THE MCA election looms huge on the horizon. Oct 18 is May Day for MCA. The campaign for office is getting hotter and hotter each day.

Meanwhile, the “blame game” has begun. Datuk Chua Jui Meng is fighting to resurrect his political life.

He keeps harping on what he said in Parliament in 1988. He subsequently got into the cabinet where he remained for almost a decade.

In those years, Chua was, for all intents and purposes, silently resting in the comfort of his cabinet position. At best, he was prim and proper with the government, choosing to be silent, abstaining from voicing issues and rocking the boat.

In so doing, he and his MCA colleagues in the cabinethad co-created the dilemna Barisan Nasional and the MCA found themselves in, that is being rejected by the rakyat in the March 8 general election.

Let us face the reality. This former MCA minister was no “Yang Berani”. He had his chances but failed to take them. He should just learn to step aside and allow the more dynamic, more vocal, younger and better candidate, Datuk Ong Tee Keat, to lead MCA forward.

Should Ong get elected as MCA president, he must prove to the people that he dares to stand up against the dominant partner in the BN.

Many are aware that Ong has many friends in Umno whom he may not want to offend. But if any Umno leader were to make derogatory statements, as has happened in the past, he cannot choose to remain quiet.

Then, there is this much-publicised call by Datuk Donald Lim to MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting for an explanation of the losses suffered by MCA in the purchase of the Nanyang shares.

That takeover of Nanyang in 2001 drew a lot of criticism from the journalistic fraternity, the Chinese community and Team B in MCA.

In the name of transparency and accountability, it would be good to clear the air and come clean, in line with the present winds of change in MCA.

On hindsight, it is legitimate to ask how well the trio of Ka Ting, Datuk Hon Choon Kim and former Penang state assemblywoman Tan Cheng Liang understood the financial implications and mechanics of the takeover when they persuaded the party to make that purchase in 2001.

MICHAEL NGSeremban

Source: NST – October 12, 2008