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The "MH370 missing incident" has been accused of being a new weapon in the political struggle between the Malay government and the opposition

The theory that the "flight captain hijacked the plane out of political revenge" has been mentioned in the context of the missing Malaysia Airlines incident. Investigation has become a thing of the past. The opposition denies this intense political tendency, and the ruling party has repeatedly stated that the handling of the Malaysia Airlines incident should be "above politics."

The confrontation between the government and the opposition in Malaysia reached its peak during the general election in May last year. Now, as opposition leader Anwar is once again suspected of being unjustly imprisoned, and the state assembly seat in the Kajang area is facing a by-election, the smell of gunpowder in the conflict between the "Barisan Nasional" and the "PR" has become strong again. The unprecedented flight loss on March 8 brought new changes to the confrontation between the two parties.

To a certain extent, "MH370" has been used by two factions and has become a new weapon in political struggle.

Volunteer Group and MCA

The Sama Sama Hotel next to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport is the official media center designated by Malaysia for the Malaysia Airlines incident. When media reporters from all over the world poured into the hotel, they could all see the working area of ??the "MCA Volunteer Group" in a conspicuous place in the lobby. Inside, dozens of "volunteers" in uniforms were already waiting there. “We heard that the passengers’ families were coming, so we were sent here to see if there was anything we could do to help,” said Gan Weixiang, executive secretary of the volunteer group.

But unlike Tzu Chi volunteers who have been accompanying and caring for the family members since Beijing, the MCA volunteer group never went out to the hotel where the family members were staying. The "order" they received was to stay at sama sama. In addition, the MCA Volunteer Group did not comment on reporters' questions about "how to evaluate the Malay government's handling of this incident." When some family members who went to Malaysia broke into the press conference hall to express their demands on March 19, it was the first time for many "MCA volunteers" to see the family members. At that time, they and the police went forward to maintain order, while a volunteer told reporters Showing a "no" gesture: "I won't say anything to you."

The founder of the MCA Volunteer Group is Zhou Meifen, and Zhou is the deputy president of the MCA, one of the three ruling parties in Malaysia. President. As the investigation into the incident reached a deadlock, the "MCA Volunteer Group" troops stationed at the Sama Sama Hotel began to gradually evacuate to Kajang, 24 kilometers southeast of Kuala Lumpur. And here is where the MCA (one of the three ruling Barisan Nasional parties) is about to start a state assembly by-election with the opposition party. MCA is investing its efforts here to prepare for the by-election battle.

The by-election was a cause that Zhou Meifen and her MCA were working on before the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines MH370. On January 27, former Kajang state assemblyman Li Jingjie resigned to make way for PKR leader Anwar, allowing the latter to consolidate the opposition's power in Selangor through being elected as the Menteri Besar. As a result, on the eve of the by-election in March, Anwar, who was preparing to run for the parliamentary seat, was convicted of "sodomy" and was forced to withdraw. Now he is the candidate to represent Anwar in the by-election and compete with Zhou Meifen of the MCA. His wife, Wan Azizah, is known locally as "Sister Wan".

While the Malaysia Airlines missing incident was under investigation, the MCA and PKR successively boarded the venue in Kajang to hold various rallies. Some of them were held in the name of "Praying for MH370".

Prayers in the constituency

On the 19th, MCA Vice President Zhou Meifen once said that comforting the families of the passengers and praying for MH370 were “not political chips”; the same Today, the MCA arranged the "Prayer Meeting for the Safe Return of MH370" in Kajang.

Before 7pm that day, party members and volunteers of the MCA brought the paper cranes, lotus flowers and candles prepared over the past two days to Bukit Angkat in Kajang. .

Previously, they had used leaflets, radio vehicles and other means to publicize the event. MCA President Wei Jiaxiang encouraged the public to attend enthusiastically, "This night will put aside political and religious differences, and everyone will gather together with the goal of One is to pray for the missing people and hope that they will return soon," he said.

The prayer meeting began in a solemn atmosphere. According to the person in charge of the MCA, You Zhuotao, that night, the MCA Association invited "non-Islamic" representatives - "Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity..." to the scene to pray for MH370 in their respective religious forms." She said. In a brochure obtained by the reporter to promote Zhou Meifen's candidacy for state assembly, there was a slogan "Defend democracy without compromise, adhere to diversity and human rights."

The atmosphere that night was heavy. You Zhuotao said: It started to rain heavily, as if he was moved by this incident.

The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines has caused criticism among the Malaysian authorities and the three ruling parties of the Barisan Front. However, as the by-election voting on the 23rd is approaching, the MCA denies that it is using the "prayer meeting" activities to win the support of voters. Gan Weixiang, the administrative secretary of the MCA Volunteer Group, only said that the Malaysia Airlines incident did have an impact on the campaign situation of both parties. "But I think the Pakatan League will still win 99% of the time." He said with a wry smile.

The opposition’s “fire must not be extinguished”

The MCA’s support rate has suffered a huge loss. Even their own publication "Malaysian Chinese" does not shy away from the fact that currently, 84% of Chinese voters have left the largest Chinese political party and supported the three parties of the "Pakatan Rakyat", becoming a force in the opposition.

The opposition alliance composed of the People's Justice Party, the Democratic Action Party and the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party has once again become the focus of attention from the outside world and even the international community in the half month since the Malaysia Airlines incident. Opposition leader Anwar accepted interviews with multiple media outlets while awaiting trial in the "sodomy case" and clarified that the captain of MH370 could not have hijacked the plane due to political leanings. After accepting an exclusive interview with a Beijing Youth Daily reporter on the 18th, Anwar informed that the opposition will hold a demonstration rally on the evening of the 21st at the Kajang Stadium. The opposition has been planning this rally since Anwar was convicted by the Malaysian Court of Appeal on the evening of March 7, but it has been put on hold because the Malaysia Airlines incident happened a few hours later.

This rally called reformasi ("reform" in Malay) was poetically translated by local Chinese as "the fire must not be extinguished". In addition, in the original design of the opposition, participants in the rally that night were required to wear black clothes to represent the "death of democracy and justice."

On the 21st, traffic outside the Kajang Stadium was jammed all night. Opposition leaders took turns on the podium and led thousands of supporters sitting on the stadium lawn to shout slogans. At 11 o'clock, it was announced that the number of people in the venue had exceeded 10,000. "Sister Wang", who represented Anwar in the state parliamentary by-election, was the first to appear. Then her husband Anwar appeared on the stage wearing black clothes and led the supporters in the audience to shout "No fire!" "Quit" and "Fight to the End". He first talked about how Umno (the "Barisan Nasional" ruling party) did not allow him to participate in the Kajang by-election, so he was sent to jail, and then said: "They can slander me, they think the people are stupid. But I want to tell them , the people can refuse, the people have the right to refuse.”

According to local media reports, on the same night, the MCA held a “thousand-person dinner” in Xianshuigang New Village, 3 kilometers away. **Opening 150 tables as a "confrontation".

The Kajang area was chaotic for a while, and no one looked up to see the slogan "Thoughts and prayers are with everyone on MH370" displayed on the big screen outside the stadium.