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It’s ‘war in Johor’ with MCA being forced to hold off an invasion by DAP, which is bringing a host of heavyweights to try and capture the state. Liew Chin Tong has been named to take on Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong in a battle of state party chiefs. MCA is
JOHOR BARU: For MCA, this general election is war. And it needs the strength of the Chinese community to arm itself for the war.
At a rally with about 5,000 supporters, party president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai sought to drive home the message that MCA had never once abandoned the community despite the many ups and downs since its inception 69 years ago.
Liow however noted that the second largest Barisan Nasional component party needed the support of the Chinese to continue its struggle.
Liow pointed out that the DAP could not and would not defend the rights and interest of the community.
“The DAP says it does not represent the Chinese community after winning big in the last elections,” he said, in an obvious reference to the Opposition party which got 85% of the Chinese votes in the last elections and, won 38 parliament seats and 96 state seats.
The two-hour rally in a packed hall ended with repeated shouts of “jiu guo, jiu jia, gei li ma hua, zhan, zhan, zhan” (save the country, save the family, give MCA strength to go to war).
At a press conference later, Liow said the party leadership was also in support of another rally in Ayer Hitam to back incumbent MP Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong, in the wake of the challenge by Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong.
Dr Wee, who is party deputy president and Johor MCA chief, will be defending the seat he has held for three terms.
Dr Wee in response to Liew’s candidacy, said he never took voters’ support for granted, and described the ground sentiment as “very challenging”.
On rumours of a “Malay tsunami”, he said he knew the pulse of his Malay constituents, adding that they were with him.
Dr Wee said Johoreans were practical and liked the presence of their elected representatives.
“Most DAP elected representatives hardly come back to serve their constituents after getting their support,” he said.
HE came to the DAP anniversary celebrations in Ayer Hitam hoping to get a glimpse of one leader. And it wasn’t a leader from DAP.
The Malay pineapple farmer from Pontian had travelled almost 50km to get a glimpse of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, a man who may be Prime Minister once more – if the Opposition makes it to Putrajaya this general election.
“I have been with the Opposition all my life. I never met him when he was with Umno and the Prime Minister,” said the 54-year-old who is from Parti Amanah Negara, the PAS splinter party.
However, he is not holding out too much hope that Pakatan Harapan can take over the Federal Government or that Dr Mahathir can be Prime Minister again.
He was certainly not there to join the DAP celebrations or share DAP’s dream of capturing Johor.
DAP announced its Johor chief Liew Chin Tong as the candidate for Ayer Hitam during the celebrations, confirming a battle royal in the constituency, which will be defended by MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
Liew’s name was read out by DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, who called the candidate to go onto the stage at the party’s 52nd anniversary celebrations.
Holding his hands up high, Lim then invited Dr Mahathir to join them.
Dr Mahathir said Pakatan had identified Johor as one of its focal points in its attempt to wrest control of the Federal Government.
“We also hope Johor will fall to the Opposition,” he said.
Dr Mahathir, who is tipped to contest the Langkawi parliamentary seat, announced that Pakatan would be fielding “heavyweight” candidates in battleground areas.
Dr Mahathir’s fan, the pineapple farmer, was not convinced.
“The Malays from PAS will not support DAP. This is the same for many Amanah members,” he said.
The perception that DAP is anti-Islam and anti-Malay is deep-seated in the Malay rural areas.
Even DAP candidate Liew knows that. He admitted it would be an uphill battle for him in the seat which has 56% Malays, 38% Chinese and 4% Indians.
Swarmed by the media after the announcement of his candidacy, a usually friendly Liew was tonguetied about how he could win the
Malay votes.
All he said was: “I’ll try my best.” Liew, 41, the Kluang MP, was first elected MP in 2008 when he won the Bukit Bendera seat in Penang, before moving to Kluang, Johor, in 2013.
It would be no mean feat for him to unseat Barisan Nasional’s Dr Wee, who has already been an MP there for three terms. It is hard to find fault with Dr Wee, who takes good care of his constituents.
Liew knew this but stopped short of openly admitting his contender’s good track record.
“This is not a fight between two personalities and there is nothing
personal between us,” he said.
“Ayer Hitam is a tough seat. If we can win, we can win another 10 seats (parliamentary) in Johor. These (10 seats) are marginal Barisan seats.
“If we win in Ayer Hitam, magic will happen,” said Liew.
But politics is a numbers game. His Malay Pakatan leaders will have to deliver the Malay votes first before any magic can happen.