Corruption and racial politics are two main top ala-cartes on the ruling government’s menu headed by UMNO. These two authentic cuisines are so delicious that after 52-year of independence they (corruption and racial politics) are still being practiced by the ruling BN government. Just like in the stock market whereby the stock prices are determined by sellers and buyers, the corrupt and racist BN can still survive simply because the voters strangely endorse such culture. It’s true that you can’t put the blame entirely on the ruling BN government for the massive corruptions and the politics of racism. Hey, if there’s no demand then there should be no supply, literally, so blame the voters.

Of course one can argue that the people were to scare to voice their dissatisfaction after the “May 13, 1969” racial riots that killed many innocent people. Malaysia is a great country not too much because she is disaster-free but because this country seems to enjoy endless refill of wealth. The discovery of oil led to the formation of Petronas in 1974 of which the actual accounting remains the greatest government secret till today. Coupled with other natural resources the country is so cash-rich that it would be impossible for the ruling government not to plunder the wealth. Of course the standard modus operandi to do so is to jack-up many times the original cost of projects. Hence the name of the game is to create many gigantic projects, never mind it’ll become white elephants.

Along the years there were many scandals but nothing beats the controversial PKFZ (Port Klang Free Zone) scandal which looks to balloon to RM12.453 billion from the original RM1.957 billion in another two years if the government still drags its feet. But the project was designed in such that the politicians involved especially KDSB (Kuala Dimensi Sdb Bhd) was given a blank-cheque. Basically the idea was to ensure PKA (government’s Port Klang Authority) becomes rubber-stamp and additional costs over-run are being billed until it balloon to as much as possible. The project has made KDSB’s boss Tiong King Sing very very rich indeed. But he has many other “political friends” to thank for the smooth sailing amongst them Ting Chew Peh, Yap Pian Hon, Chor Chee Heung and not forgetiing former Transport Ministers Ling Liong Sik and Chan Kong Choy.

However the tycoon who is also the BN backbenchers’ chief received a rude shock when MCA newly elected president, Ong Tee Kiat, made public the audit findings by PricewaterhouseCoopers about irregularities on PKFZ project. The delay in the release of the findings initially however suggested that Ong Tee Kiat was under political pressure from his master, UMNO, to sweep the scandal under the carpet. But since the Mar 2008 general election, the ruling government cannot ignore peoples’ voice in totality whatmore with Ong’s promise to reveal all about the project, just before he becomes the president of MCA. Ong Tee Kiat also may think that it would be wise for him not to cover the scandal, not that he could in the first place, considering he’s still relatively “clean” compared to his predecessors Chan Kong Choy and Ling Liong Sik.

Politically, Ong Tee Kiat’s base is still quite weak compared to his rival Chua Soi Lek thus naturally he made the right move to project himself as the least tainted MCA president. But in the process he has offended the billionaire Tiong King Sing and many other politicians who received kickbacks for closing both eyes on the PKFZ project. Suddenly he was surrounded by tons of corrupt politicians who would like to see him vanish from the political arena. As much as Najib’s administration would like to see the scandal sweep under the carpet (again) Ong Tee Kiat may offered the PM the only solution to attract the Chinese votes it losts, or at least in maintaining what MCA has left from the Mar 2009 election’s slaughter – transparency and political will to fight corruption.

Even though Ong Tee Kiat may have made the wrong political move by sacking the “sex-actor”, deputy Chua Soi Lek, the fact remains that Najib likes Chua Soi Lek more than Ong Tee Kiat for obvious reason – both of them take care of their women well *grin*. Seriously, Najib prefers Chua Soi Lek because both of them speak the “same language” and share the “same channel”. Chua is definitely a “yes-man” to Najib’s UMNO but the same cannot be said about Ong. If not because of the changes in the political landscape Ong Tee Kiat would have been “ordered by UMNO” to vacate his president seat for violating BN’s code of conduct – exposing ruling government’s scandal publicly thus embarrassing the premier. Now political analysts are predicting that both Ong and Chua may shake hands, hug and kiss each others and start packing their stuffs together.

What better option than to have young and obedient chaps such as Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai and Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong to become the new president and deputy president of MCA knowing well that both are guaranteed to “kow-tow” to their political master UMNO? The fact that Ong Tee Kiat was grilled twice by the Anti-Corruption Agency on allegation by Tiong King Sing that the former took free ride using his private jet and accepted RM10 million in donation clearly shows that Ong Tee Kiat’s tenure in MCA may not last long. Heck, which political parties within the ruling BN government never accept donations before? Short of freezing RM140 million of Kuala Dimensi funds which is chicken-feed to Tiong King Sing, the tycoon is still untouchable. The battle here is about who has the deepest pocket and there’s no prize for guessing who will win ultimately. It was hope that once Ong Tee Kiat is out of MCA the PKFZ scandal may be forgotten – forever.

That’s why the “cow head” incident was orchestrated – as the backup plan to divert PKFZ scandal and MCA crisis from the public. The main objective for such racial tactic (cow is considered sacred to the Indians) was of course to create havoc to the opposition who is governing the Selangor State. The fact that Najib’s cousin, Home Minister Hishammuddin, was biased and very protective of the “cow head” demonstrators was disturbing although the UMNO’s plan would be perfect if it could excite some Indians to the streets. Government’s demand for the video on the “cow head” protest to be removed from MalaysiaKini also shows attempt to cover-up the disgusting provocation allegedly involving UMNO leaders. If it was true that the “cow head” protest involved members from PKR, PAS and UMNO as alleged by the Home Minister then by all means put all of them under ISA or at least interrogate them. The ruling government is embarking on a full-scale of destructions and chaos to the states controlled by the opposition – the next is no doubt Selangor after Perak was captured.

There’s of course speculation that after Ong and Chua’s episode is over, MCA’s current ministerships may be reduced by one in the next Cabinet reschuffle. UMNO will take the opportunity and may argue that since MCA is weak it’s justifiable to relocate the minister position (Transport Ministry?) to stronger component party from the East (Sabah or Sarawak?). But nobody really cares if this is true because the Chinese voters have given up hope on MCA. However if Najib’s administration were to proceed with this hair-cut during such sensitive period it only goes to give the opposition especially DAP free bullets to attract the remaining Chinese votes currently attached to MCA. The idea of MCA pulling out from BN is laughable at this moment simply because the cake still has delicious icing on top of it. It would be fun to watch Chua Jui Meng gives Ong Tee Kiat a good hug and say “Welcome aboard Mr. former President. Now I’m the senior and you’re the junior here”.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• PKFZ’s RM12 Billion Scandal – Where’re the Sharks?
• Transportation – Silly PR Stunt and PKFZ Scandal Revisit
• The Return of Sex Actor and Mahathirism
• Malaysia’s Biggest Scandal – Business as Usual
• Chua Soi Lek’s Sex DVDs, Cuckoo ends his Career

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September 7th, 2009 by financetwitter

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