Curse of the ‘hell’ minister strikes again

Almost made it. Liow’s rise now appears halted by a once-unthinkable alliance. — Picture by Jack Ooi

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 24 — 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. — The Straits Times