Soi Lek the Chinese Ibrahim Ali: Race politics will always rule

Chua bids to regain votes with Chinese chauvinism?

Malaysia Chronicle

If Malaysian Chinese held hopes the MCA could help broker a new politics for the country that tore through racial lines, then they will be sadly disappointed. MCA president Chua Soi Lek not only admitted racial tensions were rising in Malaysia, but refused to acknowledge it was due to the divide-and-rule policies promoted by the ruling BN coalition, insisting that race politics would always be the name of the game.

“It confirms what the Chinese community has been saying about him since he became president. He’s a running dog for Umno and can never take MCA or the Chinese community to new heights,” PKR vice president Lee Boon Chye told Malaysia Chronicle.

“He has promised to stay as president for only one year. MCA members better make sure he doesn’t change his mind because one year with him is already one year wasted. A good leader could have done so much more to help improve race relations in the country. But instead of trying, he has already made up his mind it can never happen. Why? Is it to curry favor with Umno so he can stay on when his year is up?”

Gaffes

Chua already given a warning by Muhyiddin

Indeed the 63-year Soi Lek has only become more unpopular after public sympathy over his sex scandal helped him to wrest the MCA presidency from Ong Tee Keat earlier this year. But initial rumblings that Soi Lek was aligned to the right-wing Umno faction controlled by former premier Mahathir Mohamad and Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassan have now gained credence especially as he positions himself against the multi-racialism desired by the great majority of Malaysian Chinese.

He has tried to show MCA’s independence from Umno, the dominating partner in the BN coalition, by calling for an end to the 30 percent Malay and Bumiputera corporate equity target. But he quickly retreated after Muhyiddin and other ultra-Malay rights leaders like Ibrahim Ali bombarded him with threats and warnings not to challenge their status.

Soi Lek got into another scrape when he tried to turn the Chinese community against PAS, the Islamic-based party in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, but again had to U-turn after prominent Muslim leaders in the country took him to task for his religious ignorance and bigotry.

The MCA president also failed a major test when he refused to speak up for controversial rapper Namewee, whom Umno leaders had wanted to prosecute for a three-minute video clip made to protest the racist behavior of two Malay school principals. The two teachers had allegedly told their Chinese pupils to go back to China and one of them likened the Indians to dogs.