— May Chee Chook Ying
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 19, 2012
FEB 19 — Read that CSL took a swipe at OTK by saying that he, the latter, can’t lead and that was why he was toppled in a year. On the contrary, he, OTK, was toppled because he exposed corruption and that to me, is the sorriest thing MCA has done to itself!
Not too long ago when CSL was vilified left and right for his “indiscretion” I remember telling my husband that everyone should just forgive him (after all, he admitted his transgression) and let him be. I wasn’t condoning his act but I believe in second chances and more than that, I felt sorry for his wife and family for the pain they must have been going through. I remember, then, I wasn’t too happy that OTK did not seem to be able to forgive him. On hindsight, OTK maybe, knew a lot, lot more.
I have always admired OTK since his days as a youth leader. He was a rare breed. He dared to say what had to be said. So, when this whole PKFZ fiasco came about, I was not too surprised. He always had the guts to do the right thing. And here we have, coming from another MCA chief, proudly declaring that if a leader has the guts and gumption to take on corruption, they, the MCA, could bring him down within a year! My dear CSL, “Ni, hwei pu hwei, seh na ke cho zhi?” Do you know how to write the word “shame”?
Here is a man who could have brought back dignity to their ranks but they brought him down! What went into their heads? What was going through their minds? Mind you, I don’t think every MCA guy is useless. I hear there’s a good “Datuk” in Seremban and another kind “doctor” in Ipoh. I wish I could say the list goes on but …
Some time back, I remember telling my kids that Malaysian politics, has to at some point move away from being race-based. In my humble opinion, the point is now or never. So, MCA, let me tell you this — you are not representing me, a Chinese because I refuse to remain a racist. If I need any help I will go to those who can best handle my problem, not because I’m Chinese, so only a Chinese political party can best watch out for me. For that, kudos to the DAP for realising that race-based politics is so out of touch, today.
OTK is the only visible MCA leader today who dares to call a spade, a spade. And you MCA people can’t appreciate nor treasure that? Just recently one of your leaders lied through his teeth about the Tung Shin teargas incident (I should know, I was there!) and now with the 1 Care controversy that’s going to rob us blind, he’s still around? CSL, prove your mettle now, bring him down within a year!
Please, MCA, look at what you have reduced yourself to? You, the present crop of leaders want to compare yourself to others. Only two of you are facing trial for the PKFZ debacle, on charges of corruption. How many from the other side have been incarcerated for upholding the truth? How many of them had their health compromised, dignity stripped and years taken away because of the injustice inflicted, something you were party to, for just keeping quiet. Unlike the rest of you, OTK exposed corruption and how did you reward him? What does it say about the MCA when a leader is brought down by his very own people for upholding the truth?
Why are you still in the MCA, OTK? I’m hoping you don’t reduce yourself to being — “Since I can’t beat them, I’ll just join them!” Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare make my father turn in his grave! My dad started his voting years, voting for the MCA while my mum was a DAP diehard. Sadly, he ended his years, voting for the DAP. I remembered how, during each election season, they would be debating, too. The debates became lesser with the years and eventually, came to a halt. My dad died, disillusioned with the MCA. My mum, died, still a DAP diehard.
Do you know how we used to distinguish between the MCA and non-MCA politicians? Easy-peasy. The MCA politicians always looked fat and clumsy while the other, lean and sprightly. My two-sen’s worth — don’t vote for politicians who can’t fit into the normal chair or the ones who carry potbellies. Unsightly! Corruption does have a look, you know. Anyway, RPK is right, it’s not about the party. It’s about the candidate who would work for the interests of his or her constituents. It’s about being accountable to his or her electorate. It’s about service; it’s about him or her being your servant, not your master. It’s about him or her running around making things right, not sitting on his fat ass, getting fatter! It’s about him or her, dishing out money, making a difference to other people’s life, not stashing away money in some secret account. It’s about him or her, upholding the truth, not pulling wool over our eyes with some cock and bull rationale. Since when have we, Malaysians, been that stupid, that unscrupulous, that undignified? Hey, most of us do know how to write the word “shame”, right?
S H A M E, same same 2 both our corrupt main stream politicians n voters who voted 4 them
M’sia is a blessed country with rich resources n compliant residents, many of whom r blinkered voters who continue 2 vote 4 corrupt n racist politicians
Truly SHAMEful!
Over the decades, WHAT had UmnoB/BN done 2 rakyat? Made rakyat more united as M’sians? Improved our basic needs (accommodation, education, health, transport) n incomes?
Rakyat worked hard 2 bring in $$$ 2 d nation n rakyat paid taxes
In return, what do rakyat get? Did d UmnoB/BN gomen provide 4 d lower-income grp n ageing citizens?
D little red dot’s Finance Minister announced d 2012 budget on Fri, 17.2.2012
$$$ will b spent on its citizens 2 improve their quality of life
“We must find every effective way 2 help those who start off lower down 2 catch up n do well; every way 2 prevent disadvantage fr repeating itself across generations.”
“We also have 2 do everything we can 2 keep up social mobility in each generation, n prevent a permanent underclass fr forming inour society.”
“Reliable n convenient public transport is critical 2 d quality of daily life 4 d majority of S’poreans.”
WHAT did our own Finance Minister do 4 rakyat? Or only 4 UmnoB/BN n their cronies, like d COWwitch’s family — S H A M E
//My dear CSL, Do you know how to write the word “shame”?//
CSL need not have to write word “shame”? He has recorded it for eternity inside his Batu Pahat hotel room video where he dropped both his pants and his dignity.
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Thing is you belong to the people. You do not belong to yourself. People do not care about who they put into the office or into that position as long as he she fulfill their needs wants.
I used to write that UMNO does not know the meaning of the word SHAME. Looks like MCA got infected by UMNO for being in close proximity.
Quite interesting the way May asked if CSL/MCA know how to write the word ‘same’. CSL thought he was clever to kill 2 birds with one stone – rebut LGE and simultaneously take a swipe at OTK. When LGE reminded CSL of OTK’s admission – MCA used to get crumbs but now (worse) subsisting on crumbs –CSL said, yes, that’s why MCA removed OTK from leadership. Which is only shamefully admitting that from MCA’s standpoint (i) it is in BN for crumbs; (ii) getting crumbs was better than just subsisting on crumbs and (iii) if under OTK it was a notch worse (subsisting on crumbs), and thereore OTK ad to be removed, it was only because like Lee Kim Sai to whom OTK was protégé, OTK, an unpredictable sukilang wild card, was at least bold enough to talk, call a spade a spade, and ruffle feathers within UMNO’s nest by highlighting corruption in Education Ministry officials (in construction of Chinese School) to PKFZ which OTK just warned what was disclosed so far was mere “curtain raiser” with more to come.
Oops – typo “shame” not “same”. It is also interesting that May postulates the generalization that one should not vote for politicians “who can’t fit into the normal chair or carry potbellies” or if I may add, with stubby short fingers! Now how can one judge another’s personality and trustworthiness based on his body structure? Absurd though it may sound, there’s actually a substantial body of theories purportedly backed by research findings linking personality traits to body anatomical structure (rounded sociable fun loving Endomorph, the lean and hungry more introverted & contemplative Ectomorph and the ‘in-between’ Mesomorph’ like OTK) of renowned names in psychology such as William Sheldon and Hans Eysenck which are outside the scope here to further elaborate. Suffice to say, OTK is not entirely driven by strict principles either as before he was willing to team up with CSL to defeat Liow, and even now refuses to leave the party that he criticizes. However credit must be given to his having more guts to speak up than his servile and cravenly peers worried of the degeneration from getting crumbs to surviving on existing crumbs!
I actually find it strange people are so venomous of CSL scandal. Whenever there is any issue, the critics will go after it.
At the core of it is really about quid-pro-quo. When it comes to govt, a public affair, there is an IMPLIED quid-pro-quo. – The people give the leaders power AND rewards so that the leaders may act in their best interest. Its call representative govt.
Why people are angry at CSL is because he is given a public role meaning the public has given him an opportunity to redeem himself in public service AND yet what he is offering is very very short of what was being overlooked. In fact its quite clear he is unrepentant and set in his old ways and there are many who think he is still doing what he has caught doing. So the anger is palapable because they feel cheated twice with public trust and they have a right to be.
CSL slimy and throwing dirt is so wrong because the public expect, for what was overlooked, not only none of that, they expect far far more. Otherwise, why overlook it? If he is a better leader, then it should be at least mostly what people want. Instead he is ransoming the people especially the Chinese with his way.
CSL don’t understand such sutleties because he is in fact crude intellectually and principally dubious. He don’t get it that people gave him a chance in his personal conduct, they expect him to sacrifice personally – they expect Dalai Lama and Aung San Suu Kyi – he think he can be Mynamar generals..He is simply old dog that can learn truly new tricks just pretend so..
The people who voted CSL back were not Malaysian public but MCA delegates/members! This is a most unusual phenomenon as MCA (under OTK) sacked him over his 2009 sex scandal. I have not seen it anywhere – not even in matured democracies of the West- when a politician caught with his pants down shown all over the Net made a electoral comeback. Was it because MCA electors/voters were that progressive and forward thinking to draw a line between private affair and public duty and think that their leaders’ sexual peccadilloes are irrelevant to his capabilities as a leader? I suspect not. More likely they admired the trait that he seemed to have when he owned up and said “yes it was me so what?” when most other politicians would have dissembled and denied! What MCA rank and file wanted was more than crumbs that the servant was tossed at and they wanted someone who would be bold enough to stand up against big brother UMNO, figuring that if CSL had the guts to own up his sexual indiscretion, he would to, against UMNO to restore whatever vestige of pride there was left if any in MCA, demoralised!
But CSL let them down, which is the reason why straight and brave talking OTK having presidential ambitions un-doused will not leave the MCA that he criticises because he figures, comes next GE MCA will be roundly humiliated at the polls for principally the same reason of it being perceived by its traditional constituency as obsequious and servile to UMNO’s bullying and disregard for MCA’s face, and there’s his chance to project his qualities of daring to speak up against nd not exactly being even liked by big brother! In that sense CSL, as what Big Joe commented, has forfeited that 2nd chance that people (his MCA people) gave him to turn his scandal to something positive like having the b*lls to speak up and fight the right cause (and not just perform their biological functions, so to speak that he has proven on clip he could do).
There it is – it is evident that for all these challenges to DAP by CSL (a vote for DAP is a vote for PAS) to frighten voters camouflages, and does not change MCA’s grasp of reality that the principal cause of their predicament – ie increasing irrelevance at the polls- is not DAP or Lim Kit Siang’s barbs but the humiliation and marginalisation dealt by its very own senior partner (UMNO) to it in so many ways and forms including the latest prosecution of its ex President! This unspoken dilemma (in Hamlet’s soliloquy language – “To be in BN or not to be, thats the question; whether its nobler in the mind to suffer the sling and arrow of outrageous fortunes (dealt by its own coalition partner), or opposing at it!) This dilemma is then central to the dynamics of CSL and OTK’s past and continuing struggle for power and the top position in MCA.
Therefore in reply to May, MCA knows what is shame : it knows, its written all over its going ons at leadership level but they are not calling a spade a spade and admitting it or its marginalisation openly (as OTK did in his comments to US rep.leaked in Wikileaks). That first shame of being politically humiliated is so profound that the second shame of having a leader with a public sex scandal is nothing by comparison if the quality of guts of admitting the second shame could be marshaled and leveraged to stand up to the bullying to alleviate the first shame!
CSL said that OTK was pulled down after one year for admitting the truth. So MCA members do not want Malaysian Chinese to know the truth. CSL has not changed the bullying way of UMNO and we do not know how CSL could link OTK losing the party post to the performance of MCA after the party election?
OTK was ousted with the help of third party force. OTK was high in pursuing the PKFZ scandal. This was one the reason why he lost in the EGM, it was easy to control with another head who has liability carry on him as this is easy to shut his mouth up.
I’m not sure if we can trust OTK to do the right thing either. He is obviously hoping for a dismal MCA showing at the next GE so that he can make a comeback. To say that he was credited with doing a lot to bring the PKFZ scandal to light is also inaccurate. If not for opposition pressure and public outcry, the PKFZ scandal would not have seen the light of day.