MCA should consider joining Pakatan Rakyat

Just before the elections, I predicted that the curtain was coming down on the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and warned of its demise as a force in Malaysian politics.

The elections showed that my prediction was right. The party suffered a stunning loss of support and won a dismal seven parliamentary and 10 state assembly seats. In numerical terms, the party has only 3 per cent of total parliamentarians and 2 per cent of total state assemblymen in the country’s Dewan Rakyat and state assemblies.

MCA as a Mosquito Party Serving UMNO’s Interests

What this means is that the party is effectively a mosquito party. However, the leaders of the MCA are still refusing to accept the fact that the party has been consigned to the dustbin of Malaysian political history by our electorate. In fact they are behaving and talking as if they are important and influential stake players in the country’s political system. This explains why Chua Soi Lek and his gang are so keen on reversing the earlier MCA general assembly resolutions of 2011 and 2012 to not accept any government posts in the event that the party perform worse than during the 2008 elections.

Of course, UMNO leaders, including the ultras such as Ibrahim Ali and Dr. Mahathir, are keen on getting the MCA to renege on its earlier decision and are pushing for a few MCA leaders to take up positions in the cabinet and state legislatures. It serves UMNO’s political agenda by providing the fig leaf of multi-racial cooperation behind which UMNO and Malay dominance can be asserted.

It also provides the basis for the UMNO claim that non-Malay interests are factored into policy making at the highest level and that there are no policies of marginalization and exclusion aimed at non-Malay communities.

But how true is this claim of a fair or equal political partnership between UMNO and MCA? Ask any Chinese – Chinese or English educated; blue collar or white collar; rich or poor. They will all say that on issues close to the Chinese heart such as education, civil service employment, and equal opportunity in the economy, the MCA is a chicken hearted and spineless party that has sold out the Chinese in return for a small number of leaders at the top getting filthy rich and sharing the loot from being middlemen and facilitators to big business and UMNO cronies.

Resolutions to Transform MCA

In light of its long record of political impotency in tackling Chinese or Malaysian concerns (the MCA’s record on civil liberties, human rights, social reform, environmental management is equally negative and pathetic) I would like to suggest that the party - should it convene an emergency general meeting (EGM) as proposed by Chua Soi Lek or at its next annual general meeting (AGM) –debate two alternative resolutions.

The first is a resolution for the party to leave the BN and to join the opposition.

The second, should the first fail, is to dissolve the party and establish a new party with a new name and a totally new slate of leaders to change the future direction of the party. All the old guards should be kept out to show that the new MCA is serious about reform and protecting the interests of all Malaysians, especially the Chinese.

To my way of thinking these resolutions would be more realistic, sensible and urgently required than the one that is aimed at asking delegates to revoke the earlier decision and to provide the opportunity for Chua Soi Lek, his son and various other MCA crony leaders to return to lucrative government positions that will only benefit them personally.

In joining the opposition the party will bring considerable financial assets estimated to run into billions of ringgit for the use of the opposition during the next elections. The deployment of these enormous financial resources will provide the fire power that will surely ensure victory for the opposition PR. In this way the MCA can change the course of its own as well as Malaysia’s political history and remain a force in Malaysian politics.

I am confident that the strategy proposed here will be supported by the majority of delegates as well as by the Chinese public. If taken up, it will bring an end to the anger, agony and disappointment that millions of Chinese have experienced as a result of the MCA’s collaboration in the running down of the rights and interest of the Chinese and other non-Malay communities. It will also provide a fresh start by opening the way for new blood and less towkay-driven Chinese participation in the country’s political life and bring Chinese politics to a higher ethical and moral level, free of the business and sexual scandals that have plagued the current leadership.

Success for the current “return to government” resolution currently vigorously lobbied for by the President’s men and UMNO will undoubtedly please UMNO as it continues to look to the MCA to act as its cover in the mis-governance of the country. But it will only result in more despise and disdain from the voting public at the avarice and greed of the party’s leaders in reversing an “irreversible decision”. And this in turn can only bring more grief and suffering for the Chinese community’s interest and concerns.

Koon Yew Yin is a prominent citizen and philanthropist