Lim Kit Siang should stop demonising Umno, MCA, etc for being communal parties and own up that we are communal parties in name but multi-racial in practice, unlike DAP which is a multi-racial party in name but communal in practice.

Umno, MCA and MIC in the context of the Alliance, then Barisan Nasional (BN) was formed for a reason - to bridge and build a platform whereby issues of a sensitive nature were discussed in a low key manner with compromises made behind closed doors.

It is this very spirit of give and take that BN formed the foundation of our nation where this agreement and social contract were written and spelled out in our federal constitution.

Save for the tragedy of May 13, the decades-long peace and harmony that Malaysians enjoy is a testament to the success of this spirit and partnership.

Lim Kit Siang must own up that among the reasons that triggered off May 13 and the loss of majority Chinese MCA seats to DAP in 1969 were the issues of Bahasa Malaysia and Malay culture as the national language and culture.

At that time, DAP had successfully blamed MCA for the failure of the Chinese language and culture to be accorded an official position in the tune of Malaysian Malaysia and using Singapore as a model in comparison.

Today DAP has conveniently forgotten about their questioning the donning of the songkok by judges, uniformed personnel and recipients of Datukship, etc in particular references to MCA leaders.

An example was the MCA Youth chairperson then in the 1980s, Kee Yong Wee, whose photo with a songkok during an official function was widely circulated during the election and he lost narrowly in the Sungai Besi Parliamentary seat.

MCA was demonised for wearing the songkok during official functions and purportedly will ask the Chinese to wear the sarong in future ( in reference to our then-president Tan Siew Sin) who is a Baba-Peranakan by heritage, of which they have accepted the sarong as part of their attire.

There is no other explanation for MCA’s heavy losses to DAP in 1969 but the racial provocation and sentiments fanned by DAP.

Today, it is so ironic to see now DAP leaders like Ronnie Liu Tian Kiew , Dr Ong Kian Ming, etc wearing the songkok and Baju Melayu in a double face about-turn to cover up the racist stance of DAP in the past.

I urge Lim Kit Siang and son to wear the Baju Melayu in a show of repentance and apologise to the nation to show that they have repented and were wrong to make attire as an issue against MCA and Umno in 1969.

Coming back to the present, again the sore points of the Chinese especially the Gen X and Y are the privileges of scholarship, etc of the Malays and Islam being dominant as the official religion.

Not learning from history

Not learning from history, DAP once again continues to exploit such issues - this time by resorting to anonymous or false Facebook account holders and the new media to provoke racial religious issues that have been watered down by MCA and Umno, etc vide consensus-building within the BN framework.

DAP’s double-talk of blaming MCA for whatever compromises made in the spirit of the federal constitution on a weak MCA and a dominant Umno has given the perception that MCA has never fought Umno on issues in defence of the minority and Chinese in particular.

This is not true as MCA had consistently resolved racial religious issues within the framework of the constitution vide their participation in the government.

However, DAP had again successfully painted MCA black and Umno red through the Nazi Goebbels style of political propaganda by repeating lies via sms, emails, social media, etc

Once again I would like to remind Lim Kit Siang to give due recognition of the racial religious harmony that MCA and Umno etc had cultivated in providing a safe haven for moderate Chinese, Malays, etc to co-exist and live in tolerance and harmony for decades.

We have proven that our approach has successfully suppressed and moderated the more extreme demands in Malaysia - whether it is race chauvinism or religious in nature.

It is wrong and irresponsible of Lim Kit Siang to continue to paint MCA leaders as a stooge of Umno just because there are positive or expressed preferences for Malays and Islam in our legal constitutional fabric.

Unlike DAP which dons the multi-racial tag but is chauvinist by nature ; we MCA, Umno and MIC are communal by name but have hold onto the spirit of 1Malaysia and multi-ethnic considerations of all under the spirit of the constitution.

Lastly I would like to warn DAP and Lim Kit Siang to stop demeaning me as a stooge of Umno as I have a better record than any DAP Yang Berhormats of standing up to Umno as a state assemblyperson of three terms and have been consistently on the warpath with extremist elements in Umno, PAS, etc.

It is typical DAP style of hitting below the belt when facts were revealed showing their ugliness.

Lim Kit Siang should ‘taubat’ before it is too late whereby the innocent Chinese were made to pay for his ‘political sins’ in resorting to political racial rhetoric.

TI LIAN KER is MCA religious harmony bureau chairperson and MCA central committee member.