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speak up!
Do the honourable thing
ONG Tee Keat should stop saying
he is a politician who upholds prin-
ciples. He has not done the honour-
able thing of resigning as MCA
president although he promised
he would. And yet last Thursday,
he wrote in his blog, “People who
know me well know that I uphold
my principles … It has never been
my practice to renege on my words
(sic) …”
This posting was made right
after the MCA’s Central Committee
meeting to discuss the implications
of the Oct 10 extraordinary general
meeting. Much as one would like to
believe him, one is also reminded
that he has still not done the thing
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he said he would do. Besides, why say
this in a blog? Why did he avoid facing
a press conference and questions from
the public?
The message from the EGM is clear
– a vote of no-confidence in Ong’s
leadership was carried with a simple
majority of 14. Yes, according to the
party constitution, two-thirds majority
is required to unseat the president, but
the fact remains that Ong himself has
said in an interview with The Star on
Sept 19 that “a simple majority [on
the no-confidence vote] once carried,
I will be left with no choice but to bow
out and step down”.
He even underscored that by
saying, “Anyone who argues that I
do not need to do so, that only a two-
thirds majority is required to boot me
out, I think that is a great lie.”
Yes, we heard that loud and clear.
And there seemed to be a ring of
cocksure certainty in that statement.
So why is he stalling now? He should
not live that lie. He should simply
keep his word.
And yet last Thursday, he came
up with a counter-proposal that
could indicate that he wants to stay
on. He overruled the CC and used his
presidential powers to call for another
EGM – to decide if fresh party elec-
tions should be held or to reaffirm
confidence in the present leadership.
Is he buying time so he can do what-
ever he’s planning? Is he hoping to
seek a fresh mandate for himself?
Power struggle root of MCA’s woes
THE recent MCA extraordinary gen-
eral meeting was intended to resolve
in-fighting and stabilise the party.
This could have been achieved if all
the leaders and central delegates had
used their heads and hearts wisely
and independently. Instead, they
chose to play partisan, factional and
self-interest politics, and voted on
these lines. The result is the shocking
debacle, which has plunged the party
into deeper crisis and quandary.
Proposals and suggestions abound
as to what is best to do next. However,
all would be back to square one if the
root cause is not removed. And the
root cause is power struggle, either
between factions or between individu-
als. Already there are clamouring and
jostling for positions, causing factional
groupings and more frictions, with
even the have-beens joining in the
fray.
MCA should pay more attention to
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Comment
by Kee Thuan Chye
One would hope not. If he wants
to stay on as a caretaker till a smooth
transition of power has been effected
through the proposed elections, that
should be fine. But he still needs to re-
assure everyone that he will not throw
his hat into the ring, that he will leave
when the issue has been settled. That
is, if his word can still be trusted.
No doubt, Ong’s supporters will
clamour for him to stay on as presi-
dent. And perhaps, too, those who
have been saying that he is such
a breath of fresh air for Malaysian
politics because he has been daring
enough to expose the Port Klang Free
Zone (PKFZ) scandal.
I, for one, think that he has not ex-
posed everything about that scandal.
It looks like there’s more, and there
may be a limit to how far he can or
dares to go. But even if the second
lot do have a case, and even if Ong is
indeed exemplary in being unwaver-
ing in his quest for the truth, we still
have to expect him to do what he
promised. Simply because if he breaks
this promise to resign, what faith can
we have in him in the future?
What are we Malaysians becom-
ing? Should we lower our expecta-
tions of the integrity of our politicians?
Isn’t it enough that we have been so
forgiving of them that even someone
like Isa Samad, who was found guilty
of money politics – a euphemism
for corruption – could be named the
Barisan Nasional candidate for the
comments and opinions of the non-
political Chinese community. Because
they look from the outside, they can
see things clearer and are better
judges of what is wrong and best for
the party. After all, the survival of
MCA depends on how they perceive
and vote for MCA.
If public opinion is anything to go
by, in spite of his stern and stubborn
character, and in the carrying out of
his duties he might have stepped on
some people’s toes, Ong Tee Keat
is still the best bet for MCA and the
Chinese community. Within a short
span of less than a year, his image as
the MCA president and that of MCA
as the political party representing
the Chinese community, has been
well-received, with both confidence
and hope, especially his push for
transparency, accountability and anti-
corruption, reforms for MCA, and his
handling of political issues affecting
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Bagan Pinang by-election and actually
win it by a landslide?
Is it any wonder then that our
country is in the state it’s in? We toler-
ate corruption in high places. We let
off politicians who make promises at
election time but later forget to fulfil
them. We stand by while state gov-
ernments are destroyed because of
dishonourable politicians who ignore
the people that voted them in. At this
rate, we might even let politicians get
away with murder.
All this is happening because we
don’t hold our politicians accountable
to their word. We don’t take these
maxims seriously: Kata itu kota. Be-
rani cakap, berani tanggung. A man’s
word is his bond. Especially a man
who is in high office. The rot sets in
because we don’t insist on that.
On this score then, there are no two
ways about Ong Tee Keat’s case. If he
doesn’t step down, he will be com-
pared unfavourably to Dr Chua Soi
Lek who resigned from his ministerial
and party posts when his sex scandal
broke in January 2008. And he won
plaudits for it from the public.
If Ong takes the opposite course,
there will be those among the public
who will heap scorn on him. I, for one,
would. And I have no personal stake
whatsoever in this entire business
of the MCA. Neither Ong nor Chua
means anything to me.
What means more to me is a man’s
word and his integrity. That’s what
separates the men from the boys.
Kee Thuan Chye is the man behind
the book, March 8: The Day Malaysia
Woke Up, which is also available in
Chinese. Comments: letters@the
sundaily.com.
the Chinese community.
Replacing the presidency with a
new face or the whole central com-
mittee with a new team will not solve
the problems of in-fighting, as is
evidenced by crisis after crisis since
the time of Tan Koon Swan. In-fight-
ing will always happen, as long as
factionalism and self-interest ambition
pervade the party.
Yes, Ong has lost a no-confidence
vote against him. But, if the same
no-confidence resolution were to be
given another chance to be put to the
vote again, provided all the central
delegates were given the freedom
to vote independently on their own,
using their wisdom and judgment,
without coercion of factional obliga-
tion, the result could turn out to be
very different.
Concerned Observer
Sitiawan