BN leaders praise Ka Ting's 'bold' speech

Leaders of Barisan Nasional component parties praised the controversial speech made by outgoing MCA president Ong Ka Ting, who last night ticked off the Malay-based Umno for being too dominant at the expense of its coalition partners

“My heart and mind are now clear because he has said what needed to be said,” said MIC president S Samy Vellu.

“There are many issues facing the communities. Some problems have been settled, some still need attention."

In his swan-song address to MCA members and guests that included Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Ka Ting had chided Umno for insisting on playing big brother to its coalition partners.

He also lamented the government’s failure to make progress in the key areas of corruption, rising crime rates, inflation, the lack of religious freedom, the lack of support for vernacular schools, murky tendering systems for contracts and the continued use of the draconian Internal Security Act.

“What is worrying the MCA is that although we have raised these issues many times to be addressed by the government, the solution has not been satisfactory,”said Ka Ting.

“The situation is worsened when the public has the perception that the power sharing within Barisan is actually not effective or fair.”

PPP president M Kayveas agreed the perception that Umno was a bully had to be changed.

“I think Umno has been having a larger share of the cake. They have been in control and they have made a lot of decisions,” Kayveas said.

“Previosuly, only after the Umno supreme council does Barisan component parties get to know certain decisions. It is the reverse now,” he added, referring to the BN council meeting held earlier this month, wherein Abdullah had announced his decision to step down by March next year.

Koh Tsu Koon, the newly-elected president of the multi-racial Gerakan, also believed there was some degree of dominance. But he diplomatically added that the BN’s top leadership had always adopted an open attitude during meetings and blamed the perception of Umno high-handedness on distortion by the opposition.

Said outgoing MCA deputy chief Chan Kong Choy: “Today’s society is more demanding of leaders. We must be able to deliver.”

Lip service

Yet opposition stalwart Lim Kit Siang derided the BN leaders for what he claimed amounted to half-hearted criticism of Umno, the backbone of the ruling coalition.

“Abdullah's denial about Umno bullying in BN does not bear scrutiny – as there is a long catalogue from the recent past, whether the keris-wielding by Umno Youth leader and Education Minister Hishammuddin Hussein or the offensive and insensitive statements by the Deputy Umno Youth leader Khairy Jamaluddin or most recently the Umno Bukit Bendera division chairman, Ahmad Ismail's 'Chinese are penumpang' outburst or the tearing up of Tsu Koon's photograph by Penang Umno leaders,” Lim said.

The DAP adviser also accused Abdullah, who denied Umno bullied its partners, of double-speak. He pointed to the fact that the premier has rejected Ka Ting’s call to review the ISA.

“In fact, Abdullah gave an illustration of the irrelevance of the views of top leaders of MCA and other BN leaders yesterday when he summarily dismissed the MCA president's call for a review of the Internal Security Act, as it is "obsolete and should be replaced with one that is not subject to abuse or cause people to feel insecure," Lim shot out.

Gerakan too had tabled a resolution at its annual assembly last week urging Abdullah to review the oppressive Act, which allows for civilians, including political foes, to be detained for indefinite periods without trial.