MCA, Chua brave? Ha! Ha! Ha!
Recently, former Finance Minister and Umno Treasurer Daim Zainuddin granted an interview with the racist Mingguan Malaysia/Utusan Malaysia and Barisan Nasional (BN)-friendly China Press.
Daim had before the March 2008 political tsunami accurately predicted that BN would lose at least five states in the 12th General Election.
Naturally, with the 13th national polls around the corner, what Daim has to say would attract more attention than his preview in 2008 when many from BN had unkindly labelled him as “senile”.
The publication of the interview by the two also attracted translations by the English mainstream print media who unashamedly rushed to spin it to BN’s favour.
I am not sure whether the published interviews and translations were accurate, inaccurate or intentionally spun to give BN the edge, if any.
However, it is obvious that the interview was used by the BN-friendly mainstream print media to spin. If not, how else do you explain the various versions and difference in content?
I would like to zoom in on how the MCA-owned The Star spun the interview to project the morally-tainted MCA president Chua Soi Lek as a brave Chinese leader.
How moronic can it be to claim that Chua is a hero just because he dared to debate with DAP secretary-general and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.
We need not look far to see how timid the Umno-bootlicking MCA is. It cannot even defend the dignity of the Chinese community against the racist Ibrahim “Perkasa” Ali who, till today, has yet to apologise for distributing pak kam (white gold or white packets) to the Chinese community in the recent Lunar Year of the Dragon celebration.
(In Chinese custom, the giving out of pak kam is for bereavement.)
Chua even had the gall to openly support Perkasa by announcing that MCA would not ban MCA members from attending Perkasa functions.
Which is behaving worse, PAS or Umno-Perkasa?
On corruption, has MCA or Chua displayed any bravery by condemning Umno Wanita chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and her family over the now globally infamous Cowgate Scandal?
This reminds me of the multi-billion ringgit Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) financial scandal.
To date, former MCA president Ling Liong Sik and former MCA deputy president Chan Kong Choy have been charged. Does any Malaysian or anyone sane believe that only these two are suspected of looting the country’s wealth (read, taxpayers’ monies).
The cases against Ling and Chan are ongoing, so it will be subjudice to dwell into the details of the charges.
But what about other allegations of corruption and mismanagement in PKFZ that are not related to the cases against Ling and Chan?
The PKFZ financial fiasco is so complex, with so many beneficiaries, that one can be forgiven for not understanding fully or remembering the facts.
Let me give a short chronology:
1. On May 28, 2009, the then Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat received the Pricewaterhousecoopers’ full audit report on the PKFZ (google “Pricewaterhousecoopers PKFZ” and you will get all the details you need); and
2. Ong on June 10, 2009, then commissioned an independent panel of professionals to study the report, giving it two months to recommend actions.
The panel’s report and recommendations included an unaccounted mismanagement of RM1.64 billion purportedly for piling work.
The report was then submitted to the police and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), with a copy extended to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
Almost immediately after this, MCA leaders, with support from outsiders, engineered the removal of Ong as MCA president and thereby as a Cabinet minister.
Ong’s successor, Chua’s bumbling Kong Cho Ha, to date has not uttered a word about the report and has apparently swept everything PKFZ under the carpet.
You call that bravery?
Jackson Ng
Retired Journalist
