CANDIDATES SHOULD NOT ONLY PRETEND TO SPEAK OUT FOR THE COMMUNITY

ONE would think that when the only man running for the post of MCA president says the party may have to pull out of the Barisan Nasional if Umno continues to champion the concept of "Ketuanan Melayu," it should make the front page of all newspapers.

Instead, it was only reported in Sunday's Nanyang Siangpau.

The rest of the Chinese dailies offered up only today some muted reaction to the candidate's suggestion.

Bahasa Malaysia and English newspapers have steered clear of reporting his statements for now.

Some people have labeled me a "political has-been", but even I can see the orchestration by my party's leaders to show the party's grassroots, the bulk of whom read the Chinese newspapers, that the endorsed candidate for the MCA presidency is indeed a man with the courage to speak out against Umno.

But has he really spoken out and articulated the frustrations of the Chinese community?

The MCA needs to break away from the old way of politics.

It is time for change. Last week, I openly pointed out that the MCA will first have to review its relationship with Umno.

I pointed out that the perception of a master-servant relationship should be removed.

The candidate endorsed by the current party leadership now says the MCA should consider leaving BN.

That may well be a logical conclusion of what I proposed.

But what is the reaction of Umno towards such a strong statement from an MCA vice-president and Cabinet Minister?

We may never know because it appears the statement so far is meant for the eyes of only the Chinese community.

This is posturing that serves no purpose except to boost the ego of the endorsed candidate for president.

There is no doubt that Umno and MCA's inability to effectively speak out for the Chinese community was a major factor in BN's poor performance in the March general elections.

The endorsed candidate's "performance" for the Chinese community is a continuation of policies which have lost the MCA crucial support from voters.

We do not need someone who only pretends to speak out for the Chinese.

We need the next MCA president to be someone who will speak out for all Malaysians.

We need the next MCA president to be someone who will speak out against all injustices.

I am so sad that the endorsed candidate still has no real or concrete manifesto as to how he wants to save MCA. It only serves as a platform for him to crusade on the issue for morality.

He is purely a leader who reacts, while what I feel the grassroots want is a leader who will lead.

It is really insulting to members to think that in this age of multi-culturalism that anyone would choose to put on a show in the Chinese newspapers for the Chinese community.

But perhaps I am wrong and I wish I am.

In that case, my request to the endorsed candidate is for him to send a letter to Umno, repeating his statement that MCA may pull out of BN if Umno does not shed its "Ketuanan Melayu" policies.

He should also officially issue statements that that will be MCA's policy should he become president.

If he does not write a letter to Umno or have a private chat with the PM about what he said, then he would be very rude issuing a threat without letting the other party know.

If he does not do any of these things then it would appear that he was just hoping to get political support to attain his ambition without actually intending to walk the talk.

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一般认为，当那惟一已经表态要竞选马华总会长职的政治人物声明如果巫统仍然保持“大马人主义”态度，那么马华极有可能退出国阵的言论，理应会吸引传媒的聚焦，成为报章的热点头条。

然而，只有星期天的南洋商报以显刊报道这则新闻。其他报章也只在今天（周一）报道其他领袖的回应。马来文和英文报章则明显地避开了关课题。

一些人形容我是“过气政治人物”，我也看见我党领袖们指那些有阅读中文报章的广大基层认为，这名被钦点竞选马华总会长职的政治人物，很勇敢发表针对巫统的言论。
问题是，他是真正反映及阐述华人社会的不满吗？

马华必须弃旧纳新，突破旧政治格局，现在是改变的时候。

上星期，我公开指出马华要改变，首先要检讨和巫统的关系。我也表明，马华必须去除和巫统的主从关系。

今天，这位获现任领导层首肯和拥护的候选人却说马华应考虑退出国阵。

如此强烈的言论出自一名马华副总会长兼内阁部长口中，巫统会有怎样的反应？我们可能永远不会知道，因为目前只有华社可以看到有关声明。

说这番话除了让这名候选人长自己威风、提高声势，实际上对解决问题并没有多大帮助。

无可否认巫统和马华无力有效反映华社民意，是国阵在308大选流失华裔选票的主要原因。这名被钦点候选人对华社的“表现”，其实就是延续那导致马华丧失选民支持的政策。

我们不要那些假惺惺为华社说话的人！

我们需要一名有能力为全民说话的总会长。我们需要敢于和所有不公现象对立的总会长。

我感到遗憾，这位被领导层推举的候选人，至今还未真正提出任何具体和务实的改革宣言和主张，反而使用这个平台进行道德征伐。

他是只懂得回应的领袖，而我却感觉到基层要的，是一名可以领导的领袖。
在这多元文化时代，还有人只懂得在华文报章上做戏，这对党员简直是一种侮辱。

也许我是错的。我希望我是错的。

因此，我要求这位候选人致函给巫统，以重复他的声明，直接告诉巫统如果他们不摆脱马来主义政策，马华将离开巫统。

他也应该发表一项正式声明，即若他出任马华总会长，这将是马华的政策。

如果他不致函巫统，或不私下向首相说明，提出警告却不让对方知道的做法是很无礼的。

如果他没有采取以上任何一行动，那看起来他只想通言论来获取政治支持来达到他的目的和野心，而无意实践这项建议。