Shun racism to aid MCA’s votes quest, Soi Lek tells govt
(FMT) KUALA LUMPUR: Racism dominated Dr Chua Soi Lek’s opening speech at the MCA AGM today, where the party president pleaded to the Malay-led government to halt race-based policies and help it to regain Chinese support. From the need to quash “extremism”, to a more merit-based equitable socio-economics, Chua said reform is needed if Barisan Nasional (BN) wants to pull back straying Chinese votes towards the ruling coalition.
The former health minister said before thousands of delegates which included top government officials including Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak that MCA is now perceived to be a party incapable of voicing out the aspirations of the Chinese community.
Chua’s gripe come amid MCA’s constant and controversial reminder to Umno, BN’s Malay lynchpin, that the Chinese-based party can no longer be a passive partner in the coalition, that it must be seen as a party that genuinely represents the voices of the nation’s second biggest ethnic electorate.
And the Chinese voters want none other than a just government capable of realising the universal ideals of a more sophisticated electorate, including the dismantling of race-based policies.
“There is a need to to review the 30 per cent bumiputera equity in certain sectors but the MCA do not propose to rob Ali to pay Chong to pay Ali.
“Our objectives are clear and sincere – to ensure that the economic transformation can be achieved,” said the vocal MCA president.
Chua was repeating what he had earlier suggested to Najib – increase non-Malay participation in government-linked businesses, abolish racial quotas and you can achieve your six per cent annual growth target needed to realise Malaysia’s developed nation status by 2020.
His speech was also a continuation of his past suggestions that any affirmative action policies be based on needs and merits instead of race.
