The sudden turn of events in MCA after the Oct 10 EGM re-inforced the truth in the old sayings that there are no permanent friends or foes in politics and your greatest enemy is your closest friend.
During the Central Committee(CC) meeting held after the EGM, a group of CC members lead by the newly appointed deputy president Liow Tiong Lai reportedly told Ong Tee Keat to honour his word to resign as president of MCA. Their action was to enable Tiong Lai to take over as president immediately after Tee Keat resigns. The other vice president Kong Cho Ha is then expected to be appointed to the "vacant" deputy president position. Tee Keat had asked the CC to resign to be collectively responsible for the CC decision to suspend Chua Soi Lek's membership which was rejected by the central delegates in the EGM. The CC declined to resign.
Ong Tee Keat - Liow Tiong Lai - Loh Seng Kok's conundrum
Ong Tee Keat felt betrayed and bitter by the actions of his CC friends and close supporters who turned against him. Even though he did not mentioned any name, it was very clear that he was very sad with the sudden turn around of his strong supporters and friends especially Liow Tiong Lai. Until the the last minute before the EGM, everyone can see that Tiong Lai has been supporting Tee Keat and following him around the country to drummed up support from the central delegates. In an unexpected manoeuvre, Tee Keat uses his presidential constitutional power to call for another EGM to determine whether fresh election should be called for the central committee.
The close relationship between Tee Keat and Tiong Lai can be traced to their MCA Youth days. During the frictions between Team A and Team B, both of them were in the same team, Team B. Tee Keat was then the Youth chief and Tiong Lai, just like Seng Kok, has been in the Youth committee since 1990. As an interim measures to address the contending factions in MCA Youth, Team B's Tiong Lai was appointed MCA Youth Joint Secretary General with Team A's Loh Seng Kok in 2002. During this period, due to Team A and Team B political baggage, it was obvious Tee Keat had a better working relationship with Tiong Lai.
In the 2005 MCA AGM, Tee Keat did not defend his Youth Chief position but stood for the vice presidency instead. He won in a stiff fight and was "promoted" and transferred to the Higher Education Ministry as its deputy Minister in a Cabinet reshuffle in Feb 2006.
During the Oct 2008 MCA election, the then president Ong Ka Ting steps down to take responsibilities for MCA's worst electoral performance in the March 2008 12th General Election when it only managed to win 15 parliamentary seats. Ong Tee Keat was the only MCA candidate to win a parliamentary seat in the state of Selangor which was conquered by the opposition parties. Tee Keat was appointed Transport Minister after the 12th General Election. Tee Keat later stood for the MCA presidential post and beaten former vice president Chua Jui Meng to claim the presidency.
In the 2005 AGM, Tiong Lai offers himself to replace Tee Keat as the Youth Chief while Seng Kok stood for the deputy chairman position. It was during this party election that Tee Keat had endorsed Tiong Lai as his successor and Tiong Lai easily trounced political minnow Song Kee Chai. Tiong Lai subsequently took over the deputy minister position in the Youth and Sports Ministry vacated by Tee Keat. While Tiong Lai had a smooth ride to be elected Youth chief, Seng Kok faces a tough fight. His political career was jolted when he was beaten to the deputy youth chairman position by Ling Hee Liong, the eldest son of Ling Liong Sik in a four corner fight. It seems that votes from Liow Tiong Lai's supporters was not delivered to Seng Kok as expected but went to his rivals instead. If Seng Kok had won the Youth deputy head position, situation might have been different today.
In the 2005 AGM, Tiong Lai offers himself to replace Tee Keat as the Youth Chief while Seng Kok stood for the deputy chairman position. It was during this party election that Tee Keat had endorsed Tiong Lai as his successor and Tiong Lai easily trounced political minnow Song Kee Chai. Tiong Lai subsequently took over the deputy minister position in the Youth and Sports Ministry vacated by Tee Keat. While Tiong Lai had a smooth ride to be elected Youth chief, Seng Kok faces a tough fight. His political career was jolted when he was beaten to the deputy youth chairman position by Ling Hee Liong, the eldest son of Ling Liong Sik in a four corner fight. It seems that votes from Liow Tiong Lai's supporters was not delivered to Seng Kok as expected but went to his rivals instead. If Seng Kok had won the Youth deputy head position, situation might have been different today.
During the 2008 AGM, Tiong Lai was elected as one of the vice presidents with the second highest number of votes received after Kong Cho Ha. Seng Kok managed to get himself elected as a member of the CC which was dominated by Tee Keat's supporters. While Tiong Lai ascendency to higher political office proceed smoothly after 2005 when he was appointed as a Youth and Sports deputy minister and gained a fast tracked promotion as Health Minister in March 2008, Seng Kok's political career was shaky after his loss in the 2005 party election.
Even though Loh Seng Kok was one of the most hard working and promising Member of Parliament he was dropped as a candidate for the Kelana Jaya constituency which he was first elected in 2004 since he did not hold any senior position in either division, state or national level. After he won a seat in the CC during the 2008 party election he was not given any portfolio in the party structure. To add salt to injury non of the other party bureaus invited him to be a member. At last the head of the Government Policy Monitoring Bureau Chua Soi Lek, also MCA deputy president inducted Seng Kok as a member of his bureau. The involvement in this bureau at least allows him a platform to speak up on governmental issues and kept himself within the media radar. Due to this and other historical Team A factor, it is not surprising for Seng Kok to give his support and place his political future in Chua Soi Lek's camp.
MCA and UKM connection
Liow Tiong Lai and Loh Seng Kok were close friends during their universities days in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in the mid 1980's. Their relationship was fostered through their active participation and leadership in the Chinese Community Committee (CCC) of UKM, a special committee within the UKM Students Union which take care the interest of the Chinese students. The CCC is the main player in the popular "Pesta Tanglung" which was organised annually by the students. The CCC was later "dissolved" by the then UKM Students Union in 1986 but continued to be active via their established networking until today.
It is through the CCC that enables many of the Chinese students in UKM to have close contact with MCA, especially its youth wing. The CCC-MCA relationship was further enhanced when Dr. Ting Chew Peh, an Anthropologist lecturer in UKM was asked to be the MCA candidate in the Gopeng by-election in 1987. The seat was vacated by the then MCA president Tan Koon Swan who was jailed due to criminal breach of trust in relation to the Pan Electric Industries debacle. Tiong Lai who graduated from UKM in 1986 assisted MCA in the by-election and some of the CCC leaders went to Gopeng to provide moral support to their lecturer.
Some of the CCC leaders from the mid-80s were later recruited as staffs of MCA after their graduation. These leaders includes Liow Tiong Lai, Yu Kee Su and Loh Seng Kok who were later appointed political secretaries to MCA top guns namely, Lim Ah Lek (Minister of Human Resources), Ting Chew Peh (Minister of Housing and Local Government) and Ling Liong Sik (Minister of Transport) respectively. Yu Kee Su left the political arena for the private sector after his boss Ting Chew Peh was dropped from the Cabinet in 1999.
The surged of UKM graduates involving in MCA began to evolved and grows in strength beginning in the 1980s through the CCC connection. These graduates even established a MCA branch (Bukit Mewah, Cheras) specifically to enrol graduates from UKM as members. After this early batch of Liow Tiong Lai's group, more and more UKM Chinese graduates began to be directly involved in MCA politics.
The Curse of Health Ministry
It is yet to be seen whether Liow Tiong Lai will be successful in his quest to become the first UKM graduate to assume the presidency of the largest Chinese-based political party in Malaysia. With so much politiking and struggle for power within MCA, no one knows what will happens tomorrow? If Liow Tiong Lai misses his steps while striving towards higher political office, will he succumbed to the curse of the Health Ministership. His immediate predecessors Chua Soi Lek, Chua Jui Meng and even Ong Ka Ting who was one time Acting Minister after Chua Soi Lek resigns, all of them faces their Waterloo when assigned to the ministerial portfolio in the Ministry of Health. Or is it Ministry of Hell?
With events unfolding by the day, will it come to a stage where Ong Tee Keat and Loh Seng Kok from Chua Soi Lek's camp join forces to face the challenges from Liow Tiong Lai's camp? It is only the protagonists and antagonists that will be able to provide answers to this conundrum. We are only spectators in unfolding this chapter of history. - Loka
With events unfolding by the day, will it come to a stage where Ong Tee Keat and Loh Seng Kok from Chua Soi Lek's camp join forces to face the challenges from Liow Tiong Lai's camp? It is only the protagonists and antagonists that will be able to provide answers to this conundrum. We are only spectators in unfolding this chapter of history. - Loka
p/s - When Liow Tiong Lai was first appointed as Health Minister in March 2008, I suggested to his secretary to ask his boss to invite a monk to conduct blessings in his office. I am not sure whether the suggestion was taken up but the signs available so far shows it has not been taken seriously. At this stage of political upheavals in MCA, maybe it's not too late for Tiong Lai to have his blessings before it's too late.
