‘Umno is the real MCA opponent’

PETALING JAYA: Former three-term Subang Jaya assemblyman Lee Hwa Beng said Umno is the real opponent of the MCA and only by standing up against the Malay party will it get the support of the Chinese.

Lee, who was sacked from MCA recently, said the party had to engage in a daily tug-of-war with Umno at all administrative levels.

“Our real opponent is not DAP as we only face the opposition party once every five years. Our real opponent is Umno.

“Every day at local, state or federal level, we have to face them. We have to stand up against them if not they keep eroding our (Chinese) rights.

“The more you stand up against Umno, the better received you are by the Chinese community.

“The moment you ‘kowtow’ to them, the Chinese will run away from MCA,” he told FMT in an exclusive interview recently.

He said even the MCA leadership reckoned the dilemma.

“After the general election in 2008 and MCA was only left with 15 parliamentary seats, (the then MCA president) Ong Ka Ting told me he has to resign from the cabinet because he cannot be effective with that little representation.

“He said for sure he will be bullied by Umno. That’s why he resigned,” said Lee.

Lee’s statement underlined the love-hate relationship between the many race-based parties in Barisan Nasional.

MCA and Umno on one hand have to stick together for political interest but on the other, both parties cannot compromise on issues and are determined to champion the interest of their own race.

“Under the circumstances, it is important for MCA to get rid of the president, Dr Chua Soi Lek, who is handicapped because of his involvement in a sex scandal.

“Chua has committed oral sex in the video and it is a Penal Code offence. So this has made him a lame duck. The moment he opens his mouth, Umno can use this to threaten him,” he said.

He also criticised Chua for allegedly being weak by surrendering several MCA seats to other BN component parties in the last general election.

Umno will lose support

On the future outlook of MCA, the former MCA central committee member said: “Sadly, the ball lies on Umno’s court”.

“MCA’s reforms can only succeed if Umno starts treating us like an equal partner and not a football that they can kick around,” he said.

Lee said Umno stood to benefit because the moment 30-40% of the Chinese supported the MCA, BN could avoid a regime change.

“In the last elections, we had only 10% to 15% Chinese support and this affected BN badly,” he said.

The GE13 results saw Umno increase its seats from 79 to 88, but BN’s overall standing was reduced to 133 from 140 seats in 2008.

Lee said Umno must realise that though it had won more seats without Chinese votes this time, its Malay support had reached a saturation point.

“In past general elections, 30%-40% of the Malays have always been against the government.

“In the May elections, Umno received about 60% of Malay support in rural areas and 55% in urban areas. The support has reached its peak and will only go down in the future.

“The moment it goes below 55%, for sure, there will be of change of government. That’s why it needs MCA,” he said.

Lee was sacked from MCA recently for reportedly inviting an opposition leader to his book launch last year, but he claimed that the real reason was his criticism against Chua.