Utusan is wrong, majority of Malays support Pakatan

Sheridan Mahavera Sheridan Mahavera Updated 5 years ago · Published on 12 Jun 2018 7:00AM · 10 Comments

Pakatan Harapan supporters at a ceramah a few days prior to GE14 last month. Surveys in the run-up to the elections reveal that 'preservation of Malay rights' had taken a backseat among Malay-Muslim voters and many did not fear voting the then opposition PH. – EPA pic, June 12, 2018.

MOST Malay-Muslims have given the thumbs-up to the new Pakatan Harapan government and the return of Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister.

This was the finding of two think-tanks which refute the claims of pro-Umno daily Utusan Malaysia that Malay-Muslims have soured towards the new administration.

The regret, said political analyst Hisomuddin Bakar, is among Umno members who abandoned the party and the Barisan Nasional in GE14.

Hisommudin of Ilham Centre said these Umno members ditched the party in GE14 to teach its leaders a lesson but were shocked at the consequences of their actions.

“They are shocked that they lost federal power. They just wanted to protest against their arrogant leaders. They are the ones regretting it.

“Ordinary Malays are comfortable with PH since they no longer have to the pay for the goods and services tax (GST),” said Hisomuddin, who has interviewed both Malay voters and Umno supporters post-GE14.

His counterpart at the Merdeka Centre, Ibrahim Suffian, echoed this finding, saying the think-tank’s survey showed that a majority of Malay voters are satisfied with the new government.

“They have also accorded high approval ratings to Dr Mahathir,” said Ibrahim, of the 92-year-old who has started a historic second term as prime minister.

The smooth and peaceful of transfer of power between Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan was also critical in debunking a popular myth spread by Umno while also strengthening Malay confidence in PH.

“They saw that there was no violence and no chaos. Things went on as usual but with the added plus of no GST. So Malay businessmen especially were very appreciative,” said Hisomuddin.

Good governance 

In its weekend column, Awang Selamat, which is the name for Utusan Malaysia’s editorial voice, declared that Malay anger towards Umno is just a passing emotion.

Utusan has come under fire for playing up racial and religious sentiments. It recently opposed appointing Tommy Thomas as attorney-general on the grounds that he is not a Malay Muslim.

Thomas’ appointment was confirmed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, who released a statement calling on all Malaysians not to see it as a racial and religious issue.

Prof Mansor Mohd Nor of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) said ethnic issues were important to only a minority of Malaysians.

“The majority wants to prioritise good governance and inclusive development. They want professional people with integrity,” said Mansor, who specialises in inter-ethnic studies.

“In fact, before GE14, there have been many studies showing that the people accept government officers from diverse backgrounds.”

Another reason most Malaysians, including Malays, are not swayed by the race card, said Mansor, was because PH has consistently said it supports the federal constitution – which enshrines the special position of the Malays.

In Merdeka Centre’s pre-GE14 survey, the shift in Malay attitude which influenced their vote could already be seen.

It showed during the 11-day campaign period, Malay voters began to set aside the importance they held for the “preservation of Malay rights”, said Ibrahim.

More importance was given to “having a competent national leadership”.

This shift in sentiment was due to Dr Mahathir who gave legitimacy to PH and who constantly reminded voters of BN’s financial scandals. This change in the Malay-mindset carried over to after GE14. – June 12, 2018.

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Comments

  • AND PAKATAN WILL THUS SAVE ALL THE MALAYS..

    Posted 5 years ago by MELVILLE JAYATHISSA · Reply

  • NOT ONLY THE ABOVE, BUT PAKATAN'S POLICIES WILL BRING ALL THE RACES FORWARD, TO FACE THE CHALLENGES OF INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (No.4) SUCCESSFULLY, WHEN IT IS THRUST UPON US..

    Posted 5 years ago by MELVILLE JAYATHISSA · Reply

  • So long as UMNO do not admit they have lived in a bubble for DECADES, they will never get back to power..They just do no get it they lost "lampu ajaib" - without it, what remains is not enough to get back.

    Posted 5 years ago by Bigjoe Lam · Reply

  • yes, most mlays voted for PH, but for three reasons only- GST, 1MDB, Mahathir (not necessarily in that order). not for opening up UiTM to non bumis, not for giving green light to insult their sultans, not for so called progressive move to normalize LGBTQs- just those three things. failure to remember that might cause heartlanders swing full right to PAS in next GE.

    Posted 5 years ago by Saiful Radzi · Reply

    • My apologies if my statement comes across as impolite and rude. If meritocracy is not implemented and the races continued to be segregated etc...the country will continue to be divided which will result in race based politics which will bring us all back to square 1. It may be 20 years from now but another 1MDB in a different form will rise up. I shudder at the thought of PAS being the ruling party of the nation. Look at Kelantan, I don't know if that is called a model of success but I ain't putting my investment ringgit into Kelantan.

      Posted 5 years ago by Xavier Francis · Reply

  • And Utusan is still alive, who is keeping it on life support?

    Posted 5 years ago by Richard Chapbell · Reply

  • Utusan malaysia is a media that has been rejected by most malays about 10 years ago, and for that reason they almost went bankrupt. Majority of the Malays reject this newspaper because they spend of their time writing rubbish, failing to understand that majority of the public is more educated and intelligent than many of the
    journalists or editors working for this paper. Very pathetic.
    Even until today, they still fail to understand the public and they need more intelligent people to
    work for this paper if they want to survive.

    Posted 5 years ago by Abdul Rahmanramli · Reply

  • Awang Selamat has been feeding Najib Administration fake news in the lead up to GE14. Cocooned in by the safety of AFNA, NSC, SOSMA, POTA and seemingly limitless cash, UMNO lost but the fallacy of race and religious politics continues dominate UMNO's leaders. They seemed to have missed the point completely that ordinary Malaysians, and not any one particular race or religions now calls the shot through the ballot box.

    Posted 5 years ago by Roger 5201 · Reply

  • Well it depends on which Malays you ask.
    There's Melayu Umno, Melayu PAS, Melayu PKR, Melayu PPBM or Melayu atas pagar.

    There's also Melayu Bandar dan Melayu Luar Bandar.

    Do they support PH? Maybe
    Do they reject Najib? Most definitely

    Posted 5 years ago by Locks seven · Reply

  • Goh Michael In the early days of Independence, the symbol of the BN coalition then was the 'sailing boat' and the coalition of Umno, Mca, and Mic was called the Alliance (in Malay PERIKATAN) under the leadership of the late YM Tunku Adbul Rahman Putra Alhaj (to give him his proper title).former Today, this coalition is called BN (Barisan Nasional) and it adopted the scales as its symbol under which its coalition members used this symbol at all elections. At the recent PRU14, BN was soundly trounced in the elections and the country saw a changing of the guards by the coalition of 4 parties known as PAKATAN HARAPAN led by former PM Tun Dr Mahathir making a comeback for a second term as the country's 7th Ptime Minister. What is interesting is the name of the coalition. It was known as PERIKATAN in the early dayds of independence and in the recent PRU14 it was beaten by a coalition which bears the name PAKATAN which bears a very close resemblance to its earlier name PERIKATAN. The point I'm trying to make is this: If our founding fathers were still alive today, they would surely shed tears of shame seeing what has become of their dreams and aspirations being eroded by one man, Najib Razak. Tun Abdul Razak would never have dreamt that his beloved party would come to this. In fact, they would all turn in their graves!!

    Posted 5 years ago by GOH MICHAEL · Reply