Dennis Ignatius
~ Provoking discussion, dissent & debate on politics, diplomacy, human rights & civil society.
[1] A social media post that went viral recently wryly noted that Malaysians are united on only three occasions – Merdeka Day, Malaysia Day and in the run-up to elections. The on-going by by-election campaign for the Mahkota state seat seems to bear at least the last part of this out.
[2] Suddenly, UMNO – which is fielding a candidate with the backing of the unity coalition – is all about “inclusion and unity.”[1] UMNO leaders say they want Mahkota voters to feel “represented and respect.”[2]Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Ibrahim played up the fact that the UMNO candidate (Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah) had attended a Chinese vernacular school and is fluent in Mandarin.[3] The candidate himself has been speaking jubilantly in Mandarin to any Chinese voter he can find. And apparently winning their hearts too.
[3] Akmal Saleh – UMNO’s abrasive and uncouth bad boy – was quite literally told to stay away from Mahkota.[4] Memories of Akmal’s attacks on KK Mart and his rude comments about Theresa Kok still rankle so it was thought best to put him on a leash at least for now.
[4] It is tempting to think that perhaps UMNO has truly changed but the odds are that this is nothing more than a political strategy to win the Chinese vote. UMNO knows that with the Malay vote divided, the 35% Chinese electorate in the constituency could tilt the balance either way. The lessons of the recent Sungai Bakap by-election where UMNO lost primarily because Chinese voters stayed at home were not lost on the leadership.[5]
[5] Still, it is amusing that UMNO is now making much of its candidate’s attendance at a vernacular school and touting his ability to speak Mandarin when they are the ones who have been calling for the abolition of vernacular schools[6] and have flatly refused to recognize the UEC.[7] [8]
[6] As for Akmal, many will remember that UMNO allowed him to run riot, stirring up hate and division for months on end without check. Neither the prime minister nor the UMNO president intervened to stop his reckless race-baiting and his needless provocative and incendiary actions. Akmal may have been told to tone down for the sake of the by-election, but you can be sure he’ll be unleashed soon enough.
[7] Right on cue, both the DAP and the MCA joined the fray in support of the UMNO candidate. DAP vice-chairperson Nga Kor Ming brushed aside all the hits his party has taken from UMNO and declared that “our focus is to secure a win for the government’s candidate….”[9] MCA for its part seem very pleased that Syed Hussien has a Chinese name, “Sai Fu Xing”, which literally means “lucky star”.[10] UMNO is indeed lucky to have political partners with such supple spines.
[8] But that’s politics I suppose. Politicians know how easy it is to manipulate voters and most of the time they get away with it. But who knows; perhaps Syed Hussien may turn out to be the forerunner of a new generation of UMNO politicians with a genuine commitment to our multiethnic, multireligious society? Let’s see what the voters of the Mahkota constituency think about all this.
[Dennis Ignatius |Kuala Lumpur |18 September 2024]
DAP is well and truly MCA-ed.
ReplyDeleteIt took decades for MCA to become totally corrupted and neutered.
DAP has deteriorated at 5x the speed.