LETTER | I refer to the Malaysiakini report Don't hibernate, answer my questions on the tunnel, Wee tells Ramasamy.

The deputy president of MCA Wee Kia Siong cannot say that the MACC has knowledge about the matters surrounding the Penang tunnel project and yet wants to demand certain answers from us, particularly from the Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and me.

So if the MACC has full knowledge then he should leave it to the MACC to investigate any wrongdoings pertaining to the tunnel project. What is the problem?

He cannot say that both Lim Guan Eng and I are in "hibernation mode" simply because we have refused to answer questions that he has raised.

He is arrogantly assuming that he raised some brilliant questions about the project and that we are basically evading answering the questions. In other words, we are hiding something from the public.

Why does he doggedly pursue questions when the MACC is conducting a full investigation into the matter? Since he always said that he is leaving it to the MACC to investigate, why are his questions that important at this present juncture?

Moreover, the Penang state government has answered numerous questions pertaining to the project in the past. I am sure that Wee might find answers to his questions in the answers that we have provided if he is genuine in raising the questions in the first place.

However, I think that he is raising the questions merely to embarrass the Penang state government more than anything else.

If anybody is "sleeping" or "hibernating" rather than doing their job it is none other than the pathetic political parties of BN such as the MCA, Gerakan and MIC which have been completely dominated by Umno for many years.

It is this total domination that has completely rendered these non-Malay political parties as weak and completely useless in terms of providing effective representation to their respective constituencies.

The MCA is hardly in a position to talk about the tunnel project and the welfare of the people in Penang when it has abandoned the interests and concerns of the Malaysian Chinese community for many years.

If we in Penang were hibernating, then it would be safe to say that Wee and other BN component party leaders have been completely subjugated by Umno for the last four to five decades.

It would be more appropriate to say that MCA leaders like Wee have been "Rip Van Winkling" on their jobs.

Wee and other BN component party leaders can raise as many questions as possible on the conduct of the Penang state leaders regarding the undersea tunnel project, but at the same time, it is important that raise questions about the involvement of Umno leaders in certain dubious projects.

Why is there disquiet on the part of the MCA leaders when it comes to Umno politicians?

Wee rather than beating about the bush should simply admit the sad truth that he and other MCA leaders who have divorced themselves from the Chinese community and tremble at the sight of Umno.

The writer is Penang deputy chief minister and Perai assemblyperson.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.