MCA: The Past, Present, and Future

By Arthur Sim

My band was at studio rehearsal last night. We were trying to lay down the riffs, chord progression, vocals, and harmony for our songs.

As I began putting in the vocals on Green Day’s hit, 21 Guns, I was moved to reflect on the lyrics of the song, which speaks of what MCA is going through right now.

Do you know what’s worth fighting for.
When it’s not worth dying for?
Does it take your breath away
And you feel yourself suffocating?

Much of what MCA fought for in the past and continue to do so is no longer relevant today. I venture to guess that much of what we all fought for 50 years ago is lost on the youth of today.

As an example, do you know that many of our young have no idea the world was at war in 1914 and again in 1939? They can’t even tell you what happened in Rwanda, Bosnia, The Fall of Berlin Wall, Korea War; that the Japanese colonised Korea, parts of China (modern-day Taiwan); who Martin Luther King Jr is, etc.

And if I told you that they can’t even recite the Rukun Negara or the words to Negara Ku, would that surprise you?

If all of MCA’s glory is attached to its past, then MCA is screwed.

What is MCA fighting for now?

The Chinese have abandoned the party. No matter what it does, come election day they will put a cross beside the name DAP. We can criticise all we want about the lies DAP has fed the people but it doesn’t change anything because DAP has won that war.

As the line goes, And you feel yourself suffocating, doesn’t that ring some truths?

Don’t we feel suffocated selling the party to the Chinese who amuse you by listening to you but show you the finger when it comes to the vote?

Your faith walks on broken glass
And the hangover doesn’t pass
Nothing’s ever built to last
You’re in ruins.

Our faith in what the party stood for is like walking on broken glass. And as the song suggests: nothing’s ever built to last.

The past is never built to last. But we have the future that we can move into only if we allow ourselves to.

These are questions MCA leaders have to ask themselves and answer honestly.

1. What is the purpose of the party today and the future? As Simon Sinek asks: “What is your Why?” Why does MCA exist? Why should it exist?

2. Should we begin moving the old warlords into an advisory capacity and look to promote the young into positions of significance? The young are smarter than us old coots. We may have wisdom (at least we think we do) and we can guide them but the party needs to trust the young.

3. In GE16 the young will have an opportunity to vote. Do we want to wait until then to only think of the future?

4. Do we continue with reaching out to just the Chinese? The majority of them no longer support MCA. Should we not reach out to the people instead? DAP is not trusted by the Malays. But stop any Malay and tell them you support MCA and they will call you brother. When we speak of unity they do not view us with suspicion. Why shouldn’t we openly reach out to Malays, Indians, Kadazans, etc?

5. Why do we continue fighting for Chinese Education schools? Don’t you already know that these schools are a festering of DAP supporters? Why don’t we fight for better education instead? For good English to be taught in schools?

6. The party is in ruins. Let’s not kid ourselves. But it allows us to change.
Change is hard but it has to be done if we are to survive.

Long live MCA