Umno dancing to MCA’s tune

Umno does all the work but if things go wrong, Umno gets the blame. However, if the Chinese and Malays vote for MCA, then MCA gets the credit. A brilliant plan indeed.

COMMENT

MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek is an embattled man. He is trying to woo the Chinese voters by frightening them in regard to PAS’ plans to implement hudud in Kelantan by launching scathing attacks on Islam.

Is he trying to create an atmosphere of Islamophobia? If he is, then he must know that this is an unhealthy trend as religion is an emotive issue.

Nevertheless, Chua is undaunted and pursues his agenda to obtain the Chinese vote as he has trumpeted that his cause is to enlighten the Chinese on the “dangers” of hudud.

He continues to reiterate that although the Chinese will not be subjected to hudud, the said law will still have an impact on the Chinese besides impacting the nation’s economy.

Be that as it may, Chua is an astute tactician. His cunning strategy in this matter is an art that he has perfected by pretending to be weak.

This is in accordance with the Chinese strategy of “using another person’s leg strength”, which means making it seem that MCA is unable to secure Chinese votes due to the behaviour of certain Malay non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and therefore Umno needs to assist MCA to overcome this predicament.

Thus, Umno has no choice but to work hard to endear itself to the Chinese in order to help MCA in securing the Chinese votes. Umno can do this by giving grants and allocations to Chinese schools, Chinese guilds and associations and pandering to the requests of Chinese businessmen.

Umno thinks that if it does not do this, it will lose Chinese support and this will be detrimental to its cause in the coming 13th general election. Still, Umno cannot afford to bend over backwards to cater to the needs of the Chinese community as then it may lose Malay support if it is seen to be too condescending to the Chinese.

Yes, Umno is now caught between a rock and a hard place.

Sly MCA

Now MCA is sly in the use of strategy. On the one hand, it has succeeded in getting Umno to do its work of campaigning for Chinese votes and, on the other hand, if the Chinese still do not vote for MCA, then the fault is Umno’s.

This deceptive strategy employed by MCA will absolve MCA of any blame in the event the election results show that Chinese support has swung towards DAP.

Umno is lacking in intelligence where Chinese strategy is concerned. Having an Oxford graduate in its midst has not helped the party even one bit.

There are seven Chinese military classics and Sun Tzu’s “Art Of War” is just only one of them. Umno is no match for Chua who has a vast array of tactics up his sleeve and surely not only Sun Tzu’s.

This strategy of pretending to be weak in order to gain a stronger ally’s help through the art of flattery has Umno biting the bait hook, line and sinker. The stronger ally is almost always arrogant and succumbs to flattery. This is indeed an easy strategy to employ.

Umno’s western consultants are again no match for MCA in the game of Chinese chess and the consultants’ efforts to improve the prime minister’s image among the Chinese are a futile attempt.

Umno will find it difficult to woo the Chinese simply because Umno cannot read the Chinese mind and what is worse is that MCA has assigned the task of wooing the Chinese to Umno! This is Chinese chess at its deadliest!

A brilliant plan

Back to MCA’s own attempt to woo the Chinese via the use of the hudud and Islamic state issues.

MCA continues to scare the Chinese by talking bad about the Islamic state. This shows that MCA does not care tuppence about the fact that it was Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak who reiterated Malaysia is an Islamic state way back in 2007 when he was still the deputy prime minister.

Umno has no choice but to remain silent over MCA’s attacks on Islam because Umno thinks if MCA does not do that, MCA will not be able to obtain Chinese votes.

This means that Umno has given “tacit approval” to MCA to talk bad about Islam. Umno has left MCA to its own devices but yet it has to continue helping MCA to woo the Chinese. It is really laughable that Umno has failed to see through this simple ploy.

Umno is now MCA’s lackey. MCA has made a fool of Umno while Umno continues to think that MCA needs its assistance.

MCA can continue to do its part in the attacks on hudud to get Chinese support but if the Malays reject MCA, then it is Umno’s fault.

Umno does all the work but if things go wrong, Umno gets the blame. However, if the Chinese and Malays vote for MCA, MCA gets the credit for the “hard work put in”. Brilliant!

Meanwhile, MCA continues to harp on the hudud issue by asking DAP to state its stand. DAP has already stated that the Islamic state is not part of Pakatan Rakyat’s Common Policy Framework (CPF). Full stop.

MCA clings on the hudud issue like a leech so that it seems to be “doing its work” to obtain Chinese vote. It is just Chinese opera. A lot of noise and movement but it is all a well-orchestrated show done only with the purpose of hoodwinking Umno that MCA is doing its share of the work.

Umno’s tacticians cannot be that brilliant if they fail to see through MCA’s ploy. Umno’s supporters must wake up to the fact that MCA is using Umno although it does not seem like that at all.

That is the brilliance of its strategy which is so subtle that it makes things out to be not what it seems to be by concealing the true situation.

Everyone sees Umno as giving orders and instructions to MCA, but it is MCA which is pulling Umno’s strings and it is done in such a covert manner that no one, not even Umno, can see it, much less detect it.

And that is why compared to the Umno strategists, Chua is the better game-player!

Selena Tay believes in Pakatan Rakyat’s policies.