PETALING JAYA, JULY 27- Recognising the decline in support from the Chinese community, MCA deputy president Liow Tiong Lai expressed confidence that the party’s transformation plan will be able to meet the needs of the community.
“Yes, I recognise there is a decline in support from the Chinese community. That is why we are focusing at the roots of the problems and how we can actually resolve these issues,” he said.
“The blueprint that we are drafting will be able to transform the party so that we can meet the needs of the Chinese community,” he said.
Liow contended that the loss of support for MCA was due to the perception that the party is subservient to Umno.
“That cost lots of votes in the last election (12th GE) and it worsened this time because we did not address the issues much earlier,” he said.
In the 13th general election, MCA won only seven parliamentary seats and 11 state seats compared to the 15 parliamentary and 32 state seats in 2008.
Liow was also of the view that there is a lot of frustration among the Chinese community in general.
“They have a lot of unhappiness and they need to air it out. If we want to overcome these issues, we have to come up with solutions to address the unhappiness among the Chinese community,” he said.
He further explained that the issues must be resolved holistically and not by piecemeal solutions.
“We have to address it structurally, as a whole. (Thus) we would like to come up with a fullfledged plan and tell the Chinese community, that this is how we can assist them,” he said.
He stressed that MCA will be able to resolve the issues because “we are with the Chinese community.”
“We know the issues, from the Chinese education to economic, cultural and religious and we will be able to resolve all these,” he said.
Ministerial posts: consider party resolutions
When questioned if MCA will ask for ministerial posts after the party election, Liow said it is important for MCA to play a role in the Cabinet.
“We have been partners with Barisan Nasional since independence so it is only natural that the government considers MCA’s views in most of the portfolios.
“However, I cannot really discuss about this because we need the general assembly to consider the resolutions first,” he said.
MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek had said that the party will abide by the resolutions made in the 2011 and 2012 annual general meetings that the party will not accept any government posts if it performed worse in the 13th
However, Liow expressed confidence that MCA will play its role well if given any portfolio that is close to the Chinese community.
“But we have to discuss with the Prime Minister [Najib Tun Razak] first because it is his prerogative,” he said.
When pressed if MCA would take back the health ministry, he said: “The health ministry is a good ministry as it keeps the country healthy and running.
“As I was the minister before, I have a lot of passion for this ministry. Therefore, I’m for it,” he said.
Liow was the previous health minister. However, due to the party resolutions, the health ministry portfolio was given to MIC’s Dr S Subramaniam. general election.
