Media Conference Statement by Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Tuesday, 27^th April 2010 at 11 am: 

When and why has MCA fallen so low with Chinese voter support for Barisan Nasional in Hulu Selangor plunging to 15% with Umno Secretary-General Tengku Adnan estimating that BN only secured the support of 22% of Chinese voters in the by-election?

The immediate reaction of the MCA President Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek to the Barisan Nasional’s win but MCA’s loss in the Hulu Selangor by-election on Sunday was that it should be a wake-up call for MCA leaders that the Chinese community is no longer just concerned with basic needs but about also national issues.

He said that the MCA would also be more vocal from now on.

But this pledge of a wake-up call for the MCA leadership and to be “more vocal from now on” was broken in the next 24 hours, when the MCA leadership failed to speak up on the imperative need that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak must honour his by-election eve pledge to sign in the next 24 hours of a by-election victory a RM3 million allocation to the school board’s account for the new building of the 81-year-old SRJK© Rasa.

Monday yesterday had come and gone but there had been no honouring of the signing of the approval of the RM3 million for the SRJK © Rasa.

In fact, I had a twitter exchange with the MCA Deputy Education Minister and MCA Youth leader Datuk Wee Ka Siong yesterday, as follows:

weekasiongmp:

RT @NajibRazak: Honoured the ppl of HS have given us their vote. Our work has just begun. focus now is on delivering on what we promised.

limkitsiang:

Has Najib signed RM3 mil 4Rasa Ch prsch 2day as promised? #HS @weekasiongmp RT @NajibRazak focus now is on delivering on what we promised.

weekasiongmp:

@limkitsiang I think PM has the political wisdom to do the right thing.

limkitsiang:

Don’t pass d buck. Not just PM also u n MCA Ministers have pol wisdom 2do right or mere survival? RM3m signed today?

weekasiongmp:

@limkitsiang will keep u posted on this. Btw pls remind State govt to speed up the RM1 land premium n shd not take bk its orig land. Gv LPS

limkitsiang:

7 hrs left b4 end Monday 2day 4Najib 2sign RM3m cheque 2Rasa Ch sch Can Msians expect action from MCA Ministers tmr if no chque? Whole country wait 4answer. Can we have a simple Yes or No?

limkitsiang:

40mins is eternity on 24/7 twitterverse @weekasiongmp cannot hide or run n cannot depend on Umno cybertroopers 2come 2yr defence Waiting 4u

As evident from the twitter exchange above, Wee Ka Siong “disappeared” from the twitterverse after two responses and did not react to my five tweets, the last one at midnight.

In fact, the performance of MCA Ministers and national leadership to ensure that Najib honour his RM3 million election pledge to SRJKC Rasa is a litmus test whether MCA can hope to regain public support and confidence.

Can we expect all the MCA Ministers and deputy ministers led by the MCA President today to make a public stand on the RM3 million cheque for SRJKC Rasa or have the MCA leadership not yet started to be “vocal” yet?

It is clear that in the Hulu Selangor by-election on Sunday, Barisan Nasional won but MCA lost.

The question that must be asked is when and why has MCA fallen so low with Chinese voter support for Barisan Nasional in Hulu Selangor plunging to 15% with Umno Secretary-General Tengku Adnan estimating that BN only secured the support of 22% of Chinese voters in the by-election?

This is a far cry from the 37% Chinese voter support secured by MCA in Hulu Selangor in the March 8 “political tsunami” only two years ago!

MCA Vice President Datuk Seri Dr. Ng Yen Yen was quoted by Sunday Star as saying on polling eve that when she first started campaigning in Kampung Assam Kumbang, support for MCA was only about 18%. She claimed to have pushed it up to 25% “and I hope to push it up by another 5% by tonight”.

Tengku Adnan was quoted by Star (Monday 26th April 2010) that BN only secured 22% of the Chinese votes.

An analysis article in the MCA newspaper Star today reported that MCA had estimated that shortly after nomination, only 15% of the Chinese voters would support Barisan Nasional.

Why has a party which boasts of being the second largest Chinese political party in the world been reduced to such pitiable straits?

An analysis of the Hulu Selangor parliamentary by-election results show that Pakatan Rakyat has gained support while Barisan Nasional has lost ground in the past two years, with PR poised to win one of the three constituent state assembly seats and a fighting chance to win another one.

This is illustrated by the following breakdown of the Hulu Selangor by-election results for the three constituent state assembly seats:

From the above results, PR would be safe in Kuala Kubu Baru with a good fighting chance in Batang Kali – two of the three constituent state assemblies.

This is why I say that the Hulu Selangor by-election is a pyrrhic victory for Najib and Barisan Nasional after a RM200 million election expenditure.

Although Pakatan Rakyat is disappointed that Datuk Zaid Ibrahim could not win in the Hulu Selangor by-election, there are many silver linings in the by-election results.

*Lim Kit Siang, DAP Parliamentary Leader & MP for Ipoh Timor