Finding MCA’s feet

Transport minister Anthony Loke was really pissed. In response to MCA’s criticisms against his decision to waive all AES summons, Loke said MCA had no right to criticise AES issues since it were complicit in the foolish decision to enter into such lopsided agreements.

Loke is right. Not every criticism counts. For a criticism to matter, it must not only be well founded in logic and reason, but it must also originate from a credible source.

MCA has many misgivings in its new role as the opposition. It may assume being the opposition is simply to point out faults of the government. There is nothing wrong with this approach if the aim is simply to disrupt the current administration. The theoretical benefit of check and balance may also be achieved.

But if there is any intention of MCA to make a comeback, it must work to be an effective opposition by presenting itself as a credible alternative.

To do this, it must have moral credibility.

MCA lacks moral credibility

In simple terms, moral credibility means I can believe what you say for what you say is consistent with your acts. To assess this, we look into your track record and reputation to get a sense of the believability of your words.

To say “MCA lacks moral credibility” is an understatement. I surmise that the general hatred by the Chinese community towards MCA may even be greater than the anti-Najib sentiment by the general populace.

What Loke was implying was that MCA lacked moral credibility on the AES matter. MCA Youth issued a statement admonishing Loke’s waiver of AES summons because it argued that this is an implied endorsement by the government to flout traffic laws.

There is no moral credibility in such a statement because MCA’s track record on this is highly unfavourable. MCA’s Transport Minister at that time was the actor primarily responsible for entering into a lopsided agreement that prioritised the private interest of corporations at the expense of the people.

To now come out as the guardian of road safety and custodians of public interest reeks of hypocrisy. And this hypocrisy had earlier bankrupted MCA’s moral credibility.

Another example would further enhance this point.

Hypocrisy

When MCA vice-president Chew Mei Fun (photo) criticised DAP for its communal-style politics by allowing its counterpart, Bersatu, to carry on the bumiputera congress, this was hypocritical. Chew said MCA, unlike DAP, was more committed to racial unity since they were always ready to work with other non-Chinese parties for the betterment of the country.

The hypocrisy is apparent. While asking DAP to roll back the bumiputera congress, it’s unclear if MCA would have done so if it were in DAP’s shoes. In fact, its silence throughout Umno’s courtship with PAS in flirting with racial extremism hadn’t lent MCA any moral credibility.

In observing the two parties’ membership, it is apparent that DAP is more racially diverse than MCA, further underscoring MCA’s lack of moral credibility.

DAP has fielded non-Chinese candidates to run under its flag for the past few elections, whereas MCA had yet to field any. It is also not clear if MCA even accepts non-Chinese as central committee members or as ordinary members at all.

If MCA is serious about presenting itself as a credible alternative to DAP, then it needs to consider ways to regain moral credibility and evaporate all the apparent hypocrisy.

Out of time, out of luck

The heaviest baggage MCA carries today is undoubtedly the fact that it was part of Najib Abdul Razak’s corrupt regime. MCA was Najib’s silent accomplice by lending moral legitimacy when Najib had none. It defended Najib where it could and supported his extractive institution.

To detach itself from this baggage, MCA needs to have nothing short of a radical revolution in the entire party. The stickiest starting point is its leadership.

We can observe from Umno that leadership is the Achilles’ heel of every failing party. With Zahid Hamidi’s election as president, the party favoured continuity rather than a much-needed revolution.

But Umno can afford this since it is still the political party with the highest number of seats in parliament. On the other hand, MCA only has 1 parliamentary seat, 2 state seats, and a meagre 5.3 percent of the voting share.

If MCA emulates Umno by electing Wee Ka Siong (or worse, Chua Soi Lek) as president, Chew Mei Fun as deputy president, and Chong Sin Woon as youth chief, this may spell the end of MCA.

In spite of that, all MCA is doing now is searching for petty faults by DAP while standing on tenuous ground. All it is doing now is searching for past leaders to steer the sinking ship. All it is doing now is searching for the ghost of its long-gone past.

MCA is running out of time and becoming history.
 

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JAMES CHAI works at a law firm. His voyage in life is made less lonely with a family of deep love, friends of good humour and teachers of selfless giving. This affirms his conviction in the common good of people: the better angels of our nature. He tweets at @JamesJSChai. -Mkini