Lo wishing for a united Chinese, says Abdul Karim

July 20, 2015

Abdul Karim (eighth left) and wife Datin Zuraini Abdul Jabbar (seventh left) with the Chinese and Malay community leaders on their visit during Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house yesterday.

KUCHING: PBB Supreme Council member Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah is hopeful that SUPP leaders will take UPP secretary-general George Lo’s statement “with an open heart”.

Lo, who is also UPP Batu Lintang branch chairman, during a visit to Tourism Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg’s Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house on Friday, was quoted as saying that UPP is willing to compromise if SUPP agrees to do so as well.

He said this was necessary for the sake of unity in the Chinese community.

Abdul Karim, who is Asajaya assemblyman, when met at his Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house yesterday, said SUPP leaders should not look at Lo’s statement as arrogance but deem it as a good intention of wishing to see the Chinese community united.

“No doubt, to SUPP, when a party, which is not yet legally within BN family is calling out to them and telling them ‘if SUPP is willing to compromise, we (UPP) are willing to compromise’, some of them definitely take that as an insult.

“But I hope what the UPP secretary-general had mentioned can be taken with an open heart. Don’t look at it as being arrogant but rather as a good intention coming from him wanting to see the Chinese community united,” Abdul Karim told The Borneo Post.

He said even though he is from a different ethnic group and party, he would relish to see the Chinese community united under one umbrella.

BN will win Dudong, Meradong, Ba Kelalan, Krian at next polls

July 19, 2015

KUCHING: A PBB Supreme Council member Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah believes the state Barisan Nasional (BN) can wrest Dudong, Meradong, Ba Kelalan and Krian from the opposition in the next state election while maintaining the two-thirds majority track record.

He said some of the presently opposition-held urban seats such as Dudong and Meradong that BN failed to defend in the last election was due to in-fighting in the party.

“Do not be surprised that we may be able to capture all these seats. I think DAP knows about that also,” he said when met at his Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house in Jalan Astana yesterday.

Karim, who is Assistant Minister for Youth Development (Urban Areas) and Assistant Minister of Housing, said the state BN would still win the election with two-thirds majority – with or without the 11 new seats.

“Whether the 11 new seats are going to come into play or not does not really affect us. Personally, I see that the 11 new seats will give more leeway to the chief minister to patch up the component parties and the splinter group.

“If the 11 new seats come into play, of course the chief minister will have more space to arrange. But without those 11 new seats, we will have a landslide win also. With the new seats, we may probably lose one or two of them. It is not going to be 100 per cent ours.”

He said the verdict on the appeal of the 11 new seats could be expected on July 20, adding “if we win the appeal, the 11 new seats will be there. If we lose, we may have to stay put with the 71 seats.”

Karim predicted that the next election would be called either end of this year or early this year.

Kunjungan Hari Raya oleh YB Chong Chieng Jen dan rakan-rakan DAP

 July 17, 2015

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri

Galeri: Breaking of fast dinner with the media

July 12, 2015

Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg hands over a contribution to a representative of one of the mosques and suraus, witnessed by Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah (left) and Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi.