MCA presidential aspirant Ong Ka Ting, contrary to popular belief, did not retire from politics after not seeking re-election at the party polls in 2008. He was busy doing what he does best - conspiring and hatching sinister plots. And he was about to mastermind the greatest MCA comebacks in history - that of his own, to re-claim the party presidency.
It started even before he gave up his post. On grounds of impartiality, as the then MCA president, Ong Ka Ting decided not to stir the hornet's nest with the complaint lodged by a Johor leader against Dr Chua Soi Lek's DVD case. Instead, Ka Ting decided to pass the time bomb to his successor, Ong Tee Keat.
He knew that Ong Tee Keat could not stand the sight of Dr Chua Soi Lek. That's when Ka Ting made use of the MCA Wanita chief Chew Mei Fun to instigate Tee Keat to sack the duly-elected Health Minister on grounds that Chua was a disgrace to the party.
Poor Tee Keat took the bait, hook, line and sinker. The wheels of Ong Ka Ting's return was set in motion the day the disciplinary board proceeded with Chua's case. By doing so, Ka Ting knew the party would be split into two. True to Ka Ting's expectations, Chua called for an EGM.
During the weeks leading to the Oct 10 EGM, Ka Ting took firm control of the maneouverings with the backing of his brother, Ka Chuan. And thus, the ‘Third Force’ came into being.
Using his extensive network, Ka Ting got his boys and girls to ensure both Tee Keat and Chua were ousted during the EGM. The ‘bonus’ came when Tee Keat was hoodwinked into agreeing to accept the resolutions by Chua's faction in toto.
(The then legal bureau head, Leong Tang Chong, was instrumental in Tee Keat arriving at the decision, made on the 7th floor of the Transport Ministry hours before negotiations on the EGM from both sides were to commence. Leong Tang Chong, who was rumoured to be romantically- linked to a pseudo-blogger, was Ka Ting's appointee in The Star as it's chairperson.)
By accepting Chua's resolutions without any changes, Ka Ting knew the president and the deputy were as good as gone. He knew that when both sides were almost equally-strong, a few votes difference was all it would take to get rid of both. And the Oct 10 EGM proved just that. Tee Keat lost the no-confidence motion by a mere 14 votes.
Although Ka Ting miscalculated the readiness of Tee Keat and Chua to patch up so quickly after the EGM, the ex-president was back on his feet in no time. He got Liow Tiong Lai to lead his (Ka Ting's) own men like Ho Kok Chung, Wee Jeck Seng and Chew Mei Fun into submitting their conditional resignation letters.
And then, using intermediaries like Tan Kay Hock from Johan Holdings, he instigated Chua's boys into doing the same. He fuelled the mistrust between Tee Keat and Chua and convinced Chua's supporters that they had the largest bloc of votes and that Chua should not play second fiddle to Tee Keat.
March 4 came and Chua could no longer hold back his boys, hence the mass resignations which triggered the fresh poll.
And even before it hit Chua, Ka Ting had already placed his boys all over the country asking them to plead for his return. Then, he dropped another hint in an NTV7 interview saying he would return if need be. By the time Ka Ting made the announcement official, Chua's game plan for the party polls already had to be thrown out of the window. It was back to the drawing board for a new series of horse-trading, number-crunching and clandestine discussions.
That was why Chua held back his official announcement on his candidacy until less than 24 hours before nomination. Others like Kong Cho Har and Liow also announced theirs late, thanks to Ka Ting who finally came out to foil their plans.
So, there you have it. A master politician, who's a genius. And one who delivered the votes to Pakatan Rakyat on a silver platter during the last general election. God bless MCA to have such a talented leader.
