Speaking to reporters after a joint ceramah with the state’s Chief Minister Adenan Satem last night, Sim said at the moment the possibility of having a Chinese minister in the state cabinet was not important.
“What you want is to have a voice that dares to speak for the people from inside the government itself. That’s the most important.
“Because you want to affect the policies, you want the ability to change the policies. You don’t want to just talk about it outside and yet have no direct influence over any policy proposed.”
Adenan has dangled the carrot of a ministerial post in his Cabinet to gain support from the Chinese voters. In his speech at the ceramah, he reiterated that if the Chinese want a Minister to represent them, they need to vote for SUPP instead of Opposition party DAP.
Sim agreed, saying the Opposition’s campaign of promoting itself as a necessary check and balance was insufficient as doing so from inside the government itself would bring more success.
“The Chinese need to be represented. Whatever policies we make, it must be made with a consensus of all the Sarawak people.
“You don’t want a check and balance only on the outside. You want it to also come from inside the government. Otherwise, the state government would not be able to represent Sarawak well.”
Sim said despite the party receiving strong support and endorsement from Adenan and Prime Minister Najib Razak, what really matters was the support of the public itself.
“People need to choose whether they want to have the local issues, the basic infrastructures, the street lights, the drainage, and the streets to be fixed or not. But in the bigger picture, it’s whether the Chinese want to be represented, or choose to be in the Opposition.”
Dr Sim is the BN candidate for Batu Kawah, which was won by the DAP in 2011. The other contenders are Christina Chiew of the DAP, who seeks re-election, and independent candidate Liu Thian Leong.
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