Resurgence of Loh Seng Kok

Kelana Jaya former member of parliament Loh Seng Kok must have consumed a tiger's heart recently. After being silent for quite some time in addressing issues of public interest, he finally issued a press statement criticizing Azhar Ibrahim, Umno opposition leader in Penang state assembly for the uncalled for statement in regards to the ghost of May 13 racial conflict in 1969 which no one will want to commemorate it. But then what is so surprising of an Umno official uttering those pea brain remarks since Azhar was not the first and don't expect him to be the last.

Seng Kok has been out of the public interest radar for some time as he was so engrossed in the protracted MCA power struggle which "finally" concluded recently. Unless of course if statements on MCA turf war and its relevancy to the Chinese are considered matters of public interest. Maybe his recent promotion as MCA's deputy publicity chief also does the trick. Hoped this would not be the last public interest statement to come from him considering that an Umno mob might barged into his office in MCA and demanded that he apologize and retracts his statement.

If that happens, it would not be surprising since it is not the first time for an Umno mob to threaten him. He was given that treatment from his Umno comrades in 2006 when he was still the Kelana Jaya MP. A group of Umno members mobbed him in his previous service centre in Sunway and issued an ultimatum to him in regards to his speech in parliament on religion and history which were based on factual situation.

So Khairy, when are you "visiting" Seng Kok for another ultimatum? Or should you delegate to Reezal Marican instead as you don't do this sort of mob rule approach anymore after being elected as an MP?

On the other hand after taking the political gamble to back up Chua Soi Lek all the way until Soi Lek was elected as MCA's president, will Seng Kok's resurgence in MCA's political scene a prelude to his comeback effort to reclaim his throne as Kelana Jaya's member of parliament? Looking back, he was unceremoniously dumped as an incumbent to defend his seat in 2008 by MCA's former president Ong Ka Ting. But then if he really has the tiger heart to make a comeback for the Kelana Jaya seat, he may not be facing the current MP but someone else who previously shares the same platform with him but now is in Pakatan Rakyat. - Loka

Pot bellied delegates

MCA president Ong Tee Keat was in my area twice in less than a month.  Another MCA leader Liow Tiong Lai, was also there but he left immediately after Tee Keat arrives. Both just have a quick hand shake and parted immediately. Their relationship has turned from sweet to sour within months. Now it is actually tasteless. 

Yesterday noon, Tee Keat was at the MCA Kelana Jaya Division again. This time it is for a very serious business, that is to launch his campaign to defend his presidency. For him to pick this division as his launching pad for his campaign says a lot about his influence in MCA Selangor. Not because of the wide support he has, but the lacked of it.

Need to remember that the former Kelana Jaya division chairman is non other Lee Hwa Beng, the current Port Klang Authority (PKA) chairman. While Lee was reappointed as PKA chairman by Ong, Hwa Beng was actually kicked out in 2008 as the division chairman by his own strong supporters include the current chairman Ong Chong Swen.

Selangor has one of the largest central delegates but Tee Keat does not have the largest cut. Former vice president Lim Siang Chai is still influential in some of the divisions while Wanita head Chew Mei Fun still has certain influence via the ladies wings. Other than Pandan, maybe Kelana Jaya provides a more secure platform for him to launch his campaign. Other divisions might not be that friendly.

With the entry of Ong Ka Ting into the presidential fray, the central delegates will be further split into smaller numbers for each factions. The well coordinated charade to bring in Ka Ting to fight for his former post must have surprised Tee Keat and rattle presidential wannabe Chua Soi Lek. By now both their strategists would be busy re-drawing their campaign strategies and reviewing alliances.

All the three factions will be hitting the road everyday until election eve, meeting central delegates or striking new deals amongst themselves. It will be a stressful and breathless two weeks. At any day, the election hopefuls especially the presidential candidates can be in at least three states within a day. It is amazing to see how their aides coordinates their bosses travel and transportation arrangements. And by the time the election is over, after counting the votes they received they will most probably counting the speeding tickets they get from the police or JPJ!

As for the central delegates they will be the kings of the month of March! They will get personal calls and SMS'es from ministers, deputy ministers and big businessmen and influential Chinese community leaders who are alligned with certain candidates. Many of the delegates will not be buying lunch or dinners for at least these two weeks, not because they can't afford it but they will be feted in posh restaurants or hotels by the candidates. By end of March many of these delegates will be gaining extra inches around their waist.

No wonder a tailor recently advised me to order more extra extra large sizes for the shirts that we ordered for our organisation. Her justification was that most people who are involved in Chinese based organisations are usually big size and pot bellied! But later we found out those XXL sizes do not have many takers. Maybe we are not delegates!- Loka

Enter the Big Brother

Brothers speaks the same language!

MCA President Ong Ka Ting suggested today in his maiden speech as a backbencher in parliament some measures to address issues related to the religious rights of non-Muslims. The Sun today reported Ka Ting's saying:


“In situations involving non-Muslims who became a Muslim due to marriage, they should be allowed to renounce Islam when the marriage has ended.

“Similarly, if a child who was unilaterally converted to Islam by one parent without the consent of the other parent, the child should be allowed to maintain his or her own religion.

He also brought up incidences whereby statements were made that the proposed legal amendments will affect and protect both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Urging the government to be transparent to avoid a repeat of the cases above, Ong said non-Muslims are not to be subjected to any form of Syariah law.

“And, for any disputes or overlapping areas between the jurisdiction of the civil and Syariah courts, civil laws must prevail,” he added.

Ong said in the case where one parent embraces Islam, the religion of a minor must be decided by both parents.
“Should a dispute on the child’s faith arise, the religion must remain as status quo until the child reaches the age of majority that is 18 years upon which the child decides.
“In the event the convert dies, the property comprised in the estate of the deceased prior to the date of conversion should be subject to the civil laws of inheritance and succession for the time in force,” he added.

If we can recall two years ago on 15 March 2006, his political brother Loh Seng Kok who was then the MP for Kelana Jaya spoke in Parliament on problems faced by non-Muslims in regards to places of worship, prayers recital guidelines and "imbalanced" history textbooks. Seng Kok's speech attracted strong reaction from his BN counterpart especially the Kelana Jaya Umno Youth division which stormed his service centre and demanded explanation from him.

Ka Ting and Seng Kok both had served as political secretaries to the then MCA president Ling Lion Sik. This means both of them having the same political father. While it was Ka Ting as the "Lao ta" (big brother) that gave the opportunity to Seng Kok to contest the Kelana Jaya parliamentary seat in 2004, it was also him that dropped his "Shih ti" (brother) as a candidate in the recent general election.

Anyway, the dropping of Seng Kok as a candidate was a blessing in disguise for him as the Kelana Jaya seat was won by PKR's Loh Gwo Burne a.k.a Videoman, beating the favorite candidate Lee Hwa Beng. At least Seng Kok knows that he was not rejected by the people of Kelana Jaya but his political brother!

As karma dictates it, now Ka Ting has to wear Seng Kok's shoes and speak out the same language loudly for the non-Muslims in parliament. Whether the situation will come full circle as two years ago awaits us in a week or two to see. The same sign already there. An Umno backbencher MP for Pasir Salak already ticked off Ka Ting in parliament. The next will be a visit from the Kulai Umno Youth to Ka Ting's service centre to confront him!

Hopefully by now Ong Ka Ting will understand why he need people like Loh Seng Kok to hold the frontline.

Gwo Burne Offer his seat to Anwar

It takes two to tango.

Now the news already came from the horse's mouth, or should it be camera's LCD, that the MP for Kelana Jaya Loh Gwo Burne offered to vacate his parliamentary to enable Anwar Ibrahim the ticket to parliament and possibly the coveted Prime Ministership!

Loh was quoted in Parliament on Monday that he had offered his seat to Anwar. As I had wrote earlier, Kelana Jaya is high on the list as the seat for Anwar's entry to parliament.

On the other hand, Loh was busy taking pictures and videos on his first day in Parliament. Maybe it is a sign that he is taking all the necessary photos as momentoes in anticipation of his quick exit from parliament?

Anwar Starts his First Step?

Anwar Ibrahim was in Subang Jaya tonight to celebrate the victory of their PKR new MP for Kelana Jaya, Loh Gwo Burne. Other than top guns from PKR, community leaders in this constituency was also invited for the dinner.

Is this part of Anwar's campaign trail for a Kelana Jaya by-election?

Is Anwar coming to Kelana Jaya?

Many are still guessing which platform PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim will be using to re-enter parliament after April 15 when the law that bars him from standing for election expires. Two parliamentary seats currently held by PKR are considered the potential seat for Anwar.

Permatang Pauh in Penang, which was his power base during his time in UMNO, is widely speculated to be one of the options. The current Permatang Pauh MP is PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail who is also Anwar’s wife. She already declared that she would vacate the seat to enable her husband to stand for election there.

The other option is Lembah Pantai parliamentary seat in Wilayah Persekutuan that was won by his daughter Nurul Izzah in the recent election.

There is a third option for him – Kelana Jaya parliamentary seat, which is held by Loh “Videoman” Gwo-Burne.


Why Kelana Jaya?

1. The recently elected PKR MP for Kelana Jaya Loh Gwo-Burne was an “accidental MP” whom Anwar recruited to stand for the election based on his “popularity and courage” in relation to the Lingam video inquiry. It should not be a problem for Loh to vacate the seat for him.
2. Kelana Jaya is one of the parliamentary seats won by PKR with a comfortable majority.
3. This seat is a mixed seat. Voters are spread out amongst the three main races It will be a good symbolic representation for him to represent all races in his quest to be the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
4. This seat is located in Selangor. The state is expected to have a Menteri Besar from PKR and this will facilitate all the necessary machinery to support him in a by-election.
   
   
   Are we staring at a by-election in Kelana Jaya before middle of the year? If this becomes a reality, prepare your wish lists now and ready for a durian runtuh, people of Kelana Jaya!

BN Swept From Kelana Jaya

The D-Day is today.

Since I am a voter in Kelana Jaya (Parliament) and Subang Jaya (state) seats, I paid more attention on the candidates in these areas. Since nomination day, it can be clearly observed the BN is very confident of retaining the Kelana Jaya parliament seat and the two state seats within it, Subang Jaya and Seri Setia.

Even though Lee Hwa Beng replaces first-term MP Loh Seng Kok, there were no rumbles from local MCA members. Lee, the MCA Kelana Jaya Division chairman has a strong grip on the division’s 5,000 members. While Loh Gwo Burne has PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim campaigning for him for the parliament seat, Lee depended mostly on his well-oiled local BN/MCA machinery and his service as the three-term Subang Jaya assemblyman. No upset is expected from PKR Loh or independent candidate Billi Lim but it will be a gigantic task for BN Lee to replicate the wide margin win of 21571 as his predecessor did in 2004. Basing on the current sentiment and disgruntlement of the Indian (17.9%) and Chinese (38.7%) voters, the winning margin expected to be less than 4,000.

Update: Lee Hwa Beng was defeated by newbie Loh Gwo Burne by 5,031 majority. Turnout was 73.60%. There was a shift of more than 26,000 votes to the opposition compared to last election in 2004. The Malay voters unexpectedly tilted in favour of Loh.

As for the Subang Jaya seat which is a showdown between two women newbie, Ong Chong Swen of BN against Hannah Yeoh of DAP. This is clearly a contest between two different generations and experience. Businesswoman Ong age 57 is married with a housing developer husband while Yeoh an event manager is 29 and recently married. It’s a battle between an experience community activist and an idealistic youth full with energy. Voting preference will be influence by age. Yeoh is expected to command a big chunk of the youth voters in Subang Jaya gauging from responses she receives during her walk-about and visiting. Ong looks a bit of jaded but her election machinery will be able to secure support from traditional supporters of Lee Hwa Beng. BN will have the upper hand but the margin expected to be less than 1,000.

Update : Hannah shocked Ong Chong Swen with 13,851 majority. It was the second largest majority win in a Selangor state seat.

Seripah Noli of BN most probably will retain the Seri Setia state. The challenger is PKR’s Nik Nazmi 26, who is private secretary to Anwar Ibrahim. Even so, BN are expected to lose substantial Indian votes from this seat. Indian consists 28.3% of the total voters.

Update : Seripah Noli lost to Nik Nazmi with a majority of 2,863. The unexpected swing of Malay voters causes Seripah's downfall.

For Kelana Jayans, there is a possibility the BN candidate will be made at least a Parliamentary Secretary when he wins. This is further enhanced by high possibility that MCA might lose PJ Utara (Chew Mei Fun) and Klang, which are contested by Selangor MCA chairman C’hng Toh Eng. The previous Klang MP Tan Yee Kew was a Parliamentary Secretary.

Update : The west coast domino effect also falls on Ch'ng Toh Eng and Chew Mei Fun. Both were defeated by their opponents with huge majority.