Chua Soi Lek, the consummate 'Pasar Malam' politician

MCA president Chua Soi Lek has talked about how MCA is caught at the crossroads, inviting the Chinese to examine the party's past and present contributions, while faulting Pakatan Rakyat for its loss of support.

Chua Soi Lek has really outdone himself this time. MCA is beyond redemption. MCA has reached such a low point that it does not deserve anymore condemnation from the public.

Malaysian Chinese can only look down on MCA as it wallows in self pity. Chua’s latest statement has said it all. The only thing for MCA to do now is to go ahead and resign from the Cabinet, and stop tussling for posts with UMNO.

Everyone can see that there is no more hope for the MCA. The longer it sticks around the more the public sees it as a rejected, wounded, homeless animal loitering around, looking for scraps to fall from the table. He has already admitted it to the public - the Chinese have rejected MCA.

After taking over from Ong Tee Keat, the public was looking at a rejuvenated MCA, even willing to give Chua a chance to prove himself, after the humiliation of being caught on video with his pants down.

Stumbling blindly, clueless and without any programmes

However, without a blueprint for the future, Chua seems to be stumbling all the way.

His erroneous statements continue to astound not only the Chinese, but the rest of Malaysians as well. Now, instead of being a hero to the Chinese, he wants to be seen as a hero to UMNO.

Faulting Penang as an example of a weak government prone to misrule, is not only lame but it has proved to Malaysians that MCA is really out of touch and out of ideas.

Penang has a CAT government, praised by Transparency International as a well-run government. Chua Soi Lek has failed to project a professional, intelligent and political savvy attitude to the public.

And as the paramount leader of the Chinese he is looked on today as nothing but a ‘Pasar Malam’ or night-market politician.

No one thinks Chua Soi Lek is stupid, but why is he so blind to all the outstanding issues around him? And as a leader, he is capable of settling all these problematic issues, if only he wants to! Coming up with all kinds of irrelevant statements do not solve the issues. It is only a pathetic waste of time and tax payers' money. What a write-off!

Taking on Utusan and Perkasa is also a fruitless pursuit. They are not the root of the problem, just merely cheap rabble-rousers. As one of the top leaders in the country, he does not seem to command any respect from BN leaders or the people.

Today, the Chinese finds it difficult to differentiate between Chua Soi Lek and Ibrahim Ali. Both are as hopeless as each other.

The last thing MCA should do is to belittle Pakatan Rakyat as PR has the support of the non-Malays. It was the MCA,MIC and Gerakan that chased out the non-Malays because they did not have the guts to stand up to UMNO.

Dejected non-Malays without leadership to look up to will obviously side with PR whom they can see are looking out for them. BN parties have lost touch with the people. Their demise is unavoidable and it will come to pass.

The elephant in the room

How Chua manages to see each tiny flaw in Pakatan Rakyat, but is blind to the BN elephant in the room is beyond anyone’s imagination. MCA should continue to put things right at the Federal level.

It should not turn a blind eye to the Chinese who are constantly maligned and humiliated by extremist forces. It should put its foot down at the erosion of the Chinese Rights. It should struggle harder to ensure that the Federal Constitution is not compromised, nor the Rights of all Malaysians unjustly desecrated.

But no, MCA continues to lie low, hardly daring to whimper or whine, while allowing UMNO free rein to continue their slow decimation of the rights of the non-Malay citizens in the country.

That is the reason why the Chinese are looking at MCA with scorn. This malaise has been going on for the last 2 decades, and as MCA continues to ignore the injustice done to the Chinese, it has also emboldened UMNO to continue trampling on the non-Malays.

Even UMNO’s political base is not safe. As more enlightened Malays start to question UMNO’s neglect of the lower-middle and low-income Malays, they see in PAS a viable alternative.This has made UMNO very cautious.

And this is why their leaders and their organized extremist groups will continue to try and destabilize the peace, in the hope that Malaysians will vote BN out of fear and worry about violence - just like what we have always done in the past.

This means more work for the MCA and other BN non-Malay components. All the more they will have to drag up the courage to fight UMNO. As long as MCA, MIC and Gerakan are willing to play their last card - which is to leave BN - they stand a chance to correct the ills that they are also responsible for.Not just UMNO.

The MCA's reluctance to do so only reinforces the belief that its leaders, like Chua, are out to gain only for themselves, that they are running dogs of the worst kind, willing to scheme and excuse away anything and everything just so that UMNO will keep them as lapdogs.

So to the likes of Chua Soi Lek, please buck up or forever hold your peace. Don't soil or sully our ears with lame and silly excuses.

- Malaysia Chronicle