MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek said today early assessment on the ground showed that Chinese voters in the Hulu Selangor parliamentary constituency supported the Barisan Nasional (BN).

"The early assessment is good and most encouraging. We find that there is a change in the mindset of the Chinese community. The (opposition) Pakatan has never been tested.

"After two years, they (the constituents) are able to see the difference in the administration by the opposition and the BN," he told reporters after chairing an MCA Central Committee (CC) meeting, here.

He said the MCA would support anyone named by Prime Minister and BN chairman Najib Abdul Razak to contest in the by-election, and was committed to working with the BN election machinery to ensure that the coalition recaptured the seat.The Chinese make up some 26 per cent of the 63,593 voters in the constituency.

The Hulu Selangor seat fell vacant following the death of MP Zainal Abidin Ahmad of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) on March 25. Zainal had garnered 23,177 votes to beat MIC's G Palanivel by a majority of 198 votes in the general election in 2008.

Nomination for the by-election is on April 17 and polling on April 25.

Newly-appointed MCA secretary-general and the party's director for the by-election, Kong Cho Ha, said he would go to the ground more often and liaise with the leaders from the other BN component parties to ensure that the election machinery worked smoothly.

"I have been there three times and am going there again tomorrow. In fact, I am starting to enjoy my work there," he told reporters.

On his appointment as MCA secretary-general, Kong, who is housing and local government minister, said he would carry out his duties diligently and work closely with all leaders to rebuild the party.

He said he viewed the appointment more as a responsibility rather than a privilege.

Kong lost to Liow Tiong Lai for the post of deputy president in the March 28 party polls. - Bernama