Searching For MCA's Soul... Part 2... The Loser, The Disgraced And The Boy Scout...

It has been difficult to fathom how things have come to pass at MCA. From a near ideal appearance of potency in leadership (no pun intended) by the combination of the youthful DS Ong Tee Keat and experienced DS Chua Soi Lek as President and Deputy respectively, augemented with characters such as DS Liow Tiong Lai and DS Ng Yen Yen as VPs, it looked to be ready to recover from the devastation of PRU 12. It is hence unfortunate to see things come to pass as they have.

Now DS Ong Tee Keat is being challenged for the Presidency by the man he succeeded, TS Ong Ka Ting, the man who shouldered the responsibility for the massive losses incurred by the MCA at PRU 12. This presents a particular quandry for MCA. Many would agree that what MCA needs now is a leader who can unite the party, something that DS Ong Tee Keat had patently failed to do. It is no wonder then that we find him trailing in the polls despite being the incumbent!

However, few insiders will really agree that TS Ong Ka Ting is the ideal replacement as President. OK, so, there is all this rhetoric about how he is still 'respected' in the party. Nevertheless, many in the party would quietly agree that it was TS Ong and his brother's manuevering of MCA candidates that shares part of the blame, with Pak Lah's weak leadership, for creating a pre-election rift in the MCA leading to the subsequent Chinese electorate's rejection of BN and MCA.

For MCA, this leaves the party with only one other choice to unite the party, the 'Hollier Than Thou' DS Chua Soi Lek! However, this is a man that, having being caught with his pants down, remain unrepentant! OK, so, if he needed care only of the moral sensitivities of his more forgiving core Chinese constituemts, he may be fine, but as a senior BN leader, DS Chua has to be a morally acceptable to all religions and creeds... and he wants to be THE Chinese leader for ALL Malaysians!

And so, MCA is now left to choose as their President, an Election Loser, a Disgraced Poltician and a Boy Scout! Boy Scout? Well, everyone knows that what redeems DS Ong Tee Keat to the Rakyat in general is his apparent steadfast course in resolving the Port Klang Free trade Zone (PKFZ) issue, including bringing all the corrupt involved to book! That the MCA Youth Chief, somewhat implicated in the scandal, is opposed to DS Ong adds further spice to it.

Unfortunately, the Rakyat's sympathy towards DS Ong Tee Keat is not in line with political reality. You see, DS Ong, being a 'Boy Scout', has been rather naive in his years in power. There is an attempt to 'reform' MCA being pursued whilst he's been its president. The effort may have started as something else, but at least at present, the aim is to make MCA a 'true' political party, divorced from special interest groups, such as not just triads, but also business and education...

... hold on, MCA not representing Chinese business and education groups? What the...? So, what's the point of the MCA then!? Hello, putting aside that a political party not tied to 'special interests' is an oxymoron... how is it even conceivable that the MCA would not be working hand-in-hand with Chinese NGOs and 'special interest' groups like in the past? Kicking out any triad influences is OK, but surely cutting off Dong Jiao Song would be political suicide... oh... DS Ong...

In addition to all the mess described above, it seems no one serious about who leads the MCA in the long term is really focussed on the 28 March MCA Presidential elections. This is because, whoever becomes President this time around will only hold the post for 1 year, following which there will be another election, where... jeng, jeng, jeng... the TRUE PRESIDENT of MCA that will lead the charge into PRU 13 will emerge...

So if we don't focus on the next MCA President, should we be focussing on the candidates for Deputy then? One candidate has already declared his rival should really be running for President! Perhaps DS Liow simply being cautious when running for Deputy? Perhaps DS Liow is continuing to take advice from his mentor and some time protector, TS Lim Ah Lek? Perhaps knowing what a mess this election will be, TS Ong Ka Ting was asked to contest to protect DS Liow?

Whatever it is that is really happening behind the scenes, to an outsider, even an informed one, it appears MCA is still lost. Ironically, I believe TS Lim Ah Lek himself should take over the MCA rather than leave it to TS Ong simply to protect his protege of unproven worthiness. If it is only for 1 year, why not? Else, the second irony is, perhaps DS Chua Soi Lek is the best choice after all! Disgraced to some, perhaps, but at least he's neither as divisive nor a puppet President.

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...

The Cane Mutiny... By Kartika, With Shahrizat, Then Bar Council... Lagi?

I'm disgusted by the Kartika Canning Saga. First of all, this woman was caught drinking, which is an offence for Muslims. It does gall me though how easily some Muslims get caught (then sentenced) for drinking, and how some get away with it being a chic trendy activity of the 'upper class'. One drinker (since taubat? I dunno...!) was even known to have been Chairman of a Halal Forum! Such hypocracy should offend all Malaysian Muslims!

OK, so lets forgive our religious establishment a while and give them the support to carry out this punishment against this offending woman. But then no... lets not! A whole bunch liberals, real and pretend, including the ever confused Sisters in Islam, started crying foul on the 'cruel' punishment of whipping a woman under Syariah. Their voices were lent further 'weight' by the leaders of both major Malay Muslim parties, DS Shahrizat Jalil for UMNO and YB Dr Lo'Lo' Ghazali from PAS.

Rather disappointingly, all this defence for the offending woman was done in ignorance. All this complaining was done without finding out what Syariah whipping by the cane is like, thinking it's like the vicious whipping by cane regularly sentenced to drug dealers by the secular courts. When th syariah authorities revealed how relatively mild Syariah canning was, the PAS lady rather embarrasedly withdrew her protest! DS Shahrizat just went mum for a while...

In the meantime, whilst the world press got to enjoy bashing Syariah Law... again... as well as Malaysia... again... the person who seems to be benefiting from all this is... the offending woman! She is now seen in full glamour, on the front pages of newspapers, walking at her kampung, waving to people, she's everywhere! She is supposed to be shamed by the punishment, instead, she's revelling in it! Even her father gets quoted in the press!

As a friend remarked on Facebook,"Any 5 minutes of fame is always good for a part time model what?!! After this she should be receiving a lot of modelling offers, I am sure..."

Disgusting!

Now we have two extremes coming out of the Pakatan or quasi-Pakatan side of the political divide:

1. Selangor Pakatan exco and PAS Commissioner Datuk Dr Hassan Ali, fresh from hugging Ronnie Liu in front of DS Anwar Ibrahim, has given the state's Mosque officials power to nab Muslims drinking alcohol! HO HO! Not sure really whether this is because of the Kartika case, seeing as the offending woman was nabbed in a BN state (!), or if it is Round 2 of the state DAP vs PAS slugfest!


2. Bar Council President Ragunath Kesavan, in response to fresh news that the punishment will be postponed to after Ramadhan, and perhaps in heat with the chance to bantai our Syariah courts, which is NOT Bar Council territory, declares he wants 'whipping' abolished! One wonders whether he feels the same about the more vicious mandatory whipping sentence against convicted drug dealers? If so, why not declare something earlier on that?

In the end, all these people are declaring this and that to get the same thing Kartika is now getting, a chance to be prominent in some way... WOI! THE WOMAN GOT CAUGHT DRINKING ALCOHOL, SHE IS MUSLIM and SHE'S BEING PUNISHED! Dah la tu! This is between her and Allah! The religious authorities are just facilitating this and her family has at least 'shown her the light'! WE SHOULD BE WISHING MORE OFFENDING MUSLIMS ARE CAUGHT AND PUNISHED!

But nooo... the saga continues! Sure punya...

Amnesty International, an organisation that has singularly failed to achieve any change in the world, but continue to get money by pretending to achieve stuff, now has jumped into the band-wagon! Please-lah Amnesty, go achieve something more meaningful first lah, like stopping Palestinian kids and babies from being killed by the Zionists, then maybe we and the rest of the world will listen to you more... No need to butt into our small local drama ...

So, 'siapa lagi?', who else wants to wade into this one?

Elizabeth Wong's Public Statement... NOT! Regretably...

I am disappointed that YB Elizabeth Wong has not reacted like the consumate and mature politican of the modern age that we expect in the face of her recent photo scandal. Instead, she has reverted to a more reactionary, albeit subdued, 'victim' role, that is probably more within her comfort zone as a social activist. Nevertheless, this scandal, which would have provided her a great opportunity to rise to new heights in public perception, has been wasted ...

Rather than this supposedly 'stoic' statement, I would have drafted the following to be the keystone of her statement instead (my words in italics):

This constitutes a gross outrage on my modesty, a gross invasion of my privacy, and in particular the sanctity of my personal life and I thank my supporters, friends, colleagues and members of my constituency for their concern, support and encouragement.

However, we are currently facing trying times, with the nation's economy under threat of an economic crisis of proportions greater than what was faced in the late 90's. The challenges presented should be at the forefront of our minds as individual citizens as well as leaders of our own communities and families. My fate and travails are of little consequence as compared to the looming crisis before us.

We are also in an era of dynamic transition for our democracy, made even more interesting with the recent active participation of our state rulers on matters of government. Let us not mention Perak, but rather listen to the Agong's titah at the opening of Parliament today where his highness in his wisdom chose to thank Pak Lah for his services and wished all a smooth transition of government. Surely this should occupy the mind of Malaysians more than my own personal problems.

My family members are standing behind me. I would like to appeal to the media to give me and my family members some breathing space in this trying time so that I can weather this huge challenge. And I urge all Malaysians to please consider the great many things we as a nation must do in the coming days, weeks and months. Fret not about me, I'll be fine...

My sympathies Elizabeth on you and yours' current travails, but regrets also for your loss of opportunity to truly rise above the occassion...

Holier Than Thou? Prove It!

The recommendation by our former PM Tun Dr M that voters "vote for the candidate, not for the party" on this 8-3-8 election, has some interesting implications; besides the immediate memory trigger to some 'old' hacks like me on how it's an about turn from his old campaign that voters should "vote for the party, not for the candidate".

The old slogan (vote for the party) was to encourage voters not to vote for the opposition just because they are of the same race when the BN candidate is not. Anyway, that was the old story, but the reason why Tun Dr M is asking people not to vote the party but to carefully choose based on the quality of candidates these days are for some rather 'simple' reasons:

1. He didn't choose the candidates in this election, so I can't expect him to think Pak Lah's choices were perfect!
2. Tun Dr M may still be quite annoyed with a number of the BN candidates this year, including the AP dispensing lady, the current UMNO Sec-Gen who caused UMNO to be declared illegal 2 decades ago, a certain boy from Oxford that married well, some of his back-stabbing former assistants in Kubang Pasu, among others. All this is second guessing though, as as he is an old wise man, he may well be quite zen about all these people actually!
3. The third reason is a bit like the first two but with a twist. Tun Dr M thinks the BN candidates list is awful but he still wants BN to win. He thinks this can only be done by getting voters to see beyond the failings of some BN leaders and choosing the best of those available from BN; which, lets face it, is probably far superior to the bad blend of the ancient, quirky, strange and baby-faced offerings from the opposition!

However, in doing so, he has implicitly thrown down the gauntlet to Malaysians to prove that they are indeed Holier than Thou! He has great hopes that the indignant crescendo that led to the resignation of a certain philandering DVD-sex minister would be repeated across the broad section of the voting public on 8-3-8, leading to a cleansing of the nation's leadership by the electorate!

On the surface, Tun Dr M's urgings that voters choose the right candidates may appear to favour the opposition. Certainly if there were any corrupt leaders to be found, they would more likely be among BN candidates, as it is the party that is in almost total control of the country. Typically, it is such power and control that breeds corruption and poor morals to the extent that cannot be ignored.

There are any number of BN leaders that should be voted out for corruption - mostly suspected, but some rather blatantly evident to the electorate, what with large houses, cars, diamonds on wives' fingers or just plain sliminess. Some are disturbing in that they are addicted to skirts. Some must be found stupid (for instance from having MBA's from fake US universities) or are just plain rude.

Quite a number of incumbent MPs need to be taught a lesson as they may have ignored the electorate. Some, even veteran ones, may have shown themselves to be 'too good' or 'too busy' for the people, by doing silly things like not helping when voters were suffering from floods. The saddest types of candidates though appear to be proxy-candidates for their parents.

For instance, the DVD-sex minister has succeeded in getting his son to run in his place for MP. Another interesting case is the 'Klang Palace' MP, who managed to get his daughter-in-law to run in his place. Surely these candidates should feel the heat of the electorate if it is clear that they are not running for themselves but as proxies to parents that are too tainted for BN to consider running!

Of course, these proxy candidates are in good company, as there is this daughter of a glamarous ex-con opposition leader also running as a proxy in KL!

Now, Tun Dr M is not a stupid man. Surely when he said what he said, he didn't intend for the opposition to gain such a big advantage against BN. In his heart he probably realised that the opposition had hopeless candidates too. In fact, the opposition's weakness is most evident at the top, among its leaders!

1. The DAP's Lim Kit Siang likes to accuse BN of race-based politics, but does this whilst allowing his party to be disproportionately Chinese in agenda and leadership. In contrast, BN till now remains the party that fields the most candidates differing from the majority race in a constituency. Perhaps Kit Siang is still living down the legacy of his screaming for Malays to leave KL and pissing on the Malaysian flagpole at the Selangor MB's house in 1969?
2. PAS on the other hand is led by a Malay leader that on one hand declares the need for an Islamic state, but on the other condemned some Muslims as being deviant based on party affiliation. He thinks sins hence can be done against Muslims who are not PAS members! You'd think that he and Kit Siang would get along swimmingly as they both hate BN, but they don't!
3. Then of course there is the most celebrated ex-con politician in the world, Anwar Ibrahim. Here is a man famous for being against corruption despite being convicted of the criminal offence of corruption and abuse of power! His crime? Instructing the police to break the law and act against his enemies! Amazingly, some still believe he was a 'political prisoner'! And then of course there was the other thing... ooops... innocent by technicality!

So, on the one hand, Tun Dr M wants us to choose BN candidates, but only those that are of worth. At the same time, his request forces us to also look at the alternatives among the opposition with a more critical eye. This must leave voters with quite a problem in some constituencies I am sure. Then again, no one said being Holier than Thou was going to be easy...! Correct, correct correct...!