Monday 9 July 2012

Chua, Lim too focused on past instead of future

MCA president Chua Soi Lek and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng over-indulged in emphasising their past achievements in the second round of their debate today, and fell short of stating a comprehensive blueprint for the future.

malaysiakini discussion 050208 khoo kay pengIndependent political analyst Khoo Kay Peng (right) said this was his impression when asked to review the two-hour showdown debate with the theme of "MCA and DAP: Whose policies benefit the country more?"

He said both Chua and Lim were treating the debate like ceramah and trying to impress the audience with their resume.

"Although they listed some policy changes, what we wanted to see was a debate on topics that would have a long term impact on the economic development of Malaysia," he said.

For him, the speakers should have engaged in providing arguments of what policies can draw the nation out of its current economic bottleneck, and how it could be done.

"Although Lim touched a bit in his winding up speech about equality and ending racial discrimination, he did not say what he wanted to do in the future," he added.

He doubted if this kind of debate added value to the country politically.

"Both are considerably influential, but it's not going to change the political landscape. I would rather watch a debate between (Prime Minister) Najib (Abdul Razak) and (opposition leader) Anwar (Ibrahim)," he said.

 Humiliation ploy

 Meanwhile, Kota Belud Umno MP Abdul Rahman Dahlan picked his BN colleague Chua over Lim when asked who was the winner of the debate.

 "Chua is clearer in policy matters. He gave coherent rebuttals, whereas Lim was shooting everywhere.". 

He said he was puzzled by the RM35 million figures raised by Lim as amount needed to abolish highway toll concessions, as it was not supported by data.

 When asked to comment on the much-touted Najib-Anwar debate, he dismissed it as unnecessary, saying that Malaysians only hoped to see which of the two will get humiliated.

 "Debate is not the only way to understand (Najib's and Anwar's) policies. If you talk about Najib, everyone knows what he stands for, same goes for Anwar. 

"If you put them together, they are going to say what they have always said." 

NONEFor independent political analyst Ong Kian Ming (left), it iwa up to the individual to decide who the winner of the debate was.

"If you like the more dramatic style, I think Lim would be up. But it's not quite suitable for the topic.

"Chua, on the other hand, argued using more facts and figures," he said.

Despite this, the economic and political science faculty lecturer at UCSI University said he was quite disappointed that there were no fireworks in the debate to make it memorable.

While the general public was expecting them to speak about the sizzling topics like the "RM1 billion questionable deal" with Talam Corp Bhd and the Lim's alleged affairs with a woman, both sides spoke little on these.

He opined that the topics were also relevant to the theme of the debate as Talam's issue represents a case of mismanagement; while the other concerned the morals of a chief minister, in the running to lead a party or even the nation.

"I am a bit disappointed by the overall performance," he said.

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