Umno critic a “hero wannabe,” says MCA Cheras

MCA Cheras pooh-poohed Syed Ali's allegation that the division is a sleeping beauty, awaking only during election.

PETALING JAYA: Cheras MCA has rubbished a BN colleague’s claim that it is an election entity that is visible only during the polling season.

It has instead called the critic – Cheras Umno chief Syed Ali Alhabshee – a “hero wannabe.”

“This is a misstatement from him. If you read the Chinese newspapers, you can see news on us almost everyday with the latest being the community policing works we are doing now,” said Cheras MCA vice-chief Steven Teoh.

Teoh added that after the 13th General Election in May, the division has carried out a number of charity work and is holding a public speaking class every Wednesday, with its service centre operating full-time on weekdays.

“What about him (Syed Ali). What is he doing? Most of the time he insults a component party because it is strong. He is doing it because he wants to be a hero – because the Umno election is coming,” he said.

Teoh said Syed Ali has always downplayed the role of MCA in the constituency in which the Chinese comprised 80% of the voters.

“That is how he is like. Even before the GE, he wanted to decide on the MCA candidate for the area,” he said.

In a recent interview with FMT, Syed Ali said Cheras MCA is a black sheep because it only works during election season, has lesser members when compared to Umno, and frequently plagued by internal crisis.

“We (Umno) are servicing most of the Malay people as well as the Chinese and Indians,” he said.

In response to this, Cheras MCA chief Tee Hock Seng said he spends RM15,000 every month to run the division’s service centre in Taman Segar.

In addition, he said Cheras MCA has been entrusted with the task of distributing the Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (BR1M).

“What he said is not true. I don’t know why he said that,” Tee said.

The Cheras parliamentary constituency is held by DAP’s Tan Kok Wai for five consecutive terms while its neighbouring Pandan constituency was the stronghold of ex-MCA president Ong Tee Keat until he was dropped in the recent elections.