Fire and brimstone was spewn by MCA leaders and delegates to the MCA Youth annual general meeting (AGM) as its leaders flailed the Umno-led BN regime for its inaction against racism and extremism.

mca youth agm 091010 08 "MCA should quit BN," said Melaka delegate Lee Kiet Lee, who blamed Umno for the Chinese party's woes.

The reason for this, Lee argued, was that the decisions made by the MCA cannot be translated into government policy as they cannot get past Umno, the ‘gate-keeper’ of federal policy-making.

"As a result, MCA has lost the support of the Chinese grassroots. The grassroots don't believe that the party can speak for them. There are many anti-MCA Facebook groups," said Lee.

He said he believes that the Chinese party continues to eke out a political existence only because of Umno's sympathy and continued acquiescence to MCA leaders holding of certain ministerial and government posts.

‘MCA president can be DPM’

Lee contended, however, that this hand-to-mouth existence has made MCA indebted and subservient to the Malay-based party.

"If one day Umno decided to stop supporting MCA, the party will collapse”, Lee warned.

mca youth agm 091010 12 The solution Lee believed, is to sever ties with BN.

"This will free us from Umno's tendrils and win back Chinese support. We can contest more seats, even consider taking over a state. Once we control a state, we can implement policies beneficial to the Chinese and rekindle their trust."

"We will be the third force, like the Liberal Democrats in the UK elections whose role in helping to end the hung parliament earned its leader the post of deputy prime minister. The MCA president can be the DPM," opined Lee further.

Lee's frustrations were reflected in two of the 14 resolutions passed by the youth wing's AGM in Kuala Lumpur today.

Bristling resolutions

Resolution No 5 moved for the government to set new guidelines regarding the system of rewards and punishments for civil servants and to provide for the authority to hire and fire civil servants in order to curb corruption, power abuse and bias in government administration.

While the resolution was written as an initiative "to increase the efficiency of the country’s administrative system and competitiveness", it was seen as a thinly-veiled call for ministers to be empowerd to punish civil servants, such as the two headmasters and the National Civics Bureau (BTN) official who are alleged to have uttered racial slurs against the Chinese and Indian community.

The youth wing's sixth resolution, meanwhile, called for the government to redefine the training syllabus of the BTN to remove all likely racist contents.

perkasa protest at chinese assembly hall 5 It also urged the government to instruct BTN speakers to be careful as not to make remarks that would jeopardise ethnic relations and reflect its role as a nation-building body catering to all races rather than a vehicle for ‘ketuanan Melayu’.

Doing nothing about Perkasa

Johor delegate Chen Wee Kong upped the ante by urging the party to condemn Umno fror contradicting its own stand on Malay rights group Perkasa.

"Umno criticises Perkasa, but its ministers and former ministers continue to attend functions that the NGO organises.

“Furthermore, the federal government is doing nothing against the Malay rights group's extremist views."

"This creates the public perception that Umno supports Perkasa," said Chen.

To make things worse, said Chen, Umno-owned Malay daily Utusan Malaysia has continued to fan racial and divisive sentiments.

The actions of Perkasa and Utusan, with the tacit collusion of Umno, is digging BN's own grave, Chen said.

We'll forgive, but we won't forget

The stern posturing and remarks by MCA Youth leaders lacked thunder somewhat due to the lukewarm response its members had given to the AGM.

mca youth agm 091010 03 Only 1,007 (51 percent) delegates turned up for the 46th youth wing's AGM at the MCA headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today, making it one of the lowest-attended annual meeting ever.

Wee, tried to downplay this by saying that 50 percent or so is normal for AGMs that are not in an election year.

But observers noted that previous records show most AGMs, even during a non-election year,  have registered 60 to 70 percent turn-outs.

mca youth agm 091010 khairy The MCA Youth chief also took the wind out of the sail of those delegates who wanted the party to punish those Umno leaders who used racial issues to gain popularity, as a deterrent to future Umno leaders who may be tempted to use similar tactics as shortcuts to power.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, who attended the opening of the meeting today, was not exempted from the whiplashing.

"Khairy has changed since the 2008 tsunami. We forgive him, but we will not forget."

"We cannot sabotage our friends in the BN. If we do that, the coalition might lose. What is the point then (of trying to gain support)? It is important that we maintain ruling power," concluded Wee.