisfaction by playing on racial sentiments. DAP has orchestrated political narratives and rhetoric along racial lines again targeting MCA and inciting the Chinese and Indians community against the federal government for being largely Malays since DAP had captured nearly all of the non-Malay majority seats.

On Nov 8, Lim released a statement in the Chinese language saying that the Perikatan Nasional (PN) federal government allocated only RM177 million to the Chinese community and claimed that this total was 77 percent lower than when he was in power.

Now that DAP is in the opposition, they are back at it again. The Rocket provokes the Chinese and Indians and invokes racial sentiments by making them look and feel like victims of the PN government.

Lim is forcing the race card again to pit MCA against the Malays. DAP has returned to play the racial element once more by purposely and deceitfully highlighting allocations along racial lines, whereas many of these allocations are granted to all Malaysians irrespective of their ethnicity.

Harping on the Chinese and Indians' resentment or dissatisfaction by blaming the government and MCA, in particular for failing to deliver what they have failed at doing while having 42 MPs and wielding the financial portfolio of the country, clearly stokes the racial fire and disregards the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s call for a united effort to overcome the challenges of the nation ahead.

DAP’s failure when in govt

Meanwhile, let’s reflect - when they were in power and in a position to deliver as the strongest party in the Pakatan Harapan government, DAP failed miserably.

DAP exhorted it would abolish the bumiputera quota policy, claimed that government procurement policies would be by open tenders to all ethnicities. 

However, once Harapan wrested Putrajaya, priority when bidding for projects was given to bumiputera companies, manufacturers, importers and contractors. Not only was the quota system not dismantled, it was continued and consolidated and the Ministry of Education increased the bumiputera quota entry into public universities.

Its 42 MPs with its finance minister Lim did not formulate any policies or whatsoever at a time when the Chinese and Indians voted for a change along DAP’s promises of equal or a level playing field. 

On the contrary, whether they were grants for NGOs or Tunku Abdul Rahman Alumni Association, each case was handled on a case-by-case basis, leveraging on the finance minister’s power, to bestow as and when preferences required or in accordance with their political dictates.

While in the government, they shouted out their bumiputera-friendly agendas and increased allocations for them but when faced with requests from the Chinese community, only ad hoc announcements or temporary measures were offered to appease and please their supporters and for political brownie points.

On one hand, when they were in power and Lim was the authority as the finance minister, he was busy projecting himself to be “mesra Melayu” (Malay-friendly). He failed to use his power and authority to make it a policy or institutionalise the grants for Chinese independent high schools. 

Instead, he merely used his personal authority as the finance minister to announce assistance in an ad hoc basis during the Tanjung Piai by-election or functioned on a “one-off” basis to score political points.

TI LIAN KER is MCA vice-president and deputy national unity minister. He can be reached at [email protected].

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