Sarawak 2011

Everyone won, apparently. Maybe except the urban Chinese.

Let’s see how it went;

• BN lost 9 of the 64 seats they held prior to the elections.
• PR won 15, that’s 8 more than what they won in 2006.
• SNAP was snapped, crackled and popped.
• One Indie got elected.
• Popular vote for BN declined from 63% to 55%
• Even PAS ‘almost’ won in Beting Maro, losing by only 400 votes. PAS in Sarawak! Who could imagine?

Utusan says BN embarrassed PR in the election. I think it’s a case of lying to yourself. My definition of embarrassing your opponent is increasing the popular vote and reducing their number of seats. BN didn’t do either, did they? PM Najib and team should worry because Sarawak may no longer be a fixed deposit come the next election. Blaming the Chinese for their loss is a very bad move. Threatening them is even worse. Don’t they know that to win over your detractors is by being extra nice to them? The Chinese votes helped BN stay in power in 1999. BN should study why the reverse is happening now. MCA shouldn’t be telling SUPP to stay out of the cabinet, MCA should tell themselves (and SUPP) to stop being a puppet to UMNO (and PBB) because that is probably one of the reasons why the Chinese votes are moving away to the other side.


The signs are showing that a two-party environment is coming up in Malaysia, the check and balance should keep both sides on their toes and minimise the blatant abuse of power. Hopefully the rakyat will be the ultimate winners.