WHEN DAP’s Teresa Kok said “MCA agak sesat” (literally “MCA is rather lost”), her statement must have touched the nerve of MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong who immediately hit back in a rare display of defensive response.
While the Malay politicians are hogging the headlines on the “Dubai Move” conspiracy and other political manoeuvres, it is an irony that MCA who is now down with two MPs and often dubbed as “irrelevant” by her nemesis DAP has become the media’s focal point merely due to a remark by an insignificant DAP leader like Kok.
DAP had been labelling MCA with names more damaging and demeaning than sesat (lost) and got away with it because MCA is not known for being confrontational. It has always been MCA’s way to be subtle and diplomatic to the extent that they have lost their public optics to DAP over the years.
Responding to a passing remark by a not-so-significant DAP leader by the MCA president himself may sound petty but there’s a bigger underlying issue that must be debated or agreed upon by the Chinese community in particular.
The Chinese electorate has been trying to discard race-based politics for decades, believing that when there are no race-based parties, ethnic or identity politics will be gone as well.
This is an indirect wishful thinking of doing away with the “privileges” associated with the “Bumiputera” and a level playing field in Malaysian politics and administrations.
Marriage of convenience
Therefore, their overwhelming choice of multi-racial parties of PKR and DAP over ethnic-based parties such as Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) is natural and spontaneous. However, they are not aware that the Malays are not ready to give up identity politics yet.
After successfully tearing down the UMNO-dominated race-based politics of decades and bringing down the regime that uses race as a means to enrich and empower themselves, the Chinese electorate suddenly realised that they had been politically scammed with DAP metamorphosing into MCA 2.0!
DAP’s wish to replace MCA as their new-found “lover” in UMNO became more apparent when Kok replied to Wee again by asking MCA to leave UMNO, alluding that MCA cannot deliver the Chinese votes to UMNO anymore but DAP can.
It is very obvious that DAP has realised that to be in power and to continue to be in power, they cannot run away from identity politics as the conservative Malay electorates by and large are not comfortable with the idea of an equal playing field or a Malaysian Malaysia as propounded by DAP.
After coming into power, DAP has awakened from their dreams of doing away with Bumiputera privileges or making Mandarin a second official language.
DAP also has to face the reality that they need a strong, established communal Malay party such as UMNO to counter the growing influences of PAS or PN among the Malay electorates who are beginning to show their nostalgia for the past.
Thus, Kok’s statements are akin to those of a spinster who finds a lover who is somebody’s husband showing her eagerness for the husband to choose to marry her and divorce his wife by directly asking the wife, “When are you leaving your husband now that your husband is with me?”
MCA in the wilderness
Coming back to the topic above, is MCA lost or at a crossroads?
If MCA is lost in the political wilderness, why should DAP even bother? After all, MCA is said to be irrelevant and will be another GERAKAN! The Chinese have overwhelmingly chosen DAP with more than 95% of Chinese electorate voting in favour of DAP.
The point is that DAP knows that MCA cannot survive without UMNO’s support while UMNO is no longer in a generous mood as they themselves are fighting for their own survival.
UMNO used to command the majority of the Malay electorate and could afford to pass some Malay majority seats to MCA and MIC for political window dressing. Similarly, DAP is doing their own multi-racial window dressing by putting up some Malay candidates in mixed Chinese majority seats to be seen as multiracial.
The plot is that DAP is eager to legitimise their tahaluf siyasi (political cooperation) with UMNO by making their “temporary relationship” permanent. DAP is still haunted and traumatised by their tahaluf sirasi relationship with PAS in the past.
In other words, DAP is akin to a mistress in a relationship with Umno and is eager to make their “illicit relationship” with UMNO legitimate and permanent. With MCA out of the way, they can officially marry into UMNO and secure the Malay votes which is their wanting.
DAP knows that they can be discarded or cast out in the cold at any time in a tahaluf sirasi unmarried relationship. Thus DAP, which had nearly monopolised the Chinese is not in the mood to accommodate any possible rivalry for the love and attention of their newfound partner.
MCA is indeed lost. They are in a predicament as to how to win back or capture the Chinese votes to look “pretty and attractive” again to be politically worthy and respectable.
They are also at a crossroads as to whether they will be given any “winnable” seats by UMNO or be left in the cold or scorned once UMNO formalises or marries DAP for good. Will MCA then be forced into a tahaluf siyasi relationship with PN or PAS that DAP has strategically and pre-emptively scared mongered as the “green monster”?
MCA is also at another crossroads from within. The present president’s office will end at exactly midnight on the ninth year of his chai (November 2027). Will the new deputy assume the chair smoothly without any political intrigue?
Will the “deep state” assert or dictate their control over the party? Will MCA be strong enough without Wee Ka Siong at the helm? Will the change be timely or untimely given that it is nearing a general election?
Senator Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker is former MCA’s vice president
MCA wants PMX to confront DAP for constantly “rocketing” the unity gov’t
IT IS about time that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim confronts DAP vice-chairman and Seputeh MP Teresa Kok for her repeated rant that MCA withdraws from the unity government.
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This is not the first time that Kok has publicly demanded that MCA quits the unity government as she had earlier on Aug 27 made the same call.
Coincidently, DAPSY (DAP Socialist Youth) national chief Dr Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen also demanded likewise from MCA in another occasion just a few days after Kok made the call.
MCA has consistently adhered and upheld the royal decree by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA) and has never flinched in our support for the unity government helmed by Anwar.
On several occasions, we have publicly declared that our party abides by our support pledge until the next general election (GE).
Despite public demands by DAP to MCA, our party has always maintained a calm and gracious demeanour as we uphold national political stability and respect for the YDPA’s decree.
Sadly, DAP leaders do not value MCA’s efforts to safeguard our unity government and has once again launched provocative moves against our party.
Questionable action
This exposes their hypocrisy that behind Anwar’s back, the Rocket is rocketing down the steadiness of the unity government. Ever since Malaya gained independence, not a single leader from any ruling coalition has publicly demanded that its allies join forces with rival political coalitions.
Kok will go down the annals of Malaysia’s history by being the first to do so on DAP’s behalf. Even more frustrating is that Kok resorted to hollow fallacies in her statement to slander MCA.
This only proves her malicious intent to incite MCA with the hopes that our party will leave the unity government so that the Madani government is thus toppled.
DAP has endlessly twisted facts to create the illusion that MCA hopes to form a government with PAS. However, history reveals that MCA has never cooperated with PAS.
The formation of the government in 2020 was carried out under the auspices of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA). With the directive from the then PM, the government was formed under the banner of Perikatan Nasional (PN) taking into consideration that the stability of our country was paramount.
In contrast, DAP was in full cooperation with PAS three times. It would come as a no brainer if a fourth or fifth cooperation is forthcoming in future.
In the past, Kok highlighted the “Sheraton Move” more than once. However, she failed to mention the Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman and current Deputy PM Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi.
Wouldn’t her comments cause Zahid embarrassment? To slander MCA president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong as being obsessed with officialdom, Kok had on Monday (Jan 8) used the adjective “cold-hearted” to raise the statutory declaration (SD) issue. The fact remains that BN’s stance back then was “No Anwar, No DAP.”
Before the BN supreme council was convened and before the sovereign head of state had issued the royal decree, a senior BN leader had on Nov 20, 2022 instructed BN MPs to adopt the “No Anwar, No DAP” position to support another leader to serve as premier.
PM’s action warranted
PN leaders also publicly displayed screenshots of a secret conversation between the leaders of BN and PN on Nov 20, 2022 at the residence of Bersatu secretary general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin. Why didn’t Kok mention such developments? At that time, all the four major party allies of BN and their MPs heeded the instructions and signed the SD.
Later, the BN supreme council decided to remain neutral on Nov 21 and Nov 22, 2022. BN secretary-general Dauk’ Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir later released a statement on Nov 22, 2022 that all SDs signed before the BN meeting were invalid and that Istana Negara has accepted that no BN MPs supported anyone to be PM.
After the YDPA decreed that a unity government be established, Kok continued to selectively and repeatedly raise the so-called SD issue which once again proves her malevolent intention to undermine the unity government.
There should be awareness that MPs who signed the SDs are now comrades of DAP in the cabinet. Are Kok’s mudslinging intended to embarrass her fellow party comrades during cabinet meetings?
Given that many actions of DAP leaders in recent months have undermined the stability of the unity government, we implore on the PM to take the appropriate action promptly. – Jan 10, 2024
Tan Kok Eng is the Federal Territory MCA deputy chairman and Kepong MCA chairman.
The Coverage Malaysia
