MUSLIM convert preacher Ridhuan Tee Abdullah’s animosity toward MCA has somehow deepened when he insinuated that Barisan Nasional (BN) should disallow MCA from contesting in Malay majority constituencies lest the party has proven that it can topple DAP/PKR in their supposedly strongholds.
The same principle applies for MIC, Gerakan and the Malaysian Indian People’s Party (MIPP), according to the Muafakat Nasional deputy chairman.
For clarity, MIC is a BN component party while Gerakan and MIPP are coalition members of Perikatan Nasional (PN).
Meanwhile, Muafakat Nasional is a political alliance and movement that was originally formed on September 2019 as a cooperation pact between Malaysia’s two largest Malay-Muslim political parties, namely UMNO and PAS
“This isn’t racism, (but) it’s a strategy. If they lose, appoint (the candidates) as senator,” penned Ridhuan on his Facebook page.
The call by the former Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) professor professor of ethnic relations, Malaysian nationhood and Islamic civilisation came about amid the MCA-BN dispute over seat allocations and a surprise candidate announcement ahead of for the 16th Melaka state election on Nov 14.
At a personal level, however, his love-hate relationship with MCA could have stemmed from his ticking off by MCA National Youth deputy chairman Mike Chong Yew Chuan who recently urged him to “voluntarily renounce his citizenship and migrate somewhere filled with hatred, antagonism or conflict that makes him feel comfortable”.
Recall that instead of respecting the state funeral of centenarian Tun Siti Hasmah on Sept 28, Ridhuan has somehow politicised the event by allegedly weaponising the glimpses of ‘reconciliation’ between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Interestingly, Ridhuan was a former MCA member himself by having signed up as the party’s lifetime member at a Selangor branch on Dec 18, 2000 whereby he remained an ordinary, inactive member who did not hold any party positions.
This was till May 30, 2016 when he officially quit the party in protest by accusing MCA of being anti-Islam for opposing a private member’s bill regarding hudud laws.
MCA unwilling to compromise
Fast forward to the present, Ridhuan must be taking a pot shot at MCA following its Saturday’s (Oct 24) walkout led by party president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong from the BN election machinery launch event at the Melaka International Trade Centre.
Out of 21 seats announced for BN, MCA was only allocated two seats (Machap Jaya and Kelebang) with the party claiming that several of its traditional seats were handed to other parties or strategic partners (PAS/PN coalition parties) without proper consultation or consensus
This led to MCA accusing the Melaka BN leadership headed by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh and the central coalition of breaching the spirit of mutual respect and collective decision-making that traditionally governs BN component parties.
As it is, MCA will be holding an emergency presidential council meeting to discuss the next course of action, according to Wee who is also the Ayer Hitam MP.
MCA had contested seven seats in the 2021 Melaka state polls, namely Klebang, Machap Jaya, Kota Laksamana, Bandar Hilir, Kesidang, Ayer Keroh and Bemban.
While the party understands the number of seats might be reduced this time, Wee said it cannot accept a drastic drop from the original seven seats down to just two – a massive reduction of 71.4%.
MCA has made it clear to BN chairman and UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that the party cannot accept BN’s arrangement of allocating only two seats in Melaka. In his view, the minimum requirement is to contest at least four state seats.
In comparison, MIC retained 100% of its original seats while UMNO’s seats decreased from 20 to 18, he said.
Aside from Machap Jaya and Kelebang which MCA won in 2021 state election, Wee claimed that Chinese voters account for about 46% in Ayer Keroh and roughly 54% in Kesidang.
These are constituencies that MCA insists on contesting, hence it is impossible to surrender them to PAS to contest, according to him while alluding to MCA having prepared “for a long time in major Chinese-majority areas and no other party could hold a greater advantage than MCA there”.
All in all, Wee told Chinese language Sin Chew Daily:
Those state seats (in mixed areas with Chinese majority) shouldn’t be handed over to other parties to contest especially when they’ve never served the area.
Those are Chinese seats where the opponents are DAP candidates but they’re handed over to WAWASAN, MIPP and Gerakan.
“How do you think this makes MCA feel … It’s only natural and logical for MCA to contest these constituencies; as for the ultimate victory or defeat, that is another matter altogether. – Oct 26, 2026
Main image credit: The Star/Facebook Reel
