MCA members urge to respect party decision to stay out of all Cabinet posts

17 May 2013

Press statement by MCA Selangor Publicity Bureau chief Dato’ Yap Pian Hon

MCA members urge to respect party decision to stay out of all Cabinet posts

 I urge MCA members not to give up following the setback suffered by our party at the 13^th general election (GE), but to persevere and consolidate MCA’s strength with solidarity, self evaluate and begin a new start.

As party members had unanimously passed a resolution at the 2011 and 2012 annual general assemblies to decline all government posts should MCA’s performance at GE13 fare worse than the GE12, party members must accept this decision and not take it likely. We must recognize that Chinese voters had abandoned MCA.

Following MCA’s setback at the 1969 GE, then President, the late Tun Tan Siew Sin met up with the then Prime Minister, the late Tunku Abdul Rahman to inform him of MCA’s decision to withdraw from the Cabinet.

From there, MCA redoubled efforts to begin from scratch in addition to reaching out to the public with services, with more focus on issues concerning the Chinese community. Moving forward, the Chinese community gravitated towards MCA once more. For stability, the Chinese community once again backed MCA in rejoining the government. In 1971 with Tun Abdul RAzak as the second Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Tan Siew Sin was reappointed as the Minister of Finance in the new Cabinet. From a setback, MCA’s potential expanded larger and larger.

MCA must learn from past setbacks and move forward beyond any historical baggage. This maybe a watershed in MCA’s political scenario but it is time to rise up again, with a new mindset which will see the beginning of another political march.

Dato’ Yap Pian Hon
MCA Selangor Publicity Bureau chairman