Almost made it. Liow’s rise now appears halted by a once-unthinkable alliance.
When Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai stood on the cusp of becoming the new MCA president last week, the buzz in the Chinese media was that he was set to become the first health minister to break an old curse.
Every health minister has seen an untimely end to his political career, so goes the urban legend, and there were many examples to support this. Some people have even called it the “hell” minister post.
The most recent was Liow’s predecessor, Dr Chua Soi Lek, who resigned from all his party and government posts after being exposed in a video sex scandal last year.
But pundits predicted that Liow, 48, would break the jinx.
Many thought MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat would resign and hand over power to Liow last week, after the former lost a vote of no confidence at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM).
That is, until Ong dropped the bombshell that he was staying on, and unexpectedly decided to join forces with his bitter rival and former deputy Dr Chua instead.
Now, a day after the feuding pair declared a truce at a joint press conference, the “hell” minister curse looks to have struck again.
Liow cuts a forlorn figure, even though the MCA leaders all joined hands to take pictures after the press conference. In the past week, the ambitious former youth chief has been painted as a traitor by Ong’s camp. Once a close ally of the president, he is now eyed with caution.
In the days following the EGM, he was said to have formed a faction against Ong and was ready to pressure the president into resigning.
His actions were viewed with disdain by observers, even those who felt that Ong should have stepped down.
“I think he got heady with the prospect of power,” said one MCA source. “But you shouldn’t kick your own man when he’s down. The grassroots didn’t like that.”
Although he denied betraying Ong or forcing him to quit, Liow is now seen as the face of the small “third force” — a group of former leaders who wanted to remove both the two top MCA chiefs and install him as the president.
With Liow are youth chief Wee Ka Siong and women’s wing chief Chew Mei Fun. Both of them were seen as Ong’s close allies as well.
MCA sources said Liow was caught off-guard by Ong, 52, and Dr Chua, 62, coming together.
His faction did not think the two could join forces after a year of fighting — but they did.
To compound his problems, Liow’s deputy presidency is rumoured to be at risk.
The central committee had just voted him as the deputy president last week, but Dr Chua has already applied to Malaysia’s Registrar of Societies (ROS) to be recognised as deputy president.
At the EGM, central delegates had voted to reinstate his membership, and Dr Chua is arguing that this means his deputy presidency should be reinstated as well.
According to a report in mass-selling newspaper Sin Chew Daily yesterday, which quoted unnamed sources, the ROS has accepted this argument and will make the announcement next week.
How Liow reacts to such news, after the recent pledge of unity by all the party leaders, will be closely watched. At the moment, the jinx looks set to take its toll again.
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THREE THINGS TO INTERESTING BUT FANCIFUL SUGGESTION ABOUT 'HELL' MINISTER:
1. Events only confirm politicians are like lalang - they shift with the changing winds.
2. Opportunism and self-preservation are politician's principles.
3. Malaysia is still very much in short supply of principled politicians who will not say "the enemy of my enemy is my friend".
There is a reason for it being known as Hell Ministry....
Almost every MCA Health Minister fiddled in politics while people were dying. It's the Health Ministry you are talking about. If you dont focus, people die. Even simple things like your DG is playing kayu tiga with pharmacy contracts and H1N1 mortality figures means, the public, especially the ignorant villagers just go ahead and pay for these mistakes with their lives.
Chua Jui Meng made lots of money building IT hospitals with no doctors or nurses, Chua Soi Lek imposed a dumb law meant to weed out bomohs but ended up jailing a bonafide doctor, and Liow was focused on MCA politics when the first wave of H1N1 patients died horrible deaths for being given misdirected advice.
And karma, when it comes to this sort of thing never forgives. There is more in store for the MCA Hell Minister. These guys are just guilty of not focusing on the job. Its better that this Ministry be given to some other party that can focus on the job.
Politics is dirty and you cant trust anyone. Therefore you cant trust any politician also. Every politicians have to be viewed with caution. They are either in for the power and monetary gain that may comes with it. Their main objectives is not to serve the people, but power, famed and self gain. That is why many government have failed to deliver. Just look at the discord and infighting in PKR also. The people voted them in hoping that they could serve better, but are now look just like another BN.
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