Judging by the number of election talks held in churches across the country and the enthusiastic response to critical speakers and opposition candidates, it appears likely that Christian voters will swing to the opposition this time, in sharp contrast to 2004. Our special correspondent reports on a lively forum held at the St Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Petaling Jaya during which the BN candidates were heckled and jeered. I attended the closed-door debate between the Incumbent and Opposition parties at Loyola Hall, St. Francis Xavier's Church (SFX) in PJ on Wednesday, 27 February 2008. The speakers were Margaret Martinez, chairperson; Hee Loy Sian, the PKR Candidate for the PJ Selatan parliamentary seat; Donald Lim Siang Chai, the BN (MCA) candidate for PJ Selatan; Dr. Lim Thuan Seng, the BN (Gerakan) candidate for the Bukit Gasing state constituency; and Edward Lee Poh Lin, the DAP candidate for Bukit Gasing.
Now, this isn't the first time that there has been such a debate at SFX. I also attended the one in 2004. But what a sharp contrast. In 2004, the SFX parishioners asked a lot of questions in a very civil manner. Although the PKR candidate outshone the DAP candidate plus the two BN candidates in the debates then, it would be the two BN candidates, Donald Lim and Lim Thuan Seng, who would actually win in the 2004 election. This time, in 2008, the DAP candidate outshone the PKR candidate, plus the same two BN candidates. But it remains to be seen who wins the actual 2008 election. The crowd, which consisted of more than 300 SFX parishioners, was very vocal. People clapped when Thuan Seng mentioned that the Opposition lawyer who campaigned against him in the 2004 election won 40 per cent of the vote!
On the other hand, Lim Thuan Seng and Donald Lim were booed, heckled and even laughed at. It reached a point where Lim Thuan Seng commented that this was "not a sympathetic crowd"! At one point, he was so flustered by the questioning that he even handed the microphone to the DAP candidate to answer.
Now, a lot was discussed, but let me highlight a few issues, though not necessarily in chronological order:
"Compared to Myanmar..".
Donald Lim, who is also the Deputy Minister for Tourism, attempted to explain how Malaysia had gone from an agricultural to an industrial and now to an information-based country. He spoke about how per capita income was increasing. While he was saying this, someone started heckling him saying that "A vote for BN is a vote for corruption". But this wasn't the worst. Donald hit a raw nerve when he started comparing Malaysia with Myanmar. The audience started booing him over this, and told him to compare Malaysia with Singapore! To make matters worse, Donald made the same mistake of mentioning "Myanmar" a second time, later in the debate. This time, the audience laughed.
Thuan Seng tried to explain that oil prices were increasing globally, giving statistics on oil prices/barrel from 1971 to 2008. He explained that this was beyond their control. Still, he said that Malaysia was doing better than "other countries". (He obviously learned from Donald not to mention "Myanmar" to this crowd.) He said that while Malaysians may not be happy, "to outsiders we are doing well"!
Brain drain
Now, one of the parishioners mentioned that the BN candidates were making "fantastical" remarks about how the country was doing, but highlighted that many people have migrated, and this was causing a brain drain. He asked the candidates what they would be doing to retain talent. Donald brought the house down in laughter when he said that even his two sisters-in-law had migrated! He also said that many migrated leaving behind those who are "not so well qualified". He later tried to say that many foreigners do come to Malaysia via the "Malaysia, my second home" programme. By this time, the audience was laughing at poor Donald. Thuan Seng did say that migration was a loss to the nation. He did try to back Donald up in the "Malaysia my second home" policy, but this didn't go down too well with the audience. At some point during the debate, I did record Thuan Seng as saying "If you put Lim Kit Siang as Prime Minister, even I will migrate!"
Edward Lee mentioned that all this reflected a crisis in leadership, integrity, honesty, and good sound judgment.
Rising crime rate
Thuan Seng acknowledged that the crime rate is increasing and said that he himself had "felt scared" as he himself was a victim. He said that he would fight for this issue to be addressed and that it was in his manifesto. Edward Lee mentioned that the solution was not CCTV cameras or Rakan Cop (which is what I assume the BN is proposing), but rather a better-qualified police force. He said that the low salaries made cops hungry for bribes, and that one way to counter it was through better salaries. This met with audience approval.
Hee Loy Sian spoke about the Royal Commission report for police reform and the need for the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to be set up.
Jalan Gasing jam
Now, all politics is local. Given that, questions about the constituency were clearly going to be raised. Sure enough, there was the issue about how some new highway that was leading into Jalan Gasing was causing a traffic jam. I am not sure if Thuan Seng had anything to do with the decision to allow the highway through or not, but one thing was for sure: he came late for the debate, as he was stuck in the jam on Jalan Gasing! Edward Lee did say that the authorities did not take into consideration the views of the people when they did that. He then asked the parishioners if they agreed there should be an elected council system in the country. Thunderous applause greeted his statement.
Gasing Hill development
One lady highlighted that they had been fighting against the development of Bukit Gasing for the past few years, but that their pleas were being ignored. Note that Bukit Gasing is viewed as a green lung. The BN candidates gave some evasive answers, but promised to look into it. Later, an elderly man came up and said that a study of Bukit Gasing revealed that it comprised mostly of soil and sand, and not granite. It was therefore unstable for development. He added that any development in the area could potentially result in another Highland Towers-type tragedy. This old man then asked the BN candidates to take a pledge - not a verbal pledge but a written one. He whipped out the document and passed it to the candidates to sign. He received a standing ovation for his actions!
The BN candidates responded that they would not sign it, but pledged verbally to speak to DBKL about it. Donald told the old man that he'd have a private talk with him and that he would teach him how to go about it! This brought some heckling from the audience..."close one eye"!
People's Declaration
A blogger named Bernard Khoo, who was not an SFX parishioner, made a few comments about corruption at Port Klang. He asked why BN had listed many things as price controlled items, but not pork. This brought laughter from the audience. Bernard also said something to the effect that BN was about to lose. He therefore wanted to address the candidates in the losing party. He then asked why the BN had not endorsed the "People's Declaration" when every opposition party had.
Thuan Seng made some noise over the fact that this was a blogger who was gate-crashing an SFX do, to which Bernard gave him a piece of his mind that this was a free country.
This rattled Thuan Seng, who could not even remember what the question was. Once the question was repeated, Thuan Seng said that he'd "try to bring it up". It was obvious to Thuan Seng that his answer didn't meet with the audience's approval, as many in the audience could be seen shaking their heads. Another lady in the audience again brought up the People's Declaration, stating that had the BN adopted it, then it wouldn't belong to any party but to everybody. She then went on to try and explain why the BN should endorse it.
People in the audience demanded that Donald answer her question as he was a Minister and that this was a Federal issue. Donald did respond to this, but it was such a lame answer that I didn't bother to record it. I did however record Edward Lee's response. He said that DAP had endorsed the People's Declaration. He said something about the ACA being a lame duck and that the Judiciary was under the government's control, to which the audience loudly responded, "Correct, correct, correct" (you may recognise those words from the Lingam tape)!
Breaking ranks with the official party line
Another parishioner summed up everything by saying it all boiled down to the erosion of individual rights. He then asked whether BN candidates would break ranks with the official party line, if it were in the public interest. Thuan Seng said yes. It would have been interesting to see what position Thuan Seng and other Gerakan member took when their fellow colleague, Paramjothy, broke ranks with the BN over the Hindraf issue.
Why BN?
Someone in the audience asked why he should keep voting for BN, if they continue to take away his rights. Donald started his answer with "In life...". He said something about some people being comfortable and uncomfortable...whatever. The few parishioners whom I did speak to in the audience after the debate weren't at all impressed with the BN. It's obvious where their vote is going. I picked up a copy of the Catholic Asian News special on Elections 2008 after the debate. It's pretty clear where the Church stands on whom to vote for - just based on the articles written in the magazine. I sense from speaking to quite a few Christians that the Christian vote, irrespective of whether it is Catholic or some other denomination, will swing to the Opposition this time around.
AliranBe prepared for more body snatching as sleepy head says the goverment is committed to implementing Islamic Law without affecting the non-Muslims, you wanna believe this guy. Since this guy took over there has been an increase in body snatching incidents.
