The bald truth about how one BN party's venture into cyberspace hit a Wall

One party had actually attempted to reach out earlier to Netizens even before anyone had the faintest idea that March 8 would take place. But of course, almost no one knew of MCA's efforts in the form of mylivingwall.com because it turned out to be a disaster mired in corruption, a sex scandal and sheer incompetence.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

By I Love Malaysia

Most people thought BN component parties headed into cyberspace only after the watershed March 8 2008 general election which saw the opposition make unprecedented gains, largely due to the primary and secondary reach of the New Media such as blogs and news portals like Malaysia-Today and Malaysiakini.

Largely, BN parties have just left the starting mark in the race towards cyber information dominance while Pakatan Rakyat parties are already miles ahead. But one party had actually attempted to reach out earlier to Netizens even before anyone had the faintest idea that March 8 would take place. But of course, almost no one knew of MCA's efforts in the form of mylivingwall.com because it turned out to be a disaster mired in corruption, a sex scandal and sheer incompetence.

The idea of mylivingwall was first hatched in 2007 out of one woman's frustration with her superior. AL Ho was working in INSAP, MCA's think tank but everyone knew she could not get along with her boss, another Iron Lady, Song Fui K, formerly from the American Chamber of Commerce. With both having strong characters, their daily arguments got too much and Ms Ho decided it was time to part ways.

But she ain't gonna just call it a day in MCA without first extracting her pound of flesh from the oh-so-generous MCA president then, Ong Ka Thing. A window of opportunity presented itself when Ka Thing appointed Fu Ah Kiow to head the publicity bureau. That's when she sold the idea of setting up a portal called mylivingwall.com to the MCA president through Ah Kiow. And Ah Kiow, being Chan Kong Choy's right-hand man, can just about lead Ka Thing to leap off KLCC if he wanted to. Ka Thing was sold to the idea faster than the dotcom bust of the early 2000s.

But then, Ms Ho also wanted a good deal for her severance-package-cum-platinum-handshake. And she had a secret weapon: the then MCA legal bureau head Dato' Leong Tang Chong, with whom she shared a relationship that went far beyond work. The bald lawyer with close ties with Ka Thing helped her draft a contract with MCA which made her CEO of The Living Wall Sdn Bhd, with MCA HQ having to grant RM800,000 seed money and a MONTHLY retainer of RM65,000 for three years.

And before one could hear "ta da!", MCA's venture to turn over the notoriously anti-establishment Netizens was born, out of one woman's frustration with work, with the help of a long-time lover, in a business arrangement that reeks of high-handedness.

And the "portal" itself? It's just a one-woman effort to compile bits of information from all over cyberspace. No one runs around interviewing Ministers or braving the FRU during illegal rallies, much less brave the crowd in ceramahs. And Ong Ka Thing was banking on this woman to turn things around in the face of seething anger from the urban middle-class Chinese. By the time March 8 took place, it was already too late. Living Wall hit a wall, pun intended.

With the Living Wall's 3-year contract expiring in February 2010, Ms Ho's fortune does not seem to be all that bright. Neither is the luck of her lover boy Leong Tang Chong, who was removed as MCA legal bureau head shortly after the October 10 EGM for plotting against the president. Baldy and Ms Ho go back a long way and are part of the Bangsar Group, named after their power base, and are known for being English-speaking MCA activists, in a largely Mandarin-speaking party.

But really the person more worried about the MCA not renewing Living Wall's contract than Ms Ho is Leong Tang Chong. Having given up his legal practice years ago, which he made a fortune from the generosity of Ling Liong Sik and Ong Ka Thing, Bald Tang Chong would have no more income if Living Wall tumbles like the Berlin Wall exactly 20 years ago. Tang Chong has just been redesignated as The Star chairman to an ordinary board member in a move that leaves him one leg at the Star exit (http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/6/business/5055017&sec=business).

Of late, Tang Chong, who made no attempt to hide his estranged relations with his wife, was often seen in MCA treasurer-general Tan Sri Tee Hock Seng's office in Cheras lobbying not to be chopped off as director in Huaren, the party's investment arm as well as in Wisma MCA Sdn Bhd. Having loaned RM170,000 from his lover for the new Maserati, Tang Chong did not want to be caught deep in debt. Hence, he agressively pushed for the renewal of Ms Ho's lop-sided contract.

Towards this end, Tang Chong even cut a deal with Liow Tiong Lai. In return for declaring Ong Tee Keat's EGM illegal, the botak, as he is also known, will be given the post of MCA Federal Territory deputy chairman, a much more glamorous post than the legal bureau head which he has held since Ling Liong Sik's days. On top of that, the Living Wall will continue to be as erect as he is whenever he is with its CEO.

But as the MCA leadership impasse drags on, the Living Wall, Ong Ka Thing's baby, is stillborn while Pakatan's ones are trudging far ahead. (Just do a whois domain search online and one can see that Living Wall is owned by Ms Ho (complete with her mobile number!!) and has its address in Wisma MCA KL). And BN parties like MCA can lead sites like Living Wall to the sledgehammer, just like how the fall of the Berlin Wall brought hope and prosperity. Otherwise, the only thing "living" insofar as the next general election is concerned is false hopes and illusions.