While dark clouds hang over the Umno/BN camp on doubts whether the majority of the Chinese voters in Mahkota will show up at the polling centres in the upcoming by-election in Johor, PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin on the other hand seems to be in a rather relaxed and quietly confident mood.
Speaking in a dialogue session with a Kluang Chinese business association (KLUCCI) the Pagoh MP appeared calm and composed as he empathised with the business community there on the challenges they were facing due to the current economy.
In the dialogue, the ex-prime minister also spoke fondly about how the previous PN government under his leadership had helped the people during the Covid-19 pandemic, while also reminding them about the 6-month moratorium extended to individual bank borrowers as well as to small and medium industries in order to alleviate their suffering.
He further reminded those present about how his administration had rolled out a special financial assistance package under its BKC scheme in addition to subsidising the salaries of workers who were affected by the lockdown due to the pandemic back then.
The PN chairman then went on to stress that all this was proof that his administration has always been serious about the wellbeing and welfare of the rakyat regardless of their racial background.
While there may have been question marks over some of the spellings on the screen, the bigger question mark had to be over “why weren't there any PAS leaders present in the dialogue?”
Meanwhile, last week, Muhyiddin had also calmly downplayed the significance of placards bearing the “dijamin halal” logo that was prominently displayed by PN members and supporters during the Mahkota by-election nomination; in fact, it was believed to be a veiled reference to the tiff between DAP’s Teresa Kok and Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh where the latter had mockingly called Kok an “old Nyonya” while crudely suggesting sticking a Halal logo on her forehead.
However, when he was reminded about Johor menteri besar Onn Hafiz’s hopes that issues such as that which relates to “race and religion” should be avoided during the election campaign, Muhyiddin had simply brushed it off saying there was nothing wrong with the placards while adding cheekily that it was displayed there “on purpose!”
Muhyiddin’s “mid-season” madness!
Truth be told, the PN chairman does seem to have an unenviable past record of running afoul of the law, especially, in the middle of an election season.
In fact, only last month, he was called in by the police for allegedly touching on the prohibited 3R issue (race, religion, royalty) while campaigning in the Nenggiri state by-election; this was after the Bersatu president had allegedly touched on the decision of the previous Yang di-Pertuan Agong in the appointment of a new federal government following a hung parliament in the aftermath of GE15.
While last year during the Pulai and Simpang Jeram by-elections, both in Johor, Muhyiddin was questioned by the police over a statement he had made during a ceramah where he had allegedly said it was "haram" or forbidden in Islam to vote for a Pakatan Harapan candidate!
Meanwhile, back in 2022, in the run-up to the 15th general elections in a video posted on TikTok, Muhyiddin had also allegedly told the public not to vote for Pakatan Harapan as the then-opposition was being backed by a group of Jews and Christians which were pushing for a Christianisation agenda in the country.
This drew a fierce backlash from many non-Muslims including the Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) which condemned the ex-prime minister’s provocative statement; the group went on to stress that not only was the allegations untrue but it was also irresponsible for a politician of his stature to make such a statement which can cause racial and religious strife among the people.
Not another bad omen…!
Coincidence or not, it would appear that each time Muhyiddin unwittingly “blurts out” some controversial statement touching on “3R” while on the election campaign trail, his party would invariably end up losing as was the case with Simpang Jeram, Pulai and Nenggiri, while his coalition had also lost the coveted Putrajaya hot seat to Anwar following the landmark GE15; so, how would results turn out this time around?
Come to think of it, other than the earlier halal logo placard controversy which incidentally could have been a “sneaky” move to remind the Chinese voters in Kluang of Umno Youth’s humiliation of a top DAP leader over the halal certification controversy, the normally defiant Muhyiddin seemed to have adopted a more “mellowed down” stance for Mahkota.
In closing, the fact that the man who is often lambasted by critics for his “Malay first” declaration was willing to engage in a dialogue with a Chinese business group could be another indication why his PN coalition may be relishing the prospect of winning a fair share of the Chinese votes in the upcoming by-election; thanks partly also to an unexpected “helping hand” from Umno Youth?
Information source: Muhyiddin Yassin Facebook, FMT and Star
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