Dr Chua Soi Lek’s triumph in the recent MCA presidential election and his eagerness to get down to work amid various hullabaloos, especially from the recent resignation of the MCA Wanita chief is probably the right attitude that we should adopt in life.

Look, this man had been dealt with lethal knockout punches but is still able to make a return. You got to admire his tenacity which probably also contributed to his past infidelity. Right, lesson learned. If we use our desires in the correct manner, there is nothing we cannot achieve.

Now, though he had been voted in by his MCA peers, my concern here is that he is going to find it tough and awkward to carry out some aspects of his duties, I mean from the ethical moral perspective.

As of now, Chua and many of his followers have chosen to forgive, forget and disregard what happened and focus on what lies ahead. That is good and positive. MCA is now besieged by various issues including low morale, bad publicity, infighting and political survival.

In the minds of the central delegates, these are far more important matters on the MCA agenda than anything else. I empathise with central delegates as they are just feed up and downright disgusted and disenchanted with the current quandary. They need a no-nonsense leader more than anything else in the mould of  Chua to lend his experience, aptitude and compassion to get this second-largest Malaysian party out of its life-threatening doldrums.

In another perspective, the Chinese Malaysian (no disrespect to the deputy chief, I am Malaysian first, Chinese second) may sympathise with the MCA in view of the party crisis. However, is Chua their overall choice? What are the attributes the Chinese Malaysians are looking for in a Chinese leader?

Do we know the essential historical values and beliefs that are most important to Chinese Malaysians? What do we tell our children who want to emulate an exemplary Chinese leader? Can the Chinese Malaysians bypass all these customary core values simply because there are more important things to unravel in the MCA at the present moment?

The Chinese Malaysians are also taught from young to forgive those who repent. However, Chua’s tainted image is hard to be cleansed from the minds of most Chinese Malaysians. No matter how hard and how single-minded Chua is, he is fighting a mounting battle which is beyond him this instance simply because he is in a position that contradicts the attributes and core values required of a true Chinese leader.

If today he is still plying his trade as a general practitioner, he could be forgiven as a person with a disreputable past. However, when he is a leader representing the Chinese Malaysians, his past will bring him in collision with the essence of Chinese ethical values and beliefs.

Visualize this - how does the younger generation perceive their Chinese leader if Chua is asked to give a talk on Chinese core values at a school? What about when he is asked to come face-to- face with group of women audience and talk about issues close to women’s hearts?

Well, Chua can easily delegate all these works to the Wanita wing but deep in the minds of the Chinese Malaysians, Chua represents the MCA and as the Chinese proverb says, ‘The top beam is not straight, the bottom beam crooked’.

There is no place to run and hide. In realty, like it or not, it is going to put the MCA, let alone the president, in an awkward situation. I do not think MCA and Chua can handsomely avoid these uneasy situations because after all, the leaders are chosen by the people, especially the Chinese Malaysians and not just by the central delegates.

I hope that during Chua’s tenancy, he can unite the party and resolve all the impending issues disconcerting the party.When all the grime in MCA is trimmed down, the priority of the central delegates and the Chinese Malaysians might change.

Chua’s past and its alignment with the historical Chinese ethical moral values will continue to challenge his moral integrity as a leader. This is the cruel reality for MCA and Chua.

When the time comes, what Chua said about Chew Mei will return to haunt him and I quote: ‘It is normal for leaders to come and go in a democracy’.  I wish Dr Chua Soi Lek and MCA all the very best.