Chua: MCA’s AGM to focus on unity

MCA will never take any Malaysian voter, regardless of race, for granted and will never stop serving and helping them, says party president.

EXCLUSIVE

By Shen Yee Aun
MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek will be chairing the party’s 59th annual general meeting over the weekend. This will be the party’s last AGM ahead of the general election.

Below are excerpts from an interview with Chua regarding the AGM and other issues pertaining to MCA.

What will be the main focus of MCA’s 59th annual general meeting?
Chua: This AGM will be an important AGM because it will be the last AGM before the 13th general election. We will focus on building a strong MCA team to prepare for the upcoming general election.

Therefore in this AGM, we will emphasise a lot on MCA’s internal unity and team spirit to empower members and leaders to be fully prepared for the upcoming 13th general election battle.

Why did MCA choose ‘Stability Above Chaos’ as the party’s main theme for the AGM?
Firstly, it is to enlighten the voters to put our nation’s stability in the hands of the Barisan Nasional administration rather than voting for chaotic changes under Pakatan Rakyat.

Secondly, it is a slogan for MCA’s own members to put party stability ahead of their chaotic personal interests.

How do you counter the allegations where DAP is said to have more Chinese support than MCA?
DAP has taken our Malaysian Chinese support for granted and they can continue to say whatever they want. As for MCA, we only believe in working hard, national unity and continuing to perform well to serve our nation.

We have to acknowledge the fact where MCA never really got urban Chinese support all the time. It is not something that is new. Moreover, most of the urban people have received the things that they want and need under the BN government, such as visible development in their areas.

This time around, MCA’s strongholds will be mostly semi-urban and rural areas where MCA’s service and presence are still much needed. Those areas suffer from a lot of underperforming service centres operated by certain political parties.

MCA will never take any Malaysian voter, regardless of race, for granted and will never stop serving and helping them.

What is your advice for the MCA delegates?
I urge them to continue to work hard and never ever give up, and to fight all the way without fear. Although the general election date has been dragging, MCA members should continue to keep up their fighting spirit, morale and momentum. They must maintain it all the way until the general election.

I want to stress again that if MCA does not perform better than the last general election, then MCA will not accept a single Cabinet or government position out of respect for the decision of our voters.

This round will be a do-or-die battle for all of us. Members must also start to change and start to be focused.

Could you tells us more about the nine MCA mega dinners which attracted huge crowds (between 7,000 and 10,000)?

Firstly, it is not a free dinner. The participants needed to pay RM30 to attend and we are glad of the massive turnout. We will continue to organise more mega dinners to reach out to more Malaysians.

What makes MCA dinners different from DAP or Pakatan Rakyat’s is that the money collected will be given back to the people through donation to a list of Chinese education movements.

I would also like to give credit to our local grassroots members who were very cooperative to stay united to successfully organise all the mega dinners in their areas. It is not easy to organise such massive dinners.

This time, MCA also allowed the younger generation and young blood to speak and sharpen their oratory skills on stage. I am glad to know that there a lot of good, young MCA orators.