MCA International Affairs bureau chief Lee Hwa Beng has defended the MCA Club United Kingdom's (Mcauck) participation in an open house event for Malaysian students based in the UK.

Mcauck, which co-organised the Malaysian Students Department United Kingdom (Masduke) event, came under heavy fire on internet forums and weblogs which accused the MCA of fishing for votes from future voters.

Lee finds the accusations baseless, adding that Mcauk is not governed by the party constitution, and thus the party has no direct control over the group.

Instead, such clubs were initiated by MCA supporters residing overseas and their members may not necessarily be MCA members.

"When they ask to set up clubs, we cannot stop them [...] that would be undemocratic," said Lee in a telephone interview, adding that the University and University Colleges Act 1971 cannot be applied on Malaysian students overseas.

The act bars students from political involvement without written consent from the university's vice-chancellor.

Rapport building event

The Subang Jaya assemblyperson believes that the Feb 12 event at Malaysia Hall in London should be commended because it was a rapport-building event that was open to all Malaysians.

"There is no wrong when the club assisted Masduke to organise the open house. Taxpayer's money is used to organise activities for taxpayers. What's wrong with that? There is something wrong with the critics," he added.

Lee stressed that such acitivites could forge better understanding among Chinese Malaysian students who form the majority of Malaysian students in London with Masduke.

"Students can also learn how to make use of Masduke and the Malaysian embassy's services and facilities," he added.

'Small donations'

Asked to explain about the relationship between the party and such clubs, Lee said that the clubs usually arrange meetings and discussions between their members and students with visiting MCA leaders.

MCA leaders, he conceded, would occasionally give "small donations" for the clubs to finance their activities.

"Only very little, those are personal donations from the MCA leaders, not government money," he said.