Storm in a Tea-cup: Chew Mei Fun Resigns

Well, the MCA saga took another turn today.

Citing displeasure of having to serve a sex-tainted President, Chew Mei Fun, the Wanita Wing Chairman has tendered in her resignations for the wanita top post, her senatorship as well as the Deputy Minister's post.

Well, say what you will, but this lady must be highly principled to let go of all that power, glory and fame.

Do we salute her?

MCA: Can Liow Rough it up?

At today's long extended CC meeting at  the Corus Hotel, Liow found himself sitting on a hot stove. Except for Ong Ka Chuan and him who protested the duties given to them, all the President's men were at sea.

What I found rather strange was that Liow refused at first to accept the State Chairmanship of Pahang where his constituency lies and is the home state of the Prime Minister. Did he make a tactical mistake?

As for Ka Chuan, to turn down the portfolio of  Religious Affairs is also difficult to fathom because the Chinese are beholden to religion. Politically it is an unwise move to turn down such a post of reverence. Did he also made a boo-boo here? If he feels that the portfolio is beneath his station, he should not have come for the meeting just to exhibit his displeasure.

At the way things are going, Dr. Chua Soi Lek is not going to have a great 18 months at the helm of MCA.

What is he going to do with the likes of his uncooperative Deputy and the recalcitrant Ong Ka Chuan?

I think the Chinese Wayang is going into the next season.

Safe Sex?

MCA: The Era of the Pretenders

"To err is human,to forgive divine?"

After a tumultuous fight for the top posts where barbs and dirty linens were flung into the open through the media,do you think that the winners can forget easily?

Dr. Chua today holds the upper hand. He will decide on the spoils which are the Cabinet positions, the deputy minister-ships, parliamentary secretaries and senatorships.

Whether Dr. Chua becomes a Cabinet minister or not will not become an issue .If he is given, he should not turn it down as PM has faith in him as a BN component party head. If he should turn it down, it would not reflect well on him as it will definitely make him ineffective not being a member of the Cabinet.

My guess is he will accept the Cabinet position if offered. And I think Najib will offer him that since it looks like the VCD issue did not feature at all in the countdown of this MCA election and Dr. Chua taking over as  the MCA president.

Also, there is no way he can allow that limelight in the Cabinet to be given to Liow Tiong Lai,a likely pretender to the throne the next time around.

As for Ong Tee Kiat, I think he can start getting the packers to come by to collect his personal effects. Kong will likely stay on as The Minister of Local Government and Housing in an appointed party post and Dr. Ng Yen Yen will remain  in Tourism. As for Liow Tiong Lai, he will be shunted to the Transport ministry to face the PKFTZ scandal while Dr. Chua reclaim his Health Ministry. With that, all the Cabinet positions available will be nicely filled up.

Let us look at the lower positions available.

Qualitatively, those who supported Dr. Chua in the elections wil be elevated into more important Deputy Minister's posts. Senatorships will be offered to some of them. Chew Mei Fun and Dr. Wee Ka Siong may be in trouble. For Chew Mei Fun, it is best she resigns from the Wanita's top position to save herself the embarrassment as well as Dr. Chua the trouble to remove her as a Deputy Minister and subsequently as a senator as well. As for Wee Ka Siong,it depends on whether he wants to stick to Liow's style of open confrontation or not. If so, he may have to go too especially with the Kuala Dimensi issue still haunting him.

As for the running of the MCA and politics from now on , expect Dato' Liow and his group to pretend to work with the Presidents' men. Behind all the smiling,head nodding  and hand-shaking,the shadow tells.

It will definitely going to be a dog and cat fight all the way until the 13th General election.

Where can the MCA Go From Here?

Just as I predicted, Dr. Chua Soi Lek, psychiatrist doctor and politician is the new MCA President. He trounced has been come-back kid, Ong Ka Ting and  railroader  ex-President Ong Tee Kiat.

Following in tow as Deputy President is Liow Tiong Lai, a B-grade politician and a bevy of retro and recycled politicians led by Donald Lim and Chor Chee  Heong.

Dr. Chua will have  a hard time to keep these nuts in place much less crack them.

Except for the return of Dr. Chua, I see nothing great about this election.

I think MCA will go to another new low comes the 13th General Election.

Can Dr. Chua unite so divisive a party? Or can we all pretend?

The MCA Circus is Back in Town

Well, the fight for the President of the sunk MCA is a 3-corner fight.

Like the Titanic, the MCA cannot be salvaged to its former glory, if ever there was a time. Was it only in Cheng Lock's time that MCA really contributed to the achievement of independence? Did it not play even once in nation building? Looks that way from hindsight.

So who among the candidates will win? Let us just look at the two more critical posts.

There are three candidates for the MCA Presidency.

Let us look at the incumbent. Ong Tee Keat is seen as blunt,brash and 'deaf'. He is a railroader. Do not stand in his path. But he is a friend to his loyalists. He can reward them as he has done before. The reports on his corruption has yet to be proven. However, as time goes by, more  of his supporters are getting disillusioned by his 'devil may care' attitude.

Dr. Chua Soi Lek. He is the most competent Minister to date from the MCA. Period. He has done wonders for the professionals in the Ministry of Health. He has contributed to the nation-no doubt about it. He knew what he was doing then; he will know what he wants to do if elected President. His only Archilles Heel-that damn VCD of his hotel room tryst. The very fact that he was elected by majority vote to be the Deputy President should hold him in good stead. Even in the Double Ten referendum vote- of -no confidence, he lost marginally thanks to the presence of a 'third force'. Dr. Chua is the underdog in this contest. Like most underdogs, their supporters are downright loyal. They will be there for him , come rain or shine. He looks likely to be the first to pass the post on 28 March 2010.

Ong Ka Ting-he claims that he is coming back to unite the torn party. Can he? There is a Malay saying, " Nasi Sudah Jadi Bubur!". Literally, it means the rice has become broth. He cannot be an alchemist to change it back to rice. Ong Ka Ting is the pretender and will rob the party of the middle ground. He did not even whimper when the party was in shambles. He is unlikely to win At best, he is a spoiler. I was laughing when someone called him the 'Recycled President' candidate!

Now, a look at the two contenders for Deputy President. Let us look closely at Liow Tiong Lai. He is as unexpressive and unimpressive as Kong, his contender. He has done nothing substantive as a Minister except doing visits to health facilities and rattling off statistics. He has the unresolved problem of the Toyota Aphard and he has been seen as opportunistic,impatient and is involved directly in scuttling MCA with the Youth and Wanita leaders in tow. He is unlikely to win in a normal situation if there are more contestants.

As for Kong Cho Ha, he is an unknown-There is no performance gauge on Kong  as he is a newbie Minister. What he has is a mouthful of promises.He may win by a slim chance if Dr. Chua's supporters can overwhelm Ong Ka Ting's supporters and Liow Tiong Lai's supporters.It is uphill for him. Remotely, he may win as a dark horse.

As for Liow Tiong Lai, he seems to be the favourite if he indeed gets the middle ground support. However, this is uncertain because many voting members may just spoil their votes in disgust.

If indeed he comes in as the new Deputy President expect MCA to sink lower into an ocean trench!

MCA and the mouse

MCA makes me think of the computer mouse. For so long it had only one ball and was totally useless unless pushed. Then even that ball was taken away, to be replaced with a single eye. But what do you know, the eye can't look up, forward or around -- only down. Now with touchscreen computers, there's nothing left to do but to roll over and die.