The history of the Malaysian Chinese community can be traced to the 19th century or even earlier. In the 1940s, Malaya, as the country was known then, was a British colony. Because of the communist armed insurrection in the peninsula, the British Government declared a state of emergency and military rule in 1948.

The Chinese residents, sandwiched between the communists and the British Government, suffered miseries and hardships as the communists, who were mostly ethnic Chinese, waged a guerilla war against the British.

A large number of Chinese were detained by the colonial Government, many were deported to China and some were shot dead by the soldiers.

To isolate the rural Chinese community from the guerillas, hundreds of thousands of Chinese were evicted from their homes and re-settled in new villages set up by the British Government.

On 27 February 1949, the Malayan Chinese Association or MCA as it is popularly known, was born out of the need to save the Chinese in Malaya from being repatriated to China. The late Tun Sir Tan Cheng Lock was the key man behind the formation of the MCA.

The British plan to deport the Chinese was halted with the birth of the MCA, which took immediate plans to build houses to help resettle the Chinese in the new villages. The MCA also provided food, medicine and monetary aid for these people. After the resettlement, the MCA also helped in securing electricity and piped water to the new villages. Chinese primary schools and public libraries were built for the people.

The Malaysian Chinese Association (“MCA” in brief) was formed on Feb. 27 with Sir Tun Tan Cheng Lock as the inaugural President; Yong Shook Lin as Honorary Secretary and Khoo Teck Ee as Honorary Treasurer. Other founding leaders included H.S. Lee (political/youth/women sub-committee chairman); Tan Siew Sin (publicity sub-committee chairman) and Leong Chong Leng (social welfare/culture subcommittee chairman). Explaining the reasons for forming the party, Tun Tan said, ” The immediate reason for forming our Party was that the Chinese who are loyal to Malaya are made to suffer under the state of emergency. The emergency not only endangered the life of many Chinese, threatening the most basic interests of the Chinese, furthermore it also led others to doubt our traditional loyalty and sincerity to this nation where most of us have considered as our permanent homeland.”

From February onwards, MCA operated a welfare lottery to raise funds to help the needy Chinese especially those forced to resettle in the over 600 new villages in the country. The new villagers lived in fear and anxiety and saw no light at the end of the tunnel. MCA helped them to rebuild their homes and used the funds collected from the lottery to solve their daily livelihood problems.On the right is an old advertisement of the MCA lottery.

On December 2, Tun Tan led an MCA delegation to submit a memorandum to the colonial government expressing the dissatisfaction of non-Malays for being neglected in the provisions of the Constitution of the Federation of Malaya.

MCA and UMNO (United Malays National Organisation) formed an Alliance to contest the Kuala Lumpur municipal elections on February 26 and subsequently local elections in 16 other municipalities over the country. The Alliance received overwhelming support and won 94 seats out of the 124 contested. MCA won 24 out of 43 seats contested. The victorious results laid a strong foundation for the tripartite Alliance to be formed later on.

On June 20, the Central Committee ( C.C.) adopted a proposal tabled by the President to alter the nature of the organisation from social welfare to political and MCA formally became a political party from this date and participated actively in the political arena.

MCA fully supported the stand taken by the Chinese educational organisations as expressed in a meeting held in the Kuala Lumpur Chinese Assembly Hall to oppose the Barnes Report on Education and the 1952 Education Act. However, the colonialist-controlled Federal Legislative Council still passed the Act on November 21. MCA and the United Chinese School Teachers’ Association and the United Chinese School Committee’s Association formed a Central Committee on Chinese Education which was to become the highest leading body on Chinese education in the country.

MCA-sponsored adult education classes were started in the new villages to provide basic education for the villagers and till the end of year, there were 1,255 such classes with tens of thousands of students.

The colonial government passed the Lottery Act on June 12 disallowing political parties from operating lottery. With the passage of the Act, MCA was compelled to stop operation of the welfare lottery and lost the source of revenue to maintain adult education classes which were subsequently closed down.

The Sino-Malay Alliance and other organisatons held the first National Convention in Kuala Lumpur on August 23 to call on the colonial government to hold general elections early to elect the government which could rightfully represent the people.

The second National Convention was held on October 11 and a resolution was passed calling for self-rule and independence. The Convention expressed dissatisfaction over the proposed number of seats allocated to elected representatives of the people.

An anti-communist self-defense force was formed by the MCA in December with over 70,000 numbers.

A Memorandum on Chinese Education was issued jointly by MCA and the Chinese educationist bodies on March 31 opposing the educational policy of the colonial government. This memorandum was historically significant and had far-reaching implications.

The three-man Alliance delegation went to England to hold talks with the colonial authority in May urging that elected representatives form the majority in the upcoming first elections to the Federal Legislative Council. The three were Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak and T.H.Tan. In the mean time, organisations all over the country echoed the call of the Alliance to hold meetings in support of the Alliance delegation.The colonial government finally conceded to the request and allowed 52 out of 98 members in the Council to be elected by the people. The colonial government would appoint seven members and five of them would be appointed after consultations with the political party whick won the most number of seats.

The government issued the 1954 Education Report at the end of the year and the people opposed it strongly. The Report suggested that pupils of various races should attend the same classes, using the same medium of instruction and textbooks. As this would alter the nature of Chinese education, MCA and the Chinese educationalist bodies opposed it vehemently and called for its abolition.

After the discontinuance of adult classes, MCA started to set up community libraries and by year-end, there were 84 such libraries to cater for the needs of the people.

MCA arranged a meeting between Alliance Chairman Tunku Abdul Rahman and leaders of the Chinese educational bodies on January 12 at the residence of Tun Tan Cheng Lock to discuss issues pertaining to the development of Chinese education. The Chinese educational bodies requested that the Alliance elections manifesto include Chinese language as the second official language of the country. In response, Tunku Abdul Rahman said that the matter was not suitable to discuss at the moment as it would cause a split in the unity of the people to fight for independence. He, however, undertook that the Alliance government would never abolish vernacular languages, culture and educational facilities.

The first general elections were held on July 27 and the Alliance won 51 out of the 52 seats of which MCA had 15 seats.

The first Alliance self-government was formed on August 2 with Tunku Abdul Rahman as the chief minister. MCA was represented by Leong Yew Koh (Health and Social Welfare Minister); H.S. Lee ( Transport Minister); Ong Yook Lin ( Telecommunications and Post Minister) and Too Joon Hin as Assistant Education Minister.

A cabinet committee was formed to examine the educational policy with Education Minister Abdul Razak as its chairman. Its report as released subsequently was called the “Razak Report”.

Chief Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman led a government delegation to hold peace talks with Malayan Communist Party leader Chin Peng with the aim of ending the emergency and working to build a new Malaya. Members of the government team included MCA President Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Alliance Secretary-general T.H. Tan, Assistant Education Minister Too Joon Hin. The talks failed as the communists refused to accept the offer from the government.

An Alliance delegation, led by Tunku Abdul Rahman went to the U.K. in January to hold independence talks with the British authority. MCA was represented by H.S. Lee. Party President Tun Tan was indisposed and could not attend. After rounds of heated and intense discussions, the British finally promised on February 5 that she would allow, under possible circumstances, Malaya to be independent by August 31, 1957.

The Razak Report on education was released in April. It suggested that Chinese primary schools be included into the national education system and emphasized that all schools should have the same curricula and sit for the same examination. It also said that the ultimate objective was to have Malay as the main medium of instruction for all schools. The Report was strongly opposed by the Chinese community and Chinese educational groups .

The Lord Reid Commission was sent to Malaya in May to assess views and formulate a draft constitution for independent Malaya. Chinese organisations submitted their memoranda asking for equal citizenship and educational rights. The tripartite Alliance submitted a memorandum to the constitutional survey commission on August 22, representing the official views of the self-rule government.

The Lord Reid Commission released its report and draft constitution on February 20. The Alliance was not happy with the draft and the Chinese community also expressed dissatisfaction over its negligence of Chinese rights. On May 9, an Alliance delegation led by Tunku Abdul Rahman went to England to negotiate on the draft constitution. MCA was represented by Ong Yoke Lin. The negotiations led to mutual consent on a draft constitution for independent Malaya.

Malaya declared independence on August 31 and Tunku Abdul Rahman became her first Prime Minister.

MCA launched a citizenship application movement and within a year, more than one million Chinese residents were given citizenship and enjoyed the rights of every citizen of this country.

Drastic changes occurred in the MCA leadership where in the party elections Dr. Lim Chong Eu defeated Tun Tan Cheng Lock with 89 votes to 67 votes to become the second party president. Too Joon Hin defeated Ong Yoke Lin to become party secretary general and Yong Pang Haw defeated Tan Siew Sin to become the party publicity chief. Tun Tan Cheng Lock later announced his retirement from politics.

MCA organised a pan-Malayan Conference of Chinese Guilds and Associations on April 26 in Ipoh and unanimously passed the “General Demand on Education by The Chinese Community”.

Party President Dr. Lim Chong Eu demanded that MCA be allocated 40 out of 104 Parliamentary seats in the coming general elections and also exerted pressure on UMNO on Chinese educational issues. Alliance Chairman and Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman rejected the demands and wanted Dr. Lim to withdraw them. Dr. Lim resigned with his supporters from the party after failing to secure unanimous support from the Central Committee and left for England for a vacation. Dr. Cheah Toon Lock was appointed acting President. (A few years later, Dr. Lim Chong Eu returned to Malaya and formed a new party to fight against the MCA.)

In the first post-independence general elections held in August, MCA contested 32 seats and won 19.

The State of Emergency was lifted throughout the country although the threat from the Communist Party of Malaya still existed.

Education Minister Abdul Talib released the “Talib Educations Report” which shocked the whole Chinese community. They described it as a knife hanging over Chinese education.

Tunku Abdul Rahman proposed the plan for a greater Malaysia at a luncheon talk in Singapore on May 27. MCA gave its full support for the plan.

Parliament passed the 1961 Education Act which provides power for the Education Minister to convert national-type primary school (either Chinese or Tamil ) to national primary school (Malay medium school).

Dr. Cheah Toon Lock declined to re-contest for the post of party President at the MCA assembly held on November 10. Tan Siew Sin, the son of Tun Tan Cheng Lock was unanimously elected as the new President.

Indonesian President Sukarno launched the “Crush Malaysia Movement” and diplomatic relation between the two nations was severed.

Malaysia was formed on September 16 comprising the states in the Malay Peninsula, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak. Indonesia intensified its confrontation against Malaysia.

The second general elections took place on April 25. Alliance secured a landslide victory. The MCA won 27 out of the 33 seats contested dealing a crushing defeat on Singapore’s People’s Action Party which tried hard to unseat the MCA. The PAP then urged the Tunku to allow it to join the central government and replace MCA as the party representing Chinese interests. The Tunku rejected the demand and said that UMNO would not accept the PAP.

The Central Committee decided in June that, due to the Constitutional restrictions, the Party was in no position to support the demand of the Chinese community to have Chinese as an official language.

On August 9, Singapore left Malaysia to become an independent nation. In his speech during the debate in Parliament, Party President Tan Siew Sin hoped that there would come a day when the two nations would re-merge. After the separation, the PAP in Malaysia changed its name to the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and continued to split the support of of the Chinese and sabotage the political objective of the MCA to unify the Chinese.

The National Language Action Front raised the issue of language in Chinese signboards. MCA and its Youth wing took up the issue with the Front. The Alliance formed an Action Committee to study and suggest a compromising solution.

MCA Selangor and MCA Youth wing passed resolutions to urge the government to put into practice the promise to have Chinese language for official usage. The resolutions received support of all levels of the community.

On October 14, Tunku Abdul Rahman said that the younger members in the MCA were using the language issue to fight against the veteran members within the Party.

The Central Committee decided on October 19 not to support the suggestion to have Chinese language for official usage but would instead call for wider usage of the language in government notices and circulars so that policies and directives could be easily understood and implemented. The Chinese and Malay communities gave sharply contrasting responses to the decision. The Chinese accused the MCA for being too soft while the Malays described the decision as a manifestation of Chinese chauvinism.

The MCA expelled the deputy chief of its Youth wing, Mr. Sim Mow yu on grounds of party indiscipline.

MCA Youth decided to form a cooperative society which was later named the Koperasi Serbaguna Malaysia (KSM) or Malaysia Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society.

The National Language Act was passed in Parliament on September 1 which designates Malay as the national language and sole official language. The Act also provides that no one shall stop anyone from teaching or using any other languages except for official purposes. Party President Tan Siew Sin described the provisions as a compromise fair to all communities.

Party Central Committee decided on February 3 that the Party would support the proposed Merdeka University suggested by Chinese groups.

On March 23, in the Party Delegates’ Conference, a resolution was passed urging the government to speedily set up higher colleges so that graduates from secondary schools could be enrolled into these colleges.

The Malaysia Purpose Cooperative Society was officially launched on August 8 with MCA Youth Head Mr. Lee San Choon as its Chairman and Mr Choo Cheng Wah as its secretary and Oon Seng Lee as Treasurer.

Party Deputy President Tan Sri Khaw Kai Boh submitted a plan to form a higher learning college to Education Minister Khir Johari. The college was later known as the “Tunku Abdul Rahman College”. The college was registered on July 14.

Party President Tan Siew Sin said on April 15 that it was difficult for the Party to render support for the setting up of the Merdeka University under the prevailing circumstances. His statement angered the Chinese community as a whole.

The government approved the registration of the Merdeka University as a non-profit company on May 9. (The University and University College Act was not in existence then and one needed only to register as a company in order to set up a higher learning institution). MCA Central Education Committee Chairman Khaw Kai Boh and a few educationists met with the governors of the Merdeka University and decided that both institutions should cooperate closely.

The third general elections were held on May 10. Of the 33 Parliamentary seats contested, MCA only managed to retain 13. MCA also lost control of the Penang State government. This was the most severe setback for the Party since its inception. Two of the MCA cabinet ministers namely Commerce and Industry Minister Dr. Lim Swee Aun and Health Minister Dr. Ng Kam Poh also lost in the elections. The Party Central Committee decided on May 12 that as the Party was rejected in the elections, it declined to join the government but remained in the Alliance.

The following day, racial riots broke out in Kuala Lumpur. The incident was later termed as the May-13 tragedy. The government placed the whole nation under a state of emergency and a National Operations Council (NOC) was formed on May 17 with Tun Razak as its Chairman.

In response to numerous appeals and calls from the Chinese guilds, associations and other representative bodies, MCA reconsidered its earlier decision and rejoined the government on May 20.

Tunku Abdul Rahman retired as Prime Minister on September 22. He was succeeded by Tun Razak. MCA maintained its four ministerial positions in the cabinet but Khaw Kai Boh declined to serve in the government.

In the Party elections, Tun Tan Siew Sin was again re-elected as President with Khaw Kai Boh elected as his Deputy. A new Party Constitution was also adopted in the Assembly which provided for the appointment of the Chairman of Party State Liaison Committee by the President instead of being elected. The provision, in other words, abolished the traditional elections at state level.

MCA absorbed a number of professionals into the Party as “new blood” in a move to improve its image.

Parliamentary democracy was restored on February 2 with the passage of the Constitutional Amendments Bill in Parliament disallowing questioning on four sensitive matters namely: the position of the National Language; special privileges of the Malays; the position of the Rulers and the citizenship status of the non-Malays.

On February 7, a gathering of representatives of Chinese guilds and associations was held. Speaking at the gathering, Party President Tun Tan Siew Sin called on the Chinese to forge strong unity and pledged that he was willing to step down should he be considered a stumbling block to Chinese unity. A Chinese Unity Declaration was passed in the gathering. Similar gatherings were later held in Negeri Sembilan, Perak and Penang.

The Party issued an important and historic declaration entitled ” Chinese Unity For The Overall Unity of The Malaysian Peoples ” on July 18 listing out the actions and measures taken by the Party to safeguard and protect the constitutional rights of all Chinese Malaysians as enshrined in the Federal Constitution. The declaration was called “7.18 Declaration” in short.

Two key leaders and Members of Parliament of the Democratic Action Party namely Richard Ho and Walter Loh crossed the floor and joined the MCA when Parliament was in session. With this, the number of MCA parliamentarians had increased to 15.

Party Deputy President Tan Sri Khaw Kai Boh passed away on April 17. The Central Committee appointed Lee San Choon to fill the vacated post.

The Education sub-committee of the Party organised a conference with the Chinese educationist groups to discuss issues related to independent Chinese schools. The conference came out with the slogan of “Independent Chinese schools are here to stay and develop”.

A Chinese Mental Revolution movement was launched by the Party in October.

The National Front concept slowly took its form early this year with opposition parties like the Parti Islam Malaysia (PAS); the Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP); the Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan); the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) joining as members.

MCA “new blood” Dr. Lim Keng Yaik, Alex Lee, Dr. Tan Tiong Hong and Yong Siew Hiong started a rebellous movement which they called “Reformation Movement” to topple the Party leadership. The initial targets were Lee San Choon and Kam Woon Wah but later Tun Tan was also included as a prime target. The revolt leaders were expelled later for breaching party discipline.

A series of Chinese economic seminars were held in various cities in the first quarter of the year focusing on issues of Chinese economic development. Calls were made to urge Chinese to pool their financial resources to venture into modern big enterprises to prepare themselves to meet future challenges and ensure that they maintain the 40% equity participation as guaranteed under the New Economic Policy.

Tun Tan Siew Sin resigned from all posts in the Party and government on April 8 for health reasons.

The Party Central Committee appointed Lee San Choon as the Acting President on April 17. On assuming the position, Lee emphasized that he would work towards unifying the Chinese to build a fair and united nation.

The MCA organized a Chinese Culture Conference in Penang during which a resolution was passed emphasizing that the multiracial culture of the nation must not be based on a monolithic culture.

On May 1, the MCA broke tradition by organising a Labour Day celebration. Acting President Lee San Choon told the crowd at the celebration that MCA will always stand together with the working class.

A few hundred DAP members, led by Serdang stateassemblyman Yap Pian Hon crossed over to the MCA on July 7.

In the fourth general elections held in August, the MCA was allocated 23 Parliamentary seats and won 19 — a success rate of 82.6%.

Lee San Choon announced a “five major projects” plan to reform the Party.The five which later termed as the First Five Major Projects were:

• A new Party Headquarters building;
• Raising fund for the Tunku Abdul Rahman College;
• Membership drive;
• Setting up the Multi-Purpose Holdings Sendirian Berhad;
• Setting up Malaysian Chinese Cultural Society.

MCA submitted a Memorandum on Education to the government suggesting that the medium of instruction in the Chinese primary schools be extended to secondary level to provide students of various races a better chance to improve and safeguard their mother language. The memorandum also proposed the abolition of certain clauses in the 1961 Education Act to ensure that Chinese schools maintain its characteristics. It further proposed that the Chinese Senior Middle Examination be resumed. The views in the memorandum were not acceptable to the Chinese educationist groups and they submitted a separate memorandum to the government. Party leaders met the groups several times to try and resolve the differences but their efforts were in vain.

The Annual Delegates’ Conference passed the Party’s five major projects and this decision was described as the turning point in the Party’s history.

In October, KSM Secretary Choo Cheng Wah announced that Multi-Purpose Holdings which was one of the Party’s five major projects, was approved and registered. ..The name was later changed to Multi-Purpose Holdings Berhad (MPHB) and the primary aim of the company was to lead the Chinese into doing business in the modern way.

MCA organised a conference on squatters and farmers in Ipoh in August and passed a declaration urging the government to open up land for the landless to apply.

Party Headquarters’ Executive Secretary Tan Kean Sin was detained by the government on November 3 under the Internal Security Act. He was the first high-ranking official of the Party to be detained since the inception of the Party. He was detained for his alleged involvement in subversive activities in his earlier days in school and not because of his works in MCA.

Construction works on the new Party Headquarters’ Building, which is one of the five major projects, commenced in December. Activities to raise funds for the building were carried out throughout the country.

The Malaysian Chinese Cultural Society, another one of the Party projects , was registered and its inauguration ceremony was held in Penang on March 5. Datok Wee Khoon Hock, a doyen in the Chinese cultural community, was elected as its President.

Multi-Purpose Holdings Berhad released its prospectus for public share subscription in May. In the ceremony, Party President Datuk Lee San Choon emphasized that this was one of the major projects to lead the Chinese to actively participate in the commerce and industry sector and to modernize their method of doing business. Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng, a successful business tycoon, was elected as its Chairman and Tan Koon Swan appointed as Managing Director (Operations) with Choo Cheng Wah as Managing Director (Administration). Public response to the share subscription exercise was overwhelming. At the close of application date, it was oversubscribed with a total of 43 million shares of one Ringgit each being applied. The original target was only 30 million shares of one Ringgit each.

In the Party elections in August, Datuk Lee San Choon was re-elected Party President. Incumbent Deputy President Tan Sri Lee Siok Yew did not seek re-election. The post was keenly contested between Tan Sri Chong Hon Ngen and Datuk Michael Chen with the latter emerging victorious.

The Merdeka University issue re-emerged and gained wide publicity in the Chinese press. Convenors of the University launched a nationwide signature campaign to get Chinese guilds and associations to give their full support in an effort to get the Royal Assent for its setting up. On April 12, Party President Datuk Lee San Choon explained that the 1971 University and University College Act specified that Chinese language could not be the medium of instruction in local universities. As such, the porposed University did not comply with the Act which made it impossible for its registration.

On July 5, President Datuk Lee San Choon expressed dissatisfaction over the reducing number of intake of Chinese students in the five local universities. He suggested that the ratio of intake should be 50:50 between Bumiputras and non-Bumiputras.

The fifth general elections were held on July 8 in which MCA won 17 Parliamentary seats out of 28 contested.

The annual delegates’ assembly which was held in November passed a resolution not to support the proposed Merdeka University.

Party President Lee San Choon stepped down as Chairman of Koperasi Serbaguna Malaysia in December. Datuk Oon Seng Lee was elected the new Chairman.

In the Party elections this time, members responded positively to the call made by Party President that the top six posts be unchallenged. The six top posts were President (Datuk Lee San Choon); Deputy President (Datuk Richard Ho); and four Vice-Presidents ( Datuk Chan Siang Sun; Datuk Mak Hon Kam; Tan Sri Chong Hon Ngien and Datuk Neo Yee Pan).

The new Party Headquarters Building was officially opened by President Datuk Lee San Choon with a grand ceremony. A week-long Chinese Cultural Festival was held in conjunction with the opening which attracted tens of thousands of participants from all walks of life.

MCA launched a Second Five Major Projects, these were:

• Koperasi Jaya Diri (KOJADI)
• The State Holdings Corporations
• The MCA Institute of Cadre Training
• The MCA Education Fund
• The MCA Cultural Centre

Party President Datuk Lee San Choon accepted a challenge from DAP Secretary General Lim Kit Siang and contested in the Seremban Parliamentary constituency to face DAP National Chairman Dr. Chen Man Hin. Dr. Chen was defeated . MCA also obtained outstanding results elsewhere in this year’s elections in which the party won 24 Parliamentary and 28 state seats.

Shortly after the elections, Datuk Richard Ho who did not contest in the general elections resigned as Deputy President and left the Party. The Party Central Committee then nominated Datuk Neo Yee Pan as the acting Deputy President and Tan Koon Swan as the Vice-President.

Datuk Lee San Choon shocked the Party when he announced his resignation as Party President and Transport Minister on March 25. Members from various states came to Kuala Lumpur to persuade him to change his decision.

However, he insisted that his decision was final. The Central Committee, after accepting his resignation with regret, appointed Dr. Neo Yee Pan as the acting President and Datuk Mak Hon Kam as the acting Deputy President. Dr. Neo announced an “Eight-Point Plan & Eight Committees” to replace the Party’s Ten Major Projects.

The issue of phantom members was raised by many grassroots members of the Party. They alleged that there was a syndicate in the Party which used false personal particulars to “create” new Party members. They wanted the central leadership to take immediate action to stop this practice. However, the Party’s Acting President Dr. Neo Yee Pan refused to take any action. On March 17, a Central Committee meeting was held to discuss this issue. During the meeting, supporters aligned to Dr. Neo and Tan Koon Swan were engaged in heated arguments over the issue. The group aligned to Tan wanted a special panel to be formed to handle the matter but Dr. Neo turned down the request. After a marathon argument, Tan Koon Swan submitted a joint petition signed by 13 Central Committee members requesting to hold an extraordinary general meeting to resolve the issue. The petition created chaos in the meeting which was abruptly adjourned.

Two days later, on March 19, at 10.00 a.m., Dr. Neo Yee Pan announced that he, in his capacity as Acting President, was to strip Tan Koon Swan and Datuk Lee Kim Sai of their posts as MCA Wilayah Persekutuan Liaison Chairman and Selangor Liaison Chairman respectively.

In the afternoon on the same day, Datuk Mak Hon Kam, in his capacity as the Party’s Disciplinary Committee Chairman, announced the immediate expulsion of 14 leaders and members from the party including Tan Koon Swan (Vice-president); Datuk Lee Kim Sai (Vice-president/MCA Youth Chairman); Dr. Ling Liong Sik (C.C. member); Datuk Kee Yong Wee (C.C. member); Wong Choon Wing (Organising Secretary of Wilayah Persekutuan Liaison Committee) and Wong Mook Leong (C.C. member). The announcement shocked not only the whole Party but the whole Chinese community.

Members from throughout the country wanted the Party to retract the expulsion orders. Within 48 hours after the expulsion, more than 1499 delegates sent in a joint petition calling for an EGM to be held to nullify the expulsion orders and to appoint a special committee to probe and handle the phantom membership issue.

However, this was ignored by the incumbent leadership which refused to hold the EGM forcing the Tan faction to bring the issue to court.. The Party felt into a state of near anarchy during the period and the incumbent leadership was faced with criticisms from all corners.

The Party crisis ended only on November 24, 1985 when, under the efforts of an ad-hoc Committee, a delegates’ meeting was held and it successfully elected a new leadership. However, the image of the Party had already been dented.

The new leadership was led by Tan Koon Swan as the President and Datuk Dr. Ling Liong Sik as the Deputy President. The four elected Vice-presidents were Datuk Chan Siang Sun; Chan Kit Chee; Datuk Tan Peng Khoon and Datuk Lee Kim Sai. Datuk Kee Yong Wee and Ms. Teng Gaik Kwan were elected head of the MCA Youth and Wanita respectively. Datuk Lee Kim Sai was also appointed Party Secretary General.

In order to realise the spirit of democratic reformation within the Party, the new leadership called for an EGM on March 2 to amend the Party Constitution with the objective of curtailing the privileges of the President, to specify the procedures for holding delegates’ meetings and EGM so as to prevent a recurrence of the Party crisis.

When the new leadership was actively revitalizing the Party, Tan Koon Swan resigned as President due to personal matters. After repeated efforts to dissuade him from resigning failed, the Central Committee was left with no alternative but to accept his resignation with great regrets.

On September 3, Datuk Dr. Ling Liong Sik, the Deputy President, was promoted to President in accordance with the provision of the amended Constitution and Datuk Lee Kim Sai elected by the Central Committee as the Deputy President leaving the Vice President slot to be filled by Datuk Kok Wee Keat. The post of Secretary General was given to Ng Cheng Keat and National Organising Secretary to Wong Choon Wing. The new Assistant Secretary General was Woon See Chin.

A Task Force was formed to monitor the implementation of the New Economic Policy to effect an overall study of the progress of the Policy with the aim of making constructive suggestions for the benefit of the nation as a whole. Subsequently, a “Blueprint for Malaysian Solidarity” was formulated which spelt out the Party’s stand on the strategies of nation-building in the post 1990 period.

The new leadership was faced with many challenges which included the cooperatives “scandal”, the Party’s hug debts, the issue on being dubbed alien and key posts in Chinese schools.

The “Cooperatives scandal” erupted upon discovery that 24 Chinese cooperative societies were unable to meet the demand for a refund by about half-a -million depositors who had invested their savings with these institutions. As the Party representing the Chinese, the MCA was determined to fight for the interest of these depositors and President Datuk Seri Dr. Ling pressed for a “dollar to dollar” refund for all the depositors. In the process, although faced with numerous difficulties and problems, the Party was firm in her stand and after carefully thought out strategies, the depositors were able to get a full refund as proposed by the Party which was eventually agreed to by the Cabinet.

The Party’s debts with a bank was incurred in the early 1980s due to insufficient funding for the building of the new Party Headquarters in Jalan Ampang . The building was mortgaged in 1982 to get a loan of RM 25 million to pay the contractors and for renovations. Due to the party crisis in the following years and the economic recession, the occupancy rate deteriorated which resulted in insufficient rental income to service the bank loan. The amount due to the bank accumulated to a helfy RM 36 million in 1987and the Party was required to surrender the building to the bank should no solution be found. A “Rescue the Headquarters Building” movement was launched which succeeded in raising RM 19 million from within the Party. 49% of the equity of the building was sold to the Multi-purpose Group at a price of RM 20.7 million. The bank loan was then settled.

The “alien race or kaum pendatang” issue started with some delegates in the UMNO Youth Assembly describing the Chinese Malaysians as an alien race and questioned their loyalty to the nation and the King. Selangor MCA countered by passing a resolution in the annual delegates’ conference saying that all races in the country are alien races as all of our forefathers migrated from other parts of the world to this country. The MCA stand angered the UMNO Youth and heated arguments were thrown at each other over the issue. Finally it was Deputy Prime Minister Ghafar Baba who put a stop to the quarrel by declaring that no one should call another alien as all are Malaysians. His stand effectively eliminated further quarrels.

The “Key posts in the Chinese schools” issue started when a number of state education chiefs posted non-Chinese teachers and teaching staffs to hold key positions in the Chinese primary schools in the respective states. The move caused concern amongst the Chinese community as they feared it would alter the characteristics of Chinese schools in this country. MCA leaders tried to resolve the problem in the cabinet but in vain. As no solution was in sight, MCA leaders and other Chinese community leaders held a protest meeting at the Thean Hou Temple. The meeting attracted strong reaction from the Malay community and they also organized a grand gathering to counter the move by the Chinese community.Under such chaotic situation, the government invoked the Internal Security Act to detain politicians/community leaders deemed to be posing security risks to the nation. Those detained included MCA leaders like Chan Kit Chee, Datuk Yap Pian Hon, Tan Chai Ho and Tang See Hang.

When the situation stabilised, the MCA sought to resolve the issue within the cabinet. After numerous rounds of discussions, it was agreed that a 5-member subcommittee be formed to handle the matter amicably. MCA representatives in the subcommittee proposed that only those who know the Chinese language and have been teaching in the Chinese schools be considered for five key posts in these schools. The proposal was accepted by the subcommittee and the issue was gradually settled without much publicity. Those detained were later released.

Former President Tan Koon Swan resigned as the Member of Parliament for Gopeng on April 3, 1987 and a by-election for the seat was held on May 28. MCA nominated an academician Dr. Ting Chew Peh as its candidate for the race. Although the DAP made use of the cooperatives issue to try to undermine the MCA’s chances and even started a character assasination campaign on Dr. Ting, the voters rejected their advances and returned Dr. Ting with a resounding majority of 4523 votes.

In September 1987, MCA formed a Public Services and Complaints Department led by Michael Chong, the general administrative executive to deal with the increasing number of people seeking help from the Party in dealing with their daily problems.

Datuk Seri Dr. Ling took over as President at a time when the country and party were facing several key issues, and was tasked with finding solutions to these problems. To enable him to reflect more clearly on these issues, he took a six-week no-pay leave starting on October 1. His show of determination bore fruit when the government formed a National Economic Consultative Council in December to draft a new national economic policy to replace the New Economic Policy which expired in 1990.

The Ampang Jaya Parliamentary by-election seen as a crucial test not only to Party but also to the national political development, was held early this year. After concerted efforts by members of the MCA and components of the Barisan Nasional (National Front), MCA’s candidate Ong Tee Keat defeated Malay opposition strongman Datuk Harun Idris who represented Semangat 46.

Shortly after that, on March 21, Party Vice-president and Health Minister Tan Sri Chan Siang Sun died of a heart attack. His death was a great loss to the Party and nation. The late Tan Sri Chan had been elected as the Member of Parliament for Bentong in every general elections since 1959 and was the longest serving Member of Parliament since independence. He was accorded an Official Funeral in recognition of his remarkable services.

Following his death, a by-election was held in Bentong on May 13. The MCA’s candidate was Datuk Lim Ah Lek who was then a Pahang State Executive Council member. The by-election was a three-cornered fight with Datuk Lim Ah Lek defeating the other two with a convincing majority of 8506 votes. He was subsequently appointed Labour Minister (later renamed Human Resources Minister) and resigned his state seat which was won by the MCA’s Kan Tong Leong in the by-election that followed.

In the eighth general elections, the Barisan Nasional, which the MCA is a senior component member, faced a crucial challenge from the opposition which formed two united-fronts with the sole purpose of overthrowing the incumbent government. The opposition move however failed to win the voters’ support. When results of the polls were announced and the MCA’s seats in Parliament increased to 18. The most significant result was in Seremban where the national chairman of the DAP, Dr. Chen Man Hin was defeated by the MCA’s candidate, the second time that the top leader of DAP lost to the MCA. On the whole, the Barisan Nasional trounced the opposition and continue to govern the nation.

After the 1990 general elections, the MCA Public Services and Complaints Department was expanded to become the MCA Public Services and Complaints Bureau with Datuk Tan Chai Ho as the Chairman. Michael Chong and Mok Soon Cheong are to be responsible in running the “Public Complaints Unit” and “Government Affairs Unit” respectively. At the state level, each MCA State body formed its own Public Complaints Unit to help the public. The Bureau has solved numerous problems brought up by the people, problems related to administrative deviations in government departments; social ills; women’s problems and others. The contributions of this Bureau are duly recognized by the people and Michael Chong has become a well-known personality within and without Malaysia including immigration and police officials of certain countries especially Japan and Taiwan.

The MCA Central Cultural Bureau Chairman Datuk Loke Yuen Yow proposed that a “Chinese Cultural City” be built to preserve and develop the rich Chinese cultural heritage. The proposal received encouraging responce from the Chinese community but not amongst others. In order not to stir up another controversy, the Party decided to place the project on hold until conditions were more favourable. However, under the initiatives of this Bureau, many Chinese cultural activities were held and these activities received tremendous response from members of thepublic. The MCA also organised “Mother’s Day”; “Father’s Day” functions in efforts to create a caring and loving society besides promoting filial piety.

The Party expanded its scope of activity to Sabah this year, with the setting up of many branches.

A fund-raising campaign for the TAR College Expansion Fund was launched on March 12 by President Datuk Seri Dr. Ling Liong Sik. Through various activities, the campaign succeeded in collecting RM 30 million. With the “dollar to dollar” allocation from the government, the College received RM60 million to expand its main campus and build branch-campuses in Penang and Johore. With the expansion, the main campus would be able to take in 16,000 students and the two branches, when completed, would be able to take in 2,000 students respectively.

Another campaign of great significance was launched by President Datuk Seri Dr. Ling Liong Sik on February 22, which is called ” The Langkawi Project” with the aim of encouraging parents to adopt the right approach towards their children’s education. Six sub-committees were formed to handle different aspects of the project.

In the Party elections this year, Datuk Seri Dr. Ling Liong Sik and Datuk Lee Kim Sai were returned as President and Deputy President respectively. The four elected Vice-presidents were Datuk Lim Ah Lek, Datuk Jimmy Chua Jui Meng, Datuk Yap Pian Hon and Datuk Wong See Wah. The Youth Chairmanship went to Datuk Chan Kong Choy and Miss Teng Gaik Kwan was returned as the Chairman of the women’s section.

On September 28, MCA formed its cooperative society the Koperasi Usaha Mawah Bhd (Komawah) with the purpose to take possession of the 500,000 shares of Koperasi Jayadiri which was owned by Koperasi Serbaguna Malaysia (KSM). The move was to ensure that the controlling interest of Kojadi remains with the Party.

“The Bukit China Issue” which was a hot issue in the eighties re-emerged when the Malacca state government demanded the payment of RM 2 million of quit rent from the Cheng Hoon Temple which is the organization responsible for its affairs. After tireless efforts by Party leaders especially Datuk Lim Ah Lek, the quit rent issue was successfully settled with the state government waiving the payment. The DAP tried to politicise the issue and discredit the MCA during the course of the efforts.

The PAS-controlled Kelantan state government which came into power in 1990 implemented a series of Islamic administrative measures and its state assembly passed the Hudud Laws (Islamic Penal Code) with the aim of turning the state into an Islamic state. The MCA strongly opposed the move which it considered to be going against the interests of the multi-racial nature of the state. The MCA also demanded that the DAP apologises for its role in successfully influencing the Chinese voters in the state in 1990 to give their support to PAS which led to the party coming into power in that state.

On January 15, the Central Committee adopted a proposal from the President to enlarge the scope of qualification for membership to enable any Malaysian citizen who possesses Chinese blood-linkage, to join the Party as a full-fledged member regardless of one’s religious belief or characteristics of one’s surname/family-name. This hallmark decision has far-reaching implications as it demonstrated the Party’s liberalism and her ability to change with time. This move is also a follow-up to the party’s open-door policy.

On March 15, Party President Datuk Seri Dr. Ling announced that the Party would start a fund-raising campaign to help the 60 independent Chinese secondary schools. A special committee headed by Datuk Lim Ah Lek was given the task to mobilise the 600,000 strong membership of the Party to systematically raise funds for the schools. This campaign received overwhelming support from the Chinese community and Chinese education organisations throughout the country and succeeded in raising RM 6 million which was distributed to the various schools.

The year was designated as a “Year of Culture” by the Party and many cultural activities were organised by the various state liaison committees and divisional committees to further promote the rich cultural heritage of the country. The keen participation of the people was a clear proof of the success of these programmes.

In the ninth general elections held this year, the Party performed remarkably well by winning 30 seats in Parliament and 70 seats in the state assemblies. MCA’s parlimentary and state seats were later increased to 101 when the High Court decided that the election of DAP’s representative of Bukit Bintang was null and void and MCA’s candidate Dr. Lee Chong Beng was declared the valid candidate. With the joining of Sabah’s Chau Tet On, the MCA thus has 102 Members of Parliament and State Assemblymen. The results indicated that Chinese voters have awakened politically and realised that the Chinese have to strengthen their say in the government and that the passive political approach of the oppositions, especially the DAP could never help solve the problems faced by the community. In short, the Chinese voters have preferred the spirit of consultation to that of confrontation.

MCA resolved various issues affecting Chinese education viz-a-viz formulation of the new Education Act 1995. Through the process of consultations within MCA and with relevant educational bodies, the party had successfully repealed Section 21 (2) and removed other sensitive provisions contained in the old Act. Through negotiations and consultations within the specially set up Cabinet Committee to revamp education policies, MCA also successfully ensured the retention of SRJK (C) Board of Directors following cancellation of Section 26(A).

In the Party elections in July, Datuk Seri Dr. Ling Liong Sik was again returned as the Party’s President. Datuk Lim Ah Lek was elected as the new Deputy President when Datuk Lee Kim Sai did not seek re-election. The four elected Vice-presidents are : Datuk Jimmy Chua Jui Meng; Datuk Dr. Fong Chan Onn; Datuk Yap Pian Hon and Ong Ka Ting. Datuk Chan Kong Choy continue to lead the Youth section and Datuk Teng Gaik Kwan was returned as Wanita Chairman.

In November, the only two state assemblymen of the DAP in Negeri Sembilan. Lee Yuen Fong and Khoo Seng Hock decided to join the MCA in order to be positive and constructive in serving and helping the people. Following their decision to join the MCA, the total number of people’s representatives of MCA increased to 104.

The Party also took its first step into cyberspace with the launch of the MCA Homepage over the Internet. Riding on the new Information Technology, news, views and information relating to the Party is now available not only to the Malaysian public but to the whole world.

Significant progress was made by the Party toward its objective of cultivating a Caring and Sharing culture at all levels of its leadership. A wide range of activities undertaken by the leadership at the various levels had strong impact and contributed to the general welfare of its target groups namely in the area of education such as Chinese schools, Tunku Abdul Rahman College branch campuses, Langkawi project related activities

Through the central theme of “Touching Minds and Hearts” the MCA successfully implemented a wide range of activities aimed at building close rapport with other Chinese organisations and the voting segment. The initiation of several community projects such as “Pledge Your Computer” and “Respect Teachers” campaign was made possible with the support and collaboration of Chinese organisations such as ACCCIM and the FCAM.

Center-stage in the Party’s political affairs is the increasing role of the Wanita section leadership levels. The Party President’s proposal of a target quota of 30 percent Wanita representation in the municipal and local district councilors posts within the next 15 years, has been accepted. MCA Perak became the first state to appoint a Wanita representative as the assistant secretary of t he State Liaison Committee.

MCA’s political theme for 1998, “Together We Shall Overcome” aptly reflected all levels of the Party leadership in their determination and collective resolve in overcoming the Asian regional financial and economic turmoil which had affected our nation since July 1997. The MCA’s 1998 Action-Plan Agenda focused on grassroot activities in the form of campaigns and community projects in assisting the Barisan Nasional Government’s economic recovery measures. Prominent business community and corporate leaders enjoined their collective support in such activities to restore public confidence in the Government’s efforts. Various dialogues and forums were conducted throughout the year in ensuring the “true economic picture” was well understood by the communities at all levels so that full cooperation from them would enhance a speedy economic recovery.

On 24th February 1998, MCA President Datuk Seri Dr. Ling Liong Sik launched the “Love Malaysia, Buy Malaysian Products” website, jointly organized by MCA Youth and CY Multimedia Lab IT, with more than 60 local manufacturing companies. Thousands of local Malaysian-made products were listed and were given full publicity by major local news dailies for a period of 6 months. A series of nationwide campaigns were also conducted with full support from between 5,000 to 10,000 participating Malaysian women in various major towns in the support of purchasing local products, a measure encouraged by the Government towards economic recovery. A patriotic campaign, Love Malaysia, Buy Malaysian Product” was also launched and officiated by the Malaysian Prime Minister YAB Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at the Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur on the 31 May, 1998.

1998 was also a significant year as MCA launched the “Convention On The Innovation and Reforms In The Chinese Community” at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall on the 21 March. Jointly organized by the Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazhong), the Associated Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Malaysia (ACCCIM) and the MCA, the “Changing Of Mindsets” campaign to promote positive traditional values and working ethics such as punctuality, discipline, good etiquette, caring and sharing values were well received by the broad spectrum of the Chinese community at all levels.

MCA celebrated its 49th National Anniversary Celebrations on 8 March 1998 at the Penang International Sports Arena in Bukit Jambul. During the year, under the Party’s “Caring and Sharing” programme of activities, numerous meaningful events were organised for the benefit of the needy, aged and less fortunate. One of such illustrated events included a presentation of RM50,000 cheque to the National Council of Senior Citizens Organisations Malaysia (NASCOM) by MCA President as part of a 3-year grant in support of their activities. MCA’s gesture was to assist NASCOM in addressing the various problems faced by the ageing population.

In 1999, MCA continued its hectic and busy schedule of Party projects and community oriented activities. From 1997’s political theme, ” Touching Hearts and Minds”, the Party moved a step further to nurture “One Heart, One Mind” in 1999, organising a nationwide series of events and providing opportunities for all ordinary Malaysians of all races to express their sentiments of love for the Malaysian nation. It was a timely move by MCA to mobilise and consolidate Malaysians in garnering their collective support for the Government’s drastic economic measures for the good of the nation in the face of continuing efforts to overcome our national economic downturn. The Party’s central leadership made in no uncertain terms that it was fully committed to the Barisan Nasional Government’s efforts in bringing our economy into the path of recovery within the shortest possible time. Hence, MCA’s 50th Anniversary theme, “For The People, For The Nation”, aptly reflected the aspirations of MCA.

The MCA celebrated its 50th Anniversary Golden Jubilee at the national level with a 3-day programme of organised activities from 25 to 27 February 1999. Major highlights of the anniversary events included the launching of an MCA publication in commemoration of the MCA’s 50 years of historical contributions to nation-building and an anniversary dinner event officially graced by the Malaysian Prime Minister at the Stadium Nasional, Bukit Jalil on 25 February 1999. For the first time in MCA’s history, more than 13,000 guests comprising BN component leaders, Cabinet Ministers, State Ministers and leaders from major Chinese Associations and corporations and Party veterans attended the gala dinner event.

Memorable highlights of the celebrations included an exhibition on the Party’s history and achievements. More than 2,800 MCA leaders, members and Party veterans attended an official ceremony at Dewan San Choon, Wisma MCA, Kuala Lumpur. In his key-note speech, the MCA Party President paid tribute to the Party’s founding fathers and former Prime Ministers of Malaysia.

In the Party Elections in July, MCA Party President Dato’ Seri Dr. Ling Liong Sik, Deputy President Dato’ Lim Ah Lek and all the 25 Party’s Central Committee members were elected unopposed at the Party’s 46th Annual General Assembly for the term 1999-2002. The elected MCA Vice Presidents were: Datuk Dr. Fong Chan Onn, Dato’ Chua Jui Meng, Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting and Dato’ Chan Kong Choy. Datuk Ong Tee Keat and Dato’ Ng Yen Yen were newly elected as National Chairman of the Youth and Wanita wings respectively.

More than 2,400 MCA central delegates attended the 46th Annual General Assembly on July 17th, which for the first time, was attended by both the Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and Deputy Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. In his presidential address, Dr. Ling remarked “the overall election results of the Party at various levels has illustrated the party grassroots’ emphasis toward unity and stability”. This was reflected by 96 per cent of new office-bearers at branch level, 75 per cent at division level including some 80 per cent at Youth and Wanita State level, being elected unopposed.

During the year, the Party had continued efforts in developing the infrastructural facilities and amenities of Tunku Abdul Rahman College (TARC) and its branch campuses. On 28th June 1999, the Penang branch campus was officially opened by Depuaty Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, while the former Education Minister YB Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak officiated the opening of the Johor TARC branch campus in July 1999.

The MCA’s “Smart School” project was launched by the Party President in August 1998, in which some 114 schools would be in the MCA-SJK© Smart school system by June 2000.

During the year, MCA Central Leadership established the “MCA-JE Humanitarian Fund” as a proactive effort to assist immediate financial assistance to pig-farmers strickened by the JE epidemic.The public fund-raising campaign officially ended on May 1999.Towards educational projects, MCA continued its various efforts toward Kojadi, TAR College Branch campuses and successfully obtained permanent registration status for all the Chinese Independent Secondary Schools nationwide. MCA also commenced its own “SMART’ School project specifically for Chinese Primary Schools. The Party’s youth and “wanita” wings also actively played a complementary role in assisting the parent MCA in numerous community oriented projects during the year under review.

In the 1999 General Elections, MCA won 28 Parliamentary and 68 State seats out of the respective 35 and 77 electoral seats contested.

Ever since the launching of “MCA’s All Out War Against Ecstasy and Illegal Slot Machine” in the year 2000, the Party has been praised for its effort and determination to curb the social ills. Besides receiving praises from Commonwealth leaders, MCA was commended by the National Drug Agency for being “the pioneer among the political parties in the country to successfully rally all Malaysians against the drug through its anti-Ecstasy campaign.” Many non-Governmental organizations and social bodies have shown immense support for the campaign, in addition to the Government’s more frequent and stringent checks against Ecstasy selling and illegal gaming activities.

In October, the accounts of the MCA’s aid fund for families affected by the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) outbreak ware announced. The JE Humanitarian Fund amounting to RM15.8 million was in the auditors’ report prepared by Pricewarterhouse Coopers for the JE Humanitarian Fund Monitoring Committee. Some 4,426 victims affected by the virus outbreak had benefited from the fund. All the major newspapers had published the details of the money used. MCA, however, still gave the list of 4,426 JE Humanitarian Fund beneficiaries to DAP, which did nothing during the JE outbreak but was now looking for faults.

By making the account public, the Party has shown accountability and transparency in handling public funds, which seldom practiced by other political parties.

Later, on 29th of October, the MCA Central Committee also accepted a report on the Chang Ming Thien Foundation (CMTF) tabled at its meeting in Penang. The 28 page report was prepared and compiled by the MCA Three-man Special Committee appointed by the MCA Presidential Council on 9th October 2000. Led by MCA National Treasurer Tan Sri Dato’ William Chek Lin Kwai, Koperasi Serbaguna Malaysia Chairman Dato’ Lau Yin Pin and MCA National Legal Bureau Chairman Leong Tang Chong, the Committee had compiled the report containing all the facts and events regarding the formation, incorporation, control and management of the RM10 Million charitable fund that have taken place from 27th November 1980 to 30th September 2000 in a chronological order. The full CMTF report was then published and advertised on local newspapers to clear doubts and for the public to see the truth as it was. This truly showed MCA’s concern over the matter, as such act had never happened in the Party history before.

Meanwhile, the role of Langkawi Project had expanded to include the setting up of community libraries. Incorporating the formation of “cyber clubs”, the “pilot project” would be selectively set up within the identified 20 MCA electoral constituencies. The community library cum cyber club project also entailed a long-term action plan that would bring tremendous benefits to the rural young and adult parents particularly in forming a better informed community in terms of gaining “IT” literacy, and building up a computer literate society as well as a K-economy.

During the year, the Party’s National Youth spearheaded by Datuk Ong Tee Keat had formulated innovative action plans, healthy lifestyle youth-related activity program and basic training program towards “IT” developments and computer literacy particularly among the youth. It also played an active and effective role in assisting the parent MCA body in resolving several important issues confronting the Chinese community. On the other hand, the Wanita MCA leadership led by Dato’ Ng Yen Yen had served to further educate the Malaysian public particularly among womenfolk on the roles of MCA and its “Wanita” wing. Other emphasis of the wing included issues affecting the women community and a long-term strategy to change the mindset of Malaysian women in order to participate in the mainstream of Government’s policy-making process.

An Extraordinary General Meeting of MCA on 24 June 2001 requisitioned in connection with the proposal to purchase of Nanyang Press Holding, authorised the board of directors of Huaren Holdings Sdn Bhd to implement the investment.

In Penang, Sdr Tan Cheng Liang standing by her principles abstained from voting in the state assembly.

In July 2001, the Government gave its approval in principle to MCA to establish Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR). MCA actively invited internationally renowned scholars and academicians including Professor Dr Wong Gung-Wu, many doctors and professors to join the “UTAR International Academic Advisory Committee” to provide advice, assistance on founding programmes.

On 16 June 2002, the first batch of about 500 UTAR students began classes at UTAR’s temporary premises located in Petaling class begins.

On 13 August 2002, Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Dr Mahathir Muhammad presided over the opening ceremony of UTAR of which classes began at the KTAR campus. This shows the government’s affirmation of UTAR.

The proposal to teaching of Mathematics and Science in the English language proved stressful. A Cabinet decision on 8 May 2002 was decided that commencing 2003, Maths and Science would be taught in English for secondary school students to improve their command of the English language to enhance their capacity to embrace Science and Technology.

The party Central Committee at a meeting decided to “oppose to the use of English to teach Science and Mathematics in Chinese primary schools” to reflect the wish of the Chinese community.

In a state by-election in 2001, PAS launched major attacks against the government and UMNO erroneously declaring that the government intended “to replace the status of the national language with English.” This resonated among the Malay community. UMNO Youth and the Federation of Peninsular Malay Students (GPMS) pushed this this rhetoric which had turned into a political issue further.

Parti Keadlian used this issue to inflame the Chinese and Malay communities of which some people began to argue irrationally.

In light that teaching Maths and Science in English received lukewarm response, MCA in adhering to the Chinese community’s wishes to retain the position of the Chinese language to teach Maths and Science in Chinese schools, took the initiative to contact the other four Chinese-based political parties to study strategies and achieve consensus in a consistent pace on adopting a proposed 2-4-3 programme.

While advocating the full implementation of using English to teach Maths and Science yet retaining the importance of using Chinese to teach Maths and Science in Chinese primary schools, MCA negotiated to teach two weekly English language lessons for the first year, increasing it to four weekly classes to teach Maths and three weekly classes to teach Science.

The BN Supreme Council meeting, after deliberating on the formula submitted by an MCA-led committee of four major Chinese-based political parties, resolved that Chinese primary schools could continue to use Chinese as the medium of instruction for Maths and Science. The BN formula also known as the 2-4-3 formula, was submitted to the Cabinet for approval at the meeting on 6 November 2002.

Therefore, the 2-4-3 was a win-win formula which also strengthened the Chinese primary school students’ proficiency in English.

A storm brewed in the Penang state assembly. On 21 November 2002, DAP tabled a motion in the Penang state assembly “to suspend Penang Outer Ring Road Project until after the completion of the Jelutong Expressway.” MCA’s Sdr Tan Cheng Liang and Sdr Lim Boo Chang acting on their conscience abstained from voting on the Penang Outer Ring Road issue. Their abstention sparked ripples among BN circles.

Although Penang civil society organisations including the “no Penang Outer Ring Road” group, 88 residents association, NGOs, all 30 clan praised and stood in solidarity with Cheng Liang and Boo Chang; however as individual members of BN, both of them had gone against the BN whip. UMNO, UMNO Youth were critical of Cheng Liang and Boo Chang in mainstream media subjecting MCA to heavy pressure.

Despite the heavy pressure, MCA stuck to our party’s autonomy and maintained that the “abstain” vote is a matter at the disposal of MCA. On 3 December 2002, the MCA President and Central Committee had decided that the party’s Disciplinary Board should investigate the incident. On 16 December 2002, the Central Committee accepted the Disciplinary Board’s findings and recommendation to suspend both their party membership indefinitely.

On 7 January 2003, the BN Supreme Council meeting discussed the matter. Speculation arose that the meeting would set off a heated debate, but no such incident arose which shows the smooth acceptance of the decision to “suspend” the duo.

On 10 July 2003, the new MCA President and the Presidential Council lifted the suspension and restored their party membership. On 13 September 2003, MCA proposed to the BN Supreme Council to restore the status of both these BN members.

The duo’s abstaining from voting reached a successful conclusion. This is an important page in MCA history. It showed that MCA adheres to a matter of principles and conscience and always upholding our autonomy as a political party.

More donations from the state government and developers piled in for UTAR campus located in Perak. Kampar has been selected as the permanent site for the UTAR campus. On 12 January 2003, Prime Minsiter Dato’ Seri Dr Mahathir Muhammad performed the foundation stone laying ceremony. As of May 2003, approximately RM 1 billion had been raised for UTAR’s construction funds.

Smooth leadership transition was completed. On 23 May 2003, party President Dato’ Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik and Deputy President Dato’ Lim ah Lek submitted their letter of resignation from all party posts to the Central Committee. After unsuccessfully persuading the two to withdraw their resignation, the Central Committee resumed their meeting in the evening chaired by Dato’ Dr Fong Chan Onn. The Central Committee unanimously resolved to accept their resignation and elected Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting and Dato’ Seri Chan Kong Choy to succeed as party President and Deputy President respectively.

In recognition of the endless contributions by Dato’ Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik towards the party and to the nation, the General Assembly bestowed his the title of “Honourable Life President of MCA” and many other honours.

Dr Ling had helmed MCA for 17 years. For his tireless efforts for the rakyat, the Central Committee had resolved to pay tribute to Dr Ling at the General Assembly. On 26 July 2003, a large-scale gathering of delegates numbering in the thousands was held at Dewan San Choon, Wisma MCA to pay tribute to Dr Ling’s contributions to for the party, community and nation. Leaders from Chinese guilds and associations expressed reluctance at Dr Ling’s departure. The new MCA President Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting led all party members in awarding the title of “Honourable Life President of MCA” to Dr Ling to honour his outstanding achievements.

The Wanita MCA Central Committee had the KTAR School Board also resolved to award Dr Ling the title of “Father of Wanita MCA Development” and “Father of KTAR Development.”

On 18 September 2010, in an unprecedented move, China’s Cabinet also hosted a farewell for Dr Ling’s retirement in recognition of his outstanding service and contribution to the government and nation in the last 17 years.

Dr Ling may have retired from all party and government positions. But his brilliant deeds as a politician will stay forever in history as a model for the younger generation to learn.

With the MCA transition process successfully completed by Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting, representatives from the Chinese community’s two major associations i.e. Federation of Chinese Associations of Malaysia and the Associated Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Malaysia also completed a leadership change. In the same year on 31 October, former premier Dato’ Seri Dr Mahathir Muhammad also retired. Former Deputy Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi took over as Prime Minister. These changes show the new New Deal of our country which initiates a new scene. With the turn of power and succession which was carried stably also indicate that MCA practises a sound democratic system which has a national political and democratic maturity.

The factional closing of ranks under the leadership of MCA President Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting and Deputy President Dato’ Seri Chan Kong Choy saw the reintegration of the party, restoration of MCA unity and concerted efforts to revive the party’s prestige. MCA enhanced our rapport and good relations with the Chinese community in addressing issues, and made greater contributions to national consensus.

On 13 June 2003, MCA President Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting chaired his first Central Committee meeting since taking office as party President.

In addition to appointing retire party President Dato’ Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik as Honorary Life President of MCA, in abiding with the Party Constitution, re-appointed the Secretary General, Treasurer General, State Chairman of the respective states, Bureau Chairmen.

On 24 June 2003, there was a minor Cabinet reshuffle where Dato’ Seri Chan Kong Choy was promoted to be Minister of Transport, a post vacated by Dato’ Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik.

Other Cabinet announcements were: Wanita MCA chairman Dato’ Dr Ng Yen Yen was appointed as Deputy Finance Minister and two Parliamentary Secretaries, Dato’ Fu Ah Kiow and Dato’ Ir Donald Lim Siang Chia were made Deputy Ministers. Party Central Committee members Sdr Ho Cheong Sing was appointed Parliamentary Secretary.

The minor cabinet reshuffle indicates that over and over again, Deputy Minister’s posts have been kept for MCA.

On 10 August 2003, at the 50th MCA Annual General Assembly, Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting as the new President deliver his first party keynote address, showing great vision of new New Deal which also marks the future direction of his leadership of MCA.

He pointed out the many new changes in the world, new trends and new challenges.

His far-sighted leadership for the party was required to lead and assist party members to understand the wonderful world outside. He pointed out that the party must continue to foster the concept of a globalised view, being able to deal with the international community and keeping abreast with the worldwide political and economic impacts of new trends and challenges.

He also promised that the spirit of tolerance, open-minded attitude “to hear a harsh word, may be able to unbearable words”, to deal with the contradictions within the party, to strengthen the organization and inject new blood, called on integration and group solidarity to attract more interest. He also expressed concerns and called for the development of Chinese education and showed commitment to ensuring that UTAR becomes a university which offers high-quality education which meets the national development needs of the country and making a positive contribution.

In the same year at the MCA main, MCA Youth and Wanita AGMs adopted a common agenda, i.e. setting limits on the party’s highest positions, namely, the term of office of the MCA President, Head of MCA Youth and Wanita national chairman to a maximum of three terms or 9 years.

The three bodies successfully approved the motion at the General Assembly. This will help ensure that future leaders continue the smooth transition in office.

In his keynote address at the AGM, Ka Ting announced the establishment of a central working group i.e. “Chinese Primary School Development Committee” to be appointed by the party President which would also include the President personally being responsible for implementing the total construction, relocation and development of Chinese primary schools to deal with the 99 additional approvals obtained so far before the next general elections and the Government’s commitment towards the implementation for the relocation of Chinese primary schools.

Through his strategy of internal consultation soon after taking office, he successfully obtained a short term government funding of RM 4 million ringgit for school allocation to construct multi-blocks and other related projects. This shows the courageous leadership of a new generation.

Ka Ting and representatives from the Chinese guilds and associations have always focused on group contact and communication, even though occupied with party and government affairs. MCA remains active with major corporations, including Chinese guilds and business associations, Dong Jiao Zong, etc.,

On 5 November 2003, MCA held a fresh round of dialogue with the Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (FeCAM) and the Associated of Chinese Chamber and Commerce and Industry Malaysia (ACCCIM) and a dozen other Chinese guilds and associations. The Chinese guilds held 10 national exchanges, while a very large rural villagte group representatives consisting of 7 Co-ordinating Committees were invited for the first time to participate. The dialogue decided to form three working committees to undertake work relating to community welfare and interests, promote Xinhua News Agency and Chinese education development priorities. The dialogue pledged support for the appointment of Dato’ Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi as the 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia and passed a vote of thanks on the recently retired former premier Dato’ Seri Dr Mahathir Muhammad’s enormous contributions to the nation.

On 20 December 2003, MCA held a mammoth “Chinese community to support you” dinner at Stadium Negara jointly with FeCAM, ACCCIM, 7 Major Clans and more than 10 other national Chinese associations to declare support for Dato’ Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi as the new Prime Minister. More than 20,000 people attended despite the bad weather. So deeply moved by the Prime Minister, the Chinese community will help to strengthen the good relations with the government.

Earlier this year, MCA and Gerakan representatives set up a “combined joint committee” to discuss party merger. In June, the top leaders of both parties attended the first meeting of the Joint Committee on the merger agenda.

On 18 December 2003, Kedah MCA and Gerakan hosted a joint dinner as a precursor for a possibility of an MCA-Gerakan merger to unite Chinese political power and concentration of services. This initial idea was mooted by Gerakan President Dato’ Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik.

Although the merger is only a concept, the ideal may not be achieved within the short term. However, the concept of access to the Chinese community resulted with heated discussion. The majority of Malaysian Chinese corporations recognize that consolidation is a good thing, even the Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional secretary-general agrees.

In view of the aging tendency of the age distribution of party members, the Central Committee decided to recruit young members into the party to cultivate a new generation of successors. On 11 January 2004, MCA President Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting launched for the first time, a campaign to recruit young members in order to infuse new blood to the party. He called upon the Chinese youths, especially the highly educated and keen to join MCA to combine the elders and youngsters to be active in politics. The membership campaign successfully recruited more than 2,500 young professionals between the ages of 18 to 30 years into the Party.

On 1 February 2004, MCA joined by the Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (FeCAM), the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Malaysia (ACCCIM), 7 Major Clans, dozens of Chinese guilds and associations hosted a “Thank you from the Chinese Community” for recently retired premier Dato’ Seri Dr Mahathir Muhammad to commemorate his great achievements and significant for the country and people. The farewell dinner was held at Mines Exhibition Centre.

In his tenure, Dr Mahathir launched the Look East policy, strove to achieve developed nation status by launching the Vision 2020, created the Multimedia Super Corridor, guided the country in transition, practised an international outlook, overcame many difficulties and led the country towards a new era.

On 3 February 2004, the Central Committee led by MCA President Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting for the first time, held a reception for party veterans to wish them a happy Chinese New Year. Among the party elders who attended were Tan Sri Lee San Choon, Tan Koon Swan, Dato’ Kam Woon Wah, Tan Sri Chong Hon Nyan, Tan Sri Lee Kim Sai, Datin Paduka Rosemary Chong, Dato’ Loh Fook Yen and Dato’ Dr Neo Yee Pan.

In his speech, Ka Ting said that “MCA’s achievements today are due to veterans who sacrificed the best years of their lives. … MCA is a mature political party which has a good foundation. This is because of your merit and contributions.”

The long-awaited11th GE finally arrived when Parliament was dissolved on 4 March 2004. The Election Commission announced nomination day on 13 March 2004 and polling day on 21 March 2004.

MCA Headquarters had worked very hard in preparation for the 11th GE. Since 3 May 2003, the Cadre Training Bureau organised a series of 12 training workshops with a special session on “strategic planning of election campaigns” through its Cadre training center located on the 12th floor, Wisma MCA. Election training and coordination support was also held for leading cadres of the different states in preparation for the GE which could be called at any time.

MCA HQ Chief Administrative Director, Dato’ Wong See Wah launched a central operations room before the commencement of the campaign period, with the states, the District operations room in close contact. Even before nomination was announced, the operations room was also in action gathering information, carrying out observations, dealing with any unexpected events, providing publicity materials and logistical support, and during the election campaign, held a routine news conference before the opposition propaganda made inappropriate remarks and distorting the facts through criticism. MCA HQ elections operations room had conveyed the right message to the public.

In view of the seat re-delineation for this GE, additional seats were allocated to MCA to contest. MCA increased our BN parliamentary seats to be contested from 35 seats to 40. MCA seats for the State Assembly to be contested climbed to 99 seats, up from 77. MCA secured an additional 18 seats more than the previous GE for both Parliamentary and State Assembly seats.

After intense election campaign, during the 21 March 2004 polls, BN scored the best margin of victory with a four-fifths majority, securing 90% of the 219 parliamentary seats contested. BN won 197 parliamentary seats, and 452 out of 504 state seats available.

In this GE, MCA candidates won 31 out of 40 parliamentary constituencies contested and 76 state seats out of 90 contested which is better compared to the previous 1999 GE results of 28 parliamentary electorates and 68 state seats. The figures for the 2004 GE are also the second highest number of seats secured by a BN component party.

As the largest ethnic-based BN component party, MCA was in direct confrontation with DAP in many constituencies which had a mainly ethnic Chinese majority. DAP by virtue of being in the Opposition has a connection with PAS is thus directly or indirectly helping PAS to enlarge their support base and establish a theocratic Islamic state which will implement Syariah-based criminal laws. This ultimate goal of PAS angered the Chinese community which resulted in the rejection of PAS in 2004 and 1999. After two consecutive general elections defeat, DAP still plays up Chinese sentiments in Parliament, attacking government policy to elicit sympathy from Chinese voters. Hence, MCA does encounter a certain degree of pressure.

However, apart from Penang and Federal Territory where MCA’s votes were slightly affected, MCA still contested in 40 parliamentary electorates winning 31 seats, and 90 states constituencies and gaining 76 state seats. This success rate of 82.31% at the 11th GE maintains the good results obtained at the 10th GE.

After BN’s brilliant outing at the 11th GE, Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Abdullah bin Ahmad Badawi announced the new Cabinet lineup on 27 July 2004. MCA was given the posts of 4 Cabinet Ministers, 8 Deputy Ministers (an increase by one post), 4 Parliamentary Secretaries (an increase by two posts), the highest number of government posts ever given to MCA in the party’s history. Of the 16 official representatives from MCA, 6 are new.

While there is an increase of one Deputy Minister and two Parliamentary Secretaries, it should be pointed out that MCA retained its 4 Cabinet Ministerial positions. At the Cabinet lineup after the 1999 GE, MCA saw an increase of 2 Cabinet Minsters, one Deputy Minister and one Parliamentary Secretary.

The MCA Cabinet lineup as nominated by party President Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting obtained the full acceptance of the Prime Minister.

MCA’s official representation at the federal government comprised experienced leaders from the main wing as well as leaders from Wanita MCA and MCA Youth. It was also composed of new faces which is evidence of the value and recognition of Wanita MCA’s and MCA Youth’s contribution to the party.

On 13 April 2004, the MCA Central Committee unanimously elected two new Vice Presidents i.e. Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek and Dato’ Fu Ah Kiow. Both replaced Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting and Dato’ Seri Chan Kong Choy who were previously elevated to be party President and Deputy President respectively.

Several new appointments were also made to the line-up of Party officials at the HQ and Adminsitration level in a minor MCA reshuffle approved by the Central Committee. MCA Terengganu state chairman Dato’ Lau Yin Pin was appointed Treasurer-General replacing Tan Sri William Chek lin Kwai who had retired. Other appointments are namely: Dato’ Hon Choon Kim (Deputy Secretary General), Dato’ Ir Donald Lim Siang Chai (Deputy Treasurer General), Sdr Yew Teong Look (Deputy National Organising Secretary). Three new appointments to the Central Committee were Lumut MP Dato’ Kong Cho Ha and MCA Deputy Youth Chairman Sdr Hoo Seong Chang and Malik Nawar State Assemblyman Dato’ Lee Chee Leong.

Under the presidency of Ka Ting, the vibrant Central Committee worked in co-operation and promoted a new political agenda which includes:

From 2000 to 2005, in addition to funding from the state and local governments, the federal government through the Ministry of Housing and Local Government allocated a total of RM326 million for New Village development.

Through his Ministry, i.e. the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, MCA President, Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting obtained an agreement with the Economy Planning Unit under the Prime Minister’s Department to allocate a special fund for the New Village Master Planning which includes infrastructure upgrading, optimising potential land usage, agriculture development and other potential development and planning in consultation with experts.

The New Village Master Plan proposes identifying the uniqueness of every New Village for their development at the same time preserving cultural heritage sites and conserving tourist attractions.

The New Village Master Plan will also recommend housing loans, infrastructure development and other government measures to be provided to the New Villagers.

On 4 January 2005, the Presidential Council announced the formation of CRSM seeing the devastation and hardship which had wrought the region after the tsunami struck on 26 December 2004. CRSM serves to mobilise teams immediately for disaster relief in times of emergencies and in areas hit by natural catastrophes or other forms of calamities. Parliamentary Secretary Sdr Chew Mei Fun was appointed to head the working committee. On 23 April 2005, CRSM was fully established and operational.

On 27 February 2005, the Party’s Election Steering Committee held a special briefing for all MCA Chairmen, Wanita Chairmen and Youth Chairmen Chairmen at State, Divisional and Branch level. The objective of the meeting was to explain to grassroot leaders on the rules and regulations of party election as well as the code of conduct of party members so that a democratic, transparent and fair election can be successfully conducted.

On 20 August 2005, the Annual General Assembly drew a record high 99.49% attendance rate compared to the previous AGM which demonstrates the mandate given to the Central Committee. Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting and Dato’ Seri Chan Kong Choy were elected as President and Deputy President respectively, Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai was elected as MCA Youth chairman while Dato’ Dr Ng Yen Yen was re-elected as the Wanita MCA chairman.

In his Presidential address given after he officially received his strong mandate from the central delegates, Ka Ting brought up an important principle for future reform plans, that is, to practise “clean” and “diligence” governance, and to create a healthy political culture for MCA. This principle is in line with the concept of “be honest and upright in conducting oneself, be clean and incorruptible in discharging one’s official duties, and be steadfast and dependable in dealing with matters” that he enunciated at the 56th party anniversary in 2005.

The new MCA leadership which was elected with a strong mandate from the central delegates during the party elections at the 52nd Meeting of the General Assembly. On 4 October 2005, the Presidential Council passed the General Guidelines for Public Office.

The General Guidelines for Public Office also sets limits to the length of the terms of office bearers at all levels i.e.

The term limitation allows helps institutionalise and facilitate the process of renewal of party leadership while allowing MCA members to contribute their full effort, creativity and dynamism within their term of 8 to 10 years when they are at their peak. At the end of their term of office, they will tehn move on to different roles, having passed the baton to other capable candidates with ideals and quality, giving the successors their full support and blessings so as to accelerate the renewal process. Only by doing so can MCA continue to operate at an optimal level.

MCA leaders who are recommended by the party to take up public office represent MCA in participating in the formulation and implementation of policies affecting Malaysia. They are the main navigators that leader MCA in moving forward. As such, Articles in the Code provide that MCA leaders have to set an example with their own conduct to practise the principle of having a healthy political culture. They have to possess certain fundamental qualities, such as incorruptibility and respect for the law, an upright and honest image, effectiveness, pragmatism, sense of responsibility , a close relationship with the people, and have the basic language skills to participate in policy discussions with all levels of government and the public. It is even more important for them to be selfless, putting the interests of the people and communities first, rather than being concerned about themselves.

MCA President Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting led MCA into a new era. In order to implement “diligent” and “clean” governance, the MCA 9-Point Party Platform was formulated which lays out the basis for the party’s future political directions and plans. It is the result of a consensus arrived at following collective and in-depth consultations. It takes into account the valuable opinions and suggestions provided by various representatives and members of the community to create a better future.

The MCA 9-Point Party Platform covers :

• A Healthy Political Culture
• Lifelong Learning Campaign
• Revitalising Education
• Chinese Language Education
• Economic Competitiveness
• Development and Promotion of Culture
• New Villages Development
• A Just and Caring Society
• Rakyat Malaysia

On 6 January 2006, the Central Committee unanimously adopted the MCA 9-Point Party Platform (9PPP) which puts into practice the long-term political direction of the party in the future.

The 9PPP covers a very broad spectrum. In order to ensure effective implementation of the 9PPP with specific ideas and action plans, two Coordination Committees were set up. The Deputy President presided over the coordination meetings to ensure that all plans and concerted efforts of the party were implemented progressively.

On 18 July 2006, the Central Committee announced funding for MCA Divisions and Branches to promote the 9PPP and effectively enhance the vitality and influence of MCA.

To ensure that the fundamental education of Chinese in Malaysia is safeguarded, MCA has tried its utmost best to help solve the problems of teaching Mathematics and Science in English for Chinese primary school pupils at Standards 4 to 6. Long negotiation were held with Dato’ Seri Hishamuddin bin Tun Hussein Onn, Minister of Education within the Barisan Nasional channel. As a result, the 6-2, 3-2 formula was adopted whereby Mathematics is taught in Mandarin for 6 periods and 2 periods in English. As for Science, it is taught 3 periods in Mandarin and 2 periods in English.

It is MCA’s position to look after the aspirations of the Chinese particularly while advocating mother-tongue education. If there are any differing views on government policy, both sides would seek a compromise to solve the problem. MCA will always hold that mother-tongue education is best suited for teaching Mathematics and Science in primary schools while continuing both subjects in English at the secondary level to enhance the competitiveness of both the community and nation.

On 22 January 2006, MCA President Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting conducted the official opening ceremony of the MCA School of Political Studies.

Other than advocating a mass political line and active recruitment of more members to enable the party to grow in strength, MCA cannot neglect the issues of the quality of its membership and upgrading of abilities of future party leaders. The MCA School of Political Studies aims to inculcate a healthy and appropriate politico-cultural mindset and to promote cadre training to enhance the quality and effectiveness of members and leaders at all levels.

Besides the cadre training courses specially arranged for party members, other courses are open to the public. The purpose of such courses is to keep participants informed on the latest position of the party so that they are able to better understand MCA. Participants are instilled with the values of humanity, professionalism, political awareness and etc.

On 9 June 2006, the MCA Central Committee meeting resolved, that 13 December 13 each year will be commemorated as “Tun Tan Cheng Lock Day” as a sign of respect of one of the nation’s founding fathers. A state funeral was accorded to the late Tun Sir Tan Cheng Lock when he passed away on 13 December 1960.

On 15 December 2006, MCA leaders together with other leaders of the Chinese Guilds and Associations who under the leadership of MCA President Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting held a “Commemoration Ceremony for the Late Tun Sir Tan Cheng Lock” at his resting place in Kampung Musai, Melaka. In his elegiac address, Ka Ting said that “the late Tun Tan should be called the ‘Political Father of Malaysian Chinese.’” This was because for without him, we would not have MCA today. Similarly, without Tun Tan, the Chinese in the country would have missed the opportunity of obtaining national independence and their Malaysian citizenship.

Cheng Lock’s memory will forever be etched in MCA for his tireless efforts in fighting for civil rights for the ethnic Chinese community coupled with efforts to promote racial harmony and national unity. He will always be remembered in Malaysian history for his sacrifices and contributions towards Malaya, in being part of the Alliance party which obtained independence from the British.

In 2006, following an announcement by MCA President Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting at the party’s 57thanniversary celebrations that MCA should go into full computerization in the next 3 years, the HQ immediately set up a committee to help realize this E-MCA aspiration. With help from MIRC, the HQ accomplished meeting the requirement of a computerized administration within a one-year period. The HQ also reviewed and upgraded the party’s website by displaying a new look. It is hoped that all MCA States and Divisions will emulate the HQ by adopting the same programme in E-MCA as the electronic contact system enables better rapport and connection with each other.

In order to effectively manage the allocation of funds to Divisions, MCA Headquarters launched a Budgetary Control System, and concurrently formed a Headquarters Management Committee headed by the Secretary General. The Committee members include the Treasurer-General, National Organising Secretary with the MCA HQ Chief Administrative Director being its Secretary. Thus, MCA HQ’s administration and financial budget are systematically managed.

To encourage more Chinese youths to join MCA and provide them an opportunity and a platform, Resolution 1.2 which was passed at the 53rd meeting of the General Assembly “welcomes all aspiring Malaysians from all ages to join MCA to co-operate with the party to strengthen the Chinese political power base in the country.”

MCA will also open an Under-35 category within MCA Youth to enable more support and creativity within the party with the hopes that this synergy will attract more youths to join MCA.

The Cabinet heeded MCA’s recommendation that staff promotions at public universities (IPTA) be based on merit and not race. This saw 4 non-Bumiputras appointed to the post of Deputy Vice Chancellor at Universiti Malaya, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Sains Malaysia.

On 13 February 2008, the Prime Minister announced the dissolution of Parliament to make way for the 12th General elections, and the Election Commission announced the date of nominations to be held on 24 February 2008 and the polling day to be held on 8 March 2008.

For this election, MCA had put forward 40 candidates to contest for Parliamentary seats, and another 90 candidates to contest for State seats.

The party leaders had hoped that they will receive the support of the people through the rendering of their services to the public in the political, economic, educational, cultural, social, and other fields such as the construction of more Chinese primary schools, the expansion, relocation, and redevelopment of those schools, the development of New Villages as well as for agriculture, helping to acquire legal land leases for Chinese farmers in Perak, and to fight for other issues which are of concern to the Chinese community. By placing advertisements in the newspaper, and on television channels, going on campaigns, and visiting households, it was hoped that the party’s message and contributions will be spread to the public, and that the people will once more put their trust in to the party. Unfortunately, MCA’s efforts were not able to resolve the growing dissatisfaction with Barisan Nasional.

This was partly due to the opposition parties which had pursued a populist propaganda. Pakatan Rakyat had preached the upholding of values such as justice and democracy while at the same time criticizing Barisan Nasional’s so called ‘race-politics’ in order to stir up the racial sentiments of the different ethnic groups through the use of technology such as mobile phones, SMS and the new media i.e. internet new portals and blogs, thus culminating in the political tsunami result of 308.

On the whole, the 12th general elections was the worst election record for the Barisan Nasional coalition. MCA had only gained 15 Parliamentary seats out of 40 and only 31 State seats out of the 90 contested, winning less than half the number of seats that it had won in the previous general elections. The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), which had contested in 9 Parliamentary seats, lost 2/3 of the seats, reducing them to only 3 Parliamentary seats. Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia fared even worse, ending up with only 2 Parliamentary seats from the original 7 which it had contested.

Relying on UMNO’s 78 Parliamentary seats and the seats obtained by Barisan Nasional’s Sabah and Sarawak component parties, the coalition managed to maintain its power and become the ruling government through a simple majority, but lost its crucial two-thirds majority in Parliament.

In the state legislatures, Barisan Nasional not only was unable to recover the state of Kelantan to the Islamic party of PAS since 1986, but it also lost its administration in the states of Kedah, Penang, Perak, and Selangor through the combination of seats won by the opposition parties of PKR, DAP, and PAS.

In the first three days after the results of the 12th general elections, MCA President Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting issued a public statement announcing that he will bear responsibility for the Party’s setback and that he will not hold any positions in the Cabinet. This decision was made based on the concept of accountability and responsibility, and also to reflect the spirit of the party President’s purpose which is not for political power or status.

Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting also stated that he will continue to fulfill the responsibility entrusted to him as MCA President to lead the party through its critical moments. He stressed that he will coordinate with all party leaders and members at all levels in order to conduct an in-depth and objective review of the general elections and the Party’s position and to make the appropriate adjustments to MCA in view of the new political situation so that the party may continue to play an effective role in politics.

On 18 March 2008, Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Abdullah Haji Ahmad Badawi announced his new Cabinet lined up. MCA, through President Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting had secured 4 Minister and 6 Deputy Minister positions, thus ensuring that the party will have sufficient representatives to continue voicing out the interests and rights of Malaysians in the Cabinet and Federal government. The Minister and Deputy Minister positions appointed are as follows:

MCA’s success in attaining four Minister and six Deputy Minister positions in important, strategic sectors despite suffering heavy losses in the general elections surprised many political observers. However, the party’s success in attaining those positions lies with the MCA President who had made a commitment to ensure that MCA is well represented in Cabinet through Barisan Nasional’s power-sharing tradition, adhering to the principle that MCA is a BN partner, and through discussions held with the Prime Minister.

After the 12th general elections, the Central Committee held two days of meeting and brainstorming sessions and seminars to discuss the future direction of the party. The meeting also appointed several leaders to formulate plans for the actions discussed.

On 26 April 2008, the Central Committee decided to adopt the theme of “Governing with the people, sharing among the races” as the party’s main direction, and had proposed Four Core-Values to be the new thrusts of the party. The Four Core-Values are:

• Democratic principles
• Rights of the people in accordance with the Federal Constitution
• People centric
• National aspiration

MCA will continue to abide by the principles advocated by the party’s founding fathers of “a party based on one race, the direction towards various races” to ensure that the rights of the Chinese community will always be upheld, and at the same time, to defend the Federal Constitution which ensures freedom, democracy, and human rights to all Malaysians regardless of race.

On 28 June 2008, the Party President issued a statement that he will not seek reelection in the coming party elections to be held in October. He also stress that after 3 months since the 308 political tsunami, MCA has already stabilized itself and is now working towards the transformation direction. Therefore, he would allow the party grassroots some time to accept the party’s change and so that the central delegates, by using their own judgment and wisdom, may elect the next Party President.

On 24 July 2008, MCA President Dato’ Sri Ong Ka Ting announced in the Central Committee meeting that MCA had cleared off all its debt with the bank on 18 April 2008. The President also then announced that the party is now ready to acquire back the 20.33% shares in Wisma MCA Sdn Bhd which the party was forced to sell off in the 1980’s due to the financial recession back then.

On 15 August 2008, the party President and the Treasurer General, Tan Sri Lau Yin Pin, signed a Sales and Purchase agreement worth RM27.6 million with representatives from Koperasi Jayadiri (KOJADI), thus realizing the party’s aim of owning 100% equity shares in Wisma MCA Sdn Bhd.

The MCA Central Committee had decided that the nomination day for the 2008 party elections was to be held on 13 October 2008, with 18 and 19 October 2008 to be the for the party elections and Annual General Assembly. Both the incumbent Party President and Deputy President, Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting and Dato’ Seri Chan Kong Choy had declared their intention to retire and not seek reelections.

On the evening of 18 October 2008, Datuk Ong Tee Keat and Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek were elected to be the President and Deputy President respectively. Out of 25 members of the committee, more than half of them elected were new faces.

The following is the list of the newly elected MCA Central Committee:

Datuk Ong Tee Keat

Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek

After the 308 political tsunami, MCA had, through democracy, elected a new leadership team. The Central Committee was reminded that reform was not only a slogan to be uttered, but it is the current mainstream of the Malaysian society. However, the road to reformation is not an immediate process, and MCA needs the full support of its members for it. Since the opposition parties have claimed 5 states as their own, thus the party needs to embrace different strategies in order to recover their losses in those states.

On 18 January 2009, Party President Dato’ Sri Ong Tee Keat had responded to an invitation extended by the People’s Republic of China by leading a delegation of 68 Chinese political leaders and businessmen to Beijing. During the visit, both sides exchanged views and experiences on business opportunities and political administrations.

The delegation met with the leadership of the Chinese authorities, including Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and member of Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China, Mr. Jia Qinglin, Mr Wang Jiarui, Vice-Minister Liu Hongcai, Minister of Transport Li Shenglin, and various leaders from the Ministry of Railways, the Civil Aviation Administration, COFCO, the Ministry of Commerce, and the National Tourism Administration. Among the fruitful results of the mission were:

• China’s top universities were invited to establish campuses in Malaysia to come
• Al-Bukhary Foundation pledged to provide 50 full scholarships for Chinese students living in poverty to study various disciplines at approved universities in Malaysia were made
• China’s resumption of rice exports to Malaysia. Both sides also explored the development of agricultural products, palm oil
• Develop the halal food market in China
• New AirAsia direct routes to Tianjin, Xi’an and Chengdu
• Liberalization of the aviation sector
• Invited Chinese companies to invest in seaport expansion and development in Tanjung Pelepas and Johor port as well as developing Senai airport as an aviation hub
• Proposed that Bank of China in Malaysia offer low interest loans and micro-credit facilities to small and medium enterprises in Malaysia
• Ties with the Ministry of Health on medicines and medical equipment

On 3 January 2010, MCA Secretary-General cum Deputy President of the Dewan Negara Dato’ Wong Foon Meng, along with MCA members of Parliament and Senators, met for two hours with a delegation from Taiwan, led by Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Taiwan, Mr Tsing Yon-Chun.

On 28 February 2009, the MCA President and Central Committee members played host to a delegation led by the Chairman of Kuomintang, Mr Wu Poh-hsiung. The two parties had engaged in an hour long discussion and exchanging of views.

On 25 March 2009, the MCA President and members of the Central Committee played host to a delegation from the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party of China at MCA Headquarters.

In light of the political tsunami of 2008, MCA President Dato Sri’ Ong Tee Keat had proposed the Three Thrusts for MCA’s Transformation during the Party’s 60th Anniversary. Party members were urged to join in promoting the three thrust for change.

To reform and improve the quality of public transportation. President Dato’ Sri Ong Tee Keat, as Transport Minister, had led a radical reformation of the public transport system. The four major reforms headed by him are:

1. Enhancing public transportation through the use of information technology and monitoring systems, such as using satellite navigation systems (GPS) to track buses, the implementation of the Kuala Lumpur Urban Intergrated Traffic Information System (ITIS) using close circuit television, and the implementation of customer service centre and call centre management systems.
2. Simplifying procedures such as ensuring those who have received summons will be able to pay up
3. The establishment of a special law enforcement team to avoid overlaps and confusion in job jurisdictions.
4. To enhance compliance of the law by increasing the number of law enforcement officers as well as to provide training for public transport drivers.

MCA through the HOPE Foundation has helped many students to further their education to a higher level. Help was given in the forms of subsidies to qualified students, regardless of race, and has helped 1200 poor students to further their studies to private universities in Malaysia.

A vocational training network called TRAIN was set up with the full support of MCA President Dato’ Sri Ong Tee Keat. TRAIN is meant to provide vocational training to all students regardless of race, as a means for them to master living skills. About 1500 students to date have benefited from this project, and about 10,000 education coupons worth RM50 million have also been given to students who have showed interested.

The Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Chinese Language is one of 32 courses offered by UTAR, and is recognized by the Public Service Department, thus allowing students to be admitted into the civil service.

The Ministry of Transportation had appointed internationally renowned accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) to set up a special task force to investigate the misuse and mismanagement of public funds in the PKFZ. The results of the investigation, which revealed the involvement of fraud, were made public and reports with the police and the MACC were lodged.

In January, Dato’ Sri Ong Tee Keat in his capacity as Transport Minister, announced that all government departments are not allowed to issue support letters to any who are bidding for government contracts. The Whistleblower Act was also introduced to encouraged people to report any misusage of public funds.

Due to the fact that the e-kesihatan programme was too costly, thus burdening 700,000 taxi drivers nationwide as well as creating a problem of monopoly, the Ministry of Transportation decided to end the programme on 14 October 2008. Besides that, the PUSPAKOM contract with the government which was originally for 15 years, thus allowing the monopolizing of the market, was reviewed to 5 years, after which the contract will be awarded based on open tender.

On 22 April 2009, the Cabinet announced the abolishment of the 30% Bumiputera equity for 27 service sub-sectors as part of the process of liberalizing the economy. The process also involves the liberalization of the economic sector as well as the abolishment of the 30% Bumiputra equity for all listed companies in Bursa Malaysia.

MCA had recommended that allocations for SJKC schools be given directly to the Board of Directors of SJKCs, and the recommendation had been accepted by the government. Also, the government had allocated RM 95 million for the construction of 20 new SJKCs.

In early 2009, shortly after becoming Prime Minister, Dato’ Sri Najib Razak introduced the 1 Malaysia concept. This concept was synonymous to the racial harmony concept as espoused by MCA, as well as the ideology of MCA’s founder, Tun Tan Cheng Lock, who said that “One of the main objectives for the establishment of MCA is to work together with the Malays and other races to help Malaya become One People, One Nation, One Government.”
MCA lends a helping hand to Metro Tabernacle Church
When the Assembly of God Metro Tabernacle Church located in Desa Melawati was torched on 8 Janury 2010, MCA was among the first to condemn this act and had resolutely defended the right to freedom of religion as enshrined in the Constitution. MCA President Dato’ Sri Ong Tee Keat had also offered the services of San Choon Hall for free for church members to perform their Sunday worship.

On 26 August 2009, the MCA Presidential Council had deliberated and accepted the proposal by the MCA Disciplinary Board, and had expelled Deputy President Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek from the party with immediate effect on grounds of breaching the party’s Code of Conduct for MCA members.

On 27 August 2009, supporters of Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek had petitioned an Extraordinary General Meeting to hold a vote of no confidence against Party President Dato’ Sri Ong Tee Keat.

On 11 September 2009, the Party Secretary-General received a joint requisition stating that 921 members of the Central Delegates, which totals to at least one-third of the delegates, had already requisitioned in writing for an EGM to be held on the following resolutions:

1. That the members of the General Assembly have no confidence in the leadership of the current President of MCA, Dato’ Sri Ong Tee Keat.
2. That the decision of the Presidential Council on 26 August 2009 (accepting the recommendation of the Disciplinary Board) and the subsequent decision of the Central Committee (if any) to expel or suspend Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek from membership of the MCA is hereby annulled.
3. That following from the passage of Resolution (2) above, that Sdr Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek be rightfully restored to the position of Deputy President of the MCA.
4. That if by the time this EGM is called, any appointment that has been made by the Central Committee in accordance with the Constitution of the MCA of Any Party Officials mentioned in Article 20 of the Constitution of the MCA including that of the Deputy President of MCA, that the said appointment(s) be and is hereby revoked.
5. That if by the time the EGM is called, any disciplinary action is taken against any or all the requisitionist by any member of the MCA or by the Disciplinary Board, the Central Committee of the Presidential Council or if any sentence has been meted out against any one or more of the requisitionists, that the General Assembly do hereby resolve:
1. that any and all such disciplinary action be dismissed;
2. that any sentence that has been meted out be annulled;
3. that any complaint or disciplinary action be considered and treated as dismissed.

After negotiations by both sides, the Secretary-General resolved to convene the EGM on 10 October 2009 at the San Choon Hall, Wisma MCA. On the day of the EGM, the Speaker, Dato’ Yik Phooi Hong, said that both parties had written in to substantiate that as Resolution 4 and 5 did not happen, the two said Resolutions will be withdrawn and that the delegates will cast their votes for the first three resolutions.

1) That the members of the General Assembly have no confidence in the leadership of the current President of MCA, Dato’ Sri Ong Tee Keat.

Adopt : 1155 votes
Reject : 1141 votes
Spoilt  : 8 votes
Total   : 2304 votes

2) That the decision of the Presidential Council on 26 August 2009 (accepting the recommendation of the Disciplinary Board) and the subsequent decision of the Central Committee (if any) to expel or suspend Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek from membership of the MCA is hereby annulled.

Adopt : 1240 votes
Reject : 1095 votes
Spoilt  : 5 votes
Total   : 2304 votes

3) That following from the passage of Resolution (2) above, that Sdr Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek be rightfully restored to the position of Deputy President of the MCA.

Adopt : 1110 votes
Reject : 1184 votes
Spoilt  : 10 votes
Total   : 2304 votes

On 15 October 2009, in view of the controversy that emerged from the EGM, MCA President Dato’ Sri Ong Tee Keat had directed the Secretary-General at the Central Committee meeting to conduct another EGM in accordance to Article 30.1 of the Party Constitution to vote on the following motion:

• That the current Central Committee be dissolved to seek new party election; or
• To endorse the Central Party leadership of President Dato’ Sri Ong Tee Keat.

The Central Committee at that meeting also appointed Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai as the new Deputy President in accordance with Article 174 and Article 23 of the Party Constitution.

On 3 November 2009, at the 8th Central Committee meeting, the President announced that he had received a letter from the Registrar of Societies which stated that the results of the EGM on 10 October 2009 did not fulfill Article 35 of the Party Constitution which stated that at least two-thirds of the central delegates votes was needed to dismiss an elected post, thus affirming that the post of Deputy President was never vacant, therefore affirming that Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek still held the Deputy President post. The Central Committee also adopted the views and opinions which were provided by the Registrar of Societies.

The President also pointed out that when he had first appointed the Central Committee appointments the previous year he had stated that all appointments were only for a year and that all appointments will be subjected for review. As such, that was the reason why the President had appointed Dato’ Donald Lim Siang Chai, Dato’ Tan Chin Meng, and Sdr Chua Tee Yong to replace Dato’ Wira Chor Chee Heung, Sdr Yoo Wei How, Sdr Gan Hong Su, and Dato’ Chai Kim Sen whose positions had been reshuffled. He also announced that the post of National Organizing Secretary, previously held by Sdr Yoo Wei How, will be filled soon. The President also appointed Sdr Lim Hong Sang to succeed Datuk Leong Tang Chong as Chairman of the MCA Legal Bureau and Senator Heng Seai Kie as Chairman of the Information and Communication Bureau, succeeding Sdr Lee Wei Kiat. The President also tabled the “Greater Unity Plan for MCA” at the Central Committee meeting where it was endorsed by 27 of the Committee members.

On 22 October 2009, in order to quell the party’s internal problems, MCA President Dato’ Sri Ong Tee Keat, together with Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek, Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai, Dato’ Sri Kong Cho Ha, Dato’ Sri Dr Ng Yen Yen, Dato’ Wong Foon Meng, Senator Heng Seai Kie, and other members of the Central Committee, held a press conference in MCA Headquarters to announce the Greater Unity Plan.

Under the Greater Unity Plan, Deputy President Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek will return to the committee without any conditions imposed on him. The President also announced that the Greater Unity Plan had been endorsed by the Prime Minister, and that he will ask Secretary-General Dato’ Wong Foon Meng to review the legality of the 1128 EGM.

Dato’ Sri Ong Tee Keat also stressed that now is the time to forgive and forget, and that all factions should put aside any disagreements and work together for the party’s future so that Party leaders will be able to focus more on the strengthening the Party and win back the confidence of the Chinese community in MCA.

On 15 November 2009, MCA had a dialogue session with the party’s grassroot leaders at the San Choon Hall. The dialogue was well attended with 625 leaders, or more than 80% of the division leaders present at the session.

Deputy President Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek chaired the dialogue which discussed five main agendas:

• funding for divisional activities, given that the party has sufficient resources for this;
• whether the resolutions for the 1128 EGM are in line with the Party Constitution;
• direct elections for the post of President and Central Committee (CC) members, and the model to be used if the proposal is accepted;
• how to achieve the Greater Unity Plan and and to stabilize the Party;
• preparations for the next general elections.

During the dialogue, party leaders and grassroot leaders analyzed, exchanged views, and gave in-depth commentaries about a number of issues.

The MCA Integrity Restoring Task Force was led by MCA Vice-President Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai and 13 other highly respectable Party members. The purpose of the taskforce was to defend the Party’s integrity by holding fresh elections in order to solve the confusion of the EGM held on 10 October 2009. The taskforce requested that an EGM be held by quoting Article 30.2 in the Party Constitution which stated that the consent of at least one-third of the Central Committee (13 members) was needed. However, on 18 November 2009 Central Committee rejected the EGM with a vote of 23 to 10.

On 3 January 2010, MCA President Dato’ Sri Ong Tee Keat announced the establishment of the Datuk Sim Mow Yu UTAR Chinese Studies Scholarship Fund, in memory of Datuk Sim Mow Yu, who had selflessly contributed to the improvement of Chinese education and the community.

The President had also pointed out that UTAR’s Chinese Studies Course is recognized by the Public Service Department, thus enabling students to pursue their career in the civil service. He also added that the party had donated RM 1million to start the Fund.

Dato’ Sri Ong Tee Keat and Party Secretary-General Dato’ Wong Foon Meng, accompanied by Datuk Gan Tian Loo, had paid a visit to the former residence of the late Datuk Sim to meet his family and to seek their consent on the establishment of the Fund before making the announcement.

Besides that, the President also pointed out that one of the halls in MCA Headquarters will be named after the late educationist in honor of his contributions and so that the party can continue the his efforts.

Datuk Sim Mow Yu’s daughter, Sim Kay Hong was at the ceremony to represent the family.

On 4 March 2010, Deputy president Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek submitted his resignation letter along with 7 others from the party’s Central Committee. Adding this number together with the earlier resignations of 13 other Central Committee members, the total number of resignations was brought to 21, thus paving the way for fresh elections.

The Central Committee consists of 25 elected members, a Party President, a Deputy President, and 4 Vice-Presidents, bringing the total number of committee members to 31. Therefore, to facilitate a fresh party election, a minimum of 21 members, or at least two-thirds of the committee, must resigned.

As per the Party Constitution, Section 41 states that if at least two-thirds of the Central Committee resigns, a fresh party election must be held within a months’ time. Accordingly, on 5 March 2010, the remaining members of the Central Committee appointed Secretary-General Dato’ Wong Foon Meng as coordinator of the fresh party elections for a new Central Committee. Subsequently, he announced that fresh elections will be held on 28 March 2010 at the San Choon Hall, MCA Headquarters.

On 28 March 2010, the day of the fresh elections, a total of 101 representatives had submitted their nomination papers. The attendance rate of the Central Delegates was 97.52%, a total of 2318 delegates.

The vote counting process was done in a transparent manner, meaning that the process was done in the hall under the full supervision of the Central Delegates and candidates. In addition to that, the procedure can also be viewed live on a television placed outside the hall for public viewing.

The results of the election showed that the delegates had chosen Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek and Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai to be the Party President and Deputy President respectively.

Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek

Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai

Dato’ Sri Dr Ng Yen Yen
Senator Dato’ Donald Lim Siang Chai
Dato’ Wira Chor Chee Heung
Senator Gan Ping Sieu

Dato’ Lee Chee Leong
Dato’ Dr Hou Kok Chung
Senator Heng Seai Kie
Datuk Wee Jeck Seng
Sdr. Toh Chin Yaw
Datuk Gan Tian Loo
Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Chuan
Sdr. Lee Wei Kiat
Sdr. Loh Seng Kok
Dato’ Hoh Khai Mun
Dato’ Liew Yuen Keong
Sdri. Tan Cheng Liang
Dato’ Koh Nai Kwong
Sdr Dr Por Choo Chor
Sdr. Tan Ken Ten
Datuk Paul Kong Sing Chu
Dato’ Chong Itt Chew
Sdr. Yoo Wei How
Sdri Tan Ah Eng
Sdr Wong Koon Mun
Dato’ Ti Lian Ker
Dato’ Teh Kim Poo
Sdr Chuah Poh Khiang

On 4 June 2010, Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak carried out a minor Cabinet reshuffle. Through the President’s efforts, MCA successfully obtained two important portfolios i.e. Deputy Minister of Agriculture & Agro-based Industry and also the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs. By the said reshuffle, MCA has altogether 4 full Ministers and 7 Deputy Ministers as follows:

On 20 June 2010, in preparation for the 13th General Elections, party President Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek summarised the 8-Point Action Plan as follows:

1. Voter registration: MCA Headquarters revealed that about 15% of party members have not registered as voters. Therefore, the HQ will provide assistance to hire people and provide a voter list, while Divisions are tasked with tracking down and providing help for these members who qualify to register as voters.
2. Reaching out to youth voters: New Villages face an aging population where approximately 30% of new village voters are youths who work outside the constituency. The youths might not understand the real situation of their own constituency; they can be easily incited and vote based on emotions. The Headquarters will ask party members at branch level to collect names and contact numbers of their relatives and friends who work outside the constituency, in order to enhance interaction and communication with these youth voters, so that they are always in touch with MCA. Central leaders will be assigned to interact with these young voters.
3. Enhancing new media warfare: MCA Divisions must pay attention to publicity, especially through online media. Divisions will need to train more on new media warfare expertise, in order to conduct new media warfare with the use of blogs, Facebook or Twitter.
4. MCA leaders’ online media propaganda: All MCA state members must set up a personal website, in order to refute the false allegations of the Opposition, expose the malpractices of Pakatan Rakyat at the same time to promote the BN agenda.
5. Strengthening publicity in mainstream media: MCA central to Divisions will have to know the importance of publicity through mainstream media. MCA publicity in the mainstream media has a lot of problems, leading voters to hold a negative impression of MCA.
6. Emphasis on democracy, freedom and fairness: MCA members should change i.e. not only looking after drainage but must be aware that people want to see fair and democratic policies, such as equal opportunities in education policies.
7. Taking a political stand: MCA must take a political stand on every important policy. It should be issue centric and not ethnocentric. MCA leaders should request a dialogue with the the respective state BN Chief and let the Chinese community know about MCA’s contribution.
8. Make good use of party resources so that Divisions have adequate resources to undertake activities: To ensure that party assets are safeguarded, an asset management firm will be appointed to manage party assets professionally. They are requested to submit a report to the Presidential Council 3 times per year.

MCA held its 57th Annual General Meeting on the 10 October 2010. This was the first time the AGM was held after the internal party disputes and the 328 party re-elections. It was also a profound significance as Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak, in his capacity as the Prime Minister and Chairman of Barisan Nasional, had launched the opening ceremony for the first time.

MCA President Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek had urged all members of the party to remain united in his speech during the General Assembly. He said that if we are not united within the party, it will be difficult to obtain the support of non-party members and the public. He also reminded MCA members that if BN continues to win in the next election but still fails to rally the support of the Chinese, then MCA will have a tough time ahead in politics, rendering us in MCA ineffective in politics.

To welcome the challenges from the new media, especially in dealing with attacks from politically inspired news, MCA took the opportunity during the Annual General Assembly to launch our new official website and facebook account with the Prime Minister launching them at the opening ceremony. Besides that, the party President also formally introduced his facebook account.

Immediately after Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek took over as MCA President, he had to face his first steep challenge imposed by the Hulu Selangor Parliamentary by-election on 25 April 2010.

In comparison with 308 where 35% of the Chinese gave their support to BN, a pre-by-election survey suggested that Chinese constituents favouring BN had slump to 14%. Additionally, MCA was drawn to participate in this by-election immediately after the party had ended its inter-party disputes which had lasted a year. However, after the by-election result was announced, Chinese support for BN grew to 28%. Considering the two factors above, the 28% figure can be seen as a relatively satisfactory result given the circumstances. Thus, Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek had managed to overcome the first challenge.

On 4 November 2010, the by-elections for the Kelantan state seat of Galas and the Sabah Parliamentary seat of Batu Sapi were held. Barisan Nasional had managed to hold a crucial victory in retaining the Chinese votes from these two by-elections, winning by a majority of 1,190 and 6,359 votes respectively. This was followed by the Tenang state seat by-election in Johor on the 30 January 2011, the Merlimau state seat by-election in Melaka and the Kerdau state seat by-election in Pahang which were held simultaneously on 6 March 2010. In all of these, MCA proved to be the victor with excellent results as the Chinese votes favouring BN were high. This success reflects that after half a year of regrouping and revamping political strategies, MCA’s new leadership had applied the correct political strategies and a pragmatic style of leadership and has begun to gain back the support and trust of the Chinese community.

Given MCA President Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek’s high profile political style, he spoke without fear on 5 December 2010 at the 3rd BN Convention, saying that there should not be any ‘big brother’ or ‘small brother’ scenario within the coalition. Instead, all members should be partners of equal footing. Therefore, MCA believes that any important national policy should not be announced during any UMNO Annual General Assembly or at any UMNO Supreme Council Meetings, because these two bodies are not equivalent to the Cabinet. He also reiterated that BN leaders should stop using sensitive words such as ‘ketuanan Melayu’, ‘penumpang’ and ‘pendatang’. His outspoken remarks later received criticism from UMNO, including UMNO Vice President Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein. However, the President stood firm on the party’s position, insisting that he said what needed to be said.

On 28 September 2010, MCA President Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek announced that the party would be setting up a 1MCA Medical Foundation to cater to all Malaysians of all races who require medical attention and treatment but do not have medical insurance nor can ill-afford the high expenses incurred when seeking treatment and recovery from private hospitals.

On 14 October 2010, four month old Ang Tien Teck, who suffers from ventricular septal defect (VSD) or hole-in-the-heart, became the first recipient of the Foundation, when the President announced that MCA will pay the shortfall of the hospital bills for the patient. The President had read about the patient’s condition in the newspapers and had visited Ang at the Gleneagles Intan Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur.

On 6 December 2010, MCA President Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek announced that the government has formally accepted MCA’s proposal to allow all students who have completed their SPM with credits in Bahasa Malaysia and 3 other subjects (including Chinese language), can apply to enter teacher training colleges. This is the first major breakthrough in education for Chinese Independent schools in 30 years. The first batch of students, who had completed their UEC exams and have applied to go to teacher training colleges can undergo the courses in 2011.

The special committee responsible for managing the party’s assets in a professional way made its first report to the MCA Presidential Council and the MCA Central Committee in December 2010. This was also MCA’s first ever asset report. This special committee has to report to the MCA Presidential Council and the Central Committee twice a year to brief the members. President Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek had also made an honorable promise to assign all assets to be managed professionally so that the party’s assets are safeguarded and optimised while ensuring democracy and transparency.

Since our nation’s independence, one fact that cannot be denied is that the number of our Chinese primary schools has decreased over the years. This was because our nation’s Chinese population distribution has increased dramatically in the city and town areas, causing a lack of enrolment in Chinese primary schools in the outskirts. The BN government has never purposely closed down any Chinese schools. All schools that were shut down automatically were done so due to a lack of students. For any Chinese, Malay, Tamil or sekolah agama rakyat (SAR), all of them are bound by law to shut down automatically when there are severe lacking in enrolled students. Opposition parties and Chinese rights groups often used such opportunities to fabricate allegations against the BN government.

The BN government places great emphasis on Chinese pupils’ rights to mother tongue education. Through MCA’s efforts, the government announced that any Chinese primary school whether abundant or minimal in number of students will not be shut down automatically. MCA has also actively assisted them in by relocating the Chinese primary schools from the outskirts to denser populated areas. From 1999 to 2011, the Government has successfully constructed 15 new schools and relocated 76 of them. During that timeframe from 2008 to 2011, MCA collaborated with the United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia (UCSCAM or Dong Zong) and the Parents Teachers Association (PIBG), to obtain a RM95 million allocation from the government for school building committees to proceed with the construction of 7 new Chinese primary schools and the relocation of 13 Chinese primary schools. The Government has also approved on the proposal to reserve certain lands for the establishment of new Chinese primary schools to meet the increasing demand for Chinese primary schools.

Under Anwar’s leadership as Minister of Education, the total number of Chinese primary schools was only 1,281. Through years of relentless effort by MCA, Chinese primary schools numbers have stopped decreasing and have risen to 1,291 schools.

On 27 February 2011, MCA successfully set up the 1 Malaysia Community Alliance Foundation (1MCA) mobile community service. In a short duration of 3 months, the service expanded to a number of sttes, reaching Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Johor and Terengganu. Through this fleet of mobile service vehicles, MCA achieved its goal to build a bridge of understanding and communication with the people and to lighten their burdens. The mobile outreach vehicles provided aid and services in free health screening, free legal consultation, welfare aid applications, SME loans, citizenship application for locals without proper documentation despite having being born and bred in Malaysia all their lives and foreign spouses and other government assistance.

On 22 February 2011, 2,201 (93.18%) out of 2,362 central delegates requisitioned for an EGM to amend the party Constitution to allow postponement of party polls to prepare for the General Elections.

On 13 March 2011 MCA convened the EGM whereby 1,894, or 80.19% of the 2,362 central delegates had registered their attendance to vote on the amendment. During balloting time, a total of 1,827 (99.07%) out of 1,844 central delegates present at the assembly voted for the amendment of the party Constitution to defer the party polls in light of the upcoming General Elections. The initial March party polls were deferred to no more than 6 months after the conclusion of the General Elections. On that day of the EGM, 50 were not present during voting.

Article 167 of the party Constitution was amended so that the Central Committee may postpone the elections of the Party at all levels to a date not later than six (6) months (prior to the initial three (3) months) after the conclusion of the General Elections for the country. The Central Committee shall not make such decision for postponement until thirty-six (36) months (prior to the initial forty-two (42) months) after the last General Elections unless the Government calls for a snap General Elections.

The President commended the delegates for giving MCA the greatest and most precious gift of all, which is their love and respect for the party. He applauded the delegates for treating the party’s best interests as their priority to prepare the party for the upcoming General Elections.

On 28 April 2011, in the hometown of the party’s first President Tun Sir Tan Cheng Lock i.e. Malacca, MCA made a shocking and controversial political decision, that is, if MCA’s performance in the next GE proves worse than the previous one in 2008, MCA will not accept any appointment of posts from the federal government to the local government. MCA will also withdraw all our members from the Cabinet. Through this decision, a total of 11,000 leaders in MCA will be affected as MCA will decline all executive administration. MCA’s decision proved that the party has the upmost respect for democracy and the Chinese’s wishes as voters. By entirely thrusting our fate to the voters, MCA adheres to their principle of democracy and people’s power which forms the backbone of our nation. It is safe to say that never in Malaysian history, a party once made such a bold decision with tremendous impacts on themselves.

On 3 August 2011, MCA announced that Malaysians can now undergo vocational training at six Taiwanese universities thanks to MCA’s initiative via the Malaysia-Taiwan Skills Programme. Through this effort of MCA, students can now undergo vocational training courses in Taiwan and will graduate with certification from the Taiwan universities. The courses coordinated by the MCA Vocational Education Development Committee are free of charge as tuition fees are born by the Taiwanese government. The programme is estimated to save up to RM20,000 in a bid to lighten students’ burdens. Enrolment for the first batch of students dispatched was open to 300 seats. Only citizens aged below 40 years and who have completed 5 years of secondary education are eligible to apply.

In September 2011, MCA launched an RM30 million ‘1MCA Education Loan Scheme’, which is open to the public regardless of their race in aid of students with financial difficulties. The first five years for the loan is interest free and the programme is designed to provide loans to 250 students each year for higher education purposes. Although MCA already has the Koperasi Serbaguna Malaysia Berhad study loan scheme, the scheme is only open to its members. However this new loan scheme is entirely open to all students in Malaysia, which enables poorer students in Malaysia to apply for loans without interest for the first 5 years.

In September 2011, PAS stirred up controversy with its re-introduction of Hudud law. MCA stated that our party’s objection remains firm on this matter. This led to protests from PAS. On the other hand, after PAS insisted on the implementation of the Hudud law, DAP verbally voiced out its disapprovals but did not take any real, practical action. DAP did not dare oppose PAS by threatening to leave Pakatan Rakyat and failed to stop PAS from implementing these theocratic laws in Kedah and Kelantan.

In November 2011, MCA and the government achieved six consensus on (SMJKs), including: setting up of an additional special fund; building more schools; conducting at least 5 Chinese language lessons per week; automatic promotion of principals to DG52; follow up on teacher shortage problems; follow-up on Chinese language as a compulsory subject for SPM. Also among them, the Seremban branch of SMJK Chan Wa and Penang’s SMJK Jit Sin 2 school were allowed to operate as national type secondary schools or SMJKs with their own board, school principal and administration, thereby increasing the number of SMJKs from 78 to 80 since our nation’s Independence.

In January 2012, MCA announced the establishment of the 1MCA Micro Credit Loan Scheme for Youth. The scheme is applicable for all Malaysians of between 21-40 years of age regardless of their race. The maximum amount of the loan applicable from the scheme is RM 20, 000 and the annual interest rate is only 7.0%. The tenure of the micro credit is from 3 to maximum 5 years. The scheme is set up to encourage the younger generation to venture into entrepreneurship, business start-ups and for them to expand their business dealings.

The 1MCA Micro Credit Loan Scheme for Youth charges 7.0% flat interest per annum with fixed monthly repayment while other loan interests on the market amount to 11% or 12%. Through this scheme, MCA not only wishes to provide micro-credit loans but also to supply successful applicants with training courses teaching entrepreneurship concepts, must-know information on bank loans, tax planning and certain legal knowledge. Successful applicants will form a network of friends where they can share information and to increase the productivity of their business. The 1MCA Micro Credit Loan Scheme for Youths is a joint effort by Koperasi Jayadiri Malaysia Berhad (KOJADI) and Koperasi Serbaguna Malaysia (KSM), both of which are co-operatives under MCA, whereby KOJADI will be handling the micro-credit scheme

MCA Central Committee had at its meeting held on 26 April 2012 resolved to purchase a Group Accidental Insurance policy for all our party members so as to provide them with the Insurance protection on the terms and conditions as follows:-

1. The family of any party member whose death is caused by an accident be paid a total sum assured of Ten Thousand Ringgit (RM10,000.00) only together with a bereavement benefit of Four Thousand Ringgit (RM4,000.00) per insured.
2. Any member whose death is not caused by an accident shall only be paid a bereavement benefit of RM4,000.00 only.
3. A claim payment of RM5,000.00 shall be paid to any member who suffers partial disability.

The premiums of the said insurance shall be borne by the MCA Headquarters and the party members shall enjoy the coverage free of charge.

MCA has been to understand that we are the first political party in Malaysia to offer members with the said group insurance scheme covering accidental and natural death as well as permanent disability. MCA has a long tradition of looking after our members. This is one of MCA’s ways to thank party members for their services and contributions.

In June 2012, through MCA’s effort, the Ministry of Higher Education upgraded the status of a Chinese-medium college i.e. Southern College located in Johor to university college status.

On 27 June 2012, Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak announced at Tunku Abdul Rahman College (TARC) main campus that with immediate effect, the Public Service Department will give retrospective recognition to 74 diploma and advanced diploma courses offered by the college since 1998. This means that some 100,000 TARC graduates can now use their qualifications to work in the public sector and are eligible to apply for further studies at public universities.

On 3rd April 2013, Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Abdul Razak announced the dissolution of Parliament to make way for the 13th General Election. The Election Commission fixed the nomination day on 20th April 2013, while the polling day was set on 5th May 2013. 37 MCA leaders contested for Parliamentary seats and 90 for State seats. In spite of our great efforts, the Party was defeated by the Opposition which had incited the rakyat’s hatred by raising all sorts of issues and even making sweet but empty promises. Consequently, the voters, especially the Chinese voters, had one-sidedly voted for the Pakatan Rakyat candidates. MCA won only 7 Parliamentary seats and 11 State seats.

MCA and BN had put forward our election political programme. The first aspect which MCA emphasised on was that BN under the leadership of Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak had begun initiating political transformation programmes, namely the Economic Transformation Programme and the Government Transformation Programme. This series of transformations had clear objectives and directions underway and had made remarkable achievements: At the political level, a number of outdated federal legislations which were considered inconsistent with the spirit of democracy were repealed; At the economic level, the Prime Minister successfully led the country to maintain steady and strong growth momentum for successive years.

The second aspect was that MCA revealed our transformation reforms and directions as opposed to Pakatan’s ie the consequences that would arise if they seized power, their Prime Minister candidate remained unknown, even before the election was announced, the contents of their manifesto was populist-laced, full implementation of Pakatan’s manifesto would lead to national bankruptcy. In addition, PAS stressed that they would never give up their goal to establish a theocratic state and implement hudud law which includes limb amputation once the Opposition wrests office. They would amend the Federal Constitution, change the entire system in the states and Malaysia would be on the path to theocracy with the point of no return.

Even before election was announced or campaigning began, Pakatan made full use of the online media to expand their campaign, especially via social media to continue spreading rumours, doing anything possible to discredit and slander BN, including deploying a variety of fabrication, falsification and distortion of information, images, photographs, videos, text messages and other media to disparage our electoral system. This caused voters to really think that Malaysia’s election is not clean, is unfair and undemocratic. These rumours were later exposed to fraud. In addition, the tripartitie Pakatan Rakyat, especially DAP during their “Ini Kalilah” call for a "regime change" misled voters in particular, the Chinese voters to assume that the federal government would fall. DAP’s election gimmick and Chinese media caused voters, primarily Chinese voters to assume that their votes could really change the federal government. DAP's campaign strategy combined the Chinese community’s long-term accumulation of discontent. DAP succeeded in setting the Chinese community off on an anti-BN tsunami, which overwhelmed MCA and other BN parties.

MCA suffered a historic setback at this election again, securing only seven parliamentary seats and 11 state seats, even fewer than the number of seats won in the last election. BN again could not recoup its 2/3 parliamentary majority but recovered Kedah. Unfortunately, Selangor, Penang and Kelantan remains under Pakatan rule. Chinese voters in this election, with the anti-BN sentiments, balloted overwhelmingly (almost 90%) for the Opposition. Hence, this election became known as the "Chinese tsunami." While MCA and other BN parties suffered poor performance on the Peninsular, BN parties in East Malaysia under UMNO and other Bumiputera-based parties there won a majority of seats, and hence BN still continues to retain power, leading to the formation of a two-race political system of "Bumiputeras in government, Chinese in the Opposition."

Even though MCA had faced its most serious defeat since its inception, on 11th May 2013, the Presidential Council had resolved that the resolution “to decline all government posts, if the party performs worse in the next General Elections” shall be implemented. Nonetheless, the Party shall stay with Barisan Nasional and continue its unaccomplished political mission.

During its first meeting after the General Election, the Presidential Council set up formed a committee Special Task Force led by the Deputy President Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai, which is responsible for conducting a comprehensive study and proposing recommendations regarding the future of the Party.

A total of 14 Central Committee members comprising Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai, Datuk Dr. Wee Ka Siong and Dato’ Yu Chok Tow had jointly submitted a signed letter to the Secretary-General Dato’ Seri Kong Cho Ha on 9thSeptember 2013, to request that an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) be held for the Central Delegates to discuss the reversal of the decision to suspend the membership of former National Organising Secretary Datuk Tee Siew Kiong, which had contravened the Party’s resolution in 2011 to decline all government posts.

In the Presidential Council meeting held on 10th September, 2013, the request was put aside temporarily due to certain issues pertaining to the Party Constitution as well as technical problems, which required further clarification from lawyers.

On 30th September, 2013, another 20 MCA Central Committee members, including Datuk Edward Khoo Keok Hai, Dato’ Ei Kim Hock and Datuk Tan Chin Meng, jointly signed and submitted a petition to MCA Secretary-General Dato’ Seri Kong Cho Ha requesting the latter to call for an EGM under Article Clause 31 of the Party Constitution to allow the Central delegates to vote on four resolutions, namely:

1. That the Deputy President Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai be censured on the following grounds:
1. Refusal to accept and respect the collective decision of the Presidential Council and Central Committee in which he participated, example in disciplinary cases, etc;
2. For failing in his duty as Chairman of the General Election Preparation Committee to carry out all necessary preparations, implementing an effective strategy and good media relations hence causing and contributing to the massive losses faced by MCA in the May 5 General Election. The actions of Liow resulted in the image of the party being tarnished and provoked infighting in the party after the general election.
2. To revoke the party resolution passed at the AGM’s of 2011 and 2012, in order to enable MCA members to accept ministerial, deputy ministerial or any other Cabinet positions.
3. That party members shall accept appointments as Senators or any other positions in the government, for example as Hospital Visitors Board members, and in government-linked companies.
4. That party members shall accept appointments at the state level: state excos, councilors, community heads, Hospital Visitors Board members, or other state government positions as deemed essential for the party.

The Central Committee Meeting held on 3rd October had decided that the Extraordinary General Meeting be held at 10am on 20th October 2013 at San Choon Hall for the Central Delegates to vote.

The attendance rate at the Extraordinary General Meeting was 92.2%, with 2,199 Central Delegates present. Upon completion of the vote counting process, Speaker Datuk Yik Phooi Hoong announced the following results:

1st Resolution: Agree: 965 votes; Disagree: 1,190 votes; Spoilt votes: 34
2nd Resolution: Agree: 1,080 votes; Disagree: 1,090 votes; Spoilt votes: 18
3rd Resolution: Agree: 1,666 votes; Disagree: 513 votes; Spoilt votes: 10
4th Resolution: Agree: 1,709 votes; Disagree: 472 votes; Spoilt votes: 7

Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai was elected the 10th President of MCA ushering a new era to the party. In the 2013 party elections, a total of 72 candidates contested to be members of the MCA Central Committee. Party elections were held during the AGM on 21 December 2016. Five hours after voting and vote tabulation ended, the official results were released in the evening at 6:45p.m.

Liow was elected President, Datuk DR Wee Ka Siong elected as Deputy President. Candidates who were voted in to hold post of Vice Presidents were Dato’ Lee Chee Leong, Dato’ Dr Hou Kok Chung, Datuk Chua Tee Yong and Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun. As the national chairman of MCA Youth and Wanita MCA wield the rank of Vice President, Chong Sin Woon was elected to be the new MCA Youth chairman and Datuk Heng Seai Kie as the new Chairman for Wanita MCA.

The complete list of victors in the 2013 party elections are as follows:

Y.B. Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai

Y.B. Datuk Dr. Wee Ka Siong

Y.Bhg. Dato’ Lee Chee Leong
Y.Bhg. Dato’ Dr. Hou Kok Chung
Y.B. Datuk Chua Tee Yong
Y.B. Senator Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun
Sdr. Chong Sin Woon
Y.Bhg. Datuk Heng Seai Kie

Y.B. Dato’ Dr. Mah Hang Soon
Y.B. Datuk Koh Nai Kwong
Y.Bhg. Dato’ Toh Chin Yaw
Y.Bhg. Dato’ Lua Choon Hann
Sdr. Teoh Sew Hock
Y.Bhg. Datuk Gan Tian Loo
Dr. Chin Tung Leong
Y.Bhg. Datuk Dr. Lee Hong Tee
Y.Bhg. Datuk Paul Kong Sing Chu
Y.Bhg. Dato’ Boey Chin Gan
Sdri. Ooi Siew Kim
Y.Bhg. Dato’ Sri Lim Chin Fui
Sdr. Tan Cher Puk
Sdr. Ooi Eyan Hian
Y.Bhg. Dato’ Hoh Khai Mun
Y.Bhg. Dato’ Ei Kim Hock
Sdr. Tan Teik Cheng
Sdr. Ng Chok Sin
Y.Bhg. Dato’ Tan Chin Meng
Y.Bhg. Dato’ Ti Lian Ker
Dr. Por Choo Chor

In the 5 May 2013 General Election, MCA suffered the worst record for the party. As a result, the Presidential Council (PC) had convened an emergency meeting on 11 May 2014 and had decided to appoint Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai to head a Special Task Force to evaluate and make recommendations for MCA’s direction and improvement.

The Task Force (later renamed as the Party Transformation Committee) had promptly formulated a working plan and timetable to complete “MCA’s transformation” within 3 months. Measures undertaken to complete the task, among others, collected written reports from all State Liaison Committees, Divisions and candidates, road shows in all the States to establish links with local leaders, on-line opinion polls, dialogues with professionals, researchers, organizations and paid visits to the Communist Party of China, the Kuomintang and the Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan, as well as invited party representatives and academicians from China, Taiwan and Singapore to attend forums and seminars for leaders of all levels. A Brainstorming session for CC members was also conducted.

The preliminary report was tabled to the CC on 5 September 2013 for it to be tabled and passed in the AGM held in December 2013.

After being elected as party President in mid December 2013, Liow immediately drew up a comprehensive Transformation Plan. From 16 to 18 January 2014, the new leadership conducted a 3-day brainstorming session at Genting Highlands wherein the participating leaders from MCA, MCA Youth and Wanita MCA held a comprehensive discussion and in-depth soul-searching on the Party’s Transformation Plan. Many recommendations and suggestions were tabled and debated.

The recommendations sourced from the brainstorming camp was presented to the PC on 21 January 2014 for further discussion, which subsequently outlined the terms of reference, schedule, and the respective Key Performance Index (KPI) for leaders responsible to implement the transformation.

The President hopes that members who are responsible may complete the respective assignments allocated, to help complete the transformation of our party within 3 years, reorganise the party organizational problems, and build unity in order to form a strong and efficient general election team to face the next general election.

To enable grassroots leaders to understand the overall actions taken to ensure smoothness of the Transformation Plan, MCA Headquarters published the ‘MCA Transformation Action Guidelines’.

The Guidelines outline 11 directions of the Transformation work, and lists all the work and actions to be taken, in order to help party members understand the implementation of the transformation. In addition, the Guidelines also outline the scope of duties and the party responsible, by providing KPIs for all quarters to be able to complete the work within the stipulated time.

The 11 directions for the party’s transformation are:

1. Cleansing the membership list, Party election reform
2. General Election: Candidate Selection Mechanism
3. Setting up a permanent GE War Room
4. Reorganisation and study of Party History
5. Cadre Training Reform
6. GE Mechanism Training
7. Opinion polls
8. Youth outreach
9. Party volunteer
10. Publicity Reform including Cyber-War
11. MCA’s Role in the Government and BN Reform

The Guidelines outline 11 directions of the Transformation work, and lists all the work and actions to be taken, in order to help party members understand the implementation of the transformation. In addition, the Guidelines also outline the scope of duties and the party responsible, by providing KPIs for all quarters to be able to complete the work within the stipulated time.

This transformation mission needs to be adapted according to the environment and time, and the party’s CC must make the appropriate adjustments according to demand from time to time. Accordingly, the content of the Guideline will be updated without affecting the transformation framework.

The CC had organised briefings in the whole country from April to May to obtain feedback from party members and leaders of local Chinese guilds and associations.

On 12 February 2014, the MCA Secretary General received a requisition signed by 1,936 (81.3%) central delegates led by 3 requisitionists ie Dato’ Dr. Mah Hang Soon, Sdr. Chia Song Cheng and Sdr. Ng Chok Sin to call for an EGM to debate and pass a resolution for “to accept ALL government posts at ALL levels.”

The CC meeting on 13 February 2014 resolved to hold the EGM concurrently with the Party Anniversary celebration on 23 February 2014. Invoking Article 31 of the Party Constitution, the President directed the Secretary-General to issue a notice for an EGM where it fulfilled the requirement of a short notice of not less than 7 days.

The EGM was held on 23 February 2014 at Dewan San Choon, attended by 1,982 central delegates or 83.28% of the entire 2,380 central delegates.

The General Assembly had voted via a show of hands, the said resolution was passed with an over-whelming majority, where only 5 opposed and 4 abstained.

PKR’s Kajang assemblyman Lee Chin Cheh resigned on 28 January 2014 to pave way for PKR’s de facto leader Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim to be the Selangor Menteri Besar (MB). Despite recommendations from certain quarters that an UMNO candidate be fielded, MCA stood our ground firmly that we should contest. On 16 February 2014, our Kajang by-election machinery was officially launched by President Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai.

On 21 February 2014, the party conducted a survey to obtain public opinion to determine the right candidate. This is a big step for the party in its transformation process, and the results revealed Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun as having the highest support. With this, she was announced as the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate by Deputy Prime Minister cum BN Deputy Chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

MCA organised a 2-day-1-night ‘Kajang By Election Brainstorming Session’ on 24 and 25 February 2014 at Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, and on 9 March 2014, our Hulu Langat Division also hosted their 65th anniversary reception which was attended by many members and local leaders. All who attended vowed to give full support to our candidate to win the by-election, and also to implement transformation programmes in the future.

On nomination day on 11 March 2014, Anwar was unable to contest due to a court case and was replaced by his wife Datin Seri Dr. Wan Azizah as Pakatan’s candidate.

Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun was subjected to all sorts of slander, humiliation and other unethical campaign tactics throughout the by-election. DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang also threatened to cause the BN candidate to lose her deposit. Eventually, even though we lost by 5,379 votes, PKR’s vote majority decreased compared to the majority it obtained in GE13. Chinese votes had also increased from 18% to 25%. Showing true sportsmanship, Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun congratulated Datin Seri Dr. Wan Azizah and thanked the electorate who supported BN after the results were announced.

The Bukit Gelugor Parliamentary seat fell vacant following the death of its Member of Parliament cum DAP Chairman Karpal Singh in a road accident on 17 April 2014. Nomination date was set on 12 May 2014 and polling date was fixed for 25 May 2014.

Our Presidential Council had on 10 May 2014 called for an emergency meeting in Ipoh. After taking into consideration the grassroots’ and rakyat’s view, the then socio-political scenario and the constitutional crisis triggered by PAS, MCA had discussed with BN, and announced its decision to not contest. This decision was made as MCA opined that it is more important for us to uphold the supremacy of the Federal Constitution which wants to implement Hudud law in Kelantan state.

Secretary General Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Chuan immediately departed for Penang after the said meeting to convey the Presidential Council’s decision to the Penang State Liaison Committee. After listening to the explanation from the Secretary General, MCA Penang resolved to fully support the PC’s decision.

The Penang State Liaison Committee opined that, the insistence of PAS to implement Hudud law is the biggest challenge since the formation of Malaysia and has created worries among the public. PAS’ action contravenes the Federal Constitution and threatens the nation’s secular system, besides creating the problem of two sets of criminal legislations which will jeopardise future generations. Therefore MCA, as one of the founders of our Federal Constitution, must be at the forefront to ensure national stability and harmony be maintained.

On 1 May 2014, DAP’s Teluk Intan Member of Parliament Seah Leong Peng passed away due to cancer. The Election Commission announced nomination was set on 19 May 2014 while the polling date was fixed for 31 May 2014. BN’s candidate was Gerakan President Dato’ Mah Siew Kiong while DAP’s candidate was Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud.

MCA gave full support to the BN candidate in the spirit of BN teamwork where CC and state members went all out to campaign for the BN candidate in all aspects. MCA Deputy President Datuk Dr. Wee Ka Siong had strategized to win back the support of the 5,000-odd MCA members at all polling districts.

In the end, BN successfully recaptured Teluk Intan with Dato’ Mah Siew Kiong obtaining 20,157 votes to defeat DAP candidate Dyana Sofya’s 19,919 votes, by a majority of 238 votes.

The 3 Chinese areas under our party’s care all showed marked improvement for BN, with Pasir Bedamar recording 35% as compared to 20% previously, Batu 12 Utara receiving 52% against 29% previously and Jalan Anson increased by as much as 44%. This proves that BN had used the correct strategy as Teluk Intan residents require a local resident to solve their problems. BN’s victory shows the collaborative effort between BN parties successfully won the confidence of the voters

On 8 March 2014, MAS flight MH370 suddenly went missing. When this news was known, Dato’ Yu Chok Tow, Chief of Staff, Presidential Office rushed to KLIA at once to obtain the latest information. The Crisis Relief Squad of MCA (CRSM) also dispatched to KLIA in preparation to render aid. President Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai also accompanied the Prime Minister to KLIA for the first press conference.

CRSM set up a Secretariat to provide assistance to the victims’ families besides coordinating matters relating to media, counselling and translation. CRSM also recruited volunteers from the whole country to help out. On 10 March 2014, BN’s candidate for the Kajang by-election, Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun was also present at KLIA to offer support to the volunteers. On 28 March 2014, she was appointed as a Special Envoy to look after family members from China. On 30 March 2014, she assigned 48 CRSM members to assist 29 family members of the victims who arrived from China. From 31 March to 1 April 2014, she also accompanied Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin in leading a delegation to China

In the midst of the Kajang campaign, MCA on 19 March 2014 organised a Prayer session for MH370 whereby leaders from various religious groups were invited, to pray together. On 6 April 2014, MCA together with the Malaysian Buddhist Association, Fo Guang Shan, Buddha’s Light International Association of Malaysia, Malaysian Youth Buddhist Association, Buddhist Maha Vihara, Vajrayana Buddhist Council, the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism and other Buddhist associations had also organised a mass prayer session at Wisma MCA which was attended by 4,000 people from across the nation.

On 17 July 2014, MAS commercial flight MH17 bound for Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam was suspected to be shot down by a high energy object and crashed at eastern Ukraine near the Russian border, killing all 298 passengers and crew on board. The Malaysian government responded immediately to seek information and confirmation. Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai, who was away on official duties in Beijing, China had rushed back at once in the early hours of 18 July 2014.

On the following day, Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak contacted United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and made known our 3 unequivocal demands, that is: all quarters involved ensure the safety of the operations members on the mission, the said quarters are not to tamper with the evidences, and for the culprits to be brought to justice if the results of the investigations confirm the plane was shot down.

Upon arrival at KLIA at 8:00am on 18 July 2014, Tan Sri Liow was briefed by the relevant units and immediately started to coordinate search efforts. At noon, he met up with and offered his condolences to family members of the victims, and in the evening, he held an international press conference to deliver subsequent information. At night, he received more briefings from all relevant units. On 19 July 2014, the MCA President followed up with the coordination and accompanied the Prime Minister to meet victims’ families once again. At midnight that day, he departed for Ukraine to coordinate search works. In the evening of 20 July 2014, the MCA President met the Malaysian Ambassador in Ukraine, and at night, he had a meeting with the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister. On 21 July 2014, he chaired the Special Investigation team meeting and successfully secured permission to enable 3 experts from our country to enter the crash site to conduct investigations.

In the morning of 22 July 2014, Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak announced that the Malaysian government had reached an agreement with the pro-Russian separatist leader Alexander Borodai, whereby all the MH17 victims’ bodies found would be repatriated to the Netherlands, the two MH17 black boxes would be handed over to the custody of the investigation team, and an international investigation team would be granted permission and a safe passage into the crash site. This was a major diplomatic breakthrough for the Malaysian government. In the morning of 23 July 2015, Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai met up with the Dutch Prime Minister to coordinate receiving and arrangements for the victims’ remains.

On the 24 July 2014, Tan Sri Liow represented the Malaysian government, to attend a ceremony to receive the remains at the Eindhoven Air Base, the Netherlands. At the meantime, 39 Malaysian DVI (Disaster Victims Identification) experts were assigned to the Hilversum military medical centre, the Netherlands to assist in identifying the first batch of remains from the MH17 airlines. All the experts from the Malaysian government consist of members of the Royal Malaysian Police, Malaysian Armed Forces, Ministry of Health and the Department of Chemistry. They are forensic experts and leading medical professionals in Malaysia.

Although the MCA Preisdent completed his mission in Ukraine and the Netherlands on 25 July 2014, he continues all efforts in coordinating follow up works on the MH17 and MH370 tragedies.

With the smooth transfer of the remains to the Netherlands, now the process is to label, identify and conduct a post mortem on the remains. The Ministry of Transport helmed by the MCA President will continue to function as the government Secretariat for the MH17 tragedy and will be responsible for handling information delivery and follow up works. The Cabinet also formed several committees led by the respective Ministers to carry out preparation for the National Day of Mourning, the reception of the victims’ remains, handling family members’ matters, prayer sessions and others.

The Cabinet appointed Deputy President Datuk Dr. Wee Ka Siong with the responsibility of handling the remains of non-Muslim victims. With his new appointment, the Deputy President flew to the Netherlands to coordinate the related matters. On 22 August 2014, the first batch of 20 remains safely returned to Malaysia, and the government declared that day as a National Day of Mourning. The entire nation held a moment of silence for the victims while the military conducted the reception ceremony for the victims. On the same day, the MCA Headquarters also held a mourning ceremony which was attended by more than 1,000 party members and the public.

On 9 September 2014, the investigation team led by the Dutch Safety Board released a preliminary report, confirming the MH17 aircraft suffered structural destruction after being penetrated by high-energy objects from outside the aircraft. The plane was also declared to be in good flying condition. The President on the same day issued a statement urging the international community to identify the culprits to bring them to justice.

PAS created a havoc, especially among the non-Muslims, when it announced in early April that it would table a Private Member’s Bill in June to seek approval for the implementation of Hudud law, in Kelantan. MCA stated our position to object against the implementation of Hudud law. On 17 April 2014, MCA together with 3 other BN component parties, namely Gerakan, SUPP and LDP held a joint press conference, and released a joint statement to voice our position of opposing PAS’ intended move which disregards the background of our nation which consisted of multi-ethnicities, does not heed the Federal Constitution and cannot be accepted.

On 10 May 2014, Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai also announced the setting up of “Uphold Federal Constitution Committee” headed by Deputy President Datuk Dr. Wee Ka Siong. The Committee sought to mobilise people to object against PAS’ goal of implementing Hudud law. At the meantime, the MCA Central Committee, the MCA Special Task Forces and related Bureaus, including MCA Youth and Wanita MCA, and all State Liaison Committees had organised various seminars, courses and petitions to voice our objection against the implementation of Hudud law, and raise awareness among the rakyat on the effects of Hudud’s implementation.

In preparation for the launching of the ‘Stronger Together’ campaign, MCA on 17 April 2014 organised a “Stronger Together” workshop where all CC members from MCA, Youth and Wanita wings were divided into 6 groups to deliberate on the Party’s transformation programmes namely in politics, economy, culture, education, youth and women, for the short, medium and long-term.

The ‘Stronger Together’ campaign was launched on 3 May 2014 at Tunku Abdul Rahman University College hall, attended by 4,000 participants wearing red shirts with the theme ‘Stronger Together’.

The campaign was launched by the Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib bin Tun Razak. In his speech, he praised the Chinese as being enterprising, innovative and willing to work hard and contribute towards national development to achieve success.

In his speech, MCA President Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai explained the ‘Stronger Together’ campaign covered 3 dimensions, namely party unity, unity of the Chinese community and unity of the rakyat. A united MCA would be strong and progressive, capable of planning a clear future for the Chinese community. When the Chinese’s aspirations and hopes are accepted and supported by the government, the community would be able to work together with other communities more effectively and contribute towards a united Malaysia.

On 25 June 2014, the Prime Minister announced Cabinet reshuffle. Through the MCA President’s effort, our party successfully requested for 2 Ministers’ and 3 Deputy Ministers’ posts. This is an achievement after MCA made the decision to not enter Cabinet after GE13. This is our re-entry into the Cabinet, having resolved to decline all government posts after the GE13. The Prime Minister stressed the importance of MCA’s re-entry into the BN government which shows the continuation of BN’s power sharing practices.

The MCA President stressed that MCA rejoining the Cabinet is a huge responsibility to the Chinese community. MCA is also aware that the future is filled challenges. We understand the people’s hopes in MCA, and although the number of MCA posts in the Cabinet is different from before, we always believe that we will perform our duties properly.

The positions held by MCA leaders after the Cabinet reshuffle are as follows:

MCA President Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai led an MCA delegation for a working visit to China from 17 to 20 July 2014. Unfortunately, the MH17 tragedy in Ukraine struck on the night of their arrival. As Transport Minister, he made the decision to return to Malaysia to manage the said tragedy. Therefore, Secretary-General Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Chuan and Vice-President Dato’ Dr. Hou Kok Chung, took over the helm of the delegation in China.

In the 3-day working visit, the MCA delegates paid a courtesy call on the Minister of International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC), leaders of schools of political studies, activities centre and others.

The main result of the visit was the signing of a Memoranda on Exchange and Cooperation between by MCA Secretary General Dato' Seri Ong Ka Chuan and the Deputy Minister of the International Department of the CPC, Mr. Chen Fengxiang, and witnessed by MCA Vice President Dato' Dr. Hou Kok Chung and Minister of International Department of the CPC, Mr. Wang Jiarui.

Mr. Wang Jiarui said that since diplomatic relations were established 40 years ago, MCA and the Chinese community in Malaysia have assisted in the rapid development of bilateral ties. He believes that MCA rejoining the Cabinet would enable the party to contribute more towards the Chinese community. He also pointed out that, not many MoUs were signed despite the CPC having ties with more than 600 political parties in more than 160 countries. This proves the friendly relations between CPC and MCA.

Secretary-General Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Chuan said, MCA values our friendship with CPC, and expressed his hopes that, with the signing of the MoU, the two parties would be able to work together more closely in the future. The said MoU is based on the principle of equality and mutual respect.

Both parties had reached four understandings as below:

1. To maintain close, high-level contact, enhance exchanges of experience in running Party and government affai
2. To strengthen personnel exchanges at various levels, and through information sharing, exchange political ideals as well as experience in Party-building and deepen understanding of each other’s Party and country, so as to promote common development
3. To cooperate on the training of party officials to improve the ability and competence of officials of both parties.
4. To encourage think-tanks, media and other organisations from both Parties to carry out friendly exchanges, so as to consolidate the public opinion on the good relations between both countries.

During the 61st party Annual General Assembly (AGM) on 12 October, Liow launched the MCA policy framework of “1Malaysia Innovation Field” which has since been renamed as “Harnessing Diversity Programme.”

The ‘Harnessing Diversity Programme’ will showcase how the Malaysian Chinese community works with other ethnic groups through its economic advantage and cultures, and further promotes PM Najib’s 1Malaysia’ concept as the international competitive advantage. The definition of ‘Harnessing Diversity Programme’ in a multicultural Malaysia is to enhance our international competitiveness, to eliminate the possible existence of extremists in the country.

Under the MCA’s policy framework of “Harnessing Diversity Programme, Malaysia will be able to make uses of its diversity advantage, as well as groom citizens with international competitive advantage, as to enter the international market, and gain control of the in current trend of international politics and economy, and realising Malaysia’s aspiration of becoming a high-income nation.

The party thinks that Malaysia is one of the few countries in the world that gathers all four Chinese, Indian, Nusantara and Islamic civilisations. Additionally, we also possess modern Western civilisation as our country has rich colonial history, as well as the relatively rich experiences and high English language level of the people. The purpose of ‘Harnessing Diversity Programme’ is to build Malaysia as a ‘multicultural ground’ like no other, gathering Chinese, Indian, Islamic, Nusantara and Western civilisations. Using 1Malaysia’s concept as the basis, Malaysia will take the diversity and moderate direction to new heights, enabling co-operation among the different ethnic groups.

Under the “Harnessing Diversity Programme,” the country’s economy should focus on encouraging cooperation between SMEs and Government-Linked-Companies (GLCs) in the international arena especially China, India, the Middle East and Indonesia. One strategy of the “Harnessing Diversity Programme”is to help Chinese SMEs to venture abroad. Chinese SMEs must cooperate with Bumiputera enterprises, in particular, with GLCs.

To achieve these objectives, the MCA President’s proposed “Harnessing Diversity Programme” has put forward three specific initiatives:

Plan I: Establishing Koperasi Jayadiri or Kojadi development fund to inject RM200 million of funds with the objectives of extending loan facility to cash-constraint SMEs, as well as launch a SME’s Finance Loan Scheme operated by the Chinese and Malays.

Plan II: Establishing a GLC-linked 1Malaysia-China Corporation, GLC company and SME to enter the China’s markets for the greater benefits of the people.

Plan III: Constructing Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman Hospital for teaching, medical research and development, for traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine while providing medical services.

The worst flood in 40 years occurred in December 2014 and affected a vast areas in Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang and displaced tens of thousands of victims. We immediately mobilised our CRSM volunteers for the relief works and also established the ‘East Coast Relief Fund’ on 23 December to collect donations in cash and kind. By 29th, an ‘East Coast Flood Relief Operations Centre’ was set up to monitor and co-ordinate the collection of supplies and donations, logistics, supports and distribution round the clock. During the disaster, the fund had collected over RM5 million comprising almost RM2 million in cash and over RM3 million in kind. Over 1,200 volunteers were helping out.

Besides, MCA also recruited volunteers through CRSM, MCA youth, Youth wing of Chinese associations and so on to help in the cleaning up and rebuilding works in the aftermath of the disaster, including the activation of ‘Home cleaning’ project involving central and state leaders, CRSM at state and division levels, volunteers as well as party members at the disaster area. Subsequently, we activated the ‘Back to school’ project and collected uniforms, stationaries and other items for students to resume their studies.

Our CRSM had purchased and distributed over 10,000 uniforms to the affected schools and allocated RM330,000 to 15 SJKCs, 2 SMJKs and the Chung Hwa Independent School in Kelantan for their rebuilding works. CRSM also allocated RM100,000 for 6 Chinese primary schools in Pahang for repair, purchase of new furniture and other necessities.

We also brought the flood issue into the Cabinet for discussion and to find ways to assist the victims and formulate a long-term flood mitigation policy. Later, in the Budget 2015 interim evaluation, the government announced a RM893 million allocation for flood mitigation and a further RM800 million to rebuild basic infrastructures at disaster areas.

Hudud issues were again becoming national hot topic when the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code Enactment 1993 (Amended 2015) was unanimously passed in the state legislative assembly on 19 March.

As the state assemblymen voted for the amendment also included UMNO representatives, controversy erupted among BN component parties and MCA called in main office bearers of all divisions to headquarters for an emergency briefing on 21 March 2015 on the latest development on hudud and MCA central leadership and ministers’ stand and strategies within BN as well as Cabinet.

MCA subsequently had a meeting with the main Chinese associations on 24 March to deliberate on the hudud issue and to reaffirm our unequivocal stand in opposing hudud and defending the secular and democratic Constitution. A joint declaration was made at the end of the meeting as below:

1. MCA and Chinese associations jointly undertook to strongly defend Malaysia’s secular democratic system and the Federal Constitution, the pillars of our nation’s foundation.
2. MCA and Chinese associations both agreed that the implementation of hudud would eventually erode the diverse social system and result in injustice.
3. MCA and Chinese associations both agreed that the laws must be fair and protect the rights of all races, in line with the spirit of ‘everybody is equal in front of the law’.
4. MCA and Chinese associations fully support moderate governance by the Prime Minister.
5. Chinese associations fully support MCA’s opposition to hudud, which went against the Constitution.

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim was convicted of sodomy and given a 5-year jail term on 10 February 2015. His subsequent appeal for clemency was turned down by the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong resulting in his disqualification as an MP hence a by-election had to be held for his Permatang Pauh seat. The Election Commission fixed 25 April as the nomination day and 7 May as the polling day. MCA appointed Vice President and Penang State Liaison Committee Chairman Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun as the co-ordinator for the Permatang Pauh by-election while Deputy President Datuk Wee Ka Siong was named as the chief co-ordinator at central level for both Permatang Pauh and Rompin by-elections.

After intense lobbying, PKR chairman Wan Azizah won the seat with 8841 majority. She obtained 30,316 votes as compared to BN candidate Suhaimi’s 21,475 votes.

The result indicated a slight reflow of the Chinese votes back to BN, especially at the 98.7% Chinese Sungai Lembu polling station where BN recorded an increase of 13.8%. President Tan Sri Liow Tiong Lai admitted that the reflow was slow and MCA must work even harder, make an in-depth study and deepen the transformation effort, to effectively unleash our role as a ruling party to gain more Chinese support.

The Rompin, Pahang seat fell vacant when incumbent MP Jamaluddin Jarjis was killed in a helicopter crash in Semenyeh on 4 April 2015. It was the 10th by-elections after GE13. Nomination was on 22 April and polling on 5 May. BN’s candidate was Hassan Ariffin. MCA appointed CC member and Pahang Liaison Committee Chairman Dato’ Ho Khai Mun as the co-ordinator for the by-election.

With MCA and other BN component party’s help, the BN candidate eventually prevailed with 23,796 votes, a majority of 8,895 over PAS candidate’s 14,901 votes. The Chinese majority polling station clearly showed a reflow of the community’s votes back to BN, a strong message that the Chinese community rejected hudud.

Under CPC’s invitation, President led Central Committee members paid an official visit to China for 5 days from 8 to 12 May 2015. The visit, themed ‘friendship and cooperation’, aimed to deepen the two parties’ friendship and strengthen government-to-government co-operations, and explore existing and potential business opportunity and co-operations in various fields.

Our delegates met with CPC Central Committee Politburo member and Party Academy (CELAP) President Liu Yunshan, CPPCC Vice Chairman and International Department of CPC (IDCPC) minister Wang Jiarui, IDCPC deputy minister Chen Fengxiang, China Economic Co-operation deputy director Wu Baocai and Shanghai Deputy Mayor Ai Baojun, as well as visited the Shanghai Port, Free Trade Area, Xiaomi Technology and so on.

Apart from visiting the CPC and government departments, the delegates also went on the field to Daxing area’s Pangge town and Lihua village under its jurisdiction to learn how a sleepy hollow could be, with the help from the central and local governments and village folks, turned into a national top village famous for its eco-tourism industry.

To save time, President and Deputy President had separate agenda. Tan Sri Liow called China Water Resources and three aviation companies whereas Datuk Wee visited Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, open fishery ports and Seafood Wholesale Market. Besides, the delegates also met with Malaysian students and businessmen in Shanghai.

President and our delegates witnessed the signing of memorandum of co-operations between Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman and China Executive Leadership Academy, Pudong, Shanghai, marked a new chapter in the two institutions’ co-operations.

It was a fruitful trip as much had been gained in party affairs, training, education, economy, culture, academic exchange, women, aviation, ports and so on.

Together with the China Economic Co-operation Center (CECC), a unit under the International Department Central Committee of Communist Party of China (IDCPC), MCA has organised an ‘‘OBOR: China-Malaysia Business Dialogue’’ in Beijing to help the Business entrepreneurs to access the China market.

The eight topics discussed were as below:

1. One Belt One Road and China-Malaysia Co-operation
2. Investment and Trade-Pillars of China-Malaysia economic Co-operation
3. Financial Innovation-Driving force for China-Malaysia Co-operation
4. SMEs-Active Promoter China-Malaysia Co-operation
5. Infrastructure-Priority Areas of ‘One Belt One Road’ Initiative
6. China-Malaysia Ports Co-operation
7. ‘Internet+’-New Driver for Reform and Development
8. Certification and Co-operation Project of Halal Food and Muslim Commodities

The MCA President said, as the rotated chair for ASEAN this year, Malaysia could be the entrance for China to enter ASEAN and help strengthen China-ASEAN co-operation. The Central Committee has also set up an MCA China Affairs Committee headed by Deputy Treasurer-General Dato’ Sri Chuah Poh Khiang, to promote and follow-up on the development of OBOR. MCA also plans to jointly organise with CECC, another round of business dialogue in Kuala Lumpur next year.

In the Cabinet reshuffle announced on 28 July, Prime Minister Najib gave MCA an additional one minister and one deputy minister’s posts, which went to Secretary-General Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Chuan as second International Trade and Industry Minister and Youth Chief Chong Sin Woon as deputy Education Minister. With the reshuffle, MCA was now having 3 ministers and 4 deputy, as compared to 2 ministers and 3 deputy ministers previously.

The President pointed out that, from the scope of duties entrusted, the posts were in line with the aspirations of the Chinese community, as both the MITI and MOE were closely related to the community. He also promised that MCA would carry out its duties diligently, and assist the people from within the government, and push for the national transformation program and development.

The two additional post were allocated mainly because of MCA’s performance for the past year in government, party affairs and services. In addition, party’s solid unity at all levels not only enabled party to grow in stability but recognised by the PM as well.

MCA Central Committee members who have been appointed into the Cabinet are as follows:

MCA central government official after the cabinet reshuffle list as follows: