Popular vote not needed to govern -- Khairy

Newly appointed Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar said today that the Barisan Nasional (BN) does not need to have a popular vote in order to govern effectively.

Nevertheless, he admitted that the matter of not getting popular votes should be taken seriously and the party is likely to conduct a post mortem in preparation for the 14th General Election.

Khairy said if the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak would go on a one-on-one 'popularity' contest against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Najib would emerge the winner.

"But the popularity is not just between the Prime Minister and Anwar, but it involves the whole party if not, I think BN would surely win," said Khairy during a forum entitled 'Leading the Nation Forward

Post GE13' on Thursday.

Meanwhile, MCA Central Committee member Datuk Ti Lian Ker said the Chinese community wanted a 'change' for many reason and it has been bottled up for so long.

He said the existence of social media provided them the channel to voice out their grouses.

"And when the Malays help to speak up for them, it's like heaven. That's why they placed so much hope for the Opposition," said Ti in his speech.

He also described the Chinese community as 'very complicated' and that many politicians find them difficult to understand.

Ti claimed the new generation or the third generation of the Chinese community feel attached to the country and want to become equals, but became disappointed by certain things like quotas and such.

Persatuan Pemuda Negara Malaysia in collaboration with Malaysia Social Media Chambers held the forum as an opportunity for young Malaysians to discourse with speakers so that the matter can be

brought up to the Prime Minister himself.

The information will be used to draft a memorandum which will be presented to Najib along with a nationwide survey of 100,000 respondents on various questions of grave concerns to all Malaysians.

Among the speakers present today were Khairy Jamaluddin, Datuk Ti Lian Ker and UKM's Institute of Ethnic Studies principal research fellow, Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria.