MCA President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai should have the courage to switch MCA’s support from Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who had openly supported the red-shirt rally on 16 September, to UMNO Deputy President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who boldly opposed the red-shirt rally as extremist and racist. What is the point of Liow claiming that MCA opposed the red-shirt rally within BN and Cabinet when their views are ignored at best and at worst treated with utter contempt and threats that MCA leave BN?
Liow conceded that the rally was allowed to proceed by Najib despite MCA’s protests, and MCA is now insisting that action be taken against those who had demonstrated racist, extremist and seditious acts or remarks and flouted laws during the gathering. Worse is that the racist and extremist rally was attended by UMNO Minister, Deputy Ministers and MPs. One UMNO MP even proudly declared himself to be racist!
How then can the Malaysian public expect any action to be taken by the BN Federal government against the extremist and racist rally, when UMNO had endorsed the rally and even mobilised UMNO members to attend?
This follows the decision of the Attorney-General Chambers to withdraw the sedition charges against Mohd Ali Baharom in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court for being part of the racially-tinged Low Yat Plaza incident. Mohd Ali, known as Ali Tinju, had been charged under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act for allegedly making an inflammatory speech outside Low Yat Plaza in July this year, following a brawl at the electronics mall that gained infamy for its racial overtones.
Umno deputy president and sacked Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had expressed concern over events held to whip up racial sentiments, when such programmes not only practiced narrow-minded politics but are invoking fear in society. Muhyiddin said the rally supporters acted as if they were heroes in the country when they were carried out for political gain. Contrary to Najib’s open endorsement of the red-shirt rally, Muhyiddin had earlier said that holding the racist rally on Malaysia Day was against national unity and racial harmony.
Clearly Muhyiddin would be a better choice than Najib for MCA. Why then is MCA still supporting Najib and not Muhyiddin within BN? The only conclusion of MCA’s failure to switch support to Muhyiddin is the concern that MCA will lose their Ministerial posts like Muhyiddin for speaking up the truth and seek to punish all those who steal, whether chickens or tens of billions of ringgit of public funds.
The inescapable logic is that MCA leaders are not willing to sacrifice their Ministerial posts like Muhyiddin for defending the truth and upholding principles. MCA is playing another game of theatre(sandiwara dan wayang) by publicly opposing the racist red-shirt rally outside but still remaining in Cabinet headed by Najib that endorsed the racist and extremist September 16 rally.