COMMENT When smart people started asking questions, those in leadership at MCA could only shiver and shudder.

The delegates who stood up to speak represented the voices of the grassroots supporters and the Chinese community at large.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had once again rubbed salt into the wound when he told the MCA delegates: “We cannot do it alone. The Malays cannot do it alone, and the Chinese cannot do it alone.”

Earlier when the red shirt supporters led by Sungai Besar Umno division leader Jamal Mohd Yunos called the Chinese “Cina Babi”, Najib did nothing to reprimand or discipline them; instead, Najib praised the red shirt rally as being peaceful.

Najib had conveniently ignored the group of a thousand over red shirt supporters who wanted to barge into Petaling Street, but was later dispersed by the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU). None of these issues were addressed adequately by Najib during the MCA general assembly.

Smart people, right questions

When several delegates queried MCA president Liow Tiong Lai and his deputy president Wee Ka Siong in the open, they drove home a strong point - that MCA is no longer relevant to the Chinese community if it continues to play second fiddle to Umno in Barisan Nasional.

Instead of making a stand on some principles, MCA leaders were trying to maintain the status quo.

The questions raised were also a veiled attack against Najib, who had said that Umno could not do it alone without the support of the Chinese. On other occasions, when Umno leaders themselves said that Umno would still rule the country without the support of the Chinese community, Najib maintained his elegant silence.

The voices of dissent in the meeting was also aimed at both Liow and Wee. Liow had both vowed that MCA would remain in BN’s fold, while Wee said that the Chinese “should not gamble on their future by further eroding their representation in the government in the next general election.”

One delegate was, in fact, implying that Najib had gambled away the future of Malaysians when he urged the MCA leadership to openly call for Najib’s resignation.

His fellow delegate was equally point blank when he raised the question about MCA’s share in the RM2.6 billion ‘political fund’.

Based on Najib’s own confession, the cynicism around the RM2.6 billion ‘donation by an Arab royal family’ was meant to be used during the last general election. If so, the MCA leadership owed an explanation to their supporters as to where the money had ended up.

With MCA being the second biggest political party in BN, both Liow and Wee are now effectively drawn into the 1MDB black hole.

What share did MCA enjoy from the huge chunk of money donated by the Arab royal family? Or, were both Liow and Wee also left in the dark, since former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin as Umno deputy president had no idea whatsoever about the fund and where it had come from?

If Liow and Wee did not know about the political fund, on what basis then did they believe that the money had been donated by a royal Arab family?

Now that even the rat in the house knows about several transactions involving Najib’s personal accounts, why are Liow and Wee not coming out to urge the prime minister to come clean?

Do they have more to lose than to gain, by remaining silent? Delegates are likely to ask more questions. Or, do they value their cabinet positions that they are now oblivious of the people’s grouses?

Whether they will respond to the questions raised by the delegates or not is something to be watched, but it is interesting enough to note that neither Liow nor Wee had raised the issue of Najib’s threat to sue former MCA president Ling Liong Sik.

MCA likely to crumble, too

Under the present leadership, MCA is likely to suffer the same fate as its main partner in BN in the next general election, which has to be called within the next 30 months.

It always begins with a few voices of dissent but word will soon spread like wildfire thereafter when these delegates return to their own branches. Unless Wee and Liow are willing to step up their ante against Najib, they too will likely come under fire.

MCA has come a long way since Ling’s time. It has changed leadership several times, and whenever the leaders themselves fail to show the leadership, there will be those who are willing to grind the axe with the leadership. They will not rest until these weak leaders are removed.

In the battle between two former MCA presidents Ong Tee Keat and Dr Chua Soi Lek, and later between Dr Chua and Liow, MCA is clearly split between various factions.

Given the existing political climate, most Chinese who used to support the MCA would not give it a hoot come the next general election.

The leadership should have learnt from their mistakes in the last general election, but when they choose to do business as usual, MCA will once go on the rocks come the fourteenth general election.

This time, the vessel may simply totally shipwrecked in the same way that Gerakan has been abandoned by its supporters.

Once shipwrecked, there will be other more multiracial parties out there, willing to represent the one-third of the country’s population, paving the way towards a more Malaysian Malaysia.

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.