Can Mahathir play Solomon for MCA?
opinion
Despite the repeated advice as well as 'warnings' given by Umno deputy leader and Deputy Premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the wars between the two factions in MCA show no sign of receding.According to the Sin Chew Jit Poh editorial published on Dec 19, there is now only one man who could 'moderate' or 'cool down' the warring factions in MCA. He is, as expected, Umno strongman Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is party president, prime minister, and the chairperson of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.
There are three possible reasons for that 'opinion'.
One, in Malaysia, only a few commentators and writers in Malaysia who discourse upon public affairs can leave out any authoritative reference to Mahathir as Umno president, or prime minister, or finance minister, or BN chairperson, or 'a great thinker or strategist'; citing his name gives one intellectual self-confidence which would otherwise be lacking.
Two, after 20 years Mahathir's reign, it has become an unthinking, unconscious and even quasi-religious habit for public writers in the mainstream media to cast him in a positive light in any situation, so as to contrast his 'order' and 'moderation' with the 'chaos' and 'turbulence' and 'extremism' in our midst and the surrounding world;
Three, in the present case of MCA degenerating into the Hobbesian state of nature, Mahathir is perhaps the only one effective factor that could stabilise and moderate the warring factions and sub-factions.
Failed interventions
Some did try to appeal to 'divine' authorities as a group of rebellious MCA leaders did in Ipoh several weeks ago, while the more secular rest attempted to rely on intra-party 'procedures' and 'mechanisms', but they too failed. The evaporation of trust has reached such a critical stage that one could only use force or fraud to settle their problems, or to protect their interests.
Ling and his smart strategists thought they had found a more legitimate authority than 'the divine', and established 'procedures' and 'mechanisms' within the party, namely a group of veterans who were said be 'impartial', 'disinterested' and 'neutral'.
However, after their report on the fracas of the MCA Youth annual general meeting came out, it was rejected almost on the same day. And the veterans were, and still are, openly attacked by Team B and Youth chief Ong Tee Keat's faction.
For example, a member of the veterans panel, Kam Woon Wah, has been openly charged by the speaker of the Aug 3 AGM, Lim Hong Sang, with being involved in business transactions related to the takeover and counter-takeover of Nanyang Press Holdings. Lim has been accused by the veterans to be one of the 'masterminds' behind the fracas.
Another veteran, Wang Choon Weng, is publicly known in the larger Chinese community for his record of criminal breach of trust in the co-operatives scandal in the late 1980s.
Mahathir is then, by a process of elimination, the only factor that could serve as the restorer of peace and stability in MCA. However, when MCA leaders went to Putrajaya to attend Mahathir's open house for Raya, they were still physically split into two groups along the factional faultline.
According to the Sin Chew Jit Poh editorial published on Dec 19, there is now only one man who could 'moderate' or 'cool down' the warring factions in MCA. He is, as expected, Umno strongman Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is party president, prime minister, and the chairperson of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.
There are three possible reasons for that 'opinion'.
One, in Malaysia, only a few commentators and writers in Malaysia who discourse upon public affairs can leave out any authoritative reference to Mahathir as Umno president, or prime minister, or finance minister, or BN chairperson, or 'a great thinker or strategist'; citing his name gives one intellectual self-confidence which would otherwise be lacking.
Two, after 20 years Mahathir's reign, it has become an unthinking, unconscious and even quasi-religious habit for public writers in the mainstream media to cast him in a positive light in any situation, so as to contrast his 'order' and 'moderation' with the 'chaos' and 'turbulence' and 'extremism' in our midst and the surrounding world;
Three, in the present case of MCA degenerating into the Hobbesian state of nature, Mahathir is perhaps the only one effective factor that could stabilise and moderate the warring factions and sub-factions.
Failed interventions
Some did try to appeal to 'divine' authorities as a group of rebellious MCA leaders did in Ipoh several weeks ago, while the more secular rest attempted to rely on intra-party 'procedures' and 'mechanisms', but they too failed. The evaporation of trust has reached such a critical stage that one could only use force or fraud to settle their problems, or to protect their interests.
Ling and his smart strategists thought they had found a more legitimate authority than 'the divine', and established 'procedures' and 'mechanisms' within the party, namely a group of veterans who were said be 'impartial', 'disinterested' and 'neutral'.
However, after their report on the fracas of the MCA Youth annual general meeting came out, it was rejected almost on the same day. And the veterans were, and still are, openly attacked by Team B and Youth chief Ong Tee Keat's faction.
For example, a member of the veterans panel, Kam Woon Wah, has been openly charged by the speaker of the Aug 3 AGM, Lim Hong Sang, with being involved in business transactions related to the takeover and counter-takeover of Nanyang Press Holdings. Lim has been accused by the veterans to be one of the 'masterminds' behind the fracas.
Another veteran, Wang Choon Weng, is publicly known in the larger Chinese community for his record of criminal breach of trust in the co-operatives scandal in the late 1980s.
Mahathir is then, by a process of elimination, the only factor that could serve as the restorer of peace and stability in MCA. However, when MCA leaders went to Putrajaya to attend Mahathir's open house for Raya, they were still physically split into two groups along the factional faultline.
While Team A, led by Dr Ling Liong Sik (photo, right) arrived at Putrajaya at 11.45am, Team B, led by deputy president Lim Ah Lek (photo, left), came only at 12.30pm.
Earlier, at MIC president S Samy Vellu's open house for Deepavali, it was also reported that they were physically split in the same manner.
It shows that Mahathir may not be that effective at all. It is not difficult to understand.
Chinese 'Mahathir'
As admirers and supporters of Mahathir, or at least keen observers of his politics in the last 20 years, they have obviously learnt a great deal from him: Real politics is an amoral and cynical game for the survival of the strongest.
Both factions most probably know in their hearts that if they prevail in the party elections next year, Umno and Mahathir would certainly forget about the 'losers' and 'move on' to face the next general elections.
Umno and Mahathir, according to this line of Machiavellian reasoning, would also be able and capable of finding justification to accept whoever wins, irrespective of the methods used.
If others are Machiavellians, why should one be a Confucius? That is exactly the collective state of mind in the current state of MCA. If everyone has decided to be Machiavellian, then nobody has the right to preach Confucianism. Otherwise, one could incur the greater risk of being accused as a 'hypocrite'.
And so, everyone involved in MCA's factional fights, dream of becoming a Chinese 'Mahathir' in the coming party elections. In short, the secular dynamics of MCA's secular power struggles are the same as those in Umno - nobody can really advise or warn the others.
