Secret competition behind MCA, DAP's unity show in Mahkota

MAHKOTA BY-ELECTION | Campaigning in the Mahkota by-election is in its final stages, with MCA and DAP both working hard to secure the support of the constituency’s 35 percent Chinese voters for BN.

The parties are actively arranging for BN candidate Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah to visit Chinese-majority polling districts and meet with the electorate.

However, despite working for the same team, the two parties are secretly competing against each other.

MCA and DAP rarely attend events together, and their division was especially evident during the early days of the campaign.

On the Sunday after nomination, Syed Hussien was guided and accompanied by a DAP election team - led by Kluang MP Wong Shu Qi - to meet voters at a morning market in Taman Sri Menanti.

The market is located in the Taman Liang Seng polling district, a constituency with an estimated 57 percent Chinese population and voted 57.4 percent in favour of Wong during the 15th general election.

In comparison, MCA only secured 27 percent of the votes there.

MCA eventually joined the campaigning at the market, but reportedly only after they heard about it.

Veiled swipes

Not long after that, Kluang MCA Youth deputy chief Yap Zhi Peng took veiled swipes at DAP’s messaging.

In a statement, he claimed that when the “unity government” representatives accompanied Syed Hussien to canvass for votes, they urged the Chinese community to support BN, not DAP, leaving Chinese voters confused and uncertain.

In response, Yap said that voters in Mahkota should not be confused and should simply remember to vote for BN.

Although Yap did not explicitly say it, the “unity government” was clearly referring to Pakatan Harapan and DAP.

‘Clear division’

Fast-forward to the fifth day of campaigning. Both MCA and DAP turned up at Kluang’s largest night market in Kampung Payan.

However, before the BN candidate arrived, the divisions between the two parties were visually evident as the MCA team dressed in BN blue, and the DAP team dressed in white stood on opposite sides of the night market’s entrance - barely interacting with each other.

They only came together when Syed Hussien arrived and made their way together through the night market.

That was, except for a small MCA team led by vice president Wee Jeck Seng who campaigned along a different route at the market.

Jeck Seng did not appear with Syed Hussien for the entire walkabout.

Rocky campaign

The competing campaigns in Mahkota also played out behind the scenes.

It is understood that both MCA and DAP would suggest campaign activities for the next day to Umno.

In DAP’s case, if the party and Umno can coordinate, they would campaign together; otherwise, DAP would do the legwork on its own.

However, MCA’s experience was reportedly not as smooth during the first half of the campaign.

This was as Umno allegedly delayed finalising their schedule until the last minute, disrupting MCA’s plans.

Cooperation between the BN partners appeared to improve significantly halfway through the campaign, with fewer communication issues.

This included MCA arranging for Syed Hussien to be interviewed by Chinese-language media to help the Chinese community better understand him.

DAP tops MCA

Since 2008, DAP has supplanted MCA as the party of choice for most Chinese voters.

When Harapan and BN joined forces after the 15th general election, Umno was perceived as preferring to work with DAP to gain non-Malay support rather than with MCA.

This could be seen when Johor Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi - who is from Umno - officiated DAP’s “unity government” campaign operations room on nomination day, while MCA’s operation room was officiated by the party’s deputy youth chief Chong Yew Chuan.

Both operation rooms are on the same street at Jalan Dato Teoh Siew Khor.

MCA president Wee Ka Siong, during an interview after canvassing for votes on Sept 16, emphasised that this by-election was led by BN within its framework and should not solely be viewed as a collaboration between MCA and DAP.

“Today, we cannot just look at the cooperation between one party and another.

“This election is under the framework of BN and is led by us. Of course, as one of the three major component parties, we have the responsibility to strengthen BN,” he said.

Regarding other parties, he stated that if they wish to uphold the slogan of supporting the coalition government, they need to make an effort, and there is no reason to refuse them.

United with one goal

As for Wong, when asked about the smoothness of cooperation between the two parties, she declined to comment directly, instead suggesting that “the media can observe for themselves”.

One glimmer of unity between MCA and DAP, however, did occur on Sept 17 when the parties got together at the Che Luan Khor Moral Uplifting Society in Kluang to mark the Mid-Autumn Festival and campaign for Syed Hussien.

In a serendipitous twist, DAP’s Wong and Ka Siong wore matching pink-toned outfits.

This prompted MCA Youth chief Ling Tian Soon to joke about whether Wong and Ka Siong had planned to wear a “couple suit”.

In his speech, Ling noted that the MCA and DAP machinery were united with one goal - for BN to retain Mahkota.

“No matter if it is the team of Wong or Ka Siong, everybody sitting in the hall tonight… with only one goal in mind, to give Johor, the team that is working together (a chance) on Sept 28,” he said.

At the same event, Onn also quipped that Wong and Johor exco member Lee Ting Han - who is from MCA - who are both single, could “tie the knot” after the by-election.

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