Friday, September 10, 2010
Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle
Chua bids to regain votes with Chinese chauvinism?
If Malaysian Chinese held hopes the MCA could help broker a new politics for the country that tore through racial lines, then they will be sadly disappointed. MCA president Chua Soi Lek not only admitted racial tensions were rising in Malaysia, but refused to acknowledge it was due to the divide-and-rule policies promoted by the ruling BN coalition, insisting that race politics would always be the name of the game.
“It confirms what the Chinese community has been saying about him since he became president. He’s a running dog for Umno and can never take MCA or the Chinese community to new heights,” PKR vice president Lee Boon Chye told Malaysia Chronicle.
“He has promised to stay as president for only one year. MCA members better make sure he doesn’t change his mind because one year with him is already one year wasted. A good leader could have done so much more to help improve race relations in the country. But instead of trying, he has already made up his mind it can never happen. Why? Is it to curry favor with Umno so he can stay on when his year is up?”
Gaffes
Chua already given a warning by Muhyiddin
Indeed the 63-year Soi Lek has only become more unpopular after public sympathy over his sex scandal helped him to wrest the MCA presidency from Ong Tee Keat earlier this year. But initial rumblings that Soi Lek was aligned to the right-wing Umno faction controlled by former premier Mahathir Mohamad and Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassan have now gained credence especially as he positions himself against the multi-racialism desired by the great majority of Malaysian Chinese.
He has tried to show MCA’s independence from Umno, the dominating partner in the BN coalition, by calling for an end to the 30 percent Malay and Bumiputera corporate equity target. But he quickly retreated after Muhyiddin and other ultra-Malay rights leaders like Ibrahim Ali bombarded him with threats and warnings not to challenge their status.
Soi Lek got into another scrape when he tried to turn the Chinese community against PAS, the Islamic-based party in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, but again had to U-turn after prominent Muslim leaders in the country took him to task for what they said was his religious ignorance and bigotry.
The MCA president also failed a major test when he refused to speak up for controversial rapper Namewee, whom Umno leaders had wanted to prosecute for a three-minute video clip made to protest the allegedly racist behavior of two Malay school principals. The two teachers had apparently told their Chinese pupils to go back to China and one of them likened the Indians to dogs.
Outright rejection of multi-racialism
Ibrahim Ali - Chua's 'mirror' image
In an interview with the Singapore Straits Times, Soi Lek said the emergence of a strong political opposition in Malaysia had failed to reduce racial sentiments. He also accused the Pakatan parties of being as race-based as the BN.
“Whoever comes to power, whether it’s BN or PR, it’s a game of balancing, of managing the expectations, needs and fears of all the races. And this is not an easy game,” Soi Lek had said.
Pundits however point out that racial tensions rose in Malaysia not because of the Pakatan, but due to 53-years of built-up communal politics promulgated by the BN. In particular, Umno has been accused of stirring hatred in the Malays for the minorities especially the Chinese.
In the courses run by the BN's National Civics Bureau, it has been revealed that university graduates and civil servants were taught that Chinese are like Jews – the traditional enemy of the Muslims.
Yet Soi Lek made no mention of these factors, opting to pin his views on baser human instincts rather than call for a concerted national effort to blur racial lines. Such a call would surely get him into trouble with Umno, which promotes a Malay supremacy policy.
“He is a bogus and insincere leader. Malaysians especially Malaysian Chinese must ask why they should ever vote for him since he cannot even fulfill the basic requirements of nation-building,” PKR strategic director Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.
Chua bids to regain votes with Chinese chauvinism?
If Malaysian Chinese held hopes the MCA could help broker a new politics for the country that tore through racial lines, then they will be sadly disappointed. MCA president Chua Soi Lek not only admitted racial tensions were rising in Malaysia, but refused to acknowledge it was due to the divide-and-rule policies promoted by the ruling BN coalition, insisting that race politics would always be the name of the game.
“It confirms what the Chinese community has been saying about him since he became president. He’s a running dog for Umno and can never take MCA or the Chinese community to new heights,” PKR vice president Lee Boon Chye told Malaysia Chronicle.
“He has promised to stay as president for only one year. MCA members better make sure he doesn’t change his mind because one year with him is already one year wasted. A good leader could have done so much more to help improve race relations in the country. But instead of trying, he has already made up his mind it can never happen. Why? Is it to curry favor with Umno so he can stay on when his year is up?”
Gaffes
Chua already given a warning by Muhyiddin
Indeed the 63-year Soi Lek has only become more unpopular after public sympathy over his sex scandal helped him to wrest the MCA presidency from Ong Tee Keat earlier this year. But initial rumblings that Soi Lek was aligned to the right-wing Umno faction controlled by former premier Mahathir Mohamad and Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassan have now gained credence especially as he positions himself against the multi-racialism desired by the great majority of Malaysian Chinese.
He has tried to show MCA’s independence from Umno, the dominating partner in the BN coalition, by calling for an end to the 30 percent Malay and Bumiputera corporate equity target. But he quickly retreated after Muhyiddin and other ultra-Malay rights leaders like Ibrahim Ali bombarded him with threats and warnings not to challenge their status.
Soi Lek got into another scrape when he tried to turn the Chinese community against PAS, the Islamic-based party in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, but again had to U-turn after prominent Muslim leaders in the country took him to task for what they said was his religious ignorance and bigotry.
The MCA president also failed a major test when he refused to speak up for controversial rapper Namewee, whom Umno leaders had wanted to prosecute for a three-minute video clip made to protest the allegedly racist behavior of two Malay school principals. The two teachers had apparently told their Chinese pupils to go back to China and one of them likened the Indians to dogs.
Outright rejection of multi-racialism
Ibrahim Ali - Chua's 'mirror' image
In an interview with the Singapore Straits Times, Soi Lek said the emergence of a strong political opposition in Malaysia had failed to reduce racial sentiments. He also accused the Pakatan parties of being as race-based as the BN.
“Whoever comes to power, whether it’s BN or PR, it’s a game of balancing, of managing the expectations, needs and fears of all the races. And this is not an easy game,” Soi Lek had said.
Pundits however point out that racial tensions rose in Malaysia not because of the Pakatan, but due to 53-years of built-up communal politics promulgated by the BN. In particular, Umno has been accused of stirring hatred in the Malays for the minorities especially the Chinese.
In the courses run by the BN's National Civics Bureau, it has been revealed that university graduates and civil servants were taught that Chinese are like Jews – the traditional enemy of the Muslims.
Yet Soi Lek made no mention of these factors, opting to pin his views on baser human instincts rather than call for a concerted national effort to blur racial lines. Such a call would surely get him into trouble with Umno, which promotes a Malay supremacy policy.
“He is a bogus and insincere leader. Malaysians especially Malaysian Chinese must ask why they should ever vote for him since he cannot even fulfill the basic requirements of nation-building,” PKR strategic director Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.
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