It seems to me that the latest controversy on MCA's public proposal to build more Chinese- language primary schools and the noisy rejection of it by Umno is but just another coordinated strategy between the two parties - assisted by the Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia as well as the MCA-owned Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press .
The issue itself is not new. Before every general or by-election since 1955, the Barisan Nasional (formerly the Alliance) has publicly promised Chinese voters that if they are returned to power, more Chinese - and for that matter, more Tamil - primary schools would be built. Two questions arise from this understanding.
First, if building more Chinese and Tamil schools have been an electoral promise of BN, why does the MCA find it necessary to go to the media to publicly demand for the fulfilment of this electoral promise?
Can't MCA just work quietly behind the scenes to implement the electoral promise? If Umno truly believes Chinese primary schools are bad for 'national unity' or 'national integration', then why did it promise to build more such schools before every general election?
It seems to me that MCA has decided to play to the gallery to serve its own selfish agenda. The first is, of course, to show to the Chinese Malaysian community that it is a more 'daring' and 'heroic' in championing Chinese education than Gerakan - its fellow component party in BN - or the opposition DAP or the Chinese leadership of Keadilan.
The second reason has to do with the forthcoming MCA party elections. Being perceived as feeble in policy-making, incumbent president Ong Ka Ting has to re-package himself and his Team A faction to be more 'vocal' and 'sincere' than potential challengers like Chua Jui Meng, Ong Tee Keat, Chan Kong Choy and those in Team B.
These partisan and self-interested considerations coincide with the political aspirations of younger Umno leaders such as Hishammuddin Hussein and Khairy Jamaluddin et al in portraying themselves to be 'defenders of the national language policy', 'Malay dignity' and what not.
Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia also finds it convenient to exploit this 'sandiwara' to attempt to boost its credibility and legitimacy as a platform for Umno's Malay ethno-nationalism.
This sort of 'sandiwara', however, is not novel.
In the past, Umno's radicals were playacted by the younger Najib Razak who has now become a moderate voice because he has almost reached the top. After Hishammuddin or Khairy have achieved power in the future, they will also re-package themselves as moderates, leaving the role of radicals to another younger generation of aspiring Umno Youth members and leaders.
On the MCA side, once party elections are over, the winners will call Umno leaders 'abang' once again. Come another general election, BN will again promise to build more Chinese primary schools. The 'sandiwara' goes on and on ad infinitum .
In other words, the essential script of this on-and-off again sandiwara is that the Chinese school issue is merely a tool for ambitious or desperate politicians in Umno and MCA, as well as for the media they own to project their images as single-race 'champions'.
If Umno and MCA are unhappy with each other, why not break up the alliance for good? Why cohabit without common or shared vision for Malaysia's future?
