Do we remember the rule that silence is golden? I am sure many parents teach their children that if you do not have anything nice to say, you should keep quiet. However in politics nowadays, we have mud slinging from both sides of the political divide, It appears that the less you have done, and the less relevant you have become, the more you have to shout at the top of your lungs.
For the MCA, they are able to see that they are disappearing fast off the political scene just like Gerakan. They have been criticised over the years for being gutless and pandering to the demands of Umno, just to ensure that they still get a slice of the pie.
"Chinese Interests"
They shout that they are charged with the divine duty of representing and fighting for Chinese interests in Malaysia. Are we still under the illusion that we need elected representatives of the same ethnicity? If Barisan Nasional component parties still believe this after having the '1Malaysia' concept shoved down their throats and pinned on their lapels, it quickly becomes clear that they are only interested in serving themselves.
The Malaysian Chinese community is a diaspora of clans which include the Hokkien, Cantonese, Hainanese, Hakka, Foochow, Teochew amongst others. From the beginning, they settled in this country and worked hard to get to where they are today.
What has the community asked for? Just freedom to do business, educate our children well and be allowed to prosper. However, even going back to the days when Umno pushed forward the NEP, did the MCA speak up at all?
Bashing the DAP
Nowadays, the MCA have resorted to attacking the DAP at every opportunity that they have. Not a day goes by without Chua Soi Lek or Wee Ka Siong making a press statement in the Star and the Chinese language press about the "short-comings" of the DAP, with their favourite targets being Lim Guan Eng, Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh.
Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh have been a constant thorn in the side of the MCA. Due to the consistency of the DAP as both a party and a state government, the MCA have struggled to find issues to harp on. So they bring up old issues or flog dead issues.
Wee Ka Siong has just hit out at Karpal Singh, after the latter has expressed his support to Anwar Ibrahim to be the next Prime Minister. Going back to the September 16th 2008 fiasco, Karpal was not impressed that Anwar wanted to form a government with frogs coming over from BN. This issue has been long resolved as the event has already taken place.
When you have dissenting voices within a coalition, this is normal and healthy as a form of public debate. Throughout this entire episode, not once did the DAP say that they would abandon Pakatan Rakyat. Wee Ka Siong represents a party who has no say, so expressing their own views on national issues is an alien concept.
Hudud again?
Not stopping there, Wee Ka Siong then continues to flog the hudud horse and how it would infringe on the rights of non-Muslims. After discussing the matter with several Malay friends and colleagues, it is clear that the principle of hudud is seriously misunderstood.
The MCA is guilty propagating misinformation in order to make their position look better. Although opposition parties are not immune from doing this, at the very least the MCA could be creative about it apart from their "No to Hudud" and "No to DAP" campaign.
The DAP and PAS have already reached a consensus about the issue. Constitutionally, it has been clearly established hudud law cannot be implemented. Despite this, the debate rages on, fuelled by the irresponsibility of the BN component parties, especially the MCA, to spook the non-Muslim community.
Looking like Fools
It is evident that when DAP and PAS do something, the MCA is the first one on their case. But for issues of national importance, such as the irregularities found by Auditor General report, the scandals overseen by several ministries and Sharizat's RM10 million condominium in Bangsar, the MCA remains as quiet as a mouse.
If you want to debate about integrity, why not show some? This is because they know if they voice out any dissent against their Umno masters, they would be cast out to the side of the road. They have shown that they are completely incapable of voicing out issues which are important to everyday Malaysians, but are more interested in engaging in politicking.
When Ei Kim Hock mentioned that overseas Malaysians do not deserve to vote because they are out of touch with the real issues, it is clear that they are the ones out of touch. The earned the ire of the NGO Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia Australia (SABMoz) as well as other groups, all saying that it is a basic right enshrined within our constitution.
It is clear that the move is purely political, as the MCA know that overseas voters are more likely to vote against them. As a result, it is far more important to preserve their political position than uphold the constitution.
Chua Soi Lek was too late with the damage control and conjures up an absurd notion that the logistics would be impractical. All we have to do is to take a leaf out of the book of the Australians, British or Americans who regularly vote at foreign missions.
If it is anyone who would find it a logistics nightmare, it would be the Americans by the sheer size and population of the country, but they cope just fine. If a country of 300 million people can do it, handling 28 million citizens should be a piece of cake right?
The MCA are brilliant con artists, having deceived the people for so many years that they are a credible force. One would sincerely hope we have woken up, and no longer stand for their hollow talk so in order for them to stand to gain and we stand to lose. It is for the better. Goodbye, MCA. Thank you for the music.
Published exclusively for Free Malaysia Today.
(http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/11/18/empty-vessels-make-the-most-noise/)
Also appeared on:
Malaysia Today (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/guest-columnists/45056-empty-vessels-make-the-most-noise)
Lim Kit Siang's Blog (http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2011/11/18/empty-vessels-make-the-most-noise/)
Malaysia Indian1blog (http://malaysianindian1.blogspot.com/2011/11/empty-vessels-make-most-noise.html)
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