Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's thumping victory in Permatang Pauh is an indictment on Umno, MCA, MIC and the entire Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.
The people there have sent a strong message to the BN leadership that they have no confidence in the government of the day. Of course it is also Anwar’s homeground. However, whether he will move from PM in waiting to the real PM remains elusive.
Permatang Pauh represented a failure of parties like the MCA and MIC to convince non-Malays of any reason to support BN.
But crucially, the Malays there also rejected Umno's more pro-Malay stance, seemingly in favour of Anwar's multi-racial politics.
As Umno licks its wounds and reviews the situation, it is imperative that MCA take the opportunity to attempt to convince Umno that it has to really reform and the BN has to take on a substantially more multi-racial face to have any chance of winning back voter support.
Umno needs to be convinced that there has to be more of a sense of equal partnership in how BN operates, in order for it win back some non-Malay support.
For now, the Chinese think the MCA does not represent the Chinese and the MIC does not represent the Indians.
And the healthy path towards regaining Malay support is certainly not to become more racial and nationalistic.
The sense of entitlement and arrogance associated with Umno must be shed.
Many people are angry with Umno and BN, and they are uniting under the Pakatan Rakyat umbrella. PR leaders seem to speak the language that people like to hear.
It is well and fine for us in BN to point out the weaknesses of the PR alliance, but at the same time we must also work to reform ourselves.
For now, the MCA is directionless with the president and deputy president retiring soon.
We need to sit down and thrash out ideas and map out reforms to even have a chance of regaining Chinese support.
The people want a more multi-racial approach. That message is loud and clear. So we have to try to give it to them because we are here to serve.
It is our responsibility and obligation in MCA to convince our partner Umno to see the light.
If Umno does not change nothing will happen. That is for sure because it is the biggest party.
But even as the MCA tries to convince Umno, it must continue with its own reforms.
Our leaders cannot afford to be quiet as a church mouse anymore.
In the past, MCA leaders will say it was better to solve things behind closed doors so as not to inflame the sensitivities of the different communities.
Perhaps those days are now over.
I have put forward a lot of ideas in recent months about how the MCA should be reformed.
The MCA now needs to be more vocal in articulating the feelings of all Malaysians in order for it to remain relevant. It must change, reform and reinvent so that it continues to be the voices to not only Chinese, but to all other races in Malaysia.
Dr. Chua Soi Lek
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