Only way for MCA, Gerakan to teach Umno respect is leave BN

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

As civil society leaders and business groups call on Prime Minister Najib Razak to stop the public wrangling between MCA and Umno, pundits are privately betting it is a waste of time and the only way to teach Umno a lesson is for BN components like MCA and Gerakan to leave the coalition.

“The time has come to put or shut up. Too many hurtful things have been said by the likes of Utusan, Perkasa and even Muhyiddin himself. If Najib steps in now and they all do a group hug and make up, it only confirms what everyone is thinking - stop the sandiwara,” PKR strategic director Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

Indeed, in the past few days the Umno-owned Utusan and Perkasa have gone on rampage, flinging one insult after another at MCA president Chua Soi Lek. They jeered to his face - the so-called leader of the Chinese community in this country - and joked about his sex DVD past, mincing no words in calling him a pornographic actor.

Who can beat Umno at the race-championing game

Perhaps Soi Lek deserved a lot of the mudslinging for trying to beat Umno at the race and religious-championing game. But even so, he and his 78 newly-hired cyber-troopers must have been rattled by the ferocity of the Malay onslaught.

It is time that MCA and Gerakan leaders - cushioned by decades of privileged high government office - realize that this is the sort of treatment ordinary man-in-street non-Malays experience on a daily basis, whether directly or indirectly.

Malaysian society has changed since independence in 1957 and the transformation has been for the worse. In 1957, the world was Malaysia’s oyster. In 2010, there are just 9 years to go before our coffers go bust and we end up bankrupted by the excesses and the corruption of the BN elite.

Whoever speaks up for Malaysia will not be from Umno-BN

William Cheng, the president of the Chinese commercial grouping ACCCIM, was the latest to urge Najib to speak up.

“If every day they quarrel - federal government and the state government, even the state government itself internally has problems, then among the Barisan also quarrel, between the Chinese, Indian, Malay also quarrel - then who wants to come to Malaysia? Government should put a stop to this,” said Cheng.

His observation is astute and naive at the same time. Quarrels that drain both public and investor confidence are erupting on a daily basis but the “Government” will not be putting a stop to it. If anything, the “Government” is actively fanning the fire, sowing the seeds of racial and religious hatred in order to cling to power.

A patriot Cheng may be, but he must acknowledge that throughout the nation's 53-year history, it is exactly this sort of divide-and-rule race-based politicking that has typified Malaysia's “Government”. Without these policies of hatred, Umno would have to reinvent itself, a task that will surely too strenuous for it - accustomed as it is now to the good and easy life.

Umno weakness much greater than expected

A two-party or multiparty system is now inevitable in Malaysia - not really because of the Pakatan’s strength but more so because of Umno’s own shocking weakness. In the current times of stress, it has shown itself to be much weaker than anyone had ever expected or feared.

“They have demonstrated once again that they are incapable of uniting the nation, behaving maturely and responsibly,” PAS MP for Shah Alam Khalid Samad said.

The political pundits are right. There is nothing left for Soi Lek and Tsu Koon to lose. If they are sincere, they should withdraw now and take their followers to safe and higher ground. Otherwise, the Pakatan Rakyat will steamroll through their territory and make a clean sweep.

There is no such thing as “it is not so simple as you think”. It is really quite simple and was done spontaneously by Yong Teck Lee’s SAPP in 2008. In 2010, let it be Soi Lek and Tsu Koon who lead the way - not just for the non-Malays but also for the Malays.

Truly, more than the Chinese, Indians, Kadazan-Dusun-Murut and other races in this country, it is the Malays who need to be saved the most from Umno, Utusan and Perkasa.