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If it was just Umno that threatened the Chinese this can be accepted as ‘normal’. But when MCA joins the gang of thugs to also threaten their own community, this is something the Chinese find hard to stomach.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
“I need guys who can drink like a fish and not fall down,” I told Bernard. “So make sure we get the hardcore drinkers to Kuala Terengganu. The Chinese will never trust anyone who does not drink.”
It was exactly two weeks that we spent in Kuala Terengganu -- from the eve of Nomination Day until the day after Polling Day. It was not a lot of money we spent, though, just about RM25,000 in all. But then that is because we never had to pay for our beer and liquor. Our Chinese hosts would refuse to accept our money and appeared very offended when we insisted we pay.
Okay, not everyone drank. Even some Indians in the group did not drink a drop in spite of them having a reputation of being ‘terror drinkers’. In fact, Bala would not even drink Coke. He only drank plain water or, once in awhile, green tea.
Nevertheless, seeing that we had about 20 rooms, twin-sharing, there were certainly enough in the gang to do us proud and to stand up to the heavy-drinking Chinese loggers and saw-millers without falling down drunk before the witching hour.
“PAS is going to win big,” said my ‘drinking partner’ who was not only pissed drunk but quite pissed that I had a Coke glass in my hand and was refusing his constant ‘harassment’ to ‘drink with me’.
“Hey!” I kept reminding him. “Just being in this pub is already an offence. I could get arrested. You want me behind bars or what? Imagine how Umno would go to town with the news tomorrow when the newspaper headlines report ‘Blogger RPK caught drinking in a pub in Kuala Terengganu’. They will crucify me.”
“Okay, okay, I understand. You are forgiven. But I still don’t like drinking with someone drinking only Coke.”
“Never mind about me. My friends are drinking. They can drink my share.” In fact, Bernard more than drank my share. He probably drank three people’s share. Anyway, being a Muslim was a convenient ‘excuse’ not to drink. The others were never allowed a half-empty glass. Our Chinese friends from Kuala Terengganu kept topping up the glasses of our Blogging Team until no one knew any longer how much they had drunk.
“You do not need the Chinese votes,” my Chinese friend went on. “PAS is going to win big without the Chinese votes.”
This statement troubled me and I asked my Chinese friend who was facing great trouble tying to remain standing to explain what he meant.
“PAS is going to win big. The Malays will swing to PAS. You just watch. So you do not need the Chinese votes. The Chinese can vote BN.”
“I don’t think we should look at it that way,” I told my friend with a discouraged sound in my voice. “Every vote counts. We need the Chinese votes.”
My Chinese friend probably detected that I was perturbed and he downed his glass before explaining further. “We Chinese know that PAS is going to win. The Malays are going to swing to PAS. So you can win without the Chinese votes. The Malay votes are enough to give PAS the win.”
“Okay,” I replied. “But even if PAS can win with the Malay votes why can’t the Chinese also vote for PAS?”
“PAS is already going to win by at least 2,000 votes even if the Chinese vote BN. So why worry?”
“Okay, I understand. But what’s wrong if the Chinese also vote PAS and make the win 5,000 instead of 2,000?”
“We Chinese don’t want to be blamed for Umno’s loss. Let the Malays vote PAS. PAS then wins on the Malay votes. The Chinese will vote BN. Then Umno can’t blame the Chinese for their defeat. The Chinese voted BN and PAS won with the Malay votes, not the Chinese votes.”
I could see his logic here but I did not like it. “What if the Chinese vote BN and BN wins, PAS loses.”
“No way man. PAS will win. The Malay swing is big. It is safe for the Chinese to vote BN. PAS will still win.”
“But why?” I asked. “Why do the Chinese want to vote BN when you support PAS?”
“We support PAS. Look, my friend over there gave PAS RM1 million in the last general election.” He pointed to the chap at the end of the bar and signalled him to come over.
“We have no problems with PAS. We prefer PAS to BN,” his friend added. “I was the one in the Chinese newspapers who held up the can of beer in front of the PAS markas in Wakaf Tapai. You remember or not?”
Yes, I remembered that episode. I think it was in the 2004 general election. But Umno went to town with the whole thing and distorted the issue. They said that PAS is hypocritical about Islam and is allowing liquor in the state.
“Okay, what if PAS loses and they lose because the Chinese voted BN?”
“No way. PAS will win. If PAS is going to lose then we Chinese will vote PAS. But we know PAS will win. So no need for the Chinese to vote PAS. Let PAS win on the Malay votes. We Chinese can then say we voted BN but BN still lost. And it is because of the Malays and not the Chinese that PAS won.”
I suppose this is Chinese ‘logic’ and I have come to understand how the Chinese mind works. Cari makan is very important to the Chinese and must come first. They can’t risk their cari makan by being seen to be supporting the opposition. This was, after all, a bunch of Chinese towkays that I was taking to. They are flush with money and became rich not by being seen as anti-government.
By the end of the two weeks I realised that PAS would have to depend on the Malay swing, not the Chinese votes. The Chinese would give us enough votes just to keep BN in check. At best we can expect 40% to 45% votes from the Chinese. They will make sure that the majority of the Chinese vote for BN just so that it can be seen that more than half the Chinese support the government. But it will not be more than that.
Rosmah Mansor, the wife of the Deputy Prime Minister, made this very clear to the Kuala Terengganu voters on Saturday, one week before the by-election. “We know who you vote for,” said Rosmah. “If you vote for the opposition we will know.”
The message Rosmah was sending to the Kuala Terengganu voters is that your vote is not secret and the government will know if you voted for PAS or BN. That is not true, of course, but who would want to take that risk in case it is?
The Terengganu Menteri Besar, Ahmad Said, was more blunt when he told the Chinese. “If you are nice to me, then I will be nice to you. If you are not nice to me, then I can be ten times more not nice to you.”
This was a veiled threat if ever I did see one and the message was simple: if you vote for PAS then expect my wrath. And everyone knows Ahmad Said would not hesitate to engage in fisticuffs, even during a State Assembly meeting, as Wahid Endut, who was once a victim of Ahmad Said, can testify.
The 8,000 Chinese voters in a state with a population of more than one million Malays do not need too many ‘messages’ to understand what lies ahead of them if they vote for PAS. And the 8,000 police personnel positioned all over town, practically laying Kuala Terengganu to siege, makes matters more dicey. Why the need for a police-to-Chinese ratio of one-to-one?
What the Chinese were telling us was not comforting but something we could not quarrel with. The Chinese were being threatened. They were being told that they vote for PAS at their own peril. If they know what is good for them then they must vote BN.
The Chinese got the message loud and clear. And they also knew that PAS was going to win just on Malay votes, even if the Chinese voted BN. Okay, if the Chinese vote BN then PAS is going to win by a 2,000-vote majority. And if the Chinese vote PAS then the majority is going to be 5,000. But is it worth the risk just to increase PAS’s majority from 2,000 to 5,000?
I had to concede that the Chinese are going to ‘play safe’. “But just promise me one thing,” I told my Chinese friend. “If PAS can’t get the Malay swing will the Chinese then vote PAS?”
“If PAS can’t win without Malay votes then we Chinese will vote PAS. But PAS will win, you watch, so no need for the Chinese votes. Let us vote BN and then we can put the blame on the Malays when PAS wins.”
The story does not end here though. On Sunday morning, the Blogging Team did a door-to-door walkabout to personally thank the Chinese voters before we came home to Kuala Lumpur. Some had tears in their eyes. “Kita menang,” many told me. Yes, ‘kita menang’, not ‘you menang’. It was a win for them as well as far as the Chinese were concerned.
Many who were wet with tears while hugging me tightly probably did not vote for PAS. They could not due to fear of retaliation. But it was still ‘we won’ for them. And they will tell their comrades all over Malaysia that they voted for BN mainly because the government threatened them. 8,000 Chinese voters in a state of more than one million and with 8,000 armed police surrounding the town did not offer them too many options.
But the Chinese will remember this. They will remember how Umno threatened them in the Kuala Terengganu by-election on 17 January 2009. And it will be payback time come the next general election. You can threaten 8,000 Chinese when your numbers are more than one million. But try doing this in states where the Malay-Chinese population is almost balanced.
Umno ‘won over’ the Chinese in Kuala Terengganu. But it was with a gun at the head. And the Chinese will never forget this. And neither will we. I was hoping that the Chinese were right. I was hoping that the Chinese can safely vote BN and that PAS will still win just on the Malay votes. On hindsight, the Chinese were right of course. Much to my relief that is exactly what happened, though I would have loved a 5,000 majority instead of just 2,631.
In the short-term, Umno ‘won’ the Chinese votes. But the ‘win’ was gained through the barrel of the gun. This is not the best way to win because, in the long-term, the Chinese will want to ‘pay back’ Umno for threatening them in the Kuala Terengganu by-election.
And that will be when Umno discovers they have won the battle of Kuala Terengganu but they are going to lose the war, the bigger battle for Malaysia. And MCA too will suffer. If it was just Umno that threatened the Chinese this can be accepted as ‘normal’. But when MCA joins the gang of thugs to also threaten their own community, this is something the Chinese find hard to stomach. MCA is supposed to serve the Chinese. In the Kuala Terengganu by-election, MCA was the voice of Umno to help threaten the Chinese. *********************************************************************************************************************************** 《毫不留情》过分的威胁 若这只是巫统威胁华人，那也算是'正常'。但是当马华也同样像暴徒似的威胁同胞，华人就咽不下这口气了。 我告诉伯纳说，"我需要一些千杯不醉的人。我们一定要有一些有酒量的人到瓜丁去。华人是不会相信那些不喝酒的人的。" 我们在瓜丁逗留了整整两个星期 – 从提名日前夕到投选日隔天。钱倒没花了多少，全部大约是马币2万5千元。那是因为我们喝的啤酒和酒类都不需要还钱。我们的华人东道主都不收我们的钱，若我们坚持的话，还会生我们的气。 好吧，也不是每个人都喝。即使团里的一些印度人也滴酒不沾，虽然印度人出名是好酒之人。实际上，巴拉连可乐也不喝。他只喝白开水，偶尔来点绿茶。 尽管如此，我们租了约20间房，两个人一间，团里还是有些好酒量的人来应付那些爱喝酒的华人伐木工人和锯木工人。 我的'酒友'半醉地说："回教党会大胜。" 他不只很醉，也一直不满我的杯里只有可乐，也不回敬他一些酒。 "喂!"我一直提醒他说，"我来到酒廊都有可能中捉的了。你是不是要我坐牢呀？想想假如明天的头条说部落客RPK在瓜丁酒廊被捉到喝酒，你看巫统会到瓜丁到处去如何唱我呢？他们会乘机钉死我。" "好吧好吧，我明白。放过你了。但我还是不喜欢和一个只喝可乐的人喝酒。" "别管我了。我的朋友有喝。他们可以代表我。" 实际上，伯纳也喝了不止是我的份。他也许喝了三个人的份。无论如何，回教徒的身份让我有不喝酒的很好理由。其他人的杯总是满满的。我们的瓜丁华人朋友一直向我们这些部落客团添酒，没有人知道他们到底喝了多少。 我的华人朋友继续说，"你们不需要华人票。回教党没有华人票也会大胜。" 我为这个说法而烦，就向这位醉得快要站不稳的朋友问原因。 "回教党会大胜。马来人会倾向回教党。你等着看好了。所以你不需要华人票。华人可以投国阵。" "我觉得我们不应该这样看的"，我有点气馁的劝他。"每一张票都重要。我们需要华人票。" 我的这位华人朋友也许察觉我生气了，他就放下杯子继续解释说，"我们华人知道回教党会胜。马来人会倾向回教党。所以你不需要华人票就能够胜。只是马来票就足够让回教党赢了。" "好，"我回答他说，"即使回教党可以凭着马来票胜出，为何华人不投选回教党呢?" "即使华人投选国阵，回教党也会至少赢两千票。你还担心什么呢?" "好吧，我明白了。但是若华人也投选回教党，让回教党胜够5000票，不可以吗?" "我们华人不想被巫统归咎为失败的原因。让马来人去投选回教党。让回教党以马来票胜出。华人投选国阵的话，巫统就不能归咎华人了。华人投选国阵，然后回教党凭马来票胜出，不是华人票。" 我开始看到这个论点的逻辑，但我不喜欢。"假如华人投选国阵，给国阵赢了呢？" "不可能的。回教党会赢。马来人的反风很大。华人投选国阵比较安全。回教党还是会赢。" "但是为什么呢? "我问道。"为什么华人支持回教党却去投选国阵呢?" "我们是支持回教党。你看我那个朋友，在上次大选就给了回教党马币一百万元。" 他指着酒吧另一边的一位卡佬，示意要他过来。 "我们和回教党是没有问题的。我们比较喜欢回教党多过国阵"，他的朋友补充说。"你记得吗？那天华文报上面有一张一个人在回教党Wakaf Tapai区部前拿着一罐啤酒的，那就是我。" 是的，我记起来了。那应该是2004年的大选。但是国阵到处去炒作那件事。他们说回教党是虚伪的，竟然在州内容许喝酒。 "好吧，假如华人投选国阵，然后回教党输了怎办?" "不可能的啦。回教党会赢的。若回教党会输，我们华人就会投选回教党。但是我们知道回教党会赢，不需要华人票，所以就让回教党凭着马来票胜。我们华人可以说，我们投选了国阵，但是国阵还是输了。回教党会胜不是因为华人而是马来人。" 也许这就是华人的'逻辑'了。我想我现在知道华人的思维了。对华人来说，‘找吃’是最重要的。他们不会为了支持反对党造成他们不能再‘找吃’。这种事情他们是不会做的。这些都是华人头家。因为不被视为反政府，所以捞得盆满钵满。 两个星期后，我才发觉回教党需要的是马来反风，而不是华人票。华人只会给我们足够的票数来堵死国阵。我们最多只能够期望40%到45%的华人票。他们会确保大多数的华人投国阵，好让华人看起来都支持政府。但是就仅此而已。 副首相之妻Rosmah Mansor在星期六，也就是补选一个星期前，对瓜丁选民说得很清楚的了∶"我们知道你选的是谁。若你选的是反对党，我们是会知道的。" Rosmah要对瓜丁选民传达的信息是∶你投选谁不是秘密，政府会知道你投选的是国阵还是回教党。这当然不是真的，但是有谁肯冒这个风险呢? 丁州大臣Ahmad Said对华人说得更加不客气∶"若你跟我好，我就跟你好。若你跟我不好，我会十倍奉还。" 这是一种暗示性的恫吓。信息很简单∶若你投选回教党，那我就会大怒。每个人都知道Ahmad Said是个轻易动粗的人，即使是在州议会上。曾经身为Ahmad Said的受害者的Wahid Endut就可以证明这点。 处于超过一百万个马来人居民的州属，8千名华人选民不需要太多的‘信息’来明白他们投选回教党的后果。还有8千名驻守在市镇各处的警察人员，把瓜丁包围起来，让情况更加担忧。警察和华人的比率，有必要弄到一对一这么大吗? 虽然华人所告诉我们的这些很令人不舒服，但我们却无从反驳。华人已被威胁。华人知道自己要承担投选回教党的后果。若他们知道什么是对他们好的，那他们就必须投选国阵。 华人都知道这些信息了。就算他们投选国阵，他们也知道回教党会凭着马来票胜出。好吧，若华人投选国阵，那么回教党就有2000张的多数票。若华人投选回教党，那么多数票就5000张。为了把回教党的多数票提高到5000张而冒风险，值得吗? 我也不得不接受华人将不会冒险。我告诉我这位华人朋友说∶"不过答应我一件事。若回教党不能拿到马来票，华人可否投选回教党呢?" "若回教党不能拿到马来票，那我们华人会投选回教党。但是回教党会赢。你看着吧。他们不需要华人票。让我们投选国阵，那么回教党赢了的时候就可以赖马来人了。" 故事到这里还没有完。在星期天早晨，在还没有回去吉隆坡之前，部落客团挨家沿户去向华人选民道谢。有些人眼泛泪光。很多人都告诉我∶"我们胜了。"是的， '我们胜了'，而不是'你们胜了'。华人都会觉得，这是他们的胜利。 许多含泪紧抱着我的人也许都没有投选回教党。他们畏惧报复。但对他们来说，还是'我们赢了'。然后他们可以告诉全马来西亚的同志，他们投选国阵主要是因为政府威胁他们。在面对超过一百万人口的州属里，只有八千名的华族选民，在面对八千名武装警察下，他们别无选择。 但是华人会记得这些。他们会记得巫统如何在2009年一月十七日的瓜丁补选中威胁他们。而在下次大选，就是报仇的时候了。当你的数目超过一百万的时候，你可以威胁8千名华人。但就别想在华人和马来人人口都均衡的州属做同样的事。 巫统在瓜丁'赢得了'华人票。但那是威胁得来的。华人是不会忘记这些的。我们也不会。我当时希望华人说得对，即华人在投选国阵的时候，回教党单凭马来票就可以胜出。结果，他们都说中了。虽然我比较喜欢5000张多数票，但我还是放下了一个心头大石。 在短期来看，巫统以威胁的手法赢得了华人选票，但是长期来看，华人是会为瓜丁补选受威胁而报仇的。 那时，巫统就会明白，他们虽然赢了瓜丁战役，但他们将会在更大的马来西亚战场上打输。而马华也会吃苦。若这只是巫统威胁华人，那也算是'正常'。但是当马华也同样像暴徒似的威胁同胞，华人就咽不下这口气了。本来马华就是服务华社的。在瓜丁补选中，马华却做了巫统的传声筒来威胁华人。 Translated by ecs283 http://cblog.cari.com.my/html/09/61909.html Edited by Pratamad https://airkosong.com
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It's not easy moving from academic language to public language, which is one reason why many American intellectuals lost that knack once they entered academia. For my part, I was further cursed by a need - many years ago - to derive some side income from proofreading research articles for journals (and sometimes even speeches for seminars). I did receive complaints on my language during the years 2000 - 2003 when I participated in the DAP's Bungaraya. But, fortunately, as humans we're able to learn from mistakes. 
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