Almost one-third of the 40 Parliament seats contested by the MCA in the last general election were in Malay-majority areas. The MCA had stood in 13 Malay-majority constituencies in 2008 – see table below.
The Malay lifeline gave MCA altogether nine seats, if not for which the Chinese party would have suffered a washout.
But that was five years ago. The MCA stock now has few takers from the Chinese community. It has greatly dipped in value among the Malays too.
The recent development over the Bentong seat raises some questions. Currently the Bentong electoral roll has 46 percent Chinese, 43 percent Malays and 9 percent Indians. Given this demography, would it actually be a safer bet to field an Umno, rather than an MCA candidate for Parliament?
Three other seats can also serve to illustrate a similar predicament arising from the loss of confidence in the MCA.
Is there any reason at all why BN should not give Padang Serai to the MIC to contest instead of to the MCA?
In 2008, Padang Serai was lost by Datuk Boey Chin Gan (MCA) to N. Gobalakrishnan (PKR).
The general consensus is that Indian support has returned to BN whereas the Chinese vote has moved even further away from the ruling party.
Another notable seat lost by the MCA in GE12 was Wangsa Maju, a 52.5 percent Malay-majority area.
The present incumbent Wee Choo Keong is popular with the Malays partly due to his Kelantan origin. Wee had won the seat on a PKR ticket by a slim margin of 150 votes but later turned independent in May 2010.
His probable challenger is Yew Teong Look of the MCA who has continued to service the area despite his 2008 loss. Yew is known to the Chinese ground as a diligent worker and is most likely to receive the nod again from his party.
Meanwhile PKR is tipped to field Dr Tan Tee Kwong, a former Deputy Land and Cooperative Development Minister and ex-Gerakan man.