Saturday February 16, 2013

Give BN the mandate to stay

By PHILIP HII
philiphii@thestar.com.my

Warm handshake: Taib (right) shaking hand with one of the guests.

SIBU: The Chinese in the state have been warned against turning the coming general elections (GE13) into a political gamble.

Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said the country could not afford to have a new government with no experience to guide it into the future.

“The Opposition wants a change of Government, but I doubt the kind of change will be liked. Certainly, ruling the country is not a job for inexperienced people,” he told a gathering of more than 1,000 people at a local hotel here Thursday night.

The local United Chinese Association (UCA), Foochow Association, Kwong Wai Siew Association, Hainan Association, Hakka Association, Chiang Chuan Association, Hin Hua Pou Sen Association, Teochew Association and Sibu Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industries jointly hosted the gathering in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebration.

Head of the State Tun Abang Muhammad Salahuddin and his wife Toh Puan Norkiah and Chief Minister’s wife Puan Sri Ragad Kurdi Taib were also present.

“We should give the Barisan Nasional government under the experienced and capable leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak the strongest mandate so that there will be smooth implementation of the various changes that are already being implemented and those in the pipeline by the Government,” Taib said.

He said that Najib had been able to respond to changes through the implementation of the various transformation programmes at the national level while at the international level, he (Najib) had also successfully established better political and economic relationships with many countries, particularly China.

Taib highlighted two major changes particularly in Europe and the United States and urged the people to take special note of them.

He said the changes seemed to indicate that now Asia would be able to play the leading role which Europe and United States might not be able to do in the next few years.

“In the face of these challenges, we need good and experienced leaders to adjust to the new scenario so that peace and prosperity would continue,” he reiterated.

Taib also touched on the climatic changes affecting the world which would certainly interrupt food supply and thus raised the cost of living.

He said the Prime Minister was aware of this and had formulated both short and long-term policies to counter them so that social security would not be threatened.

Taib cited as 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) as one of the effective government initiatives to help the people.

“Barisan has the mechanism to bring about meaningful change. The Opposition wants change but it does not even touch on the lives of the people in a strong way,” he said.

On a separate issue, Taib, who is also state Barisan chairman and Finance Minister, said he was happy to see that many youths were now involved in the activities of organisations such as UCA.

“It is very important to engage the younger generation because they know the changing world better than us.

“We must promote good rapport between the old and young generations and impart to them the experiences we have acquired to bring about smooth development and changes in the society and country,” he said.

He appealed for greater unity among the Chinese and advised them to build closer relationship with the Government through more dialogues, especially on issues pertaining to education and economy.

Later, the organising committee of the event, in conjunction with Valentine’s Day yesterday, also took the opportunity to present the VVIPs including Salahuddin, Taib, Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh, Sibu UCA president Ting Huat Chie and their wives with Valentine’s Day flower bouquets.

News

Saturday February 16, 2013

Give BN the mandate to stay

By PHILIP HII philiphii@thestar.com.my

By PHILIP HII
philiphii@thestar.com.my