The MCA recently published several posters showing former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and current premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi shaking hands with the past and present leaders of China. Underneath, is a call for Malaysian Chinese to vote for the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the coming elections. What is the meaning of this?

This clearly insinuates that the Chinese leadership still provides moral support to Malaysian Chinese. It brings to one's mind that the Chinese government never ceased to give underground support from the communist days. It changed its form and continued its patronage with mainstay Chinese political parties such as MCA and Gerakan.

Whatever it is, publishing pictures of Chinese Malaysian leaders with the top leaders of China just days before the polls seems to suggests that China still has influence over the heart and minds of Chinese Malaysians. If an opposition party had done the same, the MCA and Gerakan would not only have crucified it, but the BN government would have banned it under the ISA.

Such act also implies in a nutshell, that Chinese leaders in Malaysia still draw solace from their 'homeland' and would use that to ensure higher votes from Chinese Malaysians. Why not use photos of the Japanese PM, Bush or Blair? It a shame that two generations later, the loyalty of Chinese leaders in Malaysia to their adopted homeland stands questionable. It is such a shame.

Recently, Mahathir mentioned about the need for Chinese fleeing famine in their homeland to be indebted to their host countries for providing them haven. Malaysians Chinese were also terrified when Mahathir declared Malaysia an Islamic state out of dire need to improve Umno's Islamic image to match PAS's political maneuvers ahead of the OIC Conference that would install Malaysia as the chair. This raised intense anxiety and fear in the Chinese community.

As a result, MCA and Gerakan have quietly buried their animosity have talks to merge . For Gerakan, it is an effort at homecoming. But to the party's non-Chinese, it is a raw deal which Lim Keng Yaik, the Gerakan president did not waste any time in confirming. All seats offered in the general election were only given to Chinese and that Indians were "empty vessels" that could not serve.

This has several meanings. Gerakan has never groomed Indian leaders for future leadership. Surprisingly, if a Chinese wins a party Wanita leadership, she is awarded a state exco seat. But if Rhina Bhar wins the same, she is not even fit to stand for state seat.

Keng Yaik explains the candidate for any constituency should ideally be from the race that forms the majority and that all seats allotted to Gerakan were Chinese majority seats but this is not convincing at all.

Look at the MIC seats. Only one or two seats only have an Indian majority above 35%. The rest of them have only between 15 to 25 % of an Indian majority. Why can Barisan still give them to MIC?

In the last election, MIC in its 25% or less Indian majority areas gave a 100 % win compared to both the MCA and Gerakan with the higher Chinese majority areas performing at only about 80%.

Therefore if an MIC Indian leader can win, why not a Gerakan Indian leader? And it calls itself a non-racial party? My foot. Gerakan is actually trying to get as many seats as possible in the states and parliament so that it will have an edge when it negotiates to share power during its merger talks with the MCA.

Gerakan also said that its seats were given to candidates who had served in that area. Is that so? They are hundreds of example of candidates parachuted into a constituency to stand for polls.

And can the Gerakan give us the ratio of the Indians and Malays against its Chinese membership? Have they allocated party positions on the same ratio? If yes, why have they not been forwarded as candidates? What is 'non-racial Gerakan' talking about?

In its ideology, Gerakan mentions that since its founding in 1968 that "it has been and will be committed to the pursuit of a non-ethnic approach as a basis of political struggle" and "will never relent in the struggle for a Malaysian non-racial approach towards the attainment of a united, secular and socially just Malaysia".

If this is a joke, it is not funny.

If Lim Keng Yaik has forgotten his party's ideology, he'd better vacate his post. He is not fit to be a multiracial party president. Beruas people can do Malaysians a favour by voting him out at this polls. Send him to the Mahathir's club.

Another antiquated leader who has lost his potential and has become a liability to Malaysian is Samy Vellu. He too, should be parceled out into the Mahathir Club. The Indians in Malaysia are in a pitiful state since Samy Vellu arrived on the scene. Because of him, the community's literacy level, job opportunities and business are worse than ever. More Indians enter prison than the job market.

And worst of all, the BN is further divided into several racially-based parties including the PPP and the IPF. IPF is getting raw deals on every front. The biggest stumbling block for it is, of course, Samy Vellu.

IPF, after showing remarkable support and perseverance, had their application into Barisan has vetoed by Samy Vellu time and time again. It is also time for Sungai Siput voters to do Malaysia a favour by voting out this Indian leader who has done more harm than good that.

Malaysians tomorrow should do some cleaning up. Vote wisely. Help yourself and help others. Send the hypocrites to the Bermuda Triangle.