Naughty MCA

Last saturday, I was dragged by my sister, who is keen on joining MCA, to attend a forum organised by the Youth wing of the "2nd largest reigning political party" in Malaysia. The forum's theme is "Rakyat Malysia: The Spirit of Constitution for Nation Building", which emphasizes on the equality of rights among all races in Malaysia as provided in our Constitution.Those who attended were quite of a big shot like MCA Youth Chief Liow Tiong Lai, Deputy Chief Ling "Eat Drink Play Merry" Hee Liong, Secretary Wee Ka Siong, etc, while MCA Chairman Ong Ka Ting and Wanita Chief Ng Yen Yen also came eventually. The speakers for the forum were Michael Chen, a former minister, PG Lim, a highly revered lawyer, and Lim Heng Seng, a very informative lawyer as well. The best part is, this was held after the Barisan Nasional youth meeting where all the member parties were said to have "reached a compromise" over Khairy Jamaluddin's famous remarks earlier on.

The forum was actually a precursor to the launching of "Rakyat Malaysia", which for my opinion, is a decorated soft approach of trying to convey the message of equality not so much to the public, but more to the Government. WTF, you may ask. Isn't MCA part of the BN Government? I thought so and asked the same question, although I've long known about MCA's impotency in the Government. This is because when I was at the forum, I thought I was at a DAP forum, for the speeches and contents given by these big shots subtlely condemn the Government's racial biased policies. The intriguing part is that, this forum came a few days after MCA leaders took the initiative to condemn Lee Kuan Yew and "clarified" that Malaysian Chinese are not being marginalised. Nevertheless, it was still a good initiative done by MCA for organizing the forum. After so many brainless remarks and twisted logics uttered by those political animals, it was good to know that there are still brilliant people in Malaysia who can defend our rights by applying the Constitution. Article 11, Moorthy and Lina Joy's cases, 1988 Judiciary Crisis and Khairy's infamous remarks were all discussed using the provision of the Malaysian Constitution. Kudos to the speakers for their professional and knowledge in the above said matters.

In the end of the forum, I have come to conclusion that:

1. While Bangsa Malaysia proposed by Dr M actually equals to assimilation and is hard to be achieved, Rakyat Malaysia will be emphasized, for it is more practical in the political reality.
2. MCA MPs are indeed the rubber stamps in the Parliament. Evidence: During 1988 judiciary crisis, the BN (including MCA) MPs had voted in the parliament for the proposed bill initiated by Dr. M to strenghthened executive powers to the detriment of the judiciary dignity. But today, the issue was reinstigated and MCA ostensibly support the move. Why support then condemn later? The only valid reason is that they are rubber stamps and will only adhere to what UMNO says.
   
3. MCA Youth have obviously not reached any consensus with Pemuda UMNO over the remarks of Khairy; they were forced to.
4. MCA under the stewardship of Ong Ka Ting will not be as tame as it was under Ling Leong Sik. Expect more dramas in the future.
5. Having said that, MCA is still a toothless tiger. While they have the guts to organize such talks, they don't have the guts to invite UMNO leaders. By the way, the forum was held closed door.

One thing that I've been scratching my head until now is that where did Mr Ling Hee Leong go during the forum? He disappeared after the start of the forum. It'd be interesting to see his reaction while others were condemning Khairy, since he's his "best friend". A no-prize trivia: Where did he go? a)Eat b)Drink c)Play d)Merry.