SHOW OF UNITY: (From left) Lau, Taib, Tiong, Sibu BN chairman Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh and Nangka assemblyman Dr Annuar Rapa’ee hold up their hands to show their solidarity. – Photo by Othman Ishak
Chinese community told govt has compromised and adapt policies to address their grouses
SIBU: The Chinese community should stop protesting as the government had compromised and changed its policies to meet their needs, said Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud yesterday.
Speaking at a meet-the-people session here, the chief minister said the government knew firsthand the aspirations and needs of the Chinese community during the 10th state election in April 2011, and had tried to tackle all the issues raised.
“We (government) have heard your protest, but your protest cannot go on forever. Our future cannot lie with protests. No policy can help the people if it is purely based on the protests.”
He said grouses such as high land premium was no longer an issue as the state now had the lowest land premium in the nation, which is about 20 times lower than that of Penang.
Policies, Taib explained, were made based on what the people wanted and not what they had rejected.
“A good policy that can help everyone in Sarawak is a policy that reflects what the people want,” said Taib, who has been moving from one constituency to another to campaign for the BN.
He pointed out that the federal government also subscribed to the same principle when formulating their policies.
“The Chinese policy at the federal level today is far different from it was four or five years ago, and that shows to you that the government is open to change.
“The government is willing to compromise its policies that are good for the people.”
Taib said the federal government had also been responsive to the state’s situation and this could be seen from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s special attention to issues raised by the Chinese community, particularly on education.
Taib noted that there was a great desire on the part of many in the Chinese community to see a stronger Chinese representation in the state’s ruling coalition.
As time has moved on, he hoped the Chinese community had realised that weak representation in the BN was not healthy for Chinese politics.
Thus, he hoped the Chinese would rally behind the BN, especially its Chinese candidates, in the general election as his administration wanted all races to be strong.
On BN-SUPP candidate for Sibu, Vincent Lau Lee Ming, Taib said Lau had a solid track record in serving the people voluntarily.
On BN-SUPP candidate for Lanang, Datuk Tiong Thai King, he described Tiong as someone with capabilities and that he had done much more than what was required of him as an MP.
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