I refer to the Malaysiakini report Selling the 'reform' mantra to MCA.

The MCA election looms huge in the horizon. Oct 18 is May Day for MCA. The campaign for office is getting hotter and hotter each day.

The 'blame game' has begun. Chua Jui Meng is fighting for a resurrection of his political life. He keeps harping on what he said in parliament in 1988. He subsequently got into the cabinet and he was there for almost a decade.

What happened to his voice in those intervening years?

For all intents and purpose, he was silently resting in the comfort of his cabinet position. At best, he was prim and proper with the government, choosing to be silent, abstaining or refusing from voicing out on issues and rocking the boat.

In so doing, he and his MCA colleagues in the cabinet had co-created the dilemma BN and the MCA found themselves in ie, rejected by the rakyat and devastated in the March 8 general election.

Let us face the reality - this former MCA minister was no 'Yang Berani'. To many, he is just attempting to brand himself for political expediency to vie for the top party post. But he had his chances and he failed to take them.

He should just learn to step aside, let go and allow the more dynamic, more vocal, younger and better candidate Ong Tee Keat to lead MCA forward.

Should Ong Tee Keat get elected as MCA president, he must prove to the people that he dares to stand up against the dominant partner in the BN.

Many are aware that Ong has many friends in Umno which he may not want to offend but if and when some of Umno's leaders were to make derogatory statements against the Chinese community as happened in the past, he cannot choose to remain quiet.

Then, there is this much published call from Donald Lim to the MCA President Ong Ka Ting for an explanation of the massive losses suffered by MCA in the purchase of the Nanyang shares.

It is alleged that MCA lost more than RM100 million. That takeover of Nanyang in 2001 drew a lot of criticism both from the journalistic fraternity and the Chinese community and also form the Team B in MCA.

MCA's mild response via its Legal Bureau Chairman may sound reasonable on paper but on hindsight, the reality may be amiss. There was much lobbying, elbowing, instigating and expediting for that deal against the onslaught of public outrage and outcry.

That deal may have a 'dark and sinister' side. In the name of transparency and accountability, it would be good to clear the air and come clean in the present winds of change in MCA.

RM100 million is a lot of money. Legally, there is a possibility to impute a fiduciary failure on the promoters of this deal in the MCA leadership and proceed with legal action to make them accountable to this massive loss due to their gross negligence if proven.

On hindsight, it is a legitimate question to ask how competent and knowledgeable were the trio of Ong Ka Ting, Hon Choon Kim and the former Penang state assemblywoman Tan Cheng Liang over the financial implications and mechanics of the takeover when they promoted and cajoled the party to make that purchase at the 2001 EGM.