MIC president SA Vigneswaran has done what MCA should have done immediately. He rejected Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor’s divisive assertion that the Chinese have China and Indians have India, affirmed that Malaysian Chinese and Indians are not foreigners, and urged Barisan Nasional to reconsider its electoral cooperation with Perikatan Nasional.
Yet MCA president Wee Ka Siong and the rest of the MCA leadership remain conspicuously silent. Where is Wee Ka Siong’s voice when Malaysian Chinese are told that China is supposedly their country? Where is MCA’s courage when its own political partner treats millions of Malaysian citizens as though they are merely guests who can fall back on another country?
MCA frequently claims that it represents and defends the Chinese community. But when Sanusi openly insults the loyalty and belonging of Malaysian Chinese at a joint BN-PN rally, MCA suddenly loses its voice.
Only days ago, Wee declared that MCA’s cooperation with PN was not unconditional and that MCA would oppose anything affecting the rights and interests of Malaysia’s diverse communities. Sanusi has now presented him with the clearest possible test.
If Wee still refuses to condemn Sanusi, his claim that MCA’s support for PN is “not unconditional” is nothing more than empty political rhetoric.
Silence in the face of such an insult is not neutrality. It provides political cover for Sanusi and effectively condones his attempt to portray Malaysian Chinese as people who belong somewhere else. MCA cannot continue enjoying the electoral benefits of cooperation with PAS while pretending it bears no responsibility for the extremist racial rhetoric used by PAS leaders.
Vigneswaran has shown that a BN component leader can speak clearly and firmly. He has even called on BN to review its electoral cooperation with PN because such statements undermine BN’s claim to moderation and damage its standing among multiracial Malaysians. If MIC can take a principled position, what excuse does MCA have?
Wee Ka Siong must answer three simple questions. Does MCA agree that Malaysian Chinese have China as another country? Does MCA condemn Sanusi’s attempt to treat Malaysian Chinese as foreigners in their own country? Will MCA demand that Sanusi withdraw his statement and apologise?
If MCA disagrees with Sanusi, it must say so publicly and unequivocally. It should also support MIC’s call for BN to review its cooperation with PN. If MCA continues to remain silent, Malaysians are entitled to conclude that its electoral arrangement with PAS matters more to its leaders than the dignity and citizenship of the Chinese community it claims to represent.
Malaysian Chinese do not need MCA leaders who speak loudly only when attacking DAP but become silent when their own electoral partner questions the loyalty of the Chinese community.
Malaysia is our only country. Malaysian Chinese are not foreigners, not temporary residents and not guests in the land of their birth.
Wee Ka Siong and MCA must choose. They can defend the dignity of Malaysian Chinese, or they can continue providing political cover for Sanusi. They cannot do both.