Let's face it. MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat is fast losing his grip on MCA. His foes have strategically cornered him in a checkmated position with few allies who are standing with him. His greater unity plan is in shambles as his supposed rival cum friend Deputy President Chua Soi Lek resigned unexpectedly together with seven of his elected central committee supporters. Fresh polls are to be held at the end of this month. The question is - has it been worth it for him to engage in this one-year battle with Chua? Where is MCA today? Torn and tattered, desperate and divided, the party has now broken up into different factions and groups, each probably with allegiance to different leaders.
Is this the party that is 61 years old and once-upon-a-time defended the interests of the Chinese community? Sadly, yes. They are a pale shadow of what it used to be.
If you have been following the news, it is obvious that the king-makers and forces at work here are both from internal and external sources.
Is it a coincidence that Chua and his magnificent seven plus the thirteen from Liow's side total up to the two-thirds of the party's Central Committee members? Lim Kit Siang said HERE that puppet masters are behind the resignations. Is it a coincidence that the PM is also not attending the AGM tomorrow?
What else has been happening?
Malaysiakini reported HERE that the MCA Youth Wing annual general meeting (AGM) was boycotted by the bulk of party delegates as only a handful showing up. The meeting, held at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, was to begin at 9am but no more than 10 of the 1,742 delegates could be seen at the venue by that time. At the same time, the Wanita AGM at Wisma MCA was attended by 350 delegates - about one-fifth of the 2,037 representatives. Most obvious was the absence of all the wing's top leaders, including women's chief Chew Mei Fun. These two events alone foreshadow the doomed fate of OTK.
Another report by Malaysiakini HERE outlines the soap opera style of the Wanita AGM. Excerpt from Malaysiakini:
The meeting turned emotional at one point when one of its central committee member, Chong Sau Chan from Perak, started crying on the stage, causing all other members to sob.
“I am very sad that such thing has happened to us in MCA. This thing shouldn't have happened,” Chong said.
The delegates present even claimed that there was an attempt to sabotage the meeting by locking the secretariat room by Chew's faction aimed at denying them access to the facilities and the secretary-general's reports kept in the room.
Another report HERE outlines weaknesses in the leadership style of OTK which has led to the current pathetic state of affairs. I am not going to waste my time writing about it. The writing is on the wall. MCA has almost expired and if such internal squabbles exist, if indeed there are hands that are moving pawns and main players in this chess game, this party is no longer able to defend the interests of the Chinese community. PERIOD. In fact, their shelf-life expired long ago and were surviving on oxygen tanks provided by unseen forces.
The leaders should just dissolve the party, forget about MCA and join one of the Pakatan Rakyat component parties IF they are serious about the well-being of both the Chinese community and Malaysia as a whole. Otherwise, all that is unfolding before us is not only shocking but utterly disgraceful.
End the chess game NOW. However, we know this will never happen because too much is at stake. For them, that is, not for us!!
