MCA, the second largest component party in the BN coalition, needs a little more time to "get back on its feet" following the internal crisis in it which lasted some 18 months, said its deputy

president Liow Tiong Lai.  

NONE He said now solidarity among members and the leaders in the party was becoming stronger but efforts to revitalise activities and programmes at the grassroot level needed to gain additional momentum.

"We know the internal crisis the party faced exacted a heavy toll which weakened members' resolve to serve the people.

"Now we are taking remedial steps to help party members at the division and branch levels to get back on track so that they can play their roles in serving the people more effectively," he told reporters after launching Faber Medi-Serve Sdn Bhd's Coffee Table Book titled 'Accolades - The Privatisation of Hospital Support Services in Malaysia' in Kuala Lumpur today.

Also present were Faber Medi-Serve Sdn Bhd chairman Zainal Abidin Alias and Faber Group Berhad managing director Adnan Mohammad.

Problems identified

Liow, who is also health minister, said MCA had identified what needed to be done to revitalise the party and the steps to taken would be put in action across the country.

This included making it compulsory for all members to register as voters in their respective constituencies.

"Presently, 15 per cent of the members have yet to register (as voters) and the leadership needs to interact more with the youth members to ensure they understand the party's and BN's struggle for the people," he said.

On health matters, Liow said dengue fatalities was becoming increasingly worrying as 81 deaths were recorded since the beginning of this year till last Sunday as compared to 62 deaths for the corresponding period last year.

He said in the same period, 24,240 dengue cases were reported while the figure for the corresponding period last year was 25,234 cases.

- Bernama