MCA - a Chinese guard dog or lap dog?

Friday night? Wakakaka, time for another Uncles’ story, though this time kaytee will have more input.

This one is about Ma Wah or the MCA, and may I qualify, on Unc’s insistence, that we are referring to CSL’s MCA, as different from, for example, Ong Tee Keat’s MCA.

Ready? ;-) Here goes:

Right on cue, predictably ‘perfect’ timing, Rover has responded to the ‘heel’ call by its master.

The moment Najib & Dr M spoke out against Utusan Malaysia '1Melayu 1 Bumi' movement, MCA’s deputy publicity chief Loh Seng Kok came out to say ‘1Melayu, 1Bumi’ movement will lead to apartheid.

Incidentally, has anyone heard CSL saying thus far against the Utusan racist call? Maybe he now will wakakaka.

Yet, worse than Loh Seng Kok’s echoing Najib, far far worse, has been CSL's falling into line with Utusan vindictive rant against the Sarawakian Chinese following the state election. The UMNO media mouthpiece had angrily proposed that BN ignores Chinese vote, meaning Taib's government should institute deliberate marginalisation of the Chinese Sarawakians.

Its editorial (in its Awang Selamat column) states: “The average Chinese voters have rejected BN and supported DAP. Therefore the BN state government can no longer be too generous to give place to representatives from the community. Sarawak cabinet must be reflective of the decisions and attitude of the voters. The message must be sent.” […]

With virtually indecent haste, though not surprising at all, CSL called upon the SUPP not to accept any position in the Sarawak state cabinet because he asserted the party had lost the Chinese community’s support.

CSL in talking down to SUPP, conveniently forgot that his MCA had also lost the Peninsula Chinese community’s support when it was trounced severely in March 2008.

Failing to first look into the mirror, he pompously explained: “If it takes part in the Cabinet, I feel the Chinese of Sarawak would think it (SUPP) is there only for the seats and not to serve the community. Besides, SUPP’s role in the Cabinet would be limited to only helping to resolve problems within the Chinese community. Even if its leaders are in the cabinet, I can foresee that they can’t solve the community’s problems.”

The sweet irony of CSL’s presumptuous advice to SUPP is that it applies perfectly to his own MCA. When he was reminded of this by Lim Guan Eng, on his hypocrisy in having a MCA ADUN in the Perak DUN where there was no significant support for the MCA, he blamed that aberration on Ong Tee Keat …

… which naturally brought the pugnacious Ong out to describe CSL as a contemptible liar for blaming others for his (CSL) own faults, as well as being an unmitigated hypocrite, because CSL had done what he told SUPP not to, in leapfrogging his own son, a junior to many far more deserving MCA MPs, forward for a deputy minister position.

MCA under CSL has been attempting to ‘frighten’ the Chinese community that the party is vital to their interests, just like Utusan, Perkasa and some UMNO members had been doing to the Malay community. These two race-based parties still believe the winning combination of 'fear' and 'hate' will ensure the desired negative motivation to vote for them.

Kaytee offers two observations:

Firstly, I’m not surprised that both CSL and Utusan failed to mention a single word about the alleged gross corruption and rampant abuse of power, etc committed by the Sarawak State government for the last 30 years. Those were some of the real reasons for the sea change in the rakyat’s political attitude towards the State BN government. 'Twas a case of Sarawakians (not just Chinese) 'ta'boleh tahan lagi'.

OK lah, with Utusan you can’t really be shocked by its deliberately slanted racist message, but it’s really sad to see CSL in the same mould of self-serving non-objective denial, as he bleats the danger of the Chinese community not having representatives in the cabinet. Obviously his advice to SUPP was intended to accentuate that threat, for his own interests.

What’s the bloody point of voting for CSL’s MCA which still refuses to acknowledge that Malaysians, not just the Chinese, are fed up with the corrupt excesses that have been going on for the last 25 years.

While on corruption, thus far has anyone seen any movement in the PKFZ case since Ong Tee Keat handed over the president’s post to CSL? Yawnnnn!

One thing before I move on to the next observation – don’t say nor believe that the Chinese community support CSL. They don’t; those who do are only the 500+ MCA central delegates who elected him over Ong Tee Keat as the MCA’s president, a mere handful of unrepresentative Chinese.

In a survey just prior to the last MCA presidential challenge the Chinese community had overwhelmingly voiced their preference for Ong Tee Keat to head MCA, but alas, it was just a survey which involve only the Chinese community, which naturally the majority of the MCA central delegates chose to ignore … at their own political peril.

Secondly, whether the MCA or for that matter Gerakan, is in the cabinet, doesn’t really matter to the Chinese community. It’s known PM Najib has planned to ‘work’ directly with the Chinese because he has long realized that they have lost respect for, and confidence and trust in CSL’s MCA. So, the Chinese community will still have a voice in the PM’s ear, a direct one without going through the MCA. Whether the PM chooses to listen or not, it will make no difference if that voice comes from the MCA or directly from the Chinese community.

In a way, I'm glad of the PM's unstated intention because it will start the breakdown of a long outdated political concept of ethnic representation. Many Malaysians are like me in that we want both BN and Pakatan represent Malaysians rather than Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans, Kadazans, etc.

Thus my advice to the MCA is that, rather than attempt to make silly threats or scare the Chinese, the party would be better off with (a) a feisty and honest leader like Ong Tee Keat, (b) an anti-corruption program and a readiness to openly support and strive for accountability and transparency, and not least, (c) a strong, firm but reasonable voice in the cabinet that’s truly representative of the Malaysian community (and not that of MCA leaders’ personal interests).

In other words, don’t just be Rover* that runs to heel at master’s command. Be the rakyat's guard dog!

* One of my elder Uncs had a tear or two in his eyes when we discussed this because he still fondly remembers a far better MCA in his days.