Saturday 20 October 2012

Where’s the beef, MCA? – The Malaysian Insider


OCT 20 – Pakatan Rakyat (PR), hudud, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, sex bloggers and rape. And perhaps Chinese education. Is that all that MCA delegates and leaders talk about? To frighten voters from supporting anything Islamic to sex and blow their trumpets about vernacular education.

Going by the proceedings at the Wanita and Youth MCA meetings today, one can see that MCA is obsessed with PR, the Anwar factor, Nik Aziz and the Islamic state plus hudud laws. And of course, rape laws, youths who reveal their sex lives and the old chestnut about how much they have helped Chinese education bloom in this country.

That really is nothing new. There isn’t much that is concrete or substantial in the speeches or debates. There is no beef, so to speak.

If this is the best that MCA can offer, well then, Umno should be pretty much worried and make plans to take over the seats that MCA wants to contest in the next general elections.

The Chinese party won only 15 federal seats in the last general election. How many more can it win by scaring the Chinese about Islam, about Anwar, Nik Aziz or the possibility of hudud laws. Which, seriously, only affects Muslims. Now, why would the Chinese be afraid of hudud laws unless they are Muslims.

Is MCA the towkay party that allied itself with Umno way back before Merdeka and worked together to get independence from the United Kingdom? It doesn’t seem so with its obsession about Islam.

MCA is convinced that a PR victory will lead to an Islamic state while others believe it will lead to a Christian state. So who is to be believed? Can MCA articulate any position on equality, economic and social rights instead of still preaching about how vernacular education is good for the community?

It might have to defend itself against Chinese educationists but there must be more than can be done, and in fact, raised at this general meeting before the general election is held.

With the current crop of topics being discussed, perhaps it is true that MCA is headed for oblivion. The topics are not relevant to the community that is an economic and social pillar of the country.

Or is MCA so detached from the community that it purportedly represents in the government of the day? Or is it time for Umno to find new allies for a government of the people, for the people and by the people? The next general elections are crucial for MCA to determine its fate rather than the community’s representation in government.

For any government of the future can just skip the politicians and seek technocrats on merit to form the Cabinet. And that would mean professionals, of Chinese descent rather than just political affiliations, can be in the Cabinet and discuss and solve the community’s various grouses.

That day might come soon, if MCA continues to be obsessed about Anwar, Nik Aziz and Islam rather than the issues affecting the community.

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