SF o­ng wrote that MCA should not let Umno be the sole hegemon. What he means is that MCA has always had to 'listen' to Umno, the 'Big Brother' in BN.

He may be right in this sense; MCA leaders have had to toe the line and abide by Umno leaders' wishes. This has been the modus operandi of MCA in BN since1970, so it comes as no big surprise to the Chinese community in this country.

Every MCA leader since then who do not 'toe the Umno line' has been smacked down and 'deposed', such as Lee San Choon, Neo Yee Pan and Tan Koon Swan. Ling Liong Sik has fared better and lasted longer by being compliant to the wishes of Umno bigwigs, to the extent that his alleged excesses and 'wrongdoings' are tolerated and condoned by Umno.

This has been the hallmark of the BN government since Mahathir took power. The public perception is that as long as a political or business leader (Malay, Kadazan, Chinese, Iban) is in the good books of Mahathir (Rafidah Aziz, Rahim Thamby Chik, Ting Pek Khiing, Eric Chia, etc) he or she will 'escape' prosecution either through stonewalling or being 'cleared' by the ACA after 'investigations' or avoid prosecution through non-action by the AG's Chambers.

The public may be forgiven if they suspect that this may happen to Ling after being 'investigated' by the ACA, provided he remains in Mahathir's good books. Hopefully, things will change

after Abdullah Ahmad Badawi takes over as the top honcho, though many may disagree.

It is wishful thinking o­n SF o­ng's part to hope that MCA can turn the tables o­n Umno. As long as MCA leaders can still 'benefit' from being subservient to Umno, things will not change. In the first place, all the government agencies that matter are tightly controlled by Umno leaders - police, ACA, AG's Chambers, Special Branch, etc.

MCA leaders do not have a hope in hell of ever being in a position to 'direct' how things are done. Secondly, please ask the MCA leaders in 'power' and holding positions in government whether they are willing to provoke or antagonise Umno leaders to an extent that their positions will be jeopardised, Again, not a hope in hell.

For MCA leaders, as long as self interests prevail over noble principles, such as 'serving' the people and the Chinese community and fulfilling the basic objective of being in politics to help the public, the thought of 'fighting' Umno openly is too big to ask them for. All they will do is whine behind closed doors and pontificate in public over how best to maintain peace and harmony and a stable environment for businesses to prosper.

That in itself may sound good but when it is uttered, as the public has been informed more and more, because of ulterior motives for personal interests and greed (as personified by Ling, using public office to 'make money') it is beginning to sound increasingly hollow. As they say, empty drums make the most noise.