Lacklustre MCA, The Sick Man of Malaysia
(Wfol.tv - Riau, Indonesia - 21. 11. 09):- The future of the Barisan National (BN) is linked to the resolution of the conflict within the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA). Will Najib Razak's peace deal seal the sinking ship or will it accelerate the rot?
Party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, under pressure by some powerful groups within the MCA to quit his post and pressed by some Umno members to also quit as Minister in the Prime Minister department is said to be the one person who can probably help bring change to the party. Deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, ousted for his role in a 'porn' video, is back with a bang within the party but that does not mean he will 'revive' the MCA in the process.
PM Najib is now vetting between both camps, proposing the same plan that he hopes will be executed immediately in order to salvage the MCA from sinking further in the murky waters of division. The stronger the MCA, the better the chances of the BN to maintain its grip on power in the country. The MCA is the conductor that can bring the Chinese community to support the BN in the next general elections (GE). Without a solution, the elections will be in jeopardy but finding a quick fix may mean general elections are not far away and this should be a warning for the Pakatan Rakyat (PR).
However, there are a few issues of great importance to the BN and to Prime Minister Najib Razak's 1Malaysia concept that seperates the MCA to the BN. And this situation will become more and more explosive if the leadership tussle within the MCA is not resolved quickly and the 'unity' plan is not implemented immediately. Under the 1Malaysia concept, there must be 1 school for every single Malaysians. The MCA has in the past, played its role in grooming the Malaysian Chinese to adopt the Chinese Vernaculary schools and abandon the Government schools. The Chinese community leaders and MCA supporters blame the United Malays National Organization (Umno) for the situation that has drained most of the Chinese pupils away from the Sekolah Kebangsaan Malaysia. They went to study in the Chinese vernaculary schools in order to escape what they call 'brainwashing' and a form of 'racism' which they feared would damage their children.Najib has an uphill battle with the 1Malaysia schooling system as without the Chinese and the Tamil-Indians of Malaysia supporting the Malaysian national school system, there may not be a 1Malaysia afterall.
The Chinese community is also blaming the BN for any losses of the business they once controlled and which has fallen into the hands of other communities. This will be hard to reverse since once lost, these businesses will surely remain in the hands of those in control. Hence the Chinese community, abandoning the MCA for not being able to defend these 'rights' to control a certain businesses; will look elsewhere to establish their 'just cause'. The Pakatan is promising a fairer distribution of the national cake and a larger integration of non-Muslim communities into the social fabric of the country. This is appealing to the Chinese community and if the BN is not ready to grant more 'aid' and 'support' to the non-Muslims, it risk losing more in the near future.
There is also the issue of 'rights' that seem to be one issue that has offended the Chinese and the Indian communities altogether. The Chinese community is seen as the one that can force the necessary changes needed in the way the country is run, that is less biased approaches by the authorities and lesser 'stigmatization' of the non-Muslim communities. These are the basic complaints by the Chinese community leaders in general and are the reasons why the BN is losing touch with the realities in Malaysia, observers said to Wfol.tv.
Since the MCA is the political wild card that the BN need to beat the PR in any future GE and the MCA is far from being the party that use to assemble a large majority of the Chinese community under its wings, the overall situation is much to the detriment of the BN. The MCA is not the same strong and adamant party it was a few years ago. It has fallen and is now a weaker organization, struggling to regain its composure, and risk dragging the entire Barisan machinery down with it. Though the PR may rejoice over this prospect, the fact remains that many of the former MCA supporters and leaders are currently sitting on the fence, waiting to be swayed by any parties offering the right solutions for a community that feels it is being duped.
Nevertheless, the Chinese community itself is in turmoil and this is highly reflected in the mess that the MCA is in. Malaysia's Chinese community is known for the cooperation that has brought them together as a united force for decades. Their communal capacities are well known with the power to help each other and support even the needy at times. However, since the fall of the MCA in 2008, the Chinese community is now in search of a new political aspiration. WIll it give total support to the BN again or will it climb onto another ship, the Pakatan and try a soul searching in the process? The Chinese community is aware that the future of the BN is closely linked to the fate of the MCA. The death of the MCA will only mean the death of the BN and for the MCA to be buried from its misfortunes in 2008, it has to be abandoned by the Chinese community as a whole.
The irony of Malaysian politics is that it is Abdullah Badawi, the man who changed the face of Malaysia's blogosphere and media with a larger freedom to maneouver and criticize the regime in power, who paid the heavier price for MCA's failure to deliver more seats to the BN. In 2008, it is the MCA that suffered the most along with the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) and the Gerakan party. Abdullah was removed as Prime Minister after much brouhaha by former PM Tun Mahathir Mohamad who saw in Abdullah the reason for the BN's massive failure to win big in 2008.
The MCA's poor performance is not linked to the ills caused by Abdullah Badawi with his openness towards the media and the injecting of more democratic values in the country. It has to do with the Chinese Community finally reacting to the marginalization of the Chinese in the country. As weird as it sounds, the rich Chinese community did not much for the poorer and for middle class Chinese since 2004, when the same Abdullah Badawi delivered the biggest and most resounding BN victory in history.
Today the party that is seen as helpless, unable to keep up with reality and is losing credibility with its mainly Chinese supporters. In the wake of the recent turmoil within the party, the MCA is finding it tougher to implement a 'rebranding' exercise. The rebranding, thought to be the way forward for the party, is stuck between the obvious disunity that continues to plague the party and its loyalty to the BN.
While it is true that the United Malays National Organization (Umno) is doing better with a stronger leader in the seat and with at least half of the Malay-Muslim community still behind it, the BN needs the return of the non-Muslim support if it want to keep the ruling mantle on in the future. With the MCA's popularity plummetting everytime, there are fears that the BN too will see its popularity rating go down due to the lack of Chinese support to the MCA. The MCA, incapable of change, will have to battle hard within itself to regain the support that it enjoyed in the past, said Muhamad Isa, a political observer to Wfol.tv.
One thing is clear, the unity plan proposed by Najib Razak is being pushed ahead on both camps fighting it out within the MCA with elections in mind. The MCA's peace plan will be the next step in the major rebranding and repositioning of the BN itself in the eyes of the public in general. The BN popularity rating is also plummetting and this will be seen with the lacklustre support the ruling coalition will garner in the next GE, which PM Najib is battling hard to prevent.
The Chinese community has not 'returned' to the folds of the BN and has abandoned the MCA as a matter fact and this counts highly in the ratings of the BN. The fate of the MCA is altogether based on the support that it will get from the Chinese community members and since this seem to have vanished for the time being, there's no indication that this situation will be redressed. The party is sick man of Malaysia and this sickness is fast spreading like a virus that will bring the BN to face more difficulties in the future.
And this, unless a drastic change of heart takes place within the party itself, which seems impossible at the moment.
PM Najib is now vetting between both camps, proposing the same plan that he hopes will be executed immediately in order to salvage the MCA from sinking further in the murky waters of division. The stronger the MCA, the better the chances of the BN to maintain its grip on power in the country. The MCA is the conductor that can bring the Chinese community to support the BN in the next general elections (GE). Without a solution, the elections will be in jeopardy but finding a quick fix may mean general elections are not far away and this should be a warning for the Pakatan Rakyat (PR).
However, there are a few issues of great importance to the BN and to Prime Minister Najib Razak's 1Malaysia concept that seperates the MCA to the BN. And this situation will become more and more explosive if the leadership tussle within the MCA is not resolved quickly and the 'unity' plan is not implemented immediately. Under the 1Malaysia concept, there must be 1 school for every single Malaysians. The MCA has in the past, played its role in grooming the Malaysian Chinese to adopt the Chinese Vernaculary schools and abandon the Government schools. The Chinese community leaders and MCA supporters blame the United Malays National Organization (Umno) for the situation that has drained most of the Chinese pupils away from the Sekolah Kebangsaan Malaysia. They went to study in the Chinese vernaculary schools in order to escape what they call 'brainwashing' and a form of 'racism' which they feared would damage their children.Najib has an uphill battle with the 1Malaysia schooling system as without the Chinese and the Tamil-Indians of Malaysia supporting the Malaysian national school system, there may not be a 1Malaysia afterall.
The Chinese community is also blaming the BN for any losses of the business they once controlled and which has fallen into the hands of other communities. This will be hard to reverse since once lost, these businesses will surely remain in the hands of those in control. Hence the Chinese community, abandoning the MCA for not being able to defend these 'rights' to control a certain businesses; will look elsewhere to establish their 'just cause'. The Pakatan is promising a fairer distribution of the national cake and a larger integration of non-Muslim communities into the social fabric of the country. This is appealing to the Chinese community and if the BN is not ready to grant more 'aid' and 'support' to the non-Muslims, it risk losing more in the near future.
There is also the issue of 'rights' that seem to be one issue that has offended the Chinese and the Indian communities altogether. The Chinese community is seen as the one that can force the necessary changes needed in the way the country is run, that is less biased approaches by the authorities and lesser 'stigmatization' of the non-Muslim communities. These are the basic complaints by the Chinese community leaders in general and are the reasons why the BN is losing touch with the realities in Malaysia, observers said to Wfol.tv.
Since the MCA is the political wild card that the BN need to beat the PR in any future GE and the MCA is far from being the party that use to assemble a large majority of the Chinese community under its wings, the overall situation is much to the detriment of the BN. The MCA is not the same strong and adamant party it was a few years ago. It has fallen and is now a weaker organization, struggling to regain its composure, and risk dragging the entire Barisan machinery down with it. Though the PR may rejoice over this prospect, the fact remains that many of the former MCA supporters and leaders are currently sitting on the fence, waiting to be swayed by any parties offering the right solutions for a community that feels it is being duped.
Nevertheless, the Chinese community itself is in turmoil and this is highly reflected in the mess that the MCA is in. Malaysia's Chinese community is known for the cooperation that has brought them together as a united force for decades. Their communal capacities are well known with the power to help each other and support even the needy at times. However, since the fall of the MCA in 2008, the Chinese community is now in search of a new political aspiration. WIll it give total support to the BN again or will it climb onto another ship, the Pakatan and try a soul searching in the process? The Chinese community is aware that the future of the BN is closely linked to the fate of the MCA. The death of the MCA will only mean the death of the BN and for the MCA to be buried from its misfortunes in 2008, it has to be abandoned by the Chinese community as a whole.
The irony of Malaysian politics is that it is Abdullah Badawi, the man who changed the face of Malaysia's blogosphere and media with a larger freedom to maneouver and criticize the regime in power, who paid the heavier price for MCA's failure to deliver more seats to the BN. In 2008, it is the MCA that suffered the most along with the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) and the Gerakan party. Abdullah was removed as Prime Minister after much brouhaha by former PM Tun Mahathir Mohamad who saw in Abdullah the reason for the BN's massive failure to win big in 2008.
The MCA's poor performance is not linked to the ills caused by Abdullah Badawi with his openness towards the media and the injecting of more democratic values in the country. It has to do with the Chinese Community finally reacting to the marginalization of the Chinese in the country. As weird as it sounds, the rich Chinese community did not much for the poorer and for middle class Chinese since 2004, when the same Abdullah Badawi delivered the biggest and most resounding BN victory in history.
Today the party that is seen as helpless, unable to keep up with reality and is losing credibility with its mainly Chinese supporters. In the wake of the recent turmoil within the party, the MCA is finding it tougher to implement a 'rebranding' exercise. The rebranding, thought to be the way forward for the party, is stuck between the obvious disunity that continues to plague the party and its loyalty to the BN.
While it is true that the United Malays National Organization (Umno) is doing better with a stronger leader in the seat and with at least half of the Malay-Muslim community still behind it, the BN needs the return of the non-Muslim support if it want to keep the ruling mantle on in the future. With the MCA's popularity plummetting everytime, there are fears that the BN too will see its popularity rating go down due to the lack of Chinese support to the MCA. The MCA, incapable of change, will have to battle hard within itself to regain the support that it enjoyed in the past, said Muhamad Isa, a political observer to Wfol.tv.
One thing is clear, the unity plan proposed by Najib Razak is being pushed ahead on both camps fighting it out within the MCA with elections in mind. The MCA's peace plan will be the next step in the major rebranding and repositioning of the BN itself in the eyes of the public in general. The BN popularity rating is also plummetting and this will be seen with the lacklustre support the ruling coalition will garner in the next GE, which PM Najib is battling hard to prevent.
The Chinese community has not 'returned' to the folds of the BN and has abandoned the MCA as a matter fact and this counts highly in the ratings of the BN. The fate of the MCA is altogether based on the support that it will get from the Chinese community members and since this seem to have vanished for the time being, there's no indication that this situation will be redressed. The party is sick man of Malaysia and this sickness is fast spreading like a virus that will bring the BN to face more difficulties in the future.
And this, unless a drastic change of heart takes place within the party itself, which seems impossible at the moment.
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