MCA wants equal say in BN

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 - MCA has called for a more equitable partnership in Barisan Nasional.

Secretary-general Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan said that while the party was committed to the coalition, "no one likes an uneven playing field."

"We cannot accept that decision made by one party must be taken as a BN decision," he explained in his opening speech at the 33rd Wanita MCA General Assembly.

Ong added that MCA did not like to hurt the feelings of others and thus, "do not like others to hurt us."

He cited Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's recent move to inform BN leaders of his handover plan to his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Razak before explaining it to the Umno Supreme Council as an act of placing the nation before race.

Ong also called for more BN meetings at all levels as "at the grassroots you may have leaders making sensitive remarks which affect the entire nation. Having meetings at division or state-level can diffuse the tension faster."

He also commented on the idea of BN merging into a multiracial party, stating that "whether a one-party system works or not or is genuine, is yet to be seen.

"As for now, the BN mechanism works but we need to improve it. If one day there is a need for MCA to change, the central leadership will steer the party to the right decision," the Housing and Local Government Minister said.

In his speech, he had outlined a shortcoming of a merged BN as each community would know its own problems best.

"We cannot pretend to know the intricate problems facing the Malays or Indians - better than the Malay and Indian leaders themselves."

Nonetheless, he asserted that MCA not only works "for the Chinese, but all communities in the country towards a free, democratic, just and united Malaysia.

The Malaysian Insider