As far as the coming battle for the Bukit Gelugor by-election is concerned, the writing is on the wall. Should MCA enter the tiger's den, it would be mauled.

In the previous general election, Karpal Singh annihilated his MCA opponent with a thumping majority of more than 40,000 votes.

Now, speculation is rife that the tiger's cub is to be fielded in the parliamentary seat left vacant by his father, who was killed in an accident last month.

And MCA is still undecided if it should undertake what the pundits have described as an electoral suicide mission.

However, its former president Dr Chua Soi Lek warned that giving walkovers is a bad omen in politics.

But before clawing at his successor, with whom there is no love lost, the ex-MCA president paid a brief tribute to Karpal, lamenting that the nation has lost a giant.

"We had our political differences, but there is no denying that Karpal was a rare breed, a politician with convictions," he told Malaysiakini .

Chua then trained his sights on Liow Tiong Lai and urged his successor to man up and not to back down from the duel.

"When I say he is not a fighter, it is true. Even before the battle, he is already giving up," he noted in reference to Liow's statement, as reported by The Star , that MCA is prepared to let another BN party contest the seat.

"Don't confirm what I said before - that he is not a fighter and is only good at coming up with slogans," he added.

'White as white paper'

Chua also recalled how Liow had said that MCA is now more united and has the backing of Chinese associations with regard to the hudud issue.

The party president, he added, also remarked in the aftermath of the Kajang by-election that Chinese support is returning to MCA.

Furthermore, Chua, who was once embroiled in a sex scandal, pointed out that unlike his moral baggage, Liow is "clean as crystal and as white as a white paper”.

"So he has no issues, unless there is an hidden issue, which has not been exposed yet.

"With all these and given the reports of how veteran MCA leaders are backing Liow, there is no reason for MCA to chicken out from contesting," he said.

Chua also said while he was accused of irking the Chinese community prior to the last general election with the threat that MCA would not accept cabinet posts if it fared poorly, Liow did no such thing.

"He is dying to be in the cabinet. With MCA in the cabinet, it will be Chinese utopia. So why worry?

"Liow says he is not interested in positions, so be like me - I was president without cabinet positions," he added.

Chua also said that MCA has no shortage of candidates for Bukit Gelugor, adding that the party's local leaders in Penang should be fielded.

The Election Commission has fixed May 12 for nomination and May 25 for polling.