After I delivered my speech during a youth program at Universiti Malaya, I returned to my seat beside hers at the VIP row. Then she asked me in Mandarin," Are you a comrade"? What she meant was whether I am a member of her party, the Malaysian Chinese Association. I replied in the negative. The conversation happens few years ago when I was still the Malaysian Youth Council vice president.
A couple of weeks later, when I met her again on some other religious related matters, she suggested that I should get myself involved in the newly established Crisis Relief Squad of MCA which she was the founding head. I just listened without giving any response to her. At that period of time, I was comfortable running programs for the youth via the Malaysian Youth Council. Joining a political party or its community service arm was not an option then.
Now the person who asked me whether I am her comrade is staring at a possible change of political life in the next few days. Chew Mei Fun the MCA Wanita Head already put her head in the noose when she declared last year she would quit her post if the sex DVD tainted Chua Soi Lek becomes MCA president. Soi Lek was elected the president in the recent AGM. Politics is an art of turning the impossible to possible and vice versa.
The noose on Mei Fun's head are getting tighter by the day. It is now up to her to decide whether to be a person with integrity who honours one's word by pulling the rope or be known as a typical loose-mouthed politician whose words are just worth a pinch of salt when she unleashed the noose by giving all sorts of excuses!
By pulling the rope and make her breathless, will it be the end of her political career? Will she lose out on her political clout and influence if she quits as the Wanita head and also deputy minister's position? Not necessarily if we gauged MCA politics especially basing on recent events. What's the fuss all that about if MCA delegates can even voted in a person who quits all positions due to a sex scandal two years after the incident?
While quitting all her positions will reduced her influence and authority, she may as well be looking at a bigger role for herself in the next party election. By that time the delegates will be reminded that she is a person with integrity and trustworthiness who did what she committed to the people. Her stature might just grow higher by the next election.
On the other hand, if she decided to keep her positions with whatever reasons she might cooked up with she might as well lost her dignity and respect that other people especially her members had on her. She may reasoned that her Wanita members wants her to stay because her position is elected by Wanita wing and not appointed by Chua Soi Lek. Whatever her reasons, the stain will be there.
The delegates might forgive a person for his sexual indiscretion as a personal misadventure. But for the Chinese community, trust and integrity are two very important aspects which once lost will be very difficult to reclaim back. Mei Fun knows that. Her political foes knows that too. But the rope is in her hands. To pull or not to pull, it's all up to her. - Loka
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