{"id":1814,"date":"2012-03-02T20:26:08","date_gmt":"2012-03-02T12:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/?p=1814"},"modified":"2012-03-02T20:49:37","modified_gmt":"2012-03-02T12:49:37","slug":"here-comes-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/here-comes-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Here comes the future"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Chung Hosanna<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>If anything was clear from the LGE vs CSL debate, it is that racial politics has overstayed its welcome. The half-a-century-old model of \u201cdivide and conquer\u201d as practiced by the race-based coalition Barisan Nasional is on its last legs. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When embattled MCA President Chua Soi Lek faced DAP Secretary General Lim Guan Eng at a live televised debate on 18<\/span><\/span>th<\/span><\/span><\/sup> February, even on its home ground, MCA seemed struggling for relevance.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the entire showdown, Soi Lek tried very hard to prove that MCA is not merely an appendage to UMNO. In an effort to shrug off the label of a weak MCA constantly kow-towing to \u201cElder Brother\u201d UMNO, he boasted that MCA could \u201ctake UMNO on\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

UMNO still wields the lion\u2019s share of Parliamentary seats and is the undisputed \u201cTaiko\u201d in the BN coalition, it does not auger well for MCA to go out on limb and offend UMNO.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a battle for its own political survival, MCA has no choice but to play the race card and portray itself as a defender of Chinese rights. After all, UMNO has Perkasa and its right-wingers to shore up communal support. The Chinese too want to feel assured that they would not be ill treated in this equation. Cue MCA to act as hero and savior to the minority Chinese.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet in the same breath with the divide and conquer race rhetoric that BN selectively preaches to each community, it also whispers an elusive dream of 1Malaysia to woo moderates. Looking at their political double-speak, many have come to realize that this 1Malaysia is more a pipe dream than a Malaysian dream.<\/span><\/p>\n

So why did MCA as the host, not set the agenda but choose a topic that is clearly a reaction to answer the opposition\u2019s slogan? In essence, MCA tried to plant the fear that having a two-party system would lead to Chinese Malaysians being left out of the government and concentrated in the \u201cpowerless\u201d opposition.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTwo party system\u201d has been the battle cry of the DAP and Pakatan Rakyat since 308 to articulate its aspirations for the Malaysian people. What then is the policy of MCA that it intends to present come GE13?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Surrounded with MCA supporters whose constant boisterous cheers gave no doubt as to whose turf it was, yet Soi Lek\u2019s demeanor was not that of a confident host. Instead, he adopted aggressive attacks from the get-go; a big contrast with his smiling opponent Guan Eng who appeared relaxed.<\/span><\/p>\n

What we witnessed on 18<\/span><\/span>th<\/span><\/span><\/sup> February was a defensive president and a loutish crowd of unruly supporters, the signs that MCA is afraid of an increasingly powerful PR which many Chinese Malaysians are now throwing their weight behind.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s race got to do with it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>It is perhaps unsurprising that a political party of solely Chinese-membership by constitution would seek a Chinese-language debate on issues of Chinese importance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Organisers ASLI and INSAP claimed that the conference was an inclusive intellectual discussion about the future of Chinese Malaysians, said to be facing \u201cpolitical crossroads\u201d. But by asking participants to put on the racially tinted lens of a \u201cChinese Malaysian\u201d, there is no denying the racial element inherent in the entire conference.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is the future contemplated by a Malaysian of Chinese descent that different from that of a Malaysian of another race?<\/span><\/p>\n

Why weren\u2019t we discussing the future of the nation as a whole? Instead of scrutinizing the best policies for all Malaysians, MCA would rather us figure out what policies would be more beneficial for Chinese Malaysians.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a fundamental flaw in the very theme of the conference, \u201cMalaysian Chinese at a Political Crossroads\u201d, because it presupposes that only a Chinese can understand what Chinese want.<\/span><\/p>\n

The notion that politicians in power would only look after <\/span><\/span>rakyat <\/em><\/span><\/span>of the same skin color is outmoded, obsolete, and frankly distasteful to all fair-minded Malaysians. The whole point of democracy is that your rights are equal to mine, whether I\u2019m a poor Chinese girl from Jinjang, or a rich Malay dude from Bangi.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Elected representatives are put in office in order to look after the welfare of the people. I for one would appreciate more time being spent on figuring out policies that would best benefit each of us, instead of listening to a politician who promises to look after my race.<\/span><\/p>\n

My race doesn\u2019t need defending; it is the cause of the poor, the needy, the voiceless, and the weak that needs to be championed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Guan Eng spoke passionately about a two-party system that focuses on policies to aid such people. He reminded the audience of the successful model adopted in Penang by the PR government and highlighted its fiscal prudence. He spoke of removing corruption and restoring integrity.<\/span><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t care whether the Penang Chief Minister was Chinese. I cared that he was competent. I want a system in Malaysia that doesn\u2019t care what race I am. \u2013The Rocket<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The good<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    Yellow-clad DAP supporters who kept their cool despite being outnumbered and provoked. Although DAP supporters were largely hampered from the audience participation segment, DAP Pahang\u2019s young rising star Chow Yu Hui\u2019s rational and intellectual manner of questioning earned him the moniker \u201cDAP\u2019s Jawab Gor\u201d.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \n
    1. \n

      In a historic first for the nation, the Secretary General of an opposition party got equal airtime in a nationally televised live debate. This bodes well for the maturing of Malaysian political culture and paves the way for a brave new world.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        \n
      1. \n

        For once, Lim Guan Eng got a chance to explain the policies of PR to a wider national audience thanks to pay-to-view TV station Astro. While state-run TV stations still censor news and black out pro-opposition coverage, Astro\u2019s bold move is a step forward for media freedom.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        The bad<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. \n

          MCA supporters distinguished themselves by their jeering, cheering, and incoherent, even irrational audience questions. Case in point is MCA Selayang Coordinator Jessie Ooi who has since earned infamy for heckling Guan Eng \u2013of all issues- about Penang Municipal Councillors towing away illegally parked cars at 10.30pm. Netizens have dubbed her \u201cMs Tow Truck\u201d or \u201cKak Tunda\u201d and memes ridiculing her have gone viral.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            \n
          1. \n

            MCA\u2019s constant harping on the PAS and Islamic State boogeyman sounded like a broken record \u2013and a bad one at that. By and large, Chinese Malaysians today no longer fear PAS, which has increasingly moved to the center with a tone of moderation. On the other hand, UMNO\u2019s right-wing racial politics and corruption incurs the wrath of the people.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            By Chung Hosanna If anything was clear from the LGE vs CSL debate, it is that racial politics has overstayed its welcome. The half-a-century-old model of \u201cdivide and conquer\u201d as practiced by the race-based coalition Barisan Nasional is on its last legs. When embattled MCA President Chua Soi Lek faced DAP Secretary General Lim Guan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[273,13,68],"class_list":["post-1814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cover-story","tag-chua-soi-lek","tag-lim-guan-eng","tag-mca"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}