COMMENT We are reproducing below an excerpt from a former MCA insider who has left the country for good. The excerpt is from his letter responding to a request from his friend asking him to consider a return to Malaysia.

The excerpt provides a personal but important perspective of the role of non-Malay parties in the Barisan Nasional. It has been reproduced with the consent of the writer whose identity we’re withholding. This article provides the background for his disclosure.

These is the excerpt taken from a letter by the MCA insider:

NONE “From my experience with MCA and the people whom I had worked with in the party, I can only say that most of them, from the (former party presidents) San Choon, Koon Swan, Liong Sik (left), (former deputy president) Kim Sai, (former presidents) Ka Ting, Tee Keat and all the other people at federal and state level, know that the Chinese in Malaysia are not ever going to be in a position to influence the direction of how the country is to be governed, i.e. to say anything that affects major policies.

There’s just this denial syndrome that non-Umno parties are just there for window-dressing, so the next best thing to do is scoop up the scraps Umno throws their way, except (Sarawak Chief Minister) Taib and (Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu) PBB who take the lion’s share as well.

From the many, many sessions of central committee meetings and brainstorming, seminars, courses etc, the one main thing to emerge is to only defend or safeguard Chinese position in education and economic sectors. We’re down to TAR College (Tunku Abdul Rahman College), Utar (Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman) and Chinese business interests which, sad to say, is playing to Umno whims and patronage… ‘macam’ (like) crony businesses.

The rest in the SME (small and medium enterprises) can pray to God, hope to survive and are at the mercy of the idiots who run the bureaucracy.

Fighting ghosts

There is no hope ever under Umno that Chinese position will improve because the overriding philosophy since May 13 is that non-Malay/ Muslims are to be assimilated (much like the Borgs in Star Trek ).

That is why MCA is always fighting ghosts; Umno is always lying, even when the truth is exposed about their true intention.

MCA people know this and pretend to fight for the Chinese when they know they are only protecting their personal interests or financial gain, through Umno patronage.

The BN was never a coalition; it is and always has been an illusion created by Umno to present an imaginary front to the world that the people represented by the various races and parties support them.

(Our elites) cheat and bribe their way in elections and steal what they can, when they can, with impunity. They not only do that, they find ways to criminalise the victims! That takes them 10 levels above the Somali pirates.

'I've burnt my bridges'

To cut a long story short and to answer your question about going back, even if Penang booms further under DAP, the short answer is no.

I’ve burnt my bridges… It’s just too hard to ever hope that they will ever understand the meaning of a civil society, let alone try to forge one in the years ahead, even if (Pakatan Rakyat and) PKR take over Putrajaya... my prediction is that the worst is yet to come. I hope I’ll be proven wrong in my lifetime.

azlan Hudud has always been used as a weapon to frighten the Chinese and some extremists in PAS may have been used by Umno or Perkasa to split PKR, so MCA is just playing the propaganda game to try to win back some Chinese votes. Umno on the other hand is using (the Malay fear of) Chinese political power to frighten Malays.”

This article was posted on the Centre for Policy Initiatives’ website .