According to a July 28 report in Chinese-language daily Sin Chew Jit Poh , the chairperson of the women's wing of Penang MCA, Ooi Siew Kim, was quoted as urging the party "to stop internal squabbles" in order " fight for the post of Penang chief minister".

Reportedly speaking in the 49th MCA annual general assembly, Ooi's call indicates that the ongoing rivalry between MCA and Gerakan is still very much alive. Gerakan, a Chinese-predominated multiethnic partner of MCA and Umno, has been controlling the state government of Penang since 1969.

In the 1969 general election, the then opposition Gerakan, aided by the Democratic Action Party (DAP), seized control of the state government after the opposition coalition defeated the MCA-predominated Alliance (forerunner of the Barisan Nasional) state government. Gerakan later joined the ruling BN front in 1974, thus becoming a nominal ally of MCA.

After MCA's defeat in the 1969 general election, the post of Penang chief minister was passed to a former president of Gerakan, Dr Lim Chong Eu who was once a president of MCA until he quit the party in 1964 following a confrontation with Umno over the allocation of seats as well as the issue of Chinese education.

In the 1990 general election, Lim was defeated by the then Opposition Leader and secretary-general of DAP, Lim Kit Siang, and the post of chief minister was passed on to Dr Koh Tsu Koon, a former activist of the Chinese education movement, Dong Jiao Zong, who joined Gerakan only in 1982.

Crossover to MCA

Nine years later in the 1999 general election, MCA under the now controversial leadership of Dr Ling Liong Sik planned to "take back" the post of Penang chief minister, but failed. After the elections, two state assembly representatives nominated by Gerakan crossed over to MCA, bringing the MCA-Gerakan rivalry to the surface.

In the controversy of MCA's takeover of two Chinese-language newspapers last year, Gerakan joined the chorus of protestors ranging from Umno deputy president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to Ling's internal rival group to "advise" MCA "to be sensitive to the feeling of the Chinese community".

At one point, the Gerakan president publicly belittled the MCA-owned English daily, The Star as a "toilet paper".

The takeover by MCA of Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press was also strongly and publicly opposed by a large segment of the Chinese civil society, including the president of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM), Lim Guan, Teik and the then president of the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (SCAH), Ngan Chin Wen.

With the proposal by Umno to change the medium of instruction of science and mathematics in all primary schools to English, MCA and Gerakan seem to have found another battleground for the hearts and minds of the ethnic Chinese.

According to a malaysiakini report on July 27, MCA secretary-general Dr Ting Chew Peh was quoted as objecting to the Umno proposal.

Ting, an ex-lecturer of sociology with the National University of Malaysia, was also quoted as saying that a lengthier study should be conducted before implementing the proposal, and the consideration of the ethnic Chinese and educationists be included.

Same stand as opposition

The Chinese-educated but British-trained sociologist also said: "If we use English, the character of Chinese primary schools will be affected." MCA's position seems to coincide with the stands taken by the opposition Alternative Front that is comprised of PAS, Keadilan and PRM, as well as Dong Jiao Zong.

However, it is learnt that while Gerakan was prepared to fully support the Umno proposal, it has quietly backed down in view of MCA's public reservation. Gerakan is certainly not willing to risk being perceived by the ethnic Chinese as 'sabotaging' MCA's 'struggle for the Chinese community' against Umno's proposal.

Gerakan's frustration was publicly expressed by its president, Dr Lim Keng Yaik. On July 29, the Umno-controlled New Straits Times quoted Keng Yaik as saying that all five Chinese-based parties in the ruling coalition should take a common stand on issues affecting the nation.

Keng Yaik, who was expelled from MCA in 1973, was also quoted as saying that the common stand was important "to complement" the position adopted by Umno and the government.

According to the report, he also said: "The Chinese community will be confused if these parties adopted different views on government policies". The five Chinese-based parties are MCA, Gerakan, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) in Sabah and the Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP).

He also revealed that Gerakan and MCA held an informal dialogue on the current issues two weeks ago.

However, even if the English-educated president of Gerakan is finally able to prevail in the party's support for Umno's proposal to make English the medium of instruction in science and mathematics in all primary schools, Gerakan will still be confronting a problem, perhaps an even larger one.

It is well known that the Gerakan Penang Chief Minister Koh, deputy president Kerk Choo Ting and one of the vice-presidents, Dr Kang Chin Seng, were leaders and activists of Dong Jiao Zong before they joined the party in 1982 with the promise to "reform the BN from within" and "preserve Chinese education and the identity of Chinese schools".

Chinese chauvinists

In fact, Dong Jiao Zong, the umbrella organisation of the Chinese educationists now publicly insinuated by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to be "Chinese chauvinists" and "extremists", officially campaigned for the BN in the 1982 general election, especially for the three Gerakan top leaders.

Thus, if Gerakan is to take a stand to support Umno's proposal, the three top Gerakan leaders would not only be attacked by DAP, but also embarrassed by MCA's more 'righteous' and 'correct' stand.

As indicated by MCA Penang women chief Ooi, the party is still very much interested in "taking back" the chief minister's post from Gerakan. In other words, MCA could use the issue of Chinese education to undermine Gerakan in the Chinese-predominated state of Penang.

On this issue, although Umno is smart to use Gerakan as a check against Ling's MCA, the latter seems to be even smarter by calibrating its position with those taken by Dong Jiao Zong and the opposition Barisan Alternatif to strike an overall balance of power vis-a-vis Umno's dominant faction.

Seen in the perspective of the love-hate relations among Umno, MCA and Gerakan, Mahathir's statement that component parties of the BN must accept the allocation of seats for the next general election has become more intelligible.

Political expediency

The MCA president certainly knows well that it is Umno which needs MCA now, not vice versa. Ling also seems to know that in the interest of political expediency and self-preservation, Mahathir still 'loves' Team A, not Team B of MCA, at least until the next general election is over.

If this political analysis stands, it then means that the speculation that Ling and his sons would soon get into 'legal' troubles are all 'rumours' spread, or 'hopes' expressed by his rivals in Team B or Team C. Team C is essentially a sub-faction of Team A which, while disliking Team B, also hopes Ling would 'retire' as soon as possible.

For this, Gerakan and its president also have reasons to be anxious and frustrated. The party is simply not as strong as MCA to ensure the survival of Umno on the national scale, and MCA is still eyeing the post of Penang chief minister.

Thus, while the Islamic heartland has seen a stalemate between Umno and PAS, the Chinese-predominated Penang, the home grounds of premier in waiting Abdullah and his predecessor Anwar Ibrahim (and his wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail), would most likely be witnessing a great battle among MCA, Gerakan, DAP, Umno and Keadilan, in the coming general election.

JAMES WONG WING ON is chief analyst of Strategic Analysis Malaysia (SAM) which produces the subscriber-based political report, Analysis Malaysia . Wong is a former member of parliament (1990-1995) and a former columnist for the Sin Chew Jit Poh Chinese daily. He read political science and economics at the Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. While in Sin Chew , he and a team of journalists won the top awards of Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) for 1998 and 1999.