MCA polls - The unkindest cut

UNCONVENTIONAL in championing a cause, often risking going against the political currents, he has ruffled more than a few feathers in not only in his party but also in the ruling Barisan Nasional.

Ong Tee Keat, the MCA president, is often seen as arrogant, aggressive, vocal and who brooks no nonsense from both friend and foe.

Often misunderstood, there can be no mistaking his conviction in integrity and relentless pursuit of justice and truth.

Unfortunately, it is these very qualities that have earned him more than his fair share of friends and foes.

"He is really a simple person and there is nothing complex about him," says one party insider.

"You either love him for his infuriating and downright honesty or just hate him for being so straight."

But to the folks in his constituency of Pandan, the 53-year-old mechanical engineer is more than their MP.

Transcending the divide

Approachable with a warm disposition, Ong has his doors open to all and sundry and is more a friend than a 'YB'.

Long before the concept was even conceived, here is man who was walking the talk of 1Malaysia.

In his multi-racial parliamentary constituency, where diversity is both a treasure and a powder keg of conflict, Ong's personality transcends the divide and he has extended his help to anyone who asks for a hand...whatever colour or creed.

The son of a fishmonger, Ong grew in an environment of strict moral and ethical codes that was ingrained into him from a young age.

"Integrity and honesty are an integral part of his personality. So any transgression that has a hint of being unfaithful to his ideals and principles is abhorrent to him," the party insider added.

And it this very characteristic, admirable under normal circumstances to most, that seems to be a disgusting trait to his schizophrenic foes.

And schizophrenia seems to be an apt medical nomenclature to describe Ong's detractors.

Stabbed in the back

Take the crisis in the MCA which is moving into a critical phase now.

After agreeing to batten down all the hatches under the 'Greater Unity Plan' formulated by Ong and deputy Dr Chua Soi Lek, the 'good' doctor suddenly pulls the rug from under everybody and reneged on the deal last week, throwing his lot with vice president Liow Tiong Lai, Youth chief Wee Ka Siong and Wanita head Chew Mei Fun.

As a man thinks, so is he, says a proverb.

And so the proverbial "stab-in-the-back" move was totally unexpected by Ong, who had truly, and perhaps naively, believed that his opponents were genuinely seeking a peaceful resolution to the political quagmire.

Perhaps, there were variables, from within the BN and without, that forced a change in the plot, with promises of lucrative cabinet positions for turning ... well for want of a better word ... turn coat.

Rumours of an imminent cabinet reshuffle and the prospects of being in the powerful upper echelons of government were simply too amorous an offer to be faithful to a just but troublesome cause.

Or to the man who embodied it all.

Medicine for the doctor?

It is simply not for the zeitgeist to be honest, a disgusting trait that fills no coffers.

The twists and plots and subplots have made leading the MCA an almost gargantuan task.

From the altercation between Ong and Chua, then the split of the Ong faction (after Liow abandoned the president), the subsequent cooperation between Ong and Chua and finally Chua's act of betrayal,l have rendered all political analysis almost impossible or meaningless.

Nowhere in this entire political imbroglio does honesty, integrity or justice figure.

Indeed, the few good men that are in the party seem to be endangered political entities.

And unless the toxin of greed, ambition and avarice is countered with a good dose of old fashioned integrity, honesty and truth, the doctor, for all the right reasons, is the wrong medicine for the ailment.— Malaysian Mirror