[Politikus] Wither or Weather?

[Politikus] Wither or Weather?

Wither or Weather?

Posted: 28 Aug 2009 07:34 PM PDT

 Likely Unlikely!

I feel sad that an organisation as old as MCA (perhaps at last count, they celebrated their 60th anniversary) is now being saddled with its own internal problems that could perhaps, have been avoidable, had the President been not so adamant on having it his way.

Perhaps a maverick's journey will always begin with bravery and single-mindedness towards achieving its goal (whatever that goal is) but it will always end with disaster because to run a million strong organisation takes more than just strong-headedness, it takes more tact to keep it intact.

Ong Tee Keat has perhaps been the most vocal MCA politician in the last five years speaking out on issues that affects the rakyat. And I remember not too long ago, he went against Hishammuddin (Minister of Education then) and dug out all the abuse of funds with regards to a contractor over-charging and under-providing for a school's renovation that resulted in the collapse of part of the school premises. The row between him and Hisham made OTK a local hero and showed others that he dared to stand up against the Education Minister (at that time OTK was only a Deputy Minister).

Fast forward it 4 years later. He's now the Head of a major party within the ruling coalition. He's reached the top post of his party and can (in a way) do whatever he likes and however he likes with the fate of the party. It now rest on him to seriously take into consideration all facets involved when he is to decide on any major move within the party.

Decisions are hard to make, especially if it involves a million heads (ie. a million members). For every decision you take, there are at the very least 30% of the members who are not willing to even hear you out. And there are always another 20% more who will question you till the end on why certain actions are taken. On a normal Binomial Curve, you can't runaway from these folks who are sitting on the 'sigma' ends.

It is now time for OTK to seriously think about how he wants MCA to move forward. If I were to also draw a parallel between him and Najib (PM), then I would say both are in very precarious position now. With Najib on his toes every day to (1) help the nation grow by monitoring KPIs and KRAs, (2) keep the steam away from his screaming UMNO extremes at bay, (3) managing the feelings and sentiments of the component parties, (4) strategising every move against the Pakatan coalition, I believe every day is both a joy and a pain in the … for the PM. He could have asked himself, what the hoot am I doing all this when the rakyat is not appreciative of it at all.

On the other hand, for OTK, he is right in being a maverick in his own Ministry, by exposing all its irregularities vis a vis the latest PKFZ wrongdoings (and many more), but that is not the way to expose 'your' own party. One does not go all the way to kill off an 'enemy' when the enemy is democratically elected by thousands of others. Its better to cold-storage than to receive the wrath of a strike-back.

As for now, OTK dugged his own pit and he has to haul himself out if he is to see the end of the daylight. With a billionaire hot on his pants and ranting about the missing 10 million, and internally facing a vote of no confidence, he better do something soon or else, it may turn ugly. In 2001, chairs were thrown in their AGM, what will be the 'mode of exchange' this round …
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