The 'Best' Senior Politician In Malaysia For November 2009 - Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek!

For all his weaknesses, I must say that DS Dr Chua Soi Lek is one of my favourite politicians. Notwithstanding his 'Hollier than thou' incident, having some of the bad habits of other locals senior politicians, like advancing their sons into their place (his son replaced him as MP for Labis) and other disagreements on issues, he stands out today as one of the most cunning and competent senior politicians across both sides of the political divide.

By the standards of the young, Dr Chua is rather attractive judging from the decent following of his blog - the man's blog hits are rapidly reaching millionaire status! - where his writing adds to his stature. And whilst nigh everyone publicly frowns at the 'Holier than thou' affair, many of my generation and older cannot help but chuckle when talking of Dr Chua's 'performance' and 'staying power' whilst the young tend to be more open to the idea of redemption...

Dr Chua may indeed evolve into MCA's version of Benjamin Disraeli, the 'clever rogue' with a reputation of being a womaniser in Victorian England, who became Prime Minister twice and is attributed to being founder of the modern Conservative party! Whilst Disraeli's charm and good relations with Queen Victoria may have been his assets, Dr Chua has recently demonstrated his mastery of detailm, such as in the law, and recent use of the media (!) as his.

And as with his earlier periods of media activity, DS Dr Chua has taken advantage of his position of having nothing to lose to actually increase his stature in the eyes of the Malaysian public. We all know he is playing a game when offering to 'give' the MCA Deputy President's post to DS Liow Tiong Lai, but we like the wit in the way he does it and the principle he is espousing nonetheless. Note also DS Liow is proving to be a less effective Health Minister than DS Dr Chua before!

As a Muslim though, I must share that I find the setting aside of DS Dr Chua's Holier than thou situation mildly distrubing. But we do practice leaving the choice of leaders to each's own ethnic group, and as I have not seen DS Dr Chua being any more overtly anti-Malay or anti-Islam than his colleagues, certainly not as overtly as DAP's leaders, I am honour-bound to cheer him on! I hope readers will forgive my lack of 'Holier than thou'-ness...