Can the MCA stand up to UMNO and not be "bullied" any more? Meaning can the party take a stand against UMNO but without hurting the feelings of the Malays in general? It can be expected that UMNO will play the " go against us equals going against the entire Malay race" card although many are saying otherwise. Malays included.

A somewhat "kow tow" attitude to everything UMNO did was one of the reasons given by the MCA for it's dismal performance at the March general elections. We were told by people within MCA that the party had often " bowed and gone along the wishes of UMNO even when the Chinese community was against it". That they claimed was one of the 'findings' of their March 08 post mortem. Hence the MCA leadership was pronounced " weak" and "too accommodating".

Now that the MCA leadership is on the verge of being changed via party polls this month, Malaysians, Chinese and others as well, would surely be asking what can the new leaders do to "correct mistakes' of the outgoing leadership?What good will the MCA bring to the Chinese community, the other communities, the country?

All that can only be answered by the MCA incoming President. I don't know about others but I for one cannot wait for the new man at the helm to take office first before announcing his plans. He should do it now. Tell all to everybody – not only to MCA members or to the central delegates whose votes he badly want.

Based on that I feel what better way to do the "explaining" via the television, friends, and many of them agree. Thus we at ntv7 News and Current Affairs division in collaboration with Nanyang Siang Pau have decided to organize the MCA Presidential and Deputy Presidential Debates. We plan to telecast both debates LIVE over ntv7.

With the MCA elections set to take place on 18 Oct ,we have scheduled the MCA Presidential debate for Wednesday (15 Oct). The debate between the Deputy President hopefuls will be carried out a day earlier. Both debates will start at 8.30pm for a duration of at least one hour each. The venue is the beautiful Nanyang Siang Pau auditorium Kelana Jaya. It can accommodate more than 300 people. Still we will be putting up giant screens at various locations throughout the country so that Malaysians from all walks of life can watch the debates LIVE. Since it is a Malaysian affair we are open for the participants to present their case in Mandarin, English or Malay.

To the candidates offering themselves as MCA President we want you to tell us – Why You ? What's so special about you that you should be MCA President?

To those who aspire to be Deputy president, we ask you this. As all of you say you are nobody's running mate how can you work with whoever is elected party President?

Of course there many more questions. That we leave it to well known political analyst Dr.Oh Ei Sun who will be the moderator.

We have invited all candidates for both posts. And we are glad to say Datuk Chua Jui Meng was the first to accept our invitation.

But we are sadden by recent statement by Datuk Ong Tee Keat that he would not be attending whatever debate with regards to the MCA poll.

According to Datuk Ong, he would be busy with the World Transport Conference in Kuala Lumpur from 13 to 16 Oct. That is understandable. He is after all transport minister.

But the irony of it all is Datuk Ong was among the first in MCA to support open debate for the party president post.

"This open debate is not impossible. A third party can set a theme and let the candidates express their views", he had told Sin Chew Daily in July. Well, the "third party" is ntv7 and Datuk Ong is one of the candidates.

If he cannot make it to the debate, it looks like Datuk Chua Jui Meng will have the stage all for himself. As the saying goes, the show must go on.

Consider this. You invite Mr.A and Mr.B to dinner. Mr.B say he will come. You go ahead with the preparation. Meanwhile Mr.A call to say he can't make it. You can't be angry with Mr.A because while it's your right to invite who you want it's his right to turn it down.

What do you do ? Do you cancel the dinner? Just because Mr.A can't come? Will it be fair to Mr. B? What if Mr.B had put off earlier commitment to accommodate your invitation?

To me dinner will be served as usual. (By MOHSIN ABDULLAH/ MySinchew)

(He is Editor in Chief for News and Current Affairs of Ntv7 and 8TV)