MCA will use its own logo for the Balakong by-election on Sept 8, said party president Liow Tiong Lai.

He said this was a unilateral decision by MCA which would be communicated to the BN leadership later.

Asked if this meant MCA would quit the coalition, Liow cited a Chinese proverb.

"Let me reiterate. BN is already 'ming cun shi wang' (exists in name only, but dead in reality)," he said.

Pressed further, the former transport minister indicated that MCA was still committed to being part of the BN framework.

"MCA is the founding member. How can I say I'm leaving BN, dissolving BN. That's not the case. As far as I am concerned, let's focus on MCA's reforms first.

"We have to focus on the reforms of each party. We still believe in our future.

"Basically, we have entered a new chapter," he told a press conference at the MCA headquarters in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon.

The once impregnable BN, which had ruled the nation for six decades, is now left with only three parties – Umno, MCA and MIC. Ten had exited the coalition following its defeat in the May 9 general election.

Earlier, Liow read out a statement from the MCA central committee explaining that the decision to contest under the party's own logo was part of its efforts to reinvent itself.

"MCA will take a whole new political stand to face the voters and completely discard is old political baggage, to walk our own path, the path of all people.

"No matter how difficult and how bumpy the road ahead, we shall walk through with perseverance," he added.

MCA's seats were also reduced to three – one parliament and two state seats. Liow himself was vanquished in Bentong.

As for those who contested parliament seats, deputy president Wee Ka Siong is the sole survivor.

He won the Ayer Hitam seat with a wafer-thin majority of 303 votes. His contender, Deputy Defence Minister Liew Ching Tong from DAP, has since filed an election petition to challenge the outcome.

The Balakong by-election was called following the death of its DAP incumbent Eddie Ng.