MCA Youth condemns Umno's Chinese bashing
MCA Youth has passed a resolution today condemning "politicians including a minority of Umno leaders" for issuing statements that has supposedly offended the Chinese community.
MCA Youth has passed a resolution today condemning "politicians including a minority of Umno leaders" for issuing statements that has supposedly offended the Chinese community.
Meanwhile, a separate resolution called for BN leaders to take stern action against any of its leaders who issue statements that are "extreme or detrimental to national unity”.
However, delegates at the MCA annual general meeting (AGM) today hardly discussed these two resolutions, appearing to focus on other issues such as the economy, crime, education, and especially on efforts to reverse the party's declining support.
Nevertheless, the two resolutions were unanimously passed en bloc at the end of the AGM together with the other resolutions debated, 17 in total.
Among the few who discussed the issue was Federal Territories delegate Chris Wong from the party's Bangsar branch, who is also one of only two delegates who debated in English today.
He noted that Umno leaders would pull hurtful "publicity stunts" at every party AGM, but this never happened in the 1980's or 1990's.
"This is because we were strong (then), and we when we are strong we get respect," he said.
However, he said the party is now weakened by infighting, and everyone including the non-Chinese is sick of it.
He also lamented that when BN lost significant Malay support in the 1999 general election following then Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's sacking, no one had asked ' Apa lagi Melayu mahu ?' (What more do the Malays want?)
He was referring to the controversial Utusan Malaysia headline a day after the May 5 general election 'Apa lagi Cina mahu?' (What more do the Chinese want?), which was widely condemned as race baiting.
"We (the Chinese) stood by BN in 1999, and today we are labelled as what? Pendatang (migrants),"he said.
'MCA not lower than Umno'
Meanwhile, Penang delegate Ooi Teck Loong said he is unhappy with certain statements made at the recent Umno general assembly, especially Bukit Mertajam Umno division head Musa Sheikh Fadzir's ( below ) call for the 1Malaysia slogan to be replaced with ' 1Melayu '.
"Today I want to exercise my right as a Malaysian to tell him that 'I am a Malaysian' and we must defend this right.
"Each of us sitting here is a home-grown Chinese, why should we put up with such insults? If we don't speak up and let these leaders continue to hurt us, we will continue to be attacked," he said.
Another delegate from the Federal Territories, Chong Yew Chuan, described BN as a family in which Umno, as the largest party, is the "big brother".
"However lest we forget, MCA's position in BN is at the same level (as Umno) and we shall never be lower than Umno.
"After the new leadership is born, we should put this clearly to our friends at Umno Youth: we are a family. Today we respect you as the biggest party, but that does not mean we are subservient to you," he said.
However, he also opined that Umno should not take the sole blame for MCA's poor performance in the past two general elections, reasoning that the Malay party has done away with its keris-waving antics in the past few years.
"Whether (Umno Youth) brandishes it (the keris) or not, MCA's performance is still poor because the Chinese already have a deep impression of us.
"They are looking at what we do every day, not what we say at the AGM," he said.
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