MCA at Crossroads 2

Politics is always about gaining power.

The power to bring change to the people.

People which politicians draws the power from.

It's the people power.

The MCA election will boils down to who should be in power and sets the destiny of the party. Once in power, the MCA chief will carry the burden of uplifting the moral and relevancy of the party to the people especially the Chinese. To enable him or her to perform that task, a ministerial position will be an asset and tool to support the person to achieve his or her agenda.

What will be the scenario if any of these aspirants wins the MCA presidency on October 18?

Ong Tee Keat - If he wins the presidency, it will be status quo for him as Minister of Transport which is consider the senior most portfolio allocated to MCA. If he is defeated, his cabinet position will depends on who are the others that won senior positions in MCA.

Chua Soi Lek - If he wins, this comeback veteran will need to be appointed a Senator before taking up a cabinet post. Unless his son Tee Yong vacates Labis for him to stand in a by-election. If he is defeated, there is nothing much for him to lose anyway since his stake is very low indeed. He will still be very influential at least in MCA Johore.

Chua Jui Meng - If he wins, although very slim chance, he too need to be appointed a Senator to to become a Minister. He can't force any MCA MPs to vacate seat for him and nowadays not many Senatorship to be given to MCA since 5 states controlled by Pakatan Rakyat. If he is beaten then it will be the nail on the coffin for his political career.

Ng Yen Yen- If she wins, history will be created but it will be a dream that only she dared to dream. She already a full minister, maybe will be transfer to Health ministry. If she loses, most probably will be retained as minister since MCA do not have many female MP to count on but won't be retained as candidate for the 13th general election.

Fong Chan Onn- If he wins, this never let go old horse will return to cabinet as minister since he is an incumbent MP but another portfolio as his old post already given to MIC Subramaniam. If he got whacked, this will be his final term as MP.

Ong Ka Chuan - Very slim chance that he will contest the presidency but if he wins will remain as Housing & Local Government Minister. If he loses in a three corner fight, most probably he will be demoted unless re-appointed as secretary general by Ong Tee Keat (if he is the one who wins)

Whoevers winner of the MCA presidency are expected to shift gear and manouver the party machinery for MCA's battle for the next general election. If it fails again, it will be very very difficult to MCA to rise to it's previous glory days.-Loka

Next: Who is slogging for deputy presidency?

MCA at Crossroads

The real lobbying for support in the coming MCA central committee election starts the moment the list of all the central delegates were announced on Sunday 28 July 2008. These central delegates will be the target of all aspiring candidates for the various positions in the central committee. In the next two weeks, a flurry of candidates will be announcing their candidacy for positions which they assumed they are qualified and will obtain support from the delegates.

Some already place their stake on specific post while some is still analyzing the situation on the ground. Some are having serious discussion to establish alliances with other aspiring candidates.

The contest for the presidency has been thrown wide open since Ong Ka Ting declares he is not defending the position even though he is still qualified to do so under the revised rules that limits the presidency to nine years for each individual. Adding to the excitement was Chan Kong Choy's announced retirement as the deputy president.

If there is no compromise in the horse tradings and securing alliances amongst the main players, the contest for the presidency and deputy president will sees a crowded battle. Those expected to battle it out for the MCA chief are Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat who already declared his intention, two former Health Ministers Chua Soi Lek and Chua Jui Meng and possible the first female candidate Ng Yen Yen.

Those who are potentials to contest the deputy president post are Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai, Housing and Local Minister Ong Ka Chuan, former Information Minister Lim Siang Chai and former Housing and Local Government Minister Ting Chew Peh.

Once the dust of the divisions election settles, the bargaining and counter offers will produce two very clear alliances with a splinter group becoming the Independents. My hunch is that the "Incumbent Ministers Alliance" will team up Ong Tee Keat-Liow Tiong Lai-Ong Ka Chuan-Ng Yen Yen against the "Former Ministers Alliance" of Chua Soi Lek-Fong Chan Onn-Lim Siang Chai-Ting Chew Peh. Chua Jui Meng is expected to go it alone as an independent if Chua Soi Lek does not make way for him to challenge Ong Tee Keat. Former VP Yap Pian Hon is expected to try to claim back his previous position contesting as an independent although he is expected to throw his support for Ong Tee Keat as president.

In an organisation especially political party like MCA, any vacancy at the top creates a ripple all the way down to the grassroots. More people will seek the opportunity to move up the ladder and MCA's election this year will definitely sees many new faces fighting it out in the national body. The contests in the divisions level sees contest in 79 of the 191 divisions chairmen positions and those new faces who won in the divisions shows that the grassroots wants to see changes in MCA especially after the 308 voters backlash.

The question that MCA leaders and members need to ask themselves is not who will be elected as the central committee members but whether MCA can stays relevant to the Chinese community in Malaysia. The Chinese in Malaysia had sent a clear message to the party that MCA need to do more that just claiming to represent the 6 million plus Malaysian Chinese. It is not a question of either Ong Tee Keat or Chua Soi Lek as president but to ensure and convinced the people that the nation's progress and wealth accumulations benefits each and every citizens of this country. -Loka

BN members, you can re-marry

Umno president says it is within the party's right to form the Selangor state government by having PAS as it's partner since Umno has the numbers to do that.

Is he giving the green light to MCA, MIC, Gerakan, SAPP, LDP, PBS, SUPP and other non-Umno BN coalition by saying "go ahead and form the Federal government with PKR since all of you has the right and numbers to do that"!

Those non-Umno BN members that are currently or already had secret discussions with Anwar should by now openly declare to the public if they had any intention to set up an enlarged Pakatan Rakyat Federal government. These parties do not have to consult or reports to Umno since it is within their right and are just following the "leadership by example" of Umno's.

It just does not make any sense for MCA, Gerakan and others who are still adamant and loyally holding on to the so-called BN power-sharing and consensus spirit when the big brother himself is planning to sleep with the common enemy. BN always claimed during each general election campaigns that opposition initiated coalition like Gagasan Rakyat and Barisan Alternatif are just marriage of convenience and all the partners are strange bed-fellows sharing the same bed but having different dreams.

Now it is clear that Umno is also having the same intention - having a marriage of convenience and sleeping on same bed with strange bed-fellows but having different dreams. If this marriage really materialised, how will the baby looks like? Will they ever have the opportunity to consumate the marriage on the same bed or marriage conditions and divorce settlements already pre-signed before they consumate the marriage?

Umno failed to woo PAS after the 308 election. Maybe the "wang hantaran" or dowry is just not attractive enough to have the hand of PAS. If Umno offers bigger dowry like the deputy PM, Minister in charge of Islam, Information, Education, Agriculture and Rural Development Cabinet portfolios plus the MB posts in Selangor and Terengganu, on top of Perak and Kelantan, maybe PAS will agree to the marriage.

Maybe the lady is still waiting for a better dowry , so the marriage is still possible. I am curious, what will Anwar/PKR offer to PAS and DAP if he is to be PM?- Loka

A Story of Two Roads

Along the roadside in a street lined with houses of worship of different creeds and religions, the adherents of each religion were having teh tarik break at their usual hawker centre. They shared the roti canais, char kueh tiaw and apam balik ordered from the various stalls. This hawker centre is the usual hideout for these religionists to take a weekly break from their daily religious duties at their respective places of worship. It was an opportunity for them to discussed and shared many stories they heard from their devotees for the past one week. Everything under the sky can be raised in this weekly teh tarik session - except religion.

The main topic of this week was on the impact of the fuel hike on the numbers of devotees visiting their church, gurdwara, mosque, temple and vihara. Due to drastic increase of fuel price recently, many of people already cut down their visits to the shopping malls and sight seeing. Visits to these places of worship were affected too. The numbers of devotees to these places not only did not decreased but in contrary it had increased two folds or even more.

It may not be logical for a secular and atheist statistician but for people who has faith in their respective beliefs, they are left with one important facet of life - Hope . When people are faced with challenges which is not of their own doing and which policy makers and politicians unable to offer any viable solutions to alleviate their financial and social constraints, they seek out divine help. More had visited the places of worship to pray for solutions to the problems in confronting them. That's the reason behind the sudden increase of devotees thronging the place of worship.

In the meantime, on the next road from the places of worship, a row of shops also saw the increase of another type of devotees and also hap hazard parking. The sign boards on the shops reads - Magnum, Sports Toto and Da Ma Cai. The queues at these outlets are always snaking out to the main road at least thrice a week because the punters in these places are attracted by the offers which the other places of worship on the next road can't offer in writing - GUARANTEED return in Full.

Yes, all payments are guaranteed in full. That's a good bargain isn't it. Well, if only the punter place the bet on the number that strikes. How many punters actually strikes on each draw? My bet is for every 10,000 punters, there will be only ONE person that gain in each draw. The guarantee is therefore for only one person.

Back to the teh tarik session, after discussing the issue of the two fold increased of visitors, these religionists came to a conclusion - no matter what differences with each other respective religions, as long as it provides solace and peace in the devotees heart, religion is still relevant and helpful to human kind.

The unwritten guarantee provided is as long as you have faith and understanding of your own religion and practice it with wisdom, the guarantee will be there for everyone who strive to seeks peace within themselves in this life. Why leave life to one chance in ten thousands when we can decide to be or not to be the person we aspired to be. If is to be, it is all up to me. - Loka

Status Quo for Bodhi Park

Goh Seng Chai explaining the Bodhi Park project to Shah Alam MP Khalid Abdul Samad

The Bodhi Park project will proceed as planned.

This was decided after some residents from Desa Alam housing estate who protested during the ground breaking ceremony last Sunday met the MP for Shah Alam Khalid Abdul Samad at the Shah Alam Mayor's office today.

The residents accepted the fact that land for Bodhi Park was allocated years before any houses were built at the site and approvals were given by the local and state authorities. On top of that at the point of purchase, all purchasers of houses at the residential area had been duly informed by the developer and aware of the proposed site for the Bodhi Park.

The representative of the protesters from Desa Alam Residents Association, Ahmad Shakri and other residents who met Khalid Abdul Samad accepted the explanation by the MP and other officers from the Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam.

Both the chairman of the Bodhi Park Building Committee, Goh Seng Chai and Ahmad Shakri later shook hands in front of the Shah Alam MP as a sign of mutual respect and harmonius co-existence.

Present during the meeting were representatives from the developer and also MBSA councillors responsible for the areas. The project will proceed as planned and construction expected to begin in September.