First, Koh Tsu Koon is not from UMNO’s political party but from Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Malaysian People’s Movement Party), another political party from the Barisan Nasional (National Front), which UMNO is one of parties.

Second, Jeff Ooi is a Malaysian born in the northern Malaysian state of Kedah and grew up among Malay children in kampung (rural)environment. The statement indicated that “It will be interesting to see if a non-Malaysian can break the UMNO stranglehold” is misleading. It should be “It will be interesting to see if a non-Malay ethnic group…”
The category of “non-Malaysian” will be mistakenly see Jeff Ooi as a non-Malaysian citizen. In addition, “Malaysian” does not refer to Malay or someone who belongs to Malay ethnic group per se. It encompases all the ethnic groups such as Chinese, Tamils, Eurasians, Ibans, Bidayuhs, Kadazan-dusun, Bajau, etc. We are ALL Malaysians!

Finally, the political “culture” of Malaysia is also about equality and justice, non-corruption and multiculturalism. It does not limit within the racialized and ethnicized ideological domain such as whether it is a Malay versus non-Malay, Indian versus Malay, etc.