“On the lack of confidence in him, I can understand it because in the May 5 general election, many people used Najib’s 'rock star' image to promote (themselves).”

- Former MCA president Chua Soi Lek

As expected, former MCA president Chua Soi Lek was vilified for doing what is expected of a former MCA president engaged in the treacherous race-based politics of Malaysia. Unlike most political pundits who despise the former MCA president or want anything to do with BN, I have a certain respect for the man, even though these days respect means very little in the ‘take no prisoner’ discourse of oppositional politics.

Chua’s recent rejoinder to the MCA to be hard on DAP is exactly the kind of throwback politics that would have worked if MCA enjoyed the majority support of the Chinese community. As it is, the very same MCA, which for years had enjoyed the support of the Chinese community and ironically laid the foundation for the eventual communities' desertion, is unprepared to face the Bangsa Malaysia propaganda that fuels an urban uprising against the Umno hegemon.

Even more damaging to the MCA is the 1MDB scandal that not only acts as the glue that keeps various disparate oppositional fronts together but also the shield that deflects against any other scandal that emanates from the opposition.

What is worse for the former MCA president is that he has publicly acknowledged that the Umno big cheese provided funds for BN component parties to fight elections, and that the non-Malay component parties failed to deliver in return.

The sad reality is that Chua acknowledges what most DAP members purposely choose to ignore or berate those who bring it up, that ultimately race is the foundation of MCA and DAP politics. Race-based politics is the reality for most political parties in the country, with tokenism the fig leaf that hides the sordid truth.

While Chua openly acknowledges this in rhetoric and took pride in debating Lim Guan Eng in 2012, I had a different take on the debate. In a post-debate piece, which did not go down well with most people, I wrote:

“Imagine an alternate scenario where the DAP stuck to its guns and refused to debate the MCA on this racialist topic but rather demanded for a debate between Anwar and PM Najib Razak, since these two are contenders for the Putrajaya throne, or demanded that the topic centres on issues affecting all Malaysians, whom the DAP claims to represent. As it is, this debate merely confirms that the rules of the game haven't changed - that the DAP's role in Pakatan is to pick up the Chinese vote, as are PKR and PAS to scoop up the Malay vote.”

Sometime last year, Chua admitted to receiving funds from the Umno grand poohbah - “I must admit, during the BN supreme council meeting approaching the May 5 general election, he (Najib) in his capacity as prime minister and BN chairperson, did reveal that in that election, BN will support its component parties’ finances. I remembered clearly, I was the first to thank him.”

Chua also claimed that he advised the Umno president, “So long as the money did not come from the government or 1MDB, there is nothing wrong. Because in Malaysia, there is no law to say that when people donate money to you for the election, you need to report it.”

So, what the non-Malays have is former MIC president S Samy Vellu admitting that Umno never really listened to the MIC, then we had former MCA chief Chua admitting that the MCA received funds from one of the biggest corruption scandals in this country. Is it any wonder that the non-Malay vote has mostly left Umno - and add to this the constant provocations by state-sponsored Islamists and outsourced thugs?