Former MCA vice-president Ti Lian Ker today hit out at DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook for claiming that the party could progress without relying on MCA, saying DAP itself had turned into “MCA 2.0”.
In a Facebook post, Ti said this was not the first time that Loke had “trampled” on MCA.
“In fact, this is the fourth time he has done so publicly: first saying he ‘doesn’t like MCA’, then that he ‘can’t be bothered with MCA’, followed by mocking MCA with ‘don’t flatter yourselves’ and now dismissing the party altogether.
“To his supporters, this might look like bravado. But beneath the surface, it reveals something else: a DAP that has become exactly what it once despised. Today’s DAP is nothing more than MCA 2.0 but performing or functioning worse than MCA,” Ti said.
Loke yesterday dismissed the notion that DAP needed the support of MCA, saying the party had never once said it was keen on joining forces with the Barisan Nasional (BN) component.
Loke was responding to MCA Youth information chief Neow Choo Seong, who reportedly said that it would be difficult for MCA to work with DAP even though they were part of the same government.
He also said that his party’s cooperation with BN was within the context of the unity government.
DAP, as part of Pakatan Harapan, is a coalition ally of BN in the unity government led by Anwar Ibrahim.
Ti said DAP had positioned itself for decades as the righteous alternative to MCA, with leaders such as Lim Kit Siang and the late Karpal Singh building reputations for fighting against corruption, cronyism and silence in the face of Umno dominance.
“They condemned MCA as weak, spineless, and irrelevant, accusing it of betraying the Chinese community,” he said, adding however that DAP had proven no different once in government.
“Local government elections? Shelved. Recognition of the Unified Examination Certificate? Still undelivered. Anti-corruption reform? Quietly buried whenever coalition partners are implicated,” he said.
“DAP doesn’t need MCA because it is already functioning like MCA. (It) has already become MCA 2.0, adopting MCA’s playbook and political narratives. Excuses and apologies for non-deliveries to ‘Apa Cina Mau?’ when they voted for Ubah!” he added, referring to the campaign launched by DAP ahead of the 2013 general election to promote political reform and challenge BN’s decades-long rule.
