Different strokes between MCA president and deputy
The cold and sometime rocky relationship between the party president and his deputy had taken on a worse turn in recent weeks when the party disciplinary issued a summon to Chua to appear before a hearing scheduled on August 4 for his sexual escapade in a DVD tape which were widely distributed in 2007.
Farah Azreen, Malaysian Mirror
Much have been said and written about the working relationship between MCA president Ong Tee Keat and his deputy Dr Chua Soi Lek. Media stories and reports have intensified in recent days about the two most senior leaders in the MCA.
Whether it’s the real thing, mere rumours or speculations, the mainstream media and web portals are having a field day in churning out stories and opinion pieces on the duo, particularly in the light of the PKFZ issue.
What is interesting to political observers is that while Tee Keat seemed to have move on to attend to more pressing issues such as re-building the MCA, Chua continued to harp on the past and not focusing on the present and future.
Focus on re-building party
Met at the Federal Territory MCA state convention yesterday, a FT delegate told the Malaysian Mirror, “As far as I’m concerned, there is no point in harping on the mistakes and miseries of the past. Our party president has asked us all to move on and focus on the task of re-building the MCA. We can see that Tee Keat is working in that direction.
“Dr Chua is also a hard-working MCA man with ideas and political acumen. What is wrong with our deputy president today is that he seems to be sulking and has not stopped sulking. The impression I get about him today is that when he cannot get what he wants, he will fight … and in so doing, he is causing damage to the party. This is something the MCA cannot afford today,” the delegate said.
He also commented that the party president struck the right chord among those present at the FT convention when he declared that Barisan Nasional component parties must be independent and have the autonomy to express their views.
Tee Keat stressed that these elements were important as they would determine whether or not these parties could play an effective role in the government and how strong they were in the coalition.
“It is the people’s basic requirement of a component party and this is how we build our integrity to win the support of the people,” he said when opening the FT state convention.
Cannot be a 'yes man'
The party boss said a component party that made no demand or had no stand but simply became a “yes man” that agreed on everything within the coalition could hardly earn the trust of the people.
“It will become like ji le (chicken ribs in Mandarin). It does not serve any purpose if it were kept but it would be too wasteful if it were discarded,” he said.
Ong said another crucial element that would bring down a party was using external force to solve its internal affairs.
MCA leaders and members present generally agreed that this was a strong but valid point their president was making. It was a message that has to be delivered to their BN partners.
“Ong Tee Keat’s speech is a sign that he was doing his utmost to re-build the MCA and regain its lost glory”, one said.
On the other hand, Chua Soi Lek is still harping on the PKFZ issue with the media, web portals in particular, playing up his ‘hero’ insinuation against Tee Keat.
Criticising the party chief for playing the role of a hero, Chua said, “The way I look at it, PKFZ is a problem that needs to get resolved but Tee Keat is projecting himself as a hero.”
The cold and sometime rocky relationship between the party president and his deputy had taken on a worse turn in recent weeks when the party disciplinary issued a summon to Chua to appear before a hearing scheduled on August 4 for his sexual escapade in a DVD tape which were widely distributed in 2007.
Chua had resigned as health minister and all party post in 2008, two months before the March general elections in the same year but re-entered into active politics again when he successfully contested the party’s deputy presidential post beating Ong Ka Chuan, elder brother to former president Ong Ka Ting at the October MCA elections.
Nothing personal, just professional
Since then, his relationship with Tee Keat had been best described as between “lukewarm to colder” when Chua was systematically marginalised, a popular claim by the deputy president’s supporters. When Chua was appointed as the “BN’s Chief Coordinator” by the Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, fuelled more misunderstanding by the president’s men between the two leaders.
Chua had openly criticised Ong who is also the transport minister for “play-acting” over the PKFZ issue by claiming that he was threatened by both “internal and external” forces. Some supporters of Chua had interpreted the “internal forces” as referring to the deputy president who had also been alleged or suspected of orchestrating an impending extraordinary general meeting to remove Ong as president.
Although the rumours of an EGM had been circulating for the past few months, nothing evident had pointed that the allegation was true or the event would likely to take place in the near future.
Contacted for his comment on the relationship of the duo, a party veteran who declined to be named told the Malaysian Mirror, “MCA has faced bigger problems in the past. We resolved them all in the best possible way. Ong Tee Keat and Chua Soi Lek are both strong personalities. They are also two experienced and mature politicians. The problem is only about their different strokes in doing things. There is nothing personal, it’s professional. I do not see too much of a problem in them finally working together in the interest of the MCA, the Chinese community and the Barisan Nasional,” he added.
