Joke of the year for Malaysians – and it’s MCA

I WAS tickled to read that MCA president Chua Soi Lek was a guest-of-honour at the first session of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR)’s 14th convocation last weekend.

I asked: “What is so honourable about a man who exposed to the world the fine art of cheating on his wife and family.”

This man, who continues to claim that he represents the Malaysian Chinese community, is clearly shameless.

Hasn’t he lost all integrity (apparently not in Chua’s dictionary) to address moral issues?

And what did Chua have to say to the graduands, as published in UTAR’s website?

“MCA President Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, who was guest-of-honour of the first session of the convocation, urged the graduating students to embrace lifelong learning to remain competitive and said that it was only through their individual continuous competitiveness that Malaysia could sustain its competitiveness globally.”

Surely, Malaysians don’t need a morally-tainted man to tell them about life-long learning and competitiveness. Instead, Chua clearly needs to do some learning himself about his own morals and arrogance.

Brighter and breezier

And, by the way, did you read The Star’s “Dear Reader” today (March 20, 2012), titled “Let us work together to shape a better society”?

Basically, the MCA-owned mouth piece wants to promote volunteering through networking . To me, it is more like soliciting free manpower in the guise of marketing the paper and to lift its fast sagging editorial integrity.

Isn’t it obvious The Star only serves the MCA and its president’s interest? How else do you explain its continuous support to promote a morally-tainted leader.

I highlight the introduction:

Dear Reader,

In May last year, The Star was given a facelift to offer a brighter and breezier paper with a promise to bring journalism of hope to the readers.

Clearly, it is a cosmetic execise to beef up its battered image and integrity due to the newspaper’s association with an adulterer. Need I elaborate further on its “promise to bring journalism of hope to readers”?

I doubt I need to waste my breath explaining what is obvious to Malaysians. I run the risk of insulting their intelligence.

Hypocrisy and Nepotism

The paper will only be able to promote healthy journalism if and when it is freed from the clutches of MCA and the ruling government. Before the immoral Chua became MCA president, The Star was indirectly controlled by MCA via Huaren Holdings, the party’s investment arm.

After manoeuvring his ascent as MCA president in 2010, Chua started talking about championing press freedom.

Almost immediately after, he carried out a corporate restructuring, placing the paper under the direct control of MCA via a panel of crony politicians that included his son Tee Yong (isn’t this the same type of nepotism loathed by MCA members during the rule of the Ong brothers – Ka Ting and Ka Chuan?).

I must admit that I must be a moron for not being able to see how The Star, under the direct control of MCA, can be freer to promote “journalism of hope to its readers”.

Jackson Ng is a Retired Journalist