Raising the bar
Debate on Chinese issues sets new level in standard of political maturity in country
KUALA LUMPUR: The highly anticipated debate between MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng is over and has set a new standard in political maturity in the country.
No winner or loser was declared but the two leaders achieved the objective of reaching out to the Chinese community in one of the most exciting televised debates to articulate their parties’ views and directions.
Bo th leaders have also agreed to a second round of debate, which is expected to draw an even bigger audience as it will be conducted in either English or Bahasa Malaysia.
Yesterday’s debate, conducted in Mandarin, has set the pace for a new political culture where leaders from opposing parties are able to come together on the same platform to debate issues with a clear head instead of just firing salvos from different ends.
Those who saw the debate generally felt that both leaders showed courage as they took on sensitive questions such as those pertaining to corruption, the hudud law, land issues and Chinese schools.
There was maturity in the way they presented themselves before the audience at the Berjaya Times Square venue and hundreds of thousands more watching the debate live at home or in coffee shops, food courts and other public places.
While the debate sometimes veered away from the main topic “Chinese at a Crossroads: Is the Two-party System Becoming a Two-race System?”, it was nevertheless an exciting hour of verbal sparring, juxtaposed with Chinese proverbs to convey their messages better to the community.
By dinner and supper time yesterday, the debate had led to more debates at kopitiam and eateries throughout the country on who was the better speaker and which party could better represent the community.
DR CHUA SOI LEK “DAP is different from those days. Today, it has formed an opposition alliance with PAS and PKR. PAS will not easily give up their plans to make Malaysia an Islamic country and implement Hudud law.” > “When PAS becomes dominant, the opposition will say don’t worry, it will all be good. This is the biggest political lie. Look at Kedah - men and women need to sit separately. No alcohol in Kelantan, no cinema in Bangi. This clearly shows DAP is a slave to PAS. In DAP’S history of 48 years it has only contested in Chinese majority areas, adopting the policy of using Chinese against the Chinese. The DAP wants to teach Umno a lesson but they dare not face Umno. In fact, they only challenge the Chinese based political party.” > “DAP gives false hopes and empty promises to the people and mislead them. The party is a Chinese-based organisation but it is packaged to become a multi-racial party.” > “Selangor and Penang so far have never given land to build Chinese schools. The announcements are just blowing their own horn.” > “Guan Eng said Pakatan would remove toll if it takes over the Federal government, but even the toll at Sungai Nyior in Penang has yet to be removed.” LIM GUAN ENG “DAP wants a two party system where if BN is not performing, it should step down and let us become the government. And if Pakatan cannot deliver, we step down five years later.” > “If Pakatan rules, we will deal with inflation, remove toll and give RM1,000 to some 2.1 million senior citizens annually.” > “Pakatan will ensure transparency by revealing assets and having open tender, and we will not tolerate corruption.” >“Wedonot agree the Prime Minister must always be a Malay because we want the people to decide.” > “We treat everyone the same, regardless of their races. All of us are Malaysians.”