CHINESE voters in Tg Piai have not given up on Pakatan Harapan, said Muhyiddin Yassin, despite indications they are dissatisfied with the ruling coalition.

The Bersatu president, who oversees Pakatan Harapan’s campaign in the Tg Piai by-election, admitted that the sentiment from the Chinese community, who make up 42% of voters in Tg Piai, was “not positive”.

In comparison, 64% of Chinese voters had supported PH in the 14th general election, helping the coalition capture the Barisan Nasional stronghold by 524 votes.

Surveys show that despite these lukewarm feelings towards PH, Muhyiddin said, the majority of Chinese voters will not switch allegiance to the other side.

“We know that the sentiment among the Chinese is not positive but interestingly enough, as much as they are not happy with us, they are not willing to swing to BN,” Muhyiddin told reporters on the by-electin campaign trail .

“They are not happy with PH does not mean they are abandoning PH. (It means) they are criticising the leadership.”

The Malaysian Insight surveys on Chinese sentiment in Tg Piai found there could be a drop in support of 5-10% for PH.

PH officials worry that because Tg Piai was won by PH by a narrow 525 votes in GE14, even a slight drop in votes can impact the by-election’s outcome.

PH is attempting to defend the parliamentary seat from five other candidates but its biggest rival is the BN.

The ruling coalition has fielded Karmaine Sardini of Bersatu, while MCA’s Wee Jeck Seng is representing BN.

Chinese voters, said Muhyiddin, are concerned about cost of living and economic issues but they also know that such problems persisted even during BN rule.

“When I visited the market, they told me that the problems they faced were not new but have existed for three or four years.

“The economy does not dip just because PH takes over. It is a consequence of what BN did and did not do. It will take more than one and half years to solve the problems caused in the past 60 years.”

Chinese voters, said Muhyiddin, wanted to be confident that PH could solve these problems in the next two to three years.

PH’s message to Chinese voters in Tg Piai is that they should not voice their protest by voting for BN.

“This is a by-election. You are not happy with us so you choose Wee Jeck Seng.  You think he will be able to boost the economy? Impossible. But with Karmaine, he can help relieve some of these problems.” – November 7, 2019.