SELANGOR Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari is now on Chinese Facebook where he is known as “Ami”, an abbreviation of his name.

“Ami” - pronounced as Ah Mi - is making a serious effort to reach out to the Chinese who make up about 25% of the state’s population.

The Mentri Besar is trying to reignite the love affair that Pakatan Harapan had enjoyed with the Chinese.

The Chinese vote is no longer a “fixed deposit” for Pakatan if chatter on social media is anything to go by.

Blanket admiration and adulation for all things Pakatan is now interspersed with criticism and cynical comments.

Up to 95% of Chinese voters went for Pakatan in the general election but the coalition’s approval rating among Chinese is down to only 44%, according to a recent Merdeka Centre survey in Selangor.

The survey also showed that Pakatan’s approval rating among the Indians is only 28% and a dismal 17% among the Malays.

It was enough to set off the alarm bells for Amirudin.

“The MB is not taking any group for granted but yes, we can see he is giving attention to the Chinese, ” said Kota Anggerik assemblyman Najwan Halimi.

Chinese political sentiment is in a state of flux.

“They feel let down, there is a lot of disappointment after throwing all their votes to Pakatan. The community is entering a period of indifference to politics.

“The community had lost faith in (Tun) Dr Mahathir (Mohamad) after the change in government yet DAP kept pressing for Dr Mahathir as their prime minister candidate, ” said Goh Kean Seng, a retired Chinese school headmaster and a former leading figure in Dong Zong.

Disillusionment had crept in even when Pakatan was still in power.

A survey by the Emir Research think tank in January-February this year found that non-Malays had become disenchanted by then and the coalition’s standing among Chinese had dipped to 61%.

It was clear the Chinese resented what they regarded as the subservient stance of DAP ministers and leaders towards the pro-Malay tendencies of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

They thought DAP would continue to roar like a lion in Putrajaya on issues that the Chinese are passionate about.

They even coined the term “jing jing tang” or silent party for DAP. They did not understand that a party in power cannot behave like the Opposition.

But all is not lost for Pakatan because as the Merdeka Centre study suggested that the Chinese have yet to warm up to Perikatan Nasional.

Perikatan’s approval rating among Chinese was 13%.

“I sense an internal debate going on within the Chinese community over what kind of direction lies ahead in politics, ” said Eddin Khoo, chairman of the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) task force.Khoo, who is of Chinese-Indian parentage, had the opportunity to meet and listen to a wide array of groups and individuals who appeared before the task force and he was struck by the variety of views of what being Malaysian means to the community.

He said the Chinese moved as one in the last general election but one cannot look at them as a monolithic group.

“Many are committed to progressive politics and a more inclusive Malaysia while there are those who see progressive politics as the freedom to defend and preserve their culture in as pure a form as possible, ” said Khoo.

This is quite unlike the Malay thinking of what being Malaysian is about - race, religion, King and country.

Every decade or so, the Chinese will pin their hopes on a Malay leader whom they think can deliver the egalitarian society they dream of.

They thought Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was the one and gave him a fantastic mandate in 2004 only to be disappointed a year later when he failed to control the jingoistic debates at the Umno general assembly.

Their hopes shifted to Dr Mahathir in 2018. They thought he was a changed man but they were wrong again.

“There is a political leadership vacuum among the Chinese.

“There are currently many leading figures in the community but none of them can offer a vision that can inspire the Chinese, ” said Khoo.

All these different groups in the community have their own idea of the change they seek and the kind of Malaysia they want their children to grow up in.

“But after all that has happened, they don’t know who can deliver it for them, ” said Khoo.

Former Jiao Zong activist Lai Sin Siang said now was the time for the new generation of Chinese leaders to come up.

“We are waiting to see that, it will give people new hope, ” said Lai.

The Merdeka Centre survey also suggests that PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim could be the Malay figure whom the Chinese are looking to next.

The multiracial constitution of Anwar’s party appeals to non-Malays and he has managed to keep his narrative on a genuinely Malaysian note.

The Opposition leader is struggling with Malay support but his approval rating among the Chinese was 47%, the highest polled among the other Malay leaders.

Dr Mahathir polled 36% among the Chinese, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin 25%, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob 23% and Datuk Seri Najib Razak 10%.

The Malaysian journey of many Chinese is still a work in progress.

“They are at an interesting crossroads, they are trying to decide which turn to take, ” said Khoo.

They will need to decide soon because the next general election is not too far away.

The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.

https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/columnists/analysis/2020/07/25/chinese-politics-at-a-new-crossroads