A new balance: the Chinese vote in the 1999 Malaysian general election

Author: Chin, James

Source: South East Asia Research, Volume 8, Number 3, 1 November 2000 , pp. 281-299(19)

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Abstract:

This paper looks in detail at the performance of the three main Chinese-based political parties in Peninsular Malaysia in the 1999 Malaysian general election. They are the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and Gerakan (Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia, or Malaysian People's Movement Party), which are members of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN), or National Front, coalition, and the Democratic Action Party (DAP), the only Chinese-based opposition party in the Barisan Alternatif (BA), or Alternative Front, coalition. While conventional wisdom suggests that there was a significant swing of Chinese votes towards the government, this paper argues that there was no swing, and that the Chinese voting pattern in 1999 was broadly similar to that of the 1995 general election, confirming that the 1995 Chinese vote marked a permanent shift in the pattern of Chinese voting.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5367/000000000101297299

Publication date: 2000-11-01

More about this publication?

South East Asia Research publishes articles based on original research or fieldwork on all aspects of South East Asia within the disciplines of archaeology, art history, economics, geography, history, language and literature, law, music, political science, social anthropology and religious studies. This peer-reviewed journal is published four times per year by IP Publishing in cooperation with the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). SOAS is the leading centre in this field in Europe and one of the most prestigious centres of South East Asian Studies in the world.
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