PETALING JAYA, Oct 14 - Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek scored an emphatic but possibly empty victory in the MCA deputy presidential debate over rival Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai.
Despite winning nearly every round of the debate, Chua's win was overshadowed by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission's (MCMC) "advice" to NTV7 not to televise the debate live but for the recording to pass censorship first before being televised
at a yet to be confirmed date.
"There is no sensitivity involved as it is a party election. But MCA matters affect Chinese Malaysians either directly or indirectly. The government should be more transparent and this only causes it to lose more credibility," the former health minister said, adding that such a last-minute decision must certainly involve the influence of "someone with a ministerial or government post."
Lim, on the other hand, refused to be drawn into such speculation and said that he would leave it to the press to find out.However, he criticised the other two candidates - secretary-general Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan and Tanjung deputy chief Lee Hack Teik - for not participating in the debate.
"It is unfair to have only two of us attack each other and expose each other's weaknesses," he said.
The debate itself saw Lim floundering from the get-go, presenting a manifesto geared to reposition MCA from welfare group to a political party. However, with the bilingual - Mandarin and English - format forcing the speakers to hurry through their points, the vice-president's rather casual pace prevented him from elaborating on his points.
He later told reporters that he was suffering from a cough but Chua showed little sympathy in ramming home his points.
"We do not apologise for being a mono-ethnic party but we must change the perception that MCA is an apologist for Umno. We must champion not just Chinese issues but national ones such as the judiciary and Hindraf."
Lim even failed to capitalise on a question on the requirement for a politician to have good moral standing. With Chua having resigned from all political positions in the beginning of the year due to a sex DVD scandal, Lim could only muster that at a golf game earlier, party members had told him that "if I'm ever involved in immoral activities, I would have to go."
The former vice-president on the other hand, said that he was running to allow the party to determine the basis of such a requirement: "I think this is the fairest way."
A question by panellist and MCA elder Tan Sri Michael Chen on whether the March 8 general elections debacle was caused by infighting saw both candidates dodging the question.
Chua preferred to dwell on the party's inability to articulate the concerns of the Chinese community due to the leadership's subservience to Umno but at least mentioned the "helicopter" dropping of candidates unfamiliar to local MCA members.
"Any candidate must be backed by the division if not it becomes difficult to move the election machinery."
Lim completely sidestepped the question, blaming the lack of transparency in the government and saying that a study had come up with a list of 20 issues although he did not elaborate on them.
The former deputy tourism minister finally made some headway when answering one of Chua's questions.
"Having two Chinese parties is a waste of resources," he said in reply to Chua's question on Lim's proposal to merge MCA with Gerakan, although he had to deal with Chua's interjection that Gerakan was infact multiracial.
"If for example, Umno makes proposal A and Gerakan counters with B and MCA, C, then it is a disorganised stand to Umno. By merging, we will become a united power bloc that can challenge Umno's superiority."
The former Petaling Jaya Selatan MP also managed Chua's query on the New Economic Policy well, insisting that "we have discussed this over and over but what is more important now is how we will tackle the current economic problem.
But Chua did even better when relating how he would garner the support of nearly a million new voters by the next general election, despite 80% of these first-timers voting for the opposition on Mar 8.
"It is a misconception that the old cannot attract the young. Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting was 40-something when he was president but he still did not get the young voters. Lim is older than Ka Ting," he pressed home.
In his wrap up, Lim meekly offered an olive branch to his opponent, saying that they were both good friends and the debate was a friendly one.
"There is no need for people to SMS in with their choice of winner," he joked.
Ironically, he was right, as it was clear that as far as public speaking is concerned, he was clearly out of his league.
Yet, with Ka Chuan representing what appears to be the majority status quo, the debate victory might only result in Chua grabbing a larger share of a split dissident vote this weekend.
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