MCA secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan strongly believes that there was no political motivation in the tragic slaying of the party's Padang Serai youth division vice-chairperson Chin Eng Wah yesterday.

"We don't believe it is related the the party or politics, definitely not... let the police investigate," said Ong this morning at the sidelines of the 32nd Wanita MCA assembly in Kuala Lumpur.

Business man Chin, 43, was slain by a gunman when he stopped at a traffic junction in Padang Serai, a sleepy-town in Kedah, and was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital.

Two men on a motorcycled pulled alongside the driver's side of Chin's Mercedez-Benz and shot him on the head. His wife Low Mui Keow was with him during the incident.

Chin and Low have an 18-year-old son and a 14-year old daughter.

Copycat murder?

The New Straits Times today reports that Chin had previously lodged a police report after red paint was splashed at his house in Lunas, Kedah.

The daily also reported that the Kulim police are looking into the possibility of the murder being the work of hired killers and would be investigating if the murder was linked to the paint incident at Chin's house.

A eight-year member with the MCA, Chin runs an aluminum frame business in Padang Serai and Sungai Petani.

A similar incident to Chin's slaying took place in Nov 2000 when Lunas state assemblyperson Dr Joe Fernandez was shot dead by unknown assailants at a traffic junction in Bukit Mertajam.