CHOK SUAT LING
MCA must bite the bullet and persevere

2009/09/03

DATUK Seri Ong Tee Keat has two sombre-looking men hovering around him these days.

Many who have attended functions where Ong is the VIP guest have noticed the presence of these two well-built, often bush-jacketed men.

They are the MCA president's official bodyguards. Up till a month ago, he had only one. But since Tee Keat expressed concern in the media about his personal safety following the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) issue, another bodyguard has been seen with him.

Tee Keat is a man under siege. He has been at the receiving end of threats to his personal safety since he decided to embark on a full and unexpurgated disclosure of the PKFZ scandal. And following the sacking of Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek from the party, it appears that the MCA has got itself into an intractable muddle with no clear way forward.

Pundits and analysts are convinced the MCA is split right down the middle, and predict that it is only a matter of time before the party is consigned to the political scrap heap.

Many draw an analogy between what is happening now with the events of 2001, when there was a Team A-Team B crisis, sparked by the MCA's purchase of a controlling stake in Nanyang Press Holdings Bhd.

It is not difficult to see why that comparison is made. For one, it involves a president-versus-deputy scenario. Then too, like now, there were calls for extraordinary general meetings to end the problem.

But the similarities end there. Likening what is happening now to what happened before is too simplistic. The position of the party president now is not as tenuous as it has been made out to be. This is not Team A-Team B revisited. Far from it.

In 2001, there were two distinct opposing sides, both with considerable heft within the party. MCA then was literally and neatly cleaved right down the middle -- one side, or "Team A", headed by the then president Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik and the other, "Team B", by his deputy Tan Sri Lim Ah Lek.

Of the four vice-presidents, two -- Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting and Datuk Seri Dr Fong Chan Onn -- were in Team A, and two -- Datuk Chua Jui Meng and Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy -- in Team B.

Tee Keat, who was the youth head then, was in Team B, while his deputy Datuk Hoo Seong Chang was in Team A.

Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen, the Wanita MCA head, was in Team A, while her deputy Datin Paduka Dr Tan Yee Kew was in Team B. The party was at that time in a state of "retak menanti belah" (impending break-up).

But that is not the scenario now. The power dynamics at play then were entirely different. The dissidents then were a force to be reckoned with -- and even so they lost out in the EGM.

The dissenters now -- among them former deputy home minister Datuk Seri Tan Chai Ho, former one-term member of parliament Loh Seng Kok, and Soi Lek's former political secretary Tee Siew Keong -- are either has-beens or political lightweights.

They are taking on a leader who has the full support of the presidential council.

Even Dr Ng, the nation's first Chinese woman minister, initially said to be tilting towards Soi Lek, was seen to be supportive of his sacking, although she was absent when the council deliberated on his case.

In Malaysian party politics, whether in Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, incumbents tend to have the advantage. As president, Tee Keat has the power to appoint or sack state chairmen, for example, or nominate candidates for government positions.

The dissension during the 2001 Team A-Team B crisis was also over an issue that touched a raw nerve among the Chinese community. They were deeply opposed to MCA's purchase of a controlling stake in Nanyang Press Holdings shares as they consider Chinese newspapers one of the "four pillars" of the community (the other three being Chinese education, language, and Chinese-based non-governmental groups such as clans, associations, trade guilds and chambers of commerce).

But this time, it is not over something that resonates deeply with the community, but whether certain individuals should have a more prominent role in the party.

Back in 2001, Umno had to interfere. Today, there is no need to, as the president continues to have the support of the vice-presidents, Youth and Wanita heads, as well as most central committee members.

What the party needs to do now is bite the bullet. Persist and persevere. A decision has been made and there will inevitably be a phase of unease among the grassroots. But if Tee Keat continues in his present direction -- making difficult decisions and doing what he thinks is right regardless of the consequences -- all is not yet lost for the party.

sling@nst.com.my