Moribund MCA is symptom, racist UMNO is virus!

Not too long ago I read (somewhere) that there are 60 federal parliamentary seats where the minority Chinese-Indian voters could have the deciding say, not unlike Bukit Gantang.

Thus UMNO’s strategy to go it alone by focussing on its ‘heartland’, while successful to an extent (swing of 3 to 4% back to its fold), didn’t quite produce its desired result. Nizar won, didn't he, with the crucial Chinese support - wakakaka!

But ironically, by focussing on the ‘heartland’ UMNO could not help but antagonize the minority Chinese and perhaps to a lesser extent, the Indians. So in striding 1 step forward in the ‘heartland’, it has effectively go-starn (retreated) 3 steps in its appeal with the ‘nons’.

Somehow it has forgotten the lessons of 1999 and 2004. And in its bizarre and unmitigated political amnesia, it has emasculated, nay, castrated MCA.

So when I read The Malaysian Insider’s MCA’s real crisis – the Chinese no longer care I wasn’t surprised to learn that “… Chinese Malaysians appear to have grown increasingly dismissive of the potentially party-shattering power struggle happening in MCA and that is a distressing sign for an organisation which is entrusted by the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition to help regain the trust and support of the community.”

But what I have been surprised with (no, not really, I’m being merely rhetorical) has been the BN-UMNO rather unrealistic expectation that MCA could "…regain the trust and support of the community", after having mauled, humiliated and undermined MCA’s credibility and standing with the Chinese.

The UMNO so-called ‘friendly fire’ at MCA is not new but it had been most severe, of Fallujah-ish proportion-dimension, during the premiership of AAB.

During that period, a bad combination of a weak & laissez-faire PM (with regards to internal BN discipline), the avarice of UMNO members, the nexus between political power and kickbacks, all meant that wannabe leaders in UMNO had to be more heroic ethnically than his/her party competitors in order to secure the necessary numbers to climb up the party ladder.

Look at the palaces in Selangor – eg. The Satay Palace in Klang, the Bali Palace, etc – even the cops, let alone their political masters, want to have one, reasoning “I risk my life for those fat cats, so why shouldn’t I deserve a palace as well?”

So the ethnic heroics of wannabe UMNO leaders have been made worse by new age impatience and expectation to be not only rich through political power but to be obscenely filthy rich in a harng-faiti-lah (speedy) way.

And every time UMNO goes bangsa dan agama in a feral manner, it undermines MCA’s standing with the Chinese community. Mind you, it's not as if UMNO leaders had been unaware but they just didn't give two hoots.

As I have often blogged before, using a Chinese saying, the MCA is like a mute stung by UMNO tebuans (hornets). He couldn’t cry out to express his extreme pain caused by the not so friendly ‘friendly fire’.

Thus, in recent times, as far as the Chinese community is concerned, the MCA might as well be dead and gone for all its worth.

No doubt the MCA is sick right down to its tummy, 'coz MCA’s Insap think-tank deputy chairman, Rita Sim revealed the dismal news that 80 to 85% of Chinese Malaysians now support Pakatan Rakyat, and if those figures aren't frighteningly Godzilla-ish for MCA and UMNO, I don't know what is. And we certainly saw its effect in Bukit Gantang and Permatang Pasir.

As for Bagan Pinang, all PAS needs is a swing of around 1,200 votes. The Indians voters in Bagan Pinang constitute 21% of the electorate, the Chinese 11% and other ‘nons’ 5.5%.

Assuming most Indian (Hindraf? wakakaka) and the 5.5% ‘non’ votes go to UMNO, the Chinese votes will still be 1,500. 80% of 1500* is 1,200 votes, gnam gnam for a PAS victory! Hoe liao, unless dear Dr Hassan Ali f##ks it up for his own party with some more bull antics.

* I’m of course assuming perfect voter’s turnout ;-) but it’s not unwinnable for Pakatan.

Rita Sim moaned: “The Chinese voters have not shifted back since last year and their position has hardened.”

Then we learned from Sim of UMNO’s unbelievable intention to bypass MCA and MIC and have its own Chinese and Indian affairs unit, rather than rely on its political partners of more than 5 decades to deliver the 'non' votes.

As examples of this move, Sim pointed out that Najib had visited Batu Caves minus Seri Samy Vellu, while Muhyiddin Yassin has gone directly to Chinese education group Dong Zong without involving MCA.

Maybe someone in MCA should inform Najib and Muhyiddin that it’s not so much about the Chinese being disgusted or disenchanted with the MCA, but it’s more about them no longer trusting (and perhaps even hating) UMNO, and by default a MCA that's powerless voiceless and useless in the BN.

So how will going directly to the Chinese help UMNO win their votes?

Yes, a doctor is needed to explain to Najib about the folly of merely treating the symptoms rather than the disease … and while the symptoms have been about the moribund MCA, the virus debilitating MCA has been UMNO’s feral attitude towards the Chinese (among many such issues, thanks to the racist articles by Utusan and other UMNO MSM mouthpieces - see my post Malay language mainstream media's racist game - will Najib ever speak up?).

And as for 2013? Do you recall what I said about 60 federal parliamentary seats where the minority Chinese-Indian voters could well have the deciding say, not unlike Bukit Gantang.

;-) Anwar Ibrahim may yet be PM, thanks to UMNO wakakaka.

Related:
MCA - Born loser