MCA vs DAP: Race in, race out

COMMENT The only thing worse than the so-called Debate 2.0 is the chattering of the pundit class (which I'm a part of, I suppose) and the partisan nature of the press here in Malaysia. Echo chambers are alive with the sounds of victory but the only real losers are those who still cling on to the sad delusion that this is a fight about ‘issues'.

The spectacle of two Chinese leaders engaged in a proxy fight for their respective ‘Malay' partners may seem to some pundits like a step in the right direction as far as the national discourse is concerned but I for one, see the same game being played albeit in a more sophisticated manner.

Some of the post-debate commentary has been delightful. MCA chief Dr Chua Soi Lek relying on "facts" and "statistics", bleat the MCA propaganda organs, while DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng was on full "ceramah" mode. I mean what "facts" are we talking about here?

The "fact" that the MCA, which have had access to federal power all this time, has managed to satisfy the communal expectations of its voting base? The "fact" that if the Chinese want representation in the government that they should vote BN?

Doesn't Chua or MCA strategist realise that these "facts" no longer are of interest to a sizeable section of the Chinese voting public?

As usual, Lim attempted the whole multiracial thing which should appease non-Chinese Pakatan Rakyat partisans, but the reality is that the whole debate was drenched with Chinese ‘concerns'.

Sure, we could view those ‘concerns' in a wider multiracial perspective but at the end of the day, racial politics being the only kind of politics here in Malaysia, what we are left with is the sole narrative of how race will always be a factor in our politics.

Call me cynical but listening to the rhythm and flow of the debate, being mindful of the subtext and the general attitude of the extremely partisan supporters, "Whose policies benefit the country more?" played out more like "Whose policies benefit the Chinese more".

Take this whole TAR (Tunku Abdul Rahman) College brouhaha. Break down the racial demographic of the college. The sad fact is that TAR College is testament to the failure of our racialist education policies.

The college's ‘success' either in terms of its founding or its continued existence is not something to crow about, but rather should be viewed as something of an embarrassment by all who have an egalitarian perspective of what Malaysia could be.

The same goes for our public universities with its quotas based on race and covered with the muck of executive interference. This would have been the appropriate response of someone who has disavowed the racialist perspectives that has brought ruin to this country.

Umno's 'go at it alone' policy

Rhetoric from Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad just seems to lend credence to the ‘go at it alone' philosophy (which many BN watchers have put forward) which seems to be the official policy for the backroom boys over at Umno.

While the MCA valiantly defends TAR College (for instance), keeping its end of the bargain as far as the racial power-sharing formula goes, Mahathir, the ever wily manipulator pours scorn on the whole enterprise using it as yet another reason why the Malays are losing power in their own lands.

Take this juicy morsel from his latest broadside against the forces of moderation, be it in BN or Pakatan. "If last time we could only get a government job by having a diploma from public university, now we have to accept diploma (certificate) from TAR College."
In other words, before Umno had control over the racial make-up of the civil service through the university system, but now had to make allowances for the non-Malays because the shackles were loosened as far as the academic qualifications was concerned.

Mahathir puts it all down to "Malay kebodohan" but the reality is that it is "Malaysian kebodohan". Now I may criticise Pakatan for what seems like mostly lip service to their proclamations of nebulous concept ‘Ketuanan Rakyat', but at least it's a start.

The losers of race games will always be the minority race - sooner or later. The MCA look like right fools for defending policies which will always be at the mercy of Malay supremacy. Any achievement gained for their community will depend on the whim of Umno, which will be calculated on how much support they can get from the Malay community instead of the Malaysian polity.

And Mahathir sensing the shift of sentiment on the ground is doing his utmost into turning the bad racial cards he has got into a winning hand. When he is not taunting the Chinese, portraying them as fifth columners from Singapore, he's distorting the colonial history of Malaya as an indictment against Malay custom.

When he argues, "This is the old custom of the Malay, whereby when someone offered cash, they sold off Singapore and Penang." Excuse me, is this Malay custom or the custom of the entrenched royal bureaucracy of the time?

Similarly not too long ago former international trade minister Rafidah Aziz commented that the Malays sold their assets and lived off the profits in small towns, I would argue is a symptom of Umno culture (or at the very least, a culture Umno has spawned through its economic, social and education policies) instead of any real cultural trait of the Malay community.

MCA scores two own goals

But the MCA doesn't really need the former prime minister to tarnish its credibility with the Chinese voting public. The MCA is doing a sterling job on its own. Two rather bizarre missteps will no doubt have repercussions in the coming general elections. And both amusingly enough involve Chua.

Whatever modicum of respect I had for Chua has evaporated with his cowardly handling of the infidelity allegations against Lim and the antics of his progeny when it comes to the Talam fiasco.

A modicum of respect? Well yes, I viewed Chua as a hardened race warrior who managed to traverse the treacherous Umno waters all the while balancing the business interest of his party warlords and the communal interest of his voting base. Interested readers should familiarise themselves with his work and rhetoric during his tenure as health minister which often times put him at odds with his political masters.

However post-2008, his efforts to win back the hearts and minds of a certain section of the Chinese voting public have been abysmal.

His handing of the allegations against Lim displayed a certain kind of weaselyness that I normally associate with Umno. Every move he has made with regards to this issue has made him look like a charlatan installed by Umno rather than ‘independent' Chinese politician engaged in a bare knuckle political brawl.

For the record, I could care less what happens in the bedrooms of Chua Soi Lek or Lim Guan Eng, but what I hate in this instance (and unlike Lim Kit Siang, I am quite willing to transfer some of that hate from the actions of the individual to the individual himself/herself) is the cowardly and dishonest manner in which personal attacks are made all the while cowering behind parliamentary immunity.

As for Chua the Younger. What can I say? His ineptitude makes his dad look good. It's not a question of sending a boy to do a man's job; it's more of a question of the MCA sending a confused child to do a man's job.

The Talam ‘incident' is just the kind of non-starter scandal that could have been spun by the MCA for a scrap of political mileage, and that would have been the case for a more adroit politician. But who they sent and the response of the DAP guaranteed that it could turn out to be MCA's Waterloo if the cringe-worthy MCA-concocted Lim sex scandal doesn't do the job first.

As I said earlier, the time has come for those who still cling on to the delusion that there is a middle way in Malaysian politics and that we can vote for individual politicians based on what they stand for, to discard those delusions.

I got news for you; there is no ‘middle way'. There are two choices and that's it. What this debate demonstrates is that what we are heading into (in this coming GE) is the ultimate racial card game.

Depending on who wins the election, maybe, just maybe, we can finally throw away our racial deck of cards.

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S THAYAPARAN is Commander (rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy.