In Ipoh, Perak

SIX lions pranced to the deafening clash of drums and cymbals at Parti Gerakan's Chinese New Year celebration in Kampong Simee on Saturday.

This is a typical Chinese new village with wooden houses upgraded with concrete  extensions, and where residents typically lead a hard life. They are working class.

The mood seemed cheerful as the new Perak chief minister Zambry Abdul Kadir arrived for the celebration. He was mobbed by curious villagers. It was a coincidence that his first function as chief minister is a Chinese New Year gathering, but he seized the opportunity to make a political stand.

He assured the people that he was a chief minister for all.

"No one can claim that this state belongs to one group only. I must state this categorically," he said.

This new chief minister from the Barisan Nasional, who was sworn in on Friday, must be aware of the whispered concerns of the non-Malays. The Chinese and Indians had become accustomed to the positive policies of the Pakatan Rakyat government which had run the state for 11 months since it wrested it from the BN in the general  election in March last year.

The BN wrested it back when four defectors abandoned the PR, leaving it with the same number of seats as the BN. The BN, however, has the support of three independents.

The PR chief minister Nizar Jamaluddin was popular. His promise to offer permanent leases on land for Chinese new villages and vernacular schools had also won him tremendous goodwill. The BN, on the other hand, is dominated by Umno which is seen as increasingly pushing a strong Malay agenda.

It was a good-sized crowd at the gathering, but not all of them were celebrating. I spoke to several of them who came from their homes nearby.

A retiree, Mr Michael Lau, 68, said it was a very sad day for Perak to have its elected government toppled by defections.

Land leases are the biggest concern of many non-Malay Perakians. Their fears are stoked because the federal BN government had earlier criticised the policy. Some Malay groups were also against it.

Mr Lau said many people had applied for those leases already but are now worried if the new government would backtrack. Many of the villages are on temporary leases.

"We like Gerakan but they can't do anything for us," he said.

A Malay businessman, who only wanted to be known as Salleh, said there was nothing wrong in giving land leases to people who had lived on the land for generations.

"What's wrong with that? They have lived there, maybe for 50 years. Chinese, Indian, Malay … what's wrong with giving land to these people," he said emotionally as he wiped away tears.

But he also said Mr Nizar had made the mistake of publicising the land leases. This did discomfit some Malays who perceived that they were losing political dominance.

The fact that 27 of the BN's 28 assemblymen are Malay showed that Umno still has influence in the state. Perak's population is majority Malay but with more than 40 per cent Chinese and 10 per cent Indians.

It appears that the BN will have a tough time following in the footsteps of the short-lived PR government.

Read Carolyn's story in The Sunday Times here.