So sorry folks, when the chips are down, thinking men like Ong believe that you are not good enough for the top job in the country but rather these two ketuanan types would fit perfectly with the ethos of the DAP and would make credible candidates for the multi-racial and supposedly secular DAP for the top job of this country.

All that prostrating Malay DAP operatives did in the media for whatever "noble" reasons they joined the DAP and the belief in a new race-blind Malaysia means bupkis when it comes to claiming federal power.

And yeah, Ong’s ramblings would be spun as personal opinion or some such baloney but the perception, and everyone knows this, is that more often than not Malay political operatives in the DAP are window dressing. Ong just buttressed this perception.

All part of the game

It gets worse. Ong thinks that Khairy who supports race-based policies and in his long career has made racially charged statements against the Chinese community claiming the Malay community was under siege, would do wonderfully in international agencies like the UN and international think tanks, just like those other great Malaysian leaders, like Muhyiddin Yassin, Dr Mahathir Mohamad and, of course, Anwar Ibrahim.

If this doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about international agencies and think tanks, well you are just not paying attention. 

I have no idea what kind of experience and stature Ong is talking about, but what he just did was demonstrate why these agencies never seem to accomplish anything much, because they are staffed and led, by people who in their political careers have demonstrated that what they stand for is exactly the opposite of what these agencies claim to stand for. This is all part of the game in mainstream politics I suppose.

And Shahril taking up positions in corporate landscapes. Well yes, Ong, get Shahril to get even closer to the privileged political plutocrats class and this would make him a better leader for the disenfranchised Malay majority who are already finding succour in the arms of religious and racial extremists.

Great idea. It is any wonder why there is a disconnect between the DAP and the majority polity.

Furthermore, it is never a good political move to draw red lines. Claiming that if Najib Abdul Razak walks, the base would baulk, is problematic. The base has already given up so much.

They have allowed the DAP to make so many compromises that Najib walking free could and would be finessed by the mandarins of the DAP because, didn’t you know, everyone is afraid of the green wave.

Who would the non-Malays vote for? Would they just throw their hands up and be engulfed by the green wave? People talk boldly when they anonymously post comments on the internet but it is a whole different ball game when they have to vote.

Notice how the DAP has been extremely silent when it comes to the Najib pardon. Understandable of course. They are already doing everything to play nice with Umno and prop up Anwar and wading into this mess is just dumb politics.

Just wait and see if Najib gets his pardon and deal with it then. That is a good strategy, by the way. Drawing red lines is not.

Of course, it would be easy to dismiss what Ong said. After all, this is all about the superficiality of Malaysian politics.

However, beneath it all, are the perverse games that political operatives play in this rigged system and then throw red meat at the base while demonising each other.

This is why nothing changes. Mainstream Malaysian politics (like everywhere else, I suppose) is a manure hole. But the problem here is that our democratic guardrails are falling apart and our best and brightest just want to play the same games.

It would be interesting to see the response from the DAP. How would they handle an opinion like Ong’s?

What I really want to see are the Malay political operatives of the DAP responding to Ong’s comments.

Malay political operatives from the DAP, tell us how you really feel.