In the escalating war of words between Gerakan and MCA over Chua Soi Lek's unflattering warning of his party "turning into a Gerakan", the latter has been told off to "listen to Michael Jackson".

Gerakan acting president Chang Ko Youn in returning this morning's volley from Chua said that the latter should not only look in the mirror, but also listen to the late King of Pop's song 'Man in the Mirror'.

Chang advised Chua to study the meaning of the lyrics properly but did not mention specifically what he meant.

michael jackson funeral memorial service 080709 06 The popular 80s hit song is about the singer reflecting on himself and contemplating changing his ways.

“I hope Chua will remember this, don’t lose the Chinese community in order to win in MCA,” he told Malaysiakini by phone today.

Chang also warned Chua not to initiate a war of words in order to boost the latter's own popularity.

He was responding to a Sinchew Daily report today in which Chua while apologising for the remark, in the same breath insisted that it was a valid observation.

"I can't compare MCA to MIC or Umno, therefore I used a Chinese based party that tries to be packaged as a multiracial party to compare.

penang gerakan agm 150913 chang ko youn 2 "I admit this is an unfortunate but correct comparison," Chua was reported saying in Sin Chew Daily .

Chua also gleefully took on Chang's mirror analogy saying the latter should also do the same.

The verbal match began last week when Chua warned party members not to let his deputy Liow Tiong Lai become the president, as the latter would lead the party to become "another Gerakan".

The embattled party chief however did not elaborate on what he meant.

The slight irked Gerakan members who returned the insult telling Chua to " look in the mirror ", even bringing a looking glass to the press conference.

'Problem with Chua, not MCA'

Asked if he would bring the public tiff to the BN supreme council, Chang said it was unnecessary as this was not a feud between the two parties but one between Chua personally and Gerakan.

NONE “I hope MCA central delegates don’t misunderstand and take this as a political parties’ spat generally,” he said.

On Chua’s remark that Chang should resign from his party position after losing the last general election instead of vying for Gerakan presidency at the party polls this month end, Chang said it was not a matter for Chua to decide.

“I haven’t made up my mind about the party polls,” said Chang.

Chang was defeated twice when he contested for the Beruas parliamentary seat in Perak in the last two general elections.

"Should we follow his (Chua's logic), does that mean all MCA's defeated candidates should not contest the party central committee posts?"

He added that former Gerakan president Koh Tsu Koon resigned immediately after the election and this should be taken as a sufficient act of taking responsibility.

'Further damage to BN'

Meanwhile Kedah Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang jumped in the fray telling Chua not to cause tension among BN component parties, seeing that MCA was allegedly behind the electorate deserting the coalition.

NONE "If Chua is unable to resolve his party issues and assist BN in recapturing support from the Chinese community, then he should step aside and let other leaders in MCA to do so.

"We would like to remind him that there's no point in him regaining the presidency of MCA by creating tension among BN components," said Tan in a statement today.

He said in GE13, BN was rejected by the majority of voters due to the failures of MCA under Chua's leadership.

"Thus, Kedah Gerakan Youth would like to remind Chua to focus in assisting BN to recapture the support from the Chinese community. Don't make things worse for BN," urged Tan.