KUCHING: Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said the Chinese have to think for themselves whether to have good representation in the Barisan Nasional (BN) government.
He pointed out that it will be a “sad, sad” thing for himself to think of the possibility of not having good, sober and well-thinking Chinese leadership in BN.
“The future for the Chinese in Malaysia is good, compared to other countries.
“So for this reason, the Chinese community in the state must reflect on its fate by having a good representation in the BN government to ensure its communal requests and interests are heard,” Taib said.
Taib pointed out this at the Federation of Kuching and Samarahan Divisions Chinese Associations 32nd Anniversary cum Chinese New Year dinner at Crown Square here on Tuesday night.
Taib, who is state BN chairman, said Chinese representation in BN was crucial for a “heart-to-heart” talk on the requests and needs of the community.
The chief minister said even though he was non-Chinese, he was fair to all races, including the Chinese, adding that the community was part of the society.
However, he pointed out that he could not give the community one hundred per cent of its requests at the expense of other races.
“Our capacity to do things cannot be the Chinese 100 per cent because it means that the others will not get anything, nor can we say that we give the Malays 100 per cent because that will mean somebody will be left out.
“I cannot say that we give all the Dayaks 100 per cent because that again means the others will be deprived and that is the reality of a multi-racial society and we have to remember that,” Taib explained.
He stressed that fairness, including to the Chinese community, that he has advocated and practised has resulted in good economic performance and development of the state for almost 30 years.
Taib added that it was alright for Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan (SUPP president), Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu (PBB deputy president), Dato Sri Wiliam Mawan (SPDP president) and Dato Sri Dr James Masing (PRS president) to think of their own parties.
“It’s alright for them to say and think of their parties, but me although I am the president of PBB, I cannot only think about the Bumiputera, even Bumiputera outside PBB.
“I have to learn to balance all the interests of the people and find out how I can preserve a way of life and sharing of benefits and attend to problems that make people 70 per cent happy,” Taib stressed.
He went on to say that the government could not say that it can help any community 100 per cent because by saying so will be telling a political lie.
Taib also said that many Chinese from the state have become billionaires due to the government’s good economic policy.
“You just see what the Chinese have been able to achieve, many of them are billionaires coming from Sarawak and if you do not think that this is a good indication of the good economic policy then probably you have not understood the economic policies very well,” he said.
He also said that the state was moving towards becoming a leader in the economic development of the country.