Just when I thought 'The Brotherly Sorrow' - a political drama depicting the never-ending dispute between the MCA and Gerakan as to who should be 'the elder brother' - was finally over, the production team cannot seem to have enough of it, and has come up with a sequel.

In Part 2, the two brothers long locked in sibling rivalry to win the favour of their political master, will work for a grand reunion of the family by investigating the possibility of a merger.

Much like the Taiwanese idol dramas that have been sweeping the Chinese-speaking world, the storyline of Part II is, at best, bizarre and surreal, completely out of touch with the real life.

The only difference is, instead of seeing the many enchanting faces of the young stars that sustain the staggering viewing rates of the Taiwanese idol dramas, one only gets to see the old faces that have been around in Malaysia's political scenes for longer than necessary. I will leave it to the viewer to judge their performance.

One cannot fail to notice the overwhelming and positive responses from many of the prominent members of the Barisan Nasional (BN) government after the merger talk became a news headline.

Prime Minister and BN chairperson Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was among those who extended his blessings to the two so-called Chinese-based parties concerned. This, in my opinion, is rather intriguing.

In making the overtures to Gerakan, MCA president Ong Ka Ting stressed that his purpose was to unite the Chinese community and to strengthen the BN.

In other words, should there be a successful merger between the two, it would pave the way for a 'great Chinese unity', and be an auspicious beginning not only for the community, but for the country as well.

Multi-racial foundation

But would a merger between the two sworn enemies within the BN bring all the past feuds and enmities to an end? Hardly.

Being a party led by Lim Keng Yaik (photo), an ex-MCA young Turk in the early 1970s, Gerakan will have a tough time convincing the MCA grassroots that its return to the fold will not be at the expense of the latter's current leaders nationwide.

Moreover, it is a well-known joke that the real opposition party in the Gerakan-led government of Penang is not the DAP, but the MCA.

One also must not forget the fact that Gerakan has never been a Chinese-based party. Its ideology states in no uncertain terms that the party "has since its founding in 1968 been committed to the pursuit of a non-ethnic approach as the basis of its political struggle, be it in politics, economics, education and culture".

Moreover, it pledges that the party "has never relented, and will never relent, in our struggle for a truly Malaysian non-racial approach towards the attainment of a united, secular and socially just Malaysia, though the forms and modes of struggle can vary according to changing circumstances".

One can count Dr Lim Chong Eu, Professor Syed Hussain Alatas, Dr JBA Peter, former Labour Party chief Veerapan, Professor Wang Gungwu, as well as Dr Tan Chee Koon among the founding fathers of Gerakan.

Earlier this year, Chong Eu, in an interview with Mingguan Malaysia, made it a point to remind the public that Gerakan had always been a multi-racial party, and he couldn't understand why the party "is now generally referred to as a 'Chinese-based' party".

More puzzling to him, the current party leadership appears to have no qualms whatsoever with this reference.

'Set conditions'

If Keng Yaik had indeed agreed to look into the possibility of a merger with the MCA, as reported, he should at least have made it clear that it can only take place on the premise that the MCA transform itself into a multi-ethnic party; otherwise there would be no basis on which the two important component parties of the BN could work out a merger plan.

Nearly half a century after Malaysia gained independence, Malaysians still persist in their relentless pursuit of a political framework and system that would be multi-racial in nature.

On this, Gerakan set the trend way back in 1968, while the MCA, UMNO and the MIC continue to be riddled with ethnic and chauvinistic ideologies in the 21st century.

One cannot help asking: would Gerakan compromise on its cardinal principle of multiculturalism and reverse the trend merely for the sake of a mythical 'Chinese unity'? That would be a catastrophic retrogression in our political development, and the future scenario could only be nightmarish.

I call on the non-Chinese members of Gerakan to make a stand on this critical issue, especially women's head Rhina Bhar and vice-president Vijayaratnam (photo), who are seen as a new generation of leaders.

Unequivocally, they should demand that Gerakan must not start any negotiation on merger with a party that resorts to ethno-centric and narrow-minded nationalism, without first setting the condition that any talk must be premised on multi-racialism.

Failing that, any move towards merger will be inevitably seen as contravening the will of the founding fathers, and a betrayal of non-Chinese members of the party. So far, only the Penang-based Dr Toh Kin Woon (photo) has expressed a dissenting view and maintained that multi-ethnic politics is the only way forward for Gerakan.

Finally, those who know Malaysia well also understand that ours is a highly sensitive society. Any mention of the word 'unity' in a racial context will invariably invoke uneasiness and even threat mentality of another racial group.

Paradoxically, singular 'nationalism' has long been a domain exclusive to Umno, the self-styled defender of the Malays.

It was therefore politically correct and hence acceptable for ex-premier and Umno chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad (photo) to work for 'Malay unity' towards the end of this premiership, but outright chauvinistic when former MCA president Tan Koon Swan called for the Chinese in Malaysia to 'unite' in the mid 1980s.

I doubt any other component party of the BN would have the nerve to call for a certain ethnic group to unite without having secured a tacit approval from Umno.

Judging from the positive response from other Umno and BN leaders to the MCA-Gerakan merger proposal, the hidden political agenda is perhaps too conspicuous to be dismissed.

JOSH HONG is trained in international politics. While distraught by all the ongoing global conflicts, he nevertheless considers reconciling the many paradoxes and differences in human life to be a cause worthy of lifelong pursuit.