A War for the Public Mind

Extracted from Malaysian Mirror
Farah Azreen
05 October 2009
Monday

COMMENT Do you know them? The arrogant, the self-serving and the ones who are failing in their duty after being swept into office.

They are everywhere, like the new flu that has gone viral in the human ecosystem.

Such is the inescapable scenario in Malaysian politics. The few who are sincere about answering the call of public service labour in the looming shadows of the dastardly inept and corruptible.

Few players in politics can claim the high moral ground these days and we have come to expect the unexpected. The eternal optimist will be hard put to rationalise the assorted problems besetting the system that includes racist politics, endemic corruption and opaqueness in governance. Pray tell, what else is new?

The main Chinese component in Barisan Nasional is caught in a maelstrom - again. MCA is a party in disarray. A body that was set up to look after the Chinese interests is now a body that is struggling not to fall apart.

Ong Tee Keat surely didn’t bargain for a roller-coaster ride when he took over from the other Ong.

MCA needs the people

But events one year later have proven to be a thrill-a-minute within the MCA corridors and provide rich fodder for political gawkers, bloggers and what-have-yous.

Much has been said and written about the Chua Soi Lek factor and the Port Klang Free Zone scandal that has opened up a can of worms. The ruling coalition in which MCA is embedded is in no better shape, its energy sapped by last year’s defining general election and beaten black and blue in the series of by-elections that followed. It’s hoping to break its losing streak with a strong but questionable contender in Isa Samad at the Bagan Pinang battleground.

The waning Chinese support adds to the stream of woes in MCA-dom.

Like celebrities who rely on their fan-base to thrive, MCA needs strong public support to regain its pride and place in Barisan Nasional and the government. In other words, MCA needs the people; the people doesn’t need it because there is viable alternative representation today.

So to continue to account for its existence, it must find new ways to regain the trust of the disillusioned and to pitch a new deal to the younger crowd whose minds are not yet set in their ways.

Amid the upheaval, it would be wise to review the party’s core support base – the Chinese.

The Chinese are not a monolithic bloc that thinks the same way. For the longest time, MCA has relied on the Chinese-educated segment for support in its varied permutations. They are the group that holds fast to all that identifies the race: Chinese media, Chinese schools and the assorted Chinese clans and associations.

Win over English-speaking segment

The English-speaking segment, though small in numbers, are the younger and Western-educated professionals who have huge resources at their disposal and wield great influence. Their priorities cut across racial boundaries, encompassing human rights, civil liberty issues and democratic principles. Their votes remain largely with the Opposition.

Some analysts in fact say they were the game-changer in the last general election. MCA will have to craft a strategy that wins over the English-speaking segment while not alienating its traditional support network.

It’s not going to be easy and there will have to be compromises made.

Executed well, the day may come when the MCA evolves to become a party that draws its lifeblood not just from the Chinese but Malaysians of every creed and faith. By then, it will have no need for the “C” in its name.

Far-fetched? Maybe. But it’s the policies set today that will shape the aspirations for a truly multi-racial party of the future.

Meanwhile, the MCA has fires to put out, come Oct 10.