Monday! Monday!

It would appear that no one in Malaysia can avoid the mention of SAPP and Monday. You read it in Malaysiakini, you hit it in Malaysia-Today.Net. Hell! You can even stare at it in the mainstream media (MSM).

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So, is Yong Teck Lee a hero, villain or, a soon-to-be-martyr? In the course of my readings, I discovered that many Sabahans of Chinese descent originate from the Hakka families that had to make a run (with the help of Christian missionaries with links to the Basel Church in North Borneo) after the quelling of the Taiping Rebellion in Qing China. Does that explain the robustness and ruggedness of the SAPP leaders like Yong?

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The parliamentary procedures on the tabling of a "no confidence" motion is well elucidated and considered by Malik Imtiaz (see http://malikimtiaz.blogspot.com/2008/06/will-speaker-uphold-constitution.html). I have nothing further to add on it.

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Instead, I want to make a small observation on Dr Chua Soi Lek's take on this SAPP business (see http://drchua9.blogspot.com/2008/06/another-political-drama.html). Dr Chua, being an MCA ex-leader-soon-to-be-future leader, is very much a part of the "enlightened" Establishment (meaning BN, of course).

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Dr Chua tries to dampen and temper the excitement over SAPP+Monday by expressing his concerns over the insidious agenda of PAS and the possibility of a 2-party system in future Malaysia. These are also his reasons for arguing that the MCA should not leave BN.

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Dr Chua also tries to take us through the history of the meaningful role played by the MCA in the Malaysian polity.

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To assist Dr Chua, I wish to highlight 2 episodes in the MCA's history that has been glossed over. First, is 1958 when Dr Lim Chong Eu was elected MCA President on a plank of asserting MCA's status as an near-equal to UMNO instead of junior partner. MCA should explain how Tun Tan Siew Sin, with a little help from friends in UMNO, got rid of Dr Lim.

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Next is the 1975 push by Dr Lim Keng Yaik in Perak for MCA to assert itself against UMNO on many key policy matters. MCA should explain how MCA got rid of this other Dr Lim.

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Now, Dr Chua and his "reformist" colleagues may be able to get rid of the Ong mafia. But can any leaders of MCA truly be a near-equal partner to UMNO?

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In any case, I don't really care for a communal MCA. The most important issue, Dr Chua, is NOT whether MCA should leave BN or not. The most important issue, Dr Chua, is whether the MCA is prepared for a sea-change by becoming MULTIRACIAL?