Former MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek says Muhyiddin Yassin and Najib Razak were never close despite their time together in Umno’s top leadership.
In fact, Chua said, Muhyiddin had told him that he was “happy to be sacked” in 2015 as Najib’s deputy in the Cabinet as he would no longer need to bear Najib’s “political baggage”.
“He told me he could not be a yes-man as the Umno deputy president and deputy prime minister at that time when 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion donation issues were not being addressed by Najib,” he said in his biography, ‘Like Me or Hate Me: Rising From The Political Ashes’.
Muhyiddin, who was deputy prime minister from 2009 until 2015 under Najib’s Barisan Nasional administration, was also Umno deputy president.
He was sacked from Umno in 2016 for breaching party discipline after openly criticising Najib over 1MDB. This came about a year after he was dropped from the government in a Cabinet reshuffle which saw Ahmad Zahid Hamidi replacing him as deputy prime minister.
Chua, who served as an exco member under Muhyiddin during the latter’s time as Johor menteri besar in 1990, said Muhyiddin had always stood firm on his principles despite facing obstacles throughout his political career.
He said it was Muhyiddin who had started the practice of getting his state exco members to visit the state and parliamentary constituencies in Johor every year.
“The visits provided us with a chance to witness the development on the ground and see the problems faced by the people,” he said, adding that the practice was continued by Ghani Othman who took over as menteri besar in 1995.
Chua also credited Muhyiddin with fostering good relations with Singapore during his time as state chief, recalling how leaders from both sides would visit each other during Hari Raya and Chinese New Year.
“Singapore also became one of our major foreign investors in the state, along with Japan, South Korea and the US.”
He spoke highly of Ghani as well, saying he had gotten along well with Muhyiddin and was still in touch with Chua himself.
In his book, Chua also recalled his impressions of Najib and Najib’s successor Abdullah Badawi whom he worked with during his time as health minister, as well as MCA leaders Dr Ling Liong Sik and Ong Ka Ting.
Abdullah Badawi
“He made people feel quickly at ease in his presence as he was always courteous and smiling. Sadly, he had a habit of being late to meetings and functions, and his speeches were always dull, spoken in monotone and lacking in substance. Pak Lah would let people continue talking in meetings even though they were speaking out of topic.
“I understand that he suffered from a medical condition that caused him to fall asleep easily, that is sleep apnea. This, along with a short attention span, caused him to be rather embarrassing as he was often the butt of jokes by opposition members and the public.”
Najib Razak
“Unlike Pak Lah, Najib was sterner, yet he was polite to his guests and audiences. He was impressive in chairing meetings and could summarise complex issues. He would ask questions during discussions and was quick to understand the speaker’s point of view.
“Najib also controlled his temper well and had a good memory. I only saw him lose his temper during an economic council meeting on remuneration for civil servants. He blushed and his ears were red when he lost his temper.”
Ling Liong Sik
“He was a soft-spoken man who hardly showed any anger in public. His poor command of Mandarin did not deter him from working hard for the community. No one in MCA can deny that Ling did much for Chinese primary and tertiary education, such as establishing Utar and TAR University College.
“He was also able to establish grassroots support because of his whiskey-drinking habit that broke the ice with the people. I also noticed that he cultivated a network of friends in the business community when MCA was at the peak of its power and influence.
“It was through Ling that MCA was put on a strong financial footing. He also insisted that there should be no interference with The Star, the MCA-owned newspaper.”
Ong Ka Ting
“He will always be regarded by MCA members as Umno’s blue-eyed boy who avoided confrontation with Umno on major issues. The people see Ong and MCA as having no political convictions.
“DAP used his picture with Hishammuddin Hussein, who courted controversy with his keris brandishing, as a tool in the 2008 general election as a reminder to Chinese voters that Ong did not do anything to confront Hishammuddin.
“Besides that, Ong failed to bring up the interests of the Chinese community such as Chinese primary schools and new villages to Cabinet discussions. Under his leadership, MCA operated like an NGO where leaders cautioned that they must maintain good relations with Umno ministers.”
Downfall
Chua’s political career may have taken a downward turn following his 2008 sex scandal, but he believes fellow party leaders disliked him even before then due to his popularity as health minister at the time.
He said several MCA colleagues had warned him that certain people did not like him because of this.
“This, I think, was the real cause of my downfall in 2008,” he said.
He said he believed his colleagues’ dissatisfaction began after he contested and won the vice-presidency in 2005.
“I did not consult the then-MCA president and deputy president about going for the vice-presidency,” he said, adding that Ong Ka Ting, who led the party from 2003 to 2008, had offered him the position of secretary-general.
Chua said he was not keen to accept the position due to his frank attitude and his tendency to “call a spade, a spade”.
“Malaysians are naturally courteous and often do not like to hear the truth spoken plainly. This includes Ong,” he added.
The former Labis MP also claimed that his colleagues who viewed him “with suspicion” were reporting back to Ong.
“What began as a cordial relationship was put to test. In fact, these people tried to project themselves as the face of the party despite being rejected by their voters,” he said.
Sex tape
On the infamous sex tape, Chua said he received a phone call from an NGO leader on Dec 28, 2007, while he was in Kota Kinabalu for a Christmas function.
He said the NGO leader had received DVDs in his mailbox which contained pornographic videos of a man and a woman.
“The NGO chief passed a DVD to my close friend in Batu Pahat, and I asked for my friend’s help to check whether the media and other NGOs had also received the same videos.
“My friend told me not only did the Chinese media have the DVDs, they were also widely distributed at coffee shops and hawker stalls.”
After watching the tape for himself, Chua said, he was ready to admit he was the man in the videos despite being warned against it.
“I met (then-prime minister) Abdullah Badawi at his office and told him I was the man in the sex tape, and that I was ready to confess.
“He was very understanding and even jokingly suggested that I convert to Islam to marry the woman (as my second wife),” he said, adding that Abdullah had advised him to go on leave.
Chua said he also relayed his intention to Ong, who commended him for being brave enough to confess.
He subsequently called a press conference at his Labis service centre and admitted on New Year’s Day that he was the man in the tape.
“However, I felt something was strange a few days later as the Chinese newspapers associated with him (Ong) were covering the issue extensively,” he added.
He said an MCA leader then told him that Ong wanted to convene an emergency disciplinary committee meeting to suspend him on moral grounds.
“He even argued with Ong because of this,” he said.
Following the scandal, Chua resigned as health minister and Labis MP and became an ordinary member in MCA.
He blamed himself for the sex tape, calling the consequences a political tsunami which ended his 22-year career in politics. – FMT