Due to the 'no-contest' rule and the organiser's intention to keep the event short and sweet, the MCA Youth annual general assembly this year ended in less than four hours and did not see active participation of delegates in the debate.

The meeting was different from last year's in more ways than one. To begin with, only 64.42 percent or 1,092 delegates attended, a drop from last year's attendance.

No representatives of the Youth wings of other BN parties were invited, unlike last year's AGM which had Umno Youth chief Hishamuddin Hussein giving an opening speech.

No MCA vanguards, a "special force" in charge of security at party functions, were in attendance inside the hall as some of them joined the crowd when delegates turned unruly at the infamous brawl at its last AGM on Aug 3.

No secretary-general's report was presented for the first time as the document would have put several leaders in embarrassment, especially the then secretary-general Yeow Teong Look and vice-chairman Loh Seng Kok, who is also party president Dr Ling Liong Sik's political secretary.

Both Yeow and Loh were aligned to Team A led by Ling and were sacked unceremoniously in a emergency motion after a fracas punctuated by a bomb scare, chair-throwing, fist fights, and stink bombs.

Above all, there was no untoward incident this year. Instead, during the debate on resolutions, the six delegates who spoke either touched on or mocked at the joint youth wing's secretary-general posts created recently.

Two secretary generals

The secretary-general's post was vacated by Yeow who had reached the 45-year-old age limit. It is now held by two candidates each representing a faction as a result of 'compromise'.

However, the duo — Liow Tiong Lai, former press secretary to MCA deputy president Lim Ah Lek who was leading Team B, and Loh Seng Kok — maintained their composure even when teased by the delegates.

Lee Boon Kok, a delegate from Wilayah Persekutuan, described the secretary-general's post as a "double bed" for two and no longer a "single bed".

"We don't expect them to hug each other when they sleep. Even if they don't like each other, one should not kick the other fellow out of bed," he quipped to thunderous applause from the audience.

The debate also has its serious moments when education was brought up by several delegates. The delegates welcomed the introduction of a 10 percent quota for non-bumiputra students into matriculation courses and Maktab Sains Rendah Mara (MRSM).

But they also said the government must continue to focus on the educational needs of the bumiputras, particularly the Malays, so that they can be more competitive in the era of globalisation.

Disappointing attitude

Ngai Chin Soon, a delegate from Penang, criticised Umno Youth for proposing a 10 percent bumiputra quota at private colleges in recent weeks, describing the call a "regressive move".

"Their attitude was disappointing because Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is asking the Malays to catch up with the world and learn to be competitive," he said.

Whereas Lee from Wilayah Persekutuan echoed Mahathir's recent criticism of the Malay mindset and said the quota, loans, and government projects awarded to the Malays today are not in consonance with the National Economic Policy.

"NEP was supposed to help the needy bumiputras but younger Malays take things for granted and think all these are their birthrights," he added.

He said the affirmative actions are necessary but should be extended to other races depending on their needs and not race.

Still, the debate remained flat, perhaps because of the short 10 minutes given to each person and the cold (and negative) response from the audience.

After the debate, all 12 resolutions touching on politics, economics, social and educational issues were passed unanimously.

And strangely, there was no winding up by Youth chief Ong Tee Keat which should have been the case like in previous years.

Through negotiations

Another news came at the end of the AGM that Youth legal bureau chief Simon Lim Seng Chai resigned from his post due to his disappointment over what he claimed to be "recent developments within the movement which may not have adhered to its by-laws".

Since the peace plan proposed by Mahathir was endorsed by the MCA central committee, the 'no-contest' rule came into force. Any vacancy must be filled by a candidate agreed upon by Team A and Team B through negotiations.

When the Youth wing went for its AGM today, there were still five central committee member posts left unfilled because no consensus could be reached. The rest from both the factions were 'elected' into their posts for another term.

Neither of the factions would have expected to see this happening when they were preparing to fight to the finish at this time last year.

Now, it seems that they do not have much of a choice but to remain as colleagues in the Youth wing again for another three 'uncomfortable' years.