The Singapore Straits Times 23rd April 2001

It is a rough time for the MCA, a member of Malaysia's ruling coalition, as it struggles with internal problems and questions of credibility. In the first of a two-part series, the spotlight falls on how the party is losing support among its Chinese base over its stand on education policies.

By Brendan Pereira

FOR someone weighed down by political and personal problems, MCA president Ling Liong Sik is remarkably focused these days.

He speaks on only one issue: The likelihood of setting up University Tunku Abdul Rahman, a private university run by the party.Advertisement

Not a squeak about his well-publicised falling-out with Datuk Lim Ah Lek, the No 2 in the party.

He knows that for the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), political succession is only a distraction from a more pressing problem: The need to convince Chinese in the country that the party can defend the interests of the community.

That seed of doubt was planted in the minds of the Chinese ground sometime last year, when a group of associations known as Suqui put together a list of demands to the Mahathir administration, seeking a host of assurances including a more level playing field for Malaysians of all races.

The MCA - caught in the bind between being a member of the ruling coalition and the voice of the Chinese - played the government line.Its top figures attacked Suqui leaders for being extreme in their demands.

Watching and digesting every play of this episode were Chinese clan associations, business groups and educationists - the main shapers of opinion in the community. They did not like what they saw.

An official of Dong Ziao Zong, the powerful association of educationists, recalled: 'It was a betrayal.' Strong language, indeed.

In the months following the Suqui issue, the MCA politicians would find themselves facing the same question: Does being a member of Barisan Nasional take precedence over representing Chinese interests?

On two occasions, they fudged and failed. The first test came when the government proposed the setting up of Vision Schools, a plan to place Chinese, Tamil and national schools in one compound, with the aim of helping national integration.

Hawkish Chinese educationists saw it as a subtle attempt by the government to control the administration of Chinese-language schools.

Their response took the MCA by surprise: They joined forces with the opposition and campaigned spiritedly during a by-election in Kedah.For the first time since independence, that seat fell to the opposition, the result of a 30 per cent swing of the Chinese vote away from the ruling coalition.

For the MCA, the defeat proved that ambivalence in politics was not a virtue. Its politicians were accused by their colleagues in Barisan Nasional of not 'clearing doubts' over the Vision Schools project, and chided by the Chinese ground for not speaking up against the government initiative.

A bigger debacle was to follow a few months later. A nondescript Chinese school in the middle-class suburb of Petaling Jaya was asked to relocate its premises to a school 4 km down the road. But 67 parents refused to budge.

Party politicians misread the situation and thought of it as a municipal problem that would go away. How wrong they were.Today, the closure of Damansara Chinese Primary School is a symbol of the right to a Chinese education and the 67 pupils who refused to move to the new school are feted as heroes.

Rich businessmen have donated money to build air-conditioned containers, which double up as classrooms, while experienced teachers from all over the state have been offering their services.

Says Selangor Democratic Action Party chief Ronnie Liu: 'It has become a national issue about Chinese education, something the community is passionate about.'

As MCA party president, Datuk Seri Ling is feeling the heat most from the Chinese community over the party's less than convincing fight for their rights.

Says an MCA central committee member: 'Education is the most important issue for the Chinese. The poor are willing to beg and borrow to give their children a good education.

'Sometimes, we have to show that we are willing to defend the right to a Chinese education in public and not be afraid of rocking the boat. Otherwise, people will say we are Mahathir's yes men.'

In the days ahead, the MCA president and his men might have to shed their safe tactics and make a bold statement on the revamp of the national schools, announced by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.There is already disquiet among Chinese educationists that the revamp is the precursor to a single language education system.

Sure, there is a danger in speaking out of turn. Gerakan president Lim Keng Yaik was ticked off by Dr Mahathir behind closed doors over public statements by certain Gerakan leaders, questioning the use of the Internal Security Act on seven opposition members.

But censure will be a small price to pay for a political party seeking to burnish its credentials among a restive community.