A while back, I wrote that Nga Kor Ming had broken the “those who have nothing to gain should not fight with those who have nothing to lose” rule, by engaging with Dr Akmal Saleh over the “Halal ham” row.
For context, in the row about KK Mart labelling a ham and cheese sandwich it sold as halal, despite the fact that it was made out of Ham, Nga had labelled those who made an issue out of it as a “real idiot” in a posting on X, for assuming that ham meant pork, when it simply referred to cured meat.
Taking offense to Nga’s “real idiot” jibe, Akmal would later retort to Nga through a Facebook post by saying “Ham bukan bermaksud proses untuk buat makanan ya, kalau tak faham tanya pegawai atau boleh buka kamus. Tolong simpan sedikit kebodohan kamu itu.”
I thought that Nga Kor Ming had made a mistake by engaging Akmal because he had nothing to gain and everything to lose by his engagement with Akmal, while Akmal had nothing to lose but everything to gain by his engagement to Nga Kor Ming.
I thought in this manner because even if Nga Kor Ming had won in his war of words against Akmal, his victory will be attributed to his advantageous position as a government minister, rather than because he had defeated Akmal by merit. However, if he lost, it would be a big loss for him to be defeated by a relative newcomer.
Akmal however, will not suffer embarrassment even if he is defeated by Nga Kor Ming, because he will merely be seen as being defeated by a better positioned political opponent. If he won however, he would be celebrated as a giant killer.
Considering the unequal terms and the disadvantageous terrain of battle, I had suggested that perhaps the best thing for Nga Kor Ming to do, is stop reinforcing his initial mistake of engaging Akmal, retreat from openly engaging with Akmal today and wait for a more advantageous occasion to arise before he confronts Akmal again.
Nga Kor Ming did in fact make a retreat not long after Akmal's retort, by lambasting Akmal with a “lion doesn’t engage with a fly” statement.
“ As a DAP Parliamentary leader, it is impossible for me to argue with a youth leader from UMNO. Wouldn’t that be degrading myself?” Nga would add to indicate that he will no longer respond to Akmal’s challenge.
In response to the lambast, Akmal Saleh would post a picture of a pig with a lion's mane on his facebook post soon after. I should not elaborate on what this means, but it is suffice to say that I believe that the post was a taunt against Nga Kor Ming's “a lion doesn’t engage with a fly” statement.
If anyone thought that that episode had come to an end with Akmal looking like he had bettered Nga in the tussle, hold your horses, because Akmal might have won the Ham sandwich battle, but Nga might still yet emerge the winner.
Although Nga has retreated from the battle of the Ham Sandwich, he seems to be drawing Akmal to the Battle of Alcohol ban in Ipoh, and in the Alcohol Ban battle, it looks like it is Nga that is destined to emerge triumphant.
For context, Ipoh City Council (MBI) recently announced that it’s planning to expand the liquor sales ban in Manjoi to premises in other Muslim-majority areas as well, and the council’s plan was openly backed by Akmal.
When MCA, Umno’s longtime ally in BN, protested the council’s plan, Akmal even retorted against MCA by saying “Don’t be stupid!” to condemn MCA's stance.
Although there is no love lost between MCA and DAP, MCA might find an unlikely ally in Nga Kor Ming in the dispute, for Nga Kor Ming has waded waded into the issue by saying “If you can’t drink, just don’t buy” to state his objection to planned Alcohol Sales in Muslim-Majority Areas.
“On this matter, we want to preserve harmony. For me, we will keep the status quo for the time being as there’s no issue. Those who can’t drink, don’t buy and we also can’t prohibit people who can drink as it’s their right.
“Don’t forget, premises that sell (alcoholic beverages) in any area all have licences, and their businesses are not businesses that are valid in the eyes of the law,” Nga said and clearly positioned himself on the matter.
That Nga Kor Ming is the Minister of Housing and Local Government (MHLG), which oversees the workings of city councils in Malaysia, puts him in a much better position to confront Akmal this time around.
That Ipoh City Council member Wong Kar Keat and Perak executive councillor for housing and local government Sandrea Ng have also come out to state that the proposal to ban alcohol sales in Muslim-majority residential areas was only a suggestion from Ipoh mayor Datuk Rumaizi Baharin and has not been approved, also indicates that it will be Nga Kor Ming that will be getting his way in the Ipoh Alcohol ban issue, because it doesn't look like the alcohol ban in Ipoh will be extended after all.
That instead of taking Nga Kor Ming to task for putting a stop to the alcohol ban extension, Akmal is making a diversion by shifting the issue to the number of accidents caused by drunk drivers and about not encouraging people to drink alcohol, when the original contention was about not having the sales of alcohol in a Muslim majority area, is giving the the perception that Akmal is diverting from his original aim, to avoid a confrontation with Nga Kor Ming.
That Akmal was holding his position when MCA was taking an opposing stance, but appears to be making a diversion only after Nga Kor Ming waded into the field, makes Nga Kor Ming look like the clear winner in this round of their confrontation.
In this sort of contest, the latest win carries more weight. That Nga Kor Ming has bested Akmal decisively in a knock out manner, and that to so soon after Akmal had merely won by decision against Nga earlier, will give the impression that it is Nga that currently stands taller than Akmal, at least by today’s count ( 28 January).
Considering everything, I think that Nga Kor Ming’s Chinese New year will start off with a victory celebration.
TheRealNehruism is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.
