The MCA youth wing reiterated the party's stand demanding action against racist civil servants and the BN to boycott extremist groups, in the face of government delay in punishing civil servants who allegedly uttered racist remarks and seeming inaction against Malay rights NGO Perkasa's increasingly riotous antics.

"I must stress here that Barisan Nasional leadership must draw a clear line with the extremists or extremist groups," said the youth wing's chief Wee Ka Siong.

Wee, who is also the deputy education minister, said that this is because the BN has to lobby support from all the people and must be careful of being associate with extremists groups as this may alienate some of the rakyat.

He also believes that other than just distancing themselves against such groups, stern action is necessary as the extremists are eroding the country's harmony and stability via their actions that stir up racial sentiments.

"This does not augur well for our multi-ethnic, religious and cultural society.

"I urge BN federal leaders to take prompt action against these people accordingly. We want to see those who disturb the country's harmony be given due punishment," urged the deputy minister.

Worse still, claimed Wee, is that these extremists justified their acts and proclaim themselves as national heroes.

"In fact, what they are doing are for their own personal again; and all done at the expense of the country's unity, development and future," said Wee labelling such groups as "primitive men" whose only way of dealing with differences is to "salvage or terminate" those different from them.

The Ayer Hitam parliamentarian said that the he has only one message for those "primitive men".

"You do not fit in the modern times, and it is better that you go back to the ancient times!"

While he did not mention Malay rights NGO Perkasa as the ones he referred to as "primitive men", MCA has been vocal in calling for the Umno to distance itself from the group as well as critising the group's antics, which many see as increasingly radical and racist.

Punish racist non-performers

Sniping at government inaction against the spate of recent incidents which saw  civil servants uttering racist remarks, Wee had this to say:

"We cannot stand as fatuous and incapable people who could not perform, or they are extremists who only know how to stir racial sentiments and destroy the country's stability and harmony,"

He invoked the ancient Chinese classic "Zhongyong" (or The Doctrine of the Mean ), one principle of which, has been interpreted by historian Sima Qian as "zhen xiang (auspicious omens)" or selecting the worthy, promoting the capable and dropping the non-performers.

"Only a wise emperor, together with capable ministers, could provide political stability and social harmony for the people. Today, we need a capable leader with an open mind to rule the country as well as a group of wise officials in various positions to carry out their duties," said Wee.

While he did not directly name anyone, his words may be a veiled reference to the two headmasters and National Civics Bureau (BTN) deputy director Hamim Husain, the trio allegedly made racist remarks but are as yet to be punished despite government probes into the matter.

MCA's mailed fist

Wee's speech can be seen as a mailed fist which continue to punch through the party's message urging the government to act against Malay rights NGO Perkasa and government employees who seem to escape punishment over their allegedly racist remarks.

Though other than ramming home the point to BN, Wee's speech also tried to hammer into the kinks in the party itself as he talked about the its recent internal squabbles and how they must rise above such conflicts and unite.

"Fellow comrades, we must learn from the bitter experience and should not direct our firing at the party itself now; that we have already elected our leadership, we must respect the decision of everybody and there is no reason to create more conflicts.

"It is useless to play little tricks and risk losing the ruling power. History is no longer our burden and it is only our mirror for us to learn from our mistakes and experiences. It is time we bury the conflicts of the past and reorganise ourselves to fight for our future together," he said.

Wee likened MCA to the Chinese sating "lao zhi hao" (literally old brand name) that has been kept by our forefathers for so long until today, and it has reached a critical point and whether it can be maintained or not depended on them.

"We must learn the fact that there is nothing more important than keeping the ruling power," he added.

Liow's soft approach

In counterpoint, party deputy president Liow TIong Lai's speech when opening the AGM  polished and glossed over broader matters like working more closely with BN components, without touching on the harsher message being sent to the BN or the internal squabble that the party had recently faced.

But both were on the same page where the heaping of praise on BN Youth, chief Khairy Jamaluddin, who also graced the youth wing's AGM, was concerned.

They showered generous praise on Khairy for his daring defence of Wee in the latter's spat with Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali.

Liow and Wee also thanked the Umno Youth chief for riding into the fray like a gallant knight and blunting Ibrahim's scathing attack and seeing the issue as a BN Youth matter and not leaving Wee twisting in the wind.

"MCA Youth respects and supports leaders of other races who are moderates; like our Prime Minister YAB Datuk Sri Najib Tun Razak, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department YB Datuk Sri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, and Umno Youth chief YB Khairy Jamaluddin," added Wee.

He described these moderate leaders as having the interests of the people and the country at heart, and MCA Youth pledged them their support in the fight against the extremists to the end.