It was a joint UMNO-MCA delegation that went to London in 1955 to negotiate Malaysia's independence. During the time of Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's first Prime Minister, there was real power sharing between UMNO and MCA within the Alliance coalition, forerunner to Barisan Nasional. In Tunku's government, the Finance Ministry was held by a Chinese, Tun Tan Siew Sin. For his even-handed policy, the Tunku was accused of partiality towards the Chinese by one young radical, Mahathir Mohamed, who wrote the Prime Minister a most insulting public letter. After the 1969 race riots, the New Economic Policy (NEP) was put in place and, from then on, all key ministries including those of Finance, Education, Defence, Home and Foreign Affairs would be headed by Bumiputras. The role and influence of the MCA within Barisan Nasional were vastly reduced and progressively eroded over the years until, at this present time, the MCA is not so much the voice of the Chinese as an organisation giving a pretence of representation to the Chinese in Mahathir's government.
While few would disagree that the NEP has helped to reduce racial tensions in Malaysia, to the extent that another May 13 style riot would be highly improbable, the Policy is not without its costs. It has undoubtedly generated some resentment among non-Bumiputras although the economic boom has allayed this considerably by uplifting all racial groups. This resentment arises from the lengthy period and the rigidity with which the NEP has been applied, most especially in the field of higher education.
The country has been and still is so lacking in facilities for tertiary education that large numbers of Malaysian students are forced to go abroad to pursue a degree. However, the escalating cost of an overseas degree has deprived many non-Bumiputra students lacking generous government scholarships of the opportunity to further themselves. In this, the failure of the MCA to moderate this aspect of the NEP is all too glaring. When the Merdeka University was proposed by a group Chinese businessmen in the late seventies as a sorely needed initiative to further the educational needs of non-Bumiputra students, the MCA was largely disinterested. Neither has the Association bothered to set up any wide-ranging scholarship fund to assist economically challenged Chinese.
Another instance of the MCA's almost total lack of influence within Barisan Nasional may be found in the unnecessarily cruel treatment of the China-born wives of Malaysian citizens as regards residency laws. Not only are these wives refused either Malaysian citizenship or permanent residence, but are also forced by Malaysian visa requirements to spent six months of every year outside Malaysia. There can be no rationale for such inhuman treatment which imposes considerable hardship on the families concerned, yet, the MCA appears to have done absolutely nothing towards the removal of this discriminatory law although it is an issue sitting well within its bailiwick.
Recents events testify to the degraded role of the MCA as representative of the Chinese community. The Nipah virus outbreak devastated Malaysia's pig-farming industry and forced the slaughter of about one million pigs. Government compensation amounted to only $50 per pig, in stark contrast to the billions that had been consumed in bailing out government-linked corporations. Too timid to fight for a more equitable compensation, the MCA instead embarked on a charity drive that did not have much of an impact. The utter obsequiousness of the MCA extends to even the most mundane social issues. For instance, the requirement that video stores hold a local content of 30% was impractical and would have closed many Chinese-owned stores, yet Ling Liong Sik was silent; onerous toll charges, the poor funding of Chinese schools, religious identification in identity cards, restrictive regulations governing non-Muslim places of worship, the forced bank mergers that would have drastically reduced Chinese stake in banking, there appears to be not a single issue whereby the MCA leadership has voiced opposition to the government.
Indeed, the past and current leadership of the MCA are so completely subservient to the dictates of UMNO that it would not be going too far to describe them as lapdogs. They are, however, rewarded with rich business pickings from the culture of cronyism that is so much a feature of Malaysian political life. The current MCA President, Ling Liong Sik, is, without doubt, a sit-down guest at BN's banquet of corruption, in company with Samy Vellu, that other betrayer of community trust. However, Ling is seen to be even more obsequious towards Mahathir than Samy Vellu who has, on occasions, debated points with the Cabinet. No other Chinese leader has sunk into a lower state of sycophancy towards Mahathir as Ling Liong Sik who also sees fit to pass some of the lucre to his family. It is well known that his son came from nowhere to become a billionaire at the tender age of 27. Many MCA leaders, including the current President, Ling Liong Sik, arouse so great a measure of Chinese contempt that they have had to be elected into Parliament from Malay-dominated constituencies.
This is seen by many as the subjugation of a community using puppet leaders. A recent event suggests that this is close to the truth. When Kelantan Mentri Besar, Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat was reported saying that PAS is prepared to accept a non-Muslim from the DAP as the Prime Minister, an MCA Central Committee Member, Dr. Chua Soi Lek, saw fit to warn the Malays of a possible erosion in their role as the master race. As reported in Utusan Malaysia 7 Nov:
Dr. Chua semalam memperingatkan orang Melayu bahawa bangsa itu akan hilang ketuanan di Malaysia jika mereka 'membunuh' UMNO pada pilihan raya umum akan datang.
Beliau menegaskan, orang Melayu perlu sedar terhadap perkara tersebut jika mahukan bangsanya terus menjadi teras kepada parti pemerintah di negara ini.
It is ironic that a Chinese should have to frighten the Malays into voting for UMNO using the threat of a Chinese PM. If a Malay political and religious leader can be so gracious as to declare his party accepting of a non-Muslim PM - to which the Malaysian Constitution raises no bar - one wonders what Dr. Chua's problem is and whether he is even comfortable in his own skin.
While the MCA has seen fit to play up Chinese fears of an Islamic state in the run-up to the coming general elections, quite clearly it will be totally unable to play a role should UMNO undertake to give the country a more Islamic face in competition with PAS for the Malay heartland. This now represents the greatest danger to the Chinese who continue to unwittingly support an Association whose leadership has long abrogated its communal responsibilities for personal gain. The MCA is the vehicle deluding Chinese into believing that they have a share in the government of Mahathir when the truth is far more discouraging.
How will the MCA fare in the next general elections vis a vis the DAP? The injustices perpetrated on Anwar has not benefited DAP to any extent and, because of its cooperation with PAS, may well have disadvantaged it. More mature political observers note, however, that the extreme elements in PAS can best be restrained by its new Coalition partners, in particular, Keadilan and DAP who have already been successful in persuading PAS to exclude its Islamic state agenda from the joint election manifesto. But much is muddled under BN's powerful propaganda machinery. The war of lies could well have the effect of destroying DAP as a political force, whose fortunes after the last elections are already at its lowest ebb. And short-sighted Chinese who vote in large numbers to continue the MCA's culture of voicelessness and sycophancy could well find their community marginalised to an extent never experienced before.
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