MCA has not denied that it is playing its most marginalized role in Barisan Nasional in its 45-year history

Speech (Part 2) by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Slang, at the DAP Tanjong 3 Committee Meeting on the Voters’ Registration Exercise held at Penang DAP hqrs at Lorong Kinta, Penang on Thursday, 23rd June 1994 at 8 pm

MCA has not denied that it is playing its most marginalized role in Barisan Nasional in its 45-year history

Two days ago, I issued a press statement declaring that the MCA under the presidency of Dat.uk Dr. Ling Liong Sik, has reached its most marginalized stage in Barisan Nasional in the 45-year MCA history.

As expected, there has been vehement counter-attacks from MCA publicists and propagandists, but the most interesting point of these MCA reactions is that they dared not deny the irrelevance and marginalisaticn of MCA leadership and politics in the Barisan Nasional.

The MCA propandists for instance could not explain why last week, the MCA had to abandon its traditional two-day MCA General Assembly and shorten it to one day. Wasn’t it because UMNO was holding a special General Assembly on money politics on that Sunday?

If MCA dared not hold its traditional two-day General Assembly because it would clash with the UMNO special General Assembly on the same day, what does it signify? Is this a political relationship between equals, or between master and servant?

Furthermore, the MCA propagandists have also not tried to explain why the MCA General Assembly was so “last to know, last to be conscious” as to adopt a resolution expressing support for the National Development Policy when this Policy had been passed by Parliament three years ago and why it was unable to adopt resolutions more relevant and meaningful to the people like the one adopted by the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting on the same day on blatant abuses of the 1991 Land Acquisition Amendment Act!

But most revealing of all, the MCA propagandists dare not answer my allegation that the four MCA Ministers are among the worst Cabinet Ministers in the Barisan Nasional – and that if there is a Client’s Charter to set Ministerial standards, MCA Minister’s would top the list of those who fail to reach such Ministerial standards!

MCA Youth has become so ‘lacking in backbone’ under Chan Kong Choy that it dared not even deny that it has no ‘backbone’

I am also very amused by the reaction to my statement two days ago that the MCA Youth under Chan Kong Choy has become the most ‘backbone-less1 in MCA Youth history.

Again, this evoked vehement counter-attacks from the MCA Youth leaders – but the counter-attack was not to rebut the allegation that MCA Youth has ‘no backbone’, but to accuse the DAP and me of also having ‘no backbone’.

I do not think there is anyone in MCA or MCA Youth who is qualified to discuss the question of ‘having backbone’ with me – not Chan Kong Choy and definitely not Ling Liong Sik.

What the people are interested is why the MCA Youth could not rebut the charge that under Chan Kong Choy, it is most ‘backbone-less’ in MCA Youth history.

Chan Kong Choy did not correct newspaper reports that MCA Youth called for scrapping of quotas until UMNO and UMNO Youth mounted their attacks

Chan Kong Choy, for instance, cannot deny the following facts:

* On 14th June 1994, Chan Kong Choy led a 51-man MCA Youth delegation to meet the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed.

* On 15th June 1994, Chan Kong Choy called a press conference on the MCA Youth dialogue with the Prime Minister where he declared that MCA Youth had raised the issue of quotas for bumiputeras and had asked for its abolition;

* On 16th June 1994, the various language newspapers gave prominent headlines and coverage to MCA Youth’s call for the ‘scrapping of quotas’ in its dialogue with the Prime Minister. If these newspapers reports were incorrect, there was no attempt by Chan Kong Choy or any MCA Youth leader to immediately issue a correction the next day.

* On 16th and 17th June, UMNO and UMNO Youth leaders attacked the MCA Youth over the quota issue and warned it of ‘dire consequences’.

* On 17th June, Chan Kong Choy denied that MCA Youth had raised the quota issue with the Prime Minister, and pacified the UMNO and UMNO Youth leaders by claiming that the whole thing was an misunderstanding as the MCA Youth memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister did not mention about quotas. Chan Kong Choy did not explain ‘if this was the case, how come all the newspapers in the various languages gave prominent headlines and coverage to his press conference statement that the MCA Youth had called for the scrapping of quotas.

*Nobody believed Chan Kong Choy’s denial. This was why on 20th June, Utusan Malaysia carried an editorial warning Chan Kong Choy as well as telling MCA President, Datuk Dr. Ling Liong Sik, to ‘rectify’ the MCA Youth Leader.

If Chan Kong Choy had again been misunderstood by the Utusan Malaysia editorial on 20th June, three days after he had issued his denial, did the MCA Youth leader protest against Utusan Malaysia for such distortion of news?

Chan Kong Choy dare not do so for the simple reason that he had actually spoken about quotas but had to back down when pressures were applied by UMNO and UMNO Youth leaders.

Chan Kong Choy and the MCA Youth leaders cannot run away from the fact that they did not correct on the same day newspaper reports on 16th June 1994 that MCA Youth had called for the scrapping of quotas and were only forced to do so the next clay when UMNO and UMNO Youth leaders mounted an attack against them.

Unless Chan Kong Choy and MCA Youth leaders can fully explain their ‘quotas’ fiasco, there can be no denial that MCA Youth today is the most ‘backbone-less’ movement in MCA Youth history.