MCA President Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong would have lost his deposit in Ayer Hitam parliamentary seat in the 14th General Election under the PAS President Hadi Awang’s dictum that Muslims must vote for Muslim candidates.
Did Wee realise this when yesterday he defended the political co-operation between the BN component parties and the PAS as a common feature of Malaysian politics?
In the Ayer Hitam parliamentary constituency in the 14th General Election, Wee won 17,076 votes, beating the Pakatan Harapan candidate Liew Chin Tong who won 16,773 votes, with a sliver-thin majority of 303 votes.
The third candidate from PAS, Mardi Marwan, won 4,975 votes.
If Muslims only vote for Muslim candidates, as is now Hadi’s stand, claiming that a corrupt and decadent Muslim leader is any time better than a clean and honest non-Muslim leader, Wee would not get any Muslim vote in Ayer Hitam parliamentary constituency and would even have lost his deposit.
Wee is a poor student of history as DAP had never worked with a PAS leadership which advocated such a toxic and vicious brand of politics, aimed at sowing suspicion, distrust and hatred among races and religions – which is not building a nation but destroying the very social fabric in Malaysia.
This was not the PAS which the DAP worked with when we formed the Barisan Alternative in 1999-2001 and Pakatan Rakyat from 2008-2015
DAP will work with a Political Islam that recognises Malaysia as a plural society and believes that Malaysia’s greatness comes from the leveraging of the assets and best qualities from the diverse races, religions, languages and civilisations which meet in confluence in Malaysia, building tolerance, trust and confidence among the races and religions and not by sowing suspicion, distrust, fear and hatred among the races and religions.
May be Wee and MCA leaders can never understand that sustainable politics must be based on principles, not on sheer opportunism.
Wee’s defence of the political co-operation between BN component parties and PAS, wherther in recent Cameron Highlands parliamentary by-election or the forthcoming Seminyih Selangor state assembly by-election, highlights the political hypocrisy of MCA leaders.
Wee made great play before the MCA General Assembly that Barisan Nasional is outdated and should be dissolved.
But after the MCA General Assembly, Wee is behaving like a duck taking to water – which shows that he is very comfortable playing the subservient role in the Barisan Nasional.
The untold story of the role of MCA Ministers and leaders in the cover-up of the monstrous 1MDB corruption, embezzlement and money-laundering scandal is one of the best kept political secrets in Malaysia.
Will Wee tell Malaysians the whole truth and nothing but the truth about this untold story?
(Media Comment by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, 6th February 2019)