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| Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat says he will face his electorate when he contests his Pandan seat in the next election. |
Question: Since your defeat in the power tussle in MCA, have you ever talked to Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek? How is your relationship? Do you hate him?
Answer: There's no relationship. I've not talked to him at all. Why should I harbour hatred? It was nothing personal. More so, hatred is a form of self-punishment. So for what? I just want to see the party be effective in its role, in accordance with the spirit of the party's constitution, which clearly spells out that the role and function of the party is to be the custodian of rights for all Malaysians, not just a particular sector.
Question: It seems some Malaysians have come to view you as a sore loser.
Answer: Have I questioned the outcome? Never. You cannot stop certain individuals -- especially since we have a lot of hired snipers in cyberspace nowadays. Kindly-worded well-wishes, we take as a form of encouragement. If it's brickbats that you don't think you deserve and you know very well who perpetrated it, then just laugh it off. Why get upset and penalise yourself just because someone said something unkind? Life has to go on man (laughs).
Question: Many people think that if you're not going to be fielded as a candidate in the next election, your political career is as good as over. What is your Plan B?
Answer: There is no Plan A or B. I've said as early as last year -- with no intention of threatening anyone -- that I'm the one who's going to decide my own political destiny. I know what I want and I know where I'm going. I will certainly contest. But if I were to elaborate, they will say you are issuing a veiled threat. I don't have the mood or time to respond to these because I don't mean any of that. I have my commitments, my own political ideals, and destiny, and these shouldn't be swayed by anybody. I certainly won't allow my political destiny, including the realisation of my ideals, to be dictated by certain party forces. So long as I'm a Malaysian, I'm entitled to the right to vote as well as contest in the name of parliamentary democracy.
Question: So what will it be if you don't get fielded as a candidate?
Answer: Without issuing any threat to anybody, I maintain that I will face my electorate in Pandan. I know party insiders frown upon me on this as they interpret it in 1,001 ways. But that is beyond my control. I'm just talking about my rights.
Question: That means there's a possibility if you're not fielded by Barisan Nasional, you'll go independent or join the opposition?
Answer: Well, the logic is pretty clear, isn't it?
Question: If it goes that way, which is preferred? Independent or opposition?
Answer: I will cross that bridge when I come to it. But so far, bearing in mind that I was elected on a BN ticket in 2008, it's only fair for me to continue with my constituency service on this BN platform now.
Question: Have you talked to BN chairman, Datuk Seri Najib Razak?
Answer: One of the discussions we had was in last January, when we talked about the constituency service in Pandan, like any other MPs. I never brought up the issue of candidature. The BN candidature is the prime minister's prerogative. So far, my focus is on the effectiveness of my constituency service. I see no reason to bring this (candidature) up. His prerogative is his alone. Whether or not I have been effective in serving my constituents, that has to be judged objectively. I'm not blowing my own trumpet. Not just BN, but the people will judge.
Question: You still believe in the system, that you would be judged objectively on your service, and that your effectiveness will get you fielded again as a candidate for Pandan?
Answer: Certainly I'm not as naive as I was when I was a rookie years ago. To sum up my personal experience, either as an MP or a public office holder at one time, I must say that sometimes justice may not prevail or it may only prevail after a long, long time. Perhaps, after the fall of the personalities involved. There are no hard and fast rules. To say an absolute yes or no is not quite right.
Question: Do you think you have any chance at all of being fielded as a candidate in the coming general election?
Answer: Who am I to speculate? I'm in no position to say that. Moreover, I have had no dealings with MCA in the past two years. I'm appreciative of the people's support that has been spurring me on, because in any programme or activity involving the people, it's the people who make things work.
Question: Is remaining in MCA desirable to you now?
Answer: As an MP, I need to gauge the effectiveness if I were to remain a member of a certain political party -- to assess the effectiveness of my involvement and affiliation. But in this respect, if I were to do a similar assessment, I simply don't see the effectiveness.
Question: You have said MCA is "irrelevant", it sounds like you are likely to leave MCA.
Answer: Well, people can interpret it in 1,001 ways.
Question: I don't want to interpret. Why don't you tell me?
Answer: When I get such questions, I must speak my mind. But when I do, I get a lot of brickbats from the current leadership because those who are in power, largely, have a denial syndrome. Actually my exact words were "going to be irrelevant". We will be if we continue with the existing modus operandi. But unfortunately, people interpret it in their own way. And some choose to deny it. In Malaysia's partisan politics, denial has been the order of the day. Those who are being criticised find it hard to swallow their bitter pill. If we want to embark on any kind of transformation or reform, so long as we have this kind of denial syndrome, it will be our stumbling block.
Question: Penang MCA Youth chief Eng Hiap Boon had announced that he's quitting the party and he claims there's a mass exodus. There's speculation about you being the mastermind of it all. What's your comment?
Answer: Yes, he has been my aide until my exit from the cabinet. Even now on the non-governmental organisation platform, he has been helping me in community work nationwide. Now, even if my own family members were to quit the party, do you think I would have any kind of control over them? This is his own choice. Any quarters, especially party insiders, if they were to cast doubts or link Eng's exit and the exodus from the party to me, I must say that is very unfair to Eng. You are casting doubts on his own (ability to make) decisions. He's a mature person.
Question: Do you think more will be leaving MCA?
Answer: I don't know. These (in the exodus) are grassroots members. No doubt I was the president before, but I can't claim to know many of them. News reports point at me as the person behind this exodus, not just in Penang but in other places, too. When the news was out, I was in Taiwan, attending the worldwide conference of the Buddha Light Association, of which I'm the vice-president. I couldn't help but have a good laugh.
Firstly, party insiders have been labelling me a lone ranger over the years. Now, they blame the exodus on me. Don't you think that's contradictory? If I'm such a lone wolf, how can I wield such influence?
Question: What are your political aspirations now? A leadership post, a ministership? To get back what you have lost?
Answer: I've had the opportunity to assume the MCA presidency and a ministership. I'm not hungry for that. Over the years, with or without the political platform, I had been strongly committed to what I call a nationhood devoid of zero-sum mentality. I've observed that in our country, our social fabric has been heavily compartmentalised. Chinese with Chinese, Malays with Malays and so on. Even when we have so-called interaction, it's confined to the superficials, like during festivities; mentally or rather in terms of our psyche, we don't really interact. We don't appreciate each other's norms and taboos, the so-called inner soul of our respective ethnic groups.
I wish that one day all Malaysians can discard the kind of mentality where we tend to think that your gain is my loss, that a particular ethnic group can only make headway in the pursuit of their interests at the expense of others. That is my aspiration. In my active years in politics, I see this being cultivated and perpetuated by some irresponsible or point-scoring politicians looking to get a spot in the limelight and to climb up the political ladder. We don't have to single out anyone. This has been the norm among many politicians.
Original Post : New Straits Time
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