I had an entry back in Oct 28, 2008 arguing that public ethic and competency are more important criteria for public office. I was writing in the context of Dr Chua Soi Lek then when he won the deputy president contest.
Since then, MCA was entangled in one of the worst politic crisis since its founding until it culminated in Soi Lek winning the 3 ways Presidential contest featuring two other, what are now, ex-party President, Ong Ka Ting and Ong Tee Keat.
It is apt to give a quick summary of event unfolding in what commentator called the Romance of Three Kingdom episode of MCA crisis.
It started with Ong Tee Keat maneuvering the dismissal of Soi Lek from his position last August with the support of his ally, Liow Tiong Lai , then the VP and now the DP, and Wee Ka Siong, the Youth Wing leader. Soi Lek countered with a party member petitioning for a special party assembly which he successfully got himself reinstated by Oct.
Tee Keat in turn found himself losing the motion of no confidence vote with a small margin. His ally, Liow and his ally turned against Tee Keat and wanted him to resign in line with his pledge earlier that he would resign in the event of losing the no confidence motion. Ong felt he was betrayed and refused to resign and insisted on collective responsibility.
Liow and his ally then started a campaign calling for another special assembly to resolve the crisis.
In the meantime, Tee keat successfully outmaneuvered Liow by pulling up a Greater Unity Plan with Soi Lek’s support to maintain the status quo. The unity Plan proved short-lived. Soi Lek and his ally tendered resignation from Central committee in early March this year to compel the March 28 special assembly to reelect the new party office holders.
Out of nowhere, Ong Ka Ting, another ex-president, this time allied with Liow, reemerged from political retirement and contested in the same ticket with Liow for the top two positions.
The result was Soi Lek won with 39% of votes, Ka Ting, the self-acclaimed party savior, 36% and Tee Keat, the incumbent with 25% . However, Liow beat Soi Lek’s ally in the deputy contest with less than 3% margin. In the 4 VPs contest, each of the Kingdoms has won at least a seat.
I think MCA will now take a breather after this long saga. MCA, as a political force, has lost its relevance since the 308 General Election and I sincerely hope that MCA is a spent force. For a better Malaysia, any communal base party has no place at all.
What I really want to comment about is that at least in so far as MCA is concerned, public ethic and competency matters more than private indiscretion. I am not here to advocate private indiscretion. Neither am I saying that public figure with private indiscretion is not controversial. If it would please the moralist, my message can be construed as the lesser of two evils. Even with concession, I am still rejected by the moral absolutist.
My view is that as long as the public figure repented and forgiven by democratic mandate, his or her return to public office shouldn’t be causing disproportionate alarm. After all, private indiscretion doesn’t encroached upon the public domain like corruption or abuse of power. Of course, peoples tend to be more emotional with private indiscretion than rationale about what is required of a public office holder, namely, public/political ethic and competency.
I am happy with Soi Lek’s victory not because I am in favor of him.
Rather I am happy that the MCA Chinese demonstrated the secular value as opposed to the puritanical values or holier-than-thou values in choosing public offices.
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2 comments:
I have not wrriten since I posted LXB's statement. There was this trepidation after the posting that stop me from writing. Witness also the Google's retreat from China and arrest of political dissidents. it does send a shiver down the spine.
Blogging about certain topic at a certain time in a certain country certainly require courage. I salute them.
Let me return to the blogosphere with a piece on values rather than politics.
By the way do you know how to underline a sentence to link it to another entry in the blog or in the inertnet?
On balance, its still easier to post about Malaysia. Makes one wonder about the Rule of Law, that even one that has eroded is better than none at all.
Well, in that spirit, whatever one says about the MCA and the quality of candidates and their motives, you see a democratic process in action and each party resorted to "constitutional" means in their chess game.
But democracy by itself does nothing for integrity of the leadership. Here lies the tragedy. It is certainly sad to see splits and factions based on personality rather than on ideas or vision.
It would be a richer scenario for a contest of ideas than Romance of the Three Kingdoms or the Four Heavenly Kings. All Malaysians certainly need a new vision and new integrity for governance.
To underline, I believe you just right-click on the word and fill in the hyperlink address.
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