‘Pride comes before a fall’ - Lip Eng’s stinging message for MCA

 

Unable to move past its acrimonious past with DAP, MCA decided not to campaign for Pakatan Harapan candidate Pang Sock Tao in the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election.

However, the outcome of the contest suggested that its absence went unnoticed, at least according to DAP lawmaker Lim Lip Eng.

“Pride comes before a fall,” the Kepong MP told Malaysiakini when asked if he had a message for MCA.

“We were supposed to work together for the betterment of the country, especially the Chinese community, but you chose to prioritise your interests instead of the people,” he added.

Responding to another question, he agreed that the election was another emphatic reminder to the once herculean BN component party that it is no longer relevant.

“The Kuala Kubu Baharu election has proven this,” he said.

Soon after it was announced that Pang had retained the state seat for DAP for a fourth term, Lim was quoted in the Chinese media as stating it was “great” that MCA did not lend a hand.

Since the 2008 general election, MCA, like MIC, has witnessed a sharp reversal of its political fortunes. Their “big brother” Umno is also in a similar predicament.

MIC and Umno, however, elected to stump for Pang in order to win over the Malay and Indian votes.

On April 19, MCA announced that it would not join the campaign if a candidate from BN was not fielded.

On April 23, MCA president Wee Ka Siong recalled how DAP had criticised MCA with “hatred” in the past.

“Now, MCA needs to be the bigger person?” he asked.

MCA president Wee Ka Siong

When Umno supreme council member Lokman Noor Adam told MCA to decide on its position in the coalition government, MCA Youth chief Ling Tian Soon responded by sharing an old video of the DAP candidate deriding BN on social media.

MCA Youth secretary-general Saw Yee Fung also took to social media to urge Chinese voters not to cast their ballots for the “rocket”, which is DAP’s symbol.

MCA and DAP found themselves on the same side of the political fence despite decades of enmity after Harapan and BN formed a coalition government to break the deadlock following the last general election’s results. - Mkini