NOV 30 — Following the announcements by Liow Tiong Lai, Gan Ping Sieu and Ong Tee Keat to run for the MCA presidency, it could very much be a three-cornered fight (although Ong has said it would all depend on the outcome of the nomination).

This is going to be a trigonometry problem. In a trigonometric function f(x), the magnitude of any angle will affect those of the other two as well as their side lengths.

I’m not going to expound here how this comes about and why “x” is a variable, as this will bore you to death.

But once we know the magnitude of one of the angles, and with the other parameters known, it wouldn’t be hard to get the other two angles. Just as how we try to get the outcome of the three-cornered fight from the known conditions.

The MCA EGM earlier on has provided some clues: There were 2,385 central delegates, voting rate: 92.9 per cent, so the actual votes were 2,199.

Chua faction’s motion to censure Liow Tiong Lai received the support of 965 delegates. Although that was not enough to be passed, at least it shows some 900 would support Chua and his team.

Analysing the results of the four motions, the support rate for Liow also stood at around 900 (don’t ask me how I came to this; it’s all from the f(x).)

The remaining 400 votes were neutral or swing votes. Some said about 200 of them would eventually go to Ong Tee Keat while the other 200 Donald Lim.

Gan Ping Sieu, meanwhile, is fighting a proxy war in hope of securing the support of Chua’s people. He will start from 900 votes, and if he partners Donald Lim, he will get an additional 200 votes. Or, if on the eve of nomination Ong decided to humble himself and become Gan’s running mate, then he will also absorb that additional 200 votes. Whatever combination it is, he should get about 1,100, which is not far from the target.

If at the same time Gan manages to secure Lim’s support while still being able to evade the vote dilution by Ong, his chances will expand considerably.

Liow has his chances too. His team line-up will enable him to clinch a sizeable portion of swing votes, and give him an edge among Youth and Wanita delegates.

If Donald Lim were to come under him (probably with a reward of secretary-general post), and with Ong insisting to run in the contest and dilute the votes of Chua faction, then Liow will stand to benefit.

Over the next one week or two, the situation will get clearer, and we will be closer to the solution of this trigonometry problem.

Nevertheless, this is not the solution I would prefer.

While we are all computing the outcome of MCA elections with the trigonometry formula, we seem to have overlooked the changes to the trigonometry function.

What I’m trying to say is, must the MCA delegates be just a combination of numbers?

I would rather see MCA delegates discard their factional mentality, think independently and vote.

If they still love the party and have faith in its continued existence, they should vote with their conscience for a president who will really do something for the party, as well as a team that will bring the party together.

The coming party elections have good chances of ameliorating the infighting in the party. No one should squander this unique opportunity, which might well be the party’s last.

Set factional interests aside over the next several weeks, look at the policies and sincerity of the candidates, the capability of the teams as well as their past record, and then compare and analyse rationally before making a decision.

If the delegates do not have the intention to resuscitate MCA, who will? — Sin Chew Daily

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.