Resolve issues with Mahathir directly, PMs aide tells Chinese leaders
Mahathir's political secretary Matthias Chang said instead of issuing memorandums, Chinese leaders should personally meet with the prime minister.
Various Chinese groups have recently issued a series of memorandums to government leaders, urging them to take action on a number of burning issues. This include the controversial 17-point appeal by lobby group Suqiu.
Chang, who dubbed himself as Mahathir's messenger, told key editors and staff of Chinese daily Nanyang Siang Pau at a morning meeting that many Chinese leaders had failed to seize the opportunity to voice their concerns during previous meetings with the prime minister.
"He said Mahathir was willing to meet leaders of Chinese organisations. However, he regretted that some of them had talked nonsense at such meetings previously," according to a source at the meeting.
Chang lamented that such leaders instead used the "back door" by voicing their grievances to online daily malaysiakini.
According the source, Chang had implied that these Chinese leaders cannot claim to represent the community when they are afraid to voice their opinions to Mahathir.
"Hence, the Chinese media should not give credence to them," the source quoted him as saying.
Lost touch
Chang also expressed his concern that certain Chinese leaders had lost touch with the grassroots.
The source added that some Nanyang staff, however, pointed out to Chang that those often invited to meet with Mahathir were leaders of the Federation of Chinese Assembly Halls of Malaysia (Huazong).
Huazong's current leadership has had close links with MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik in the past few years.
The organisation has lost much of its moral authority among the Chinese due to its silence on a number of burning issues.
At the closed-door meeting with Nanyang today, Chang also praised Mahathir as an "open-minded leader".
He lamented that while Mahathir had once announced in his speech that one of his grandchildren went to a Chinese primary school, no Chinese media had reported this.
The meeting, which lasted one hour, saw Chang delivering his lecture for 45 minutes, and another 15 minutes given to Nanyang staff to air their views.
Chang was accompanied by Mahathir's press secretary Cheng Kee Chien, who is Nanyang's former deputy chief editor.
The two - who are the prime minister's first Chinese aides in his 20 years in power - were appointed two months ago.
Malaysiakini reported yesterday that the aides met with top editors in two other Chinese dailies - Sin Chew Jit Poh and China Press - last week.
Memo on Nanyang takeover
"Chang also said the Chinese should not isolate themselves and should interact more with the Malay community," said the source.
After the meeting, a representative from the Nanyang staff handed over a memorandum to the prime minister pertaining the controversial MCA acquisition of Nanyang Press Holdings, the publisher of two major Chinese dailies, Nanyang and China Press.
The memorandum appealed to Mahathir to advise MCA to give up full control of Nanyang as soon as possible. MCA's investment arm Huaren currently owns 92 percent of Nanyang Press.
It also urged the premier to ensure that the new owners would not "monopolised" the Chinese media, apparently pointing to the fear that Nanyang could be taken over by rival newspaper Sin Chew Jit Poh's owner Tiong Hiew King.
Chang complained that such a memorandum was not the correct way to settle the issue.
"He said that we are not being courteous and that the act of handing over the memorandum was not a friendly gesture," said the source.
However, Chang promised to deliver the memo to Mahathir.
Apart from that, the prime minister's political secretary did not comment on the takeover that has caused much controversy, especially within MCA itself.
According to him, the matter is an internal problem involving the two newspapers.
