I refer to the Malaysiakini report Don't bluff me, Soi Lek warns .

I think Chua Soi Lek has completely missed the point. Clearly, he wants to come back to the cabinet.

But even if one ignores his earlier indiscretion, I think his wish is fundamentally flawed on several grounds.

Firstly, he never asked to be made a minister in his recent MCA elections manifesto. In fact, in several media interviews he gave in the run-up to the MCA elections, he had consistently said that a return to the cabinet was not important, and putting MCA's reform was the first agenda.

So, why did he change his mind so soon after the election?

Secondly, he publicly declared that he had quit as a member of parliament in January to take responsibility for his widely-publicised tryst which was caught on video camera.

That being the case, Article 48 of the federal constitution stipulates that he can no longer be a federal legislator. If so, I wonder how Soi Lek is now able to become a minister?

Furthermore, based on the words and deeds of the newly-minted MCA president, Ong Tee Keat, I do not think Soi Lek stands a chance of coming back to the country's top executive body.

Tee Keat may have his flaws and may come across as cocky. But Soi Lek blew his chances by jumping the gun and making presumptions about what Tee Keat would or would not do with his list of nominees for cabinet positions.

Having won the MCA’s deputy president election (albeit by a slim majority) does not mean that Soi Lek has won the public’s stamp of approval.

A litmus test would be for him to stand for a by-election (possibly triggered by the resignation of his own son in Labis). For that poll, he would need to contest on a platform of seeking a mandate to return to the cabinet.

I can't understand why Soi Lek can't emulate Tan Koon Swan, who left the cabinet to sort out his own problems.

Koon Swan's post eventually went to Chan Siang Sun. The fact is, morality has a strong bearing on whether one should hold public office or not.

Until and unless Soi Lek demonstrates remorse, he should just thank his lucky stars that he won the MCA deputy president election keeping in mindit was not the general public who voted him in.

Otherwise, he would have continued to remain in political Siberia.