MCA in damage control mode over ‘Chinese Perkasa’

Please Resign , You are not fit to be a Deputy Minister and a MCA Vice President .

Why is the MCA President quiet about this issue ? Not a single word from him ? He's the one who nominated him for a Senator's post and a Dep Ministers post .

UPDATED @ 03:18:38 PM 12-07-2010

By Clara Chooi

July 12, 2010

Lim’s reported call for a Chinese Perkasa has seen MCA leaders moving sideways. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, July 12 — MCA leaders today distanced themselves from their vice-president Datuk Donald Lim’s suggestion for a Chinese Perkasa, saying that the party does not practise retaliatory politics.

MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said that Lim’s views, which were reported on Saturday, were not the official stand of the party.

“We have one golden rule — ‘do unto others as you would have others do unto you’. So do not do unto others as you do not want Perkasa to do unto you.

“So the stand is simple: This is not the party’s stand. The party has voiced out its stand that we sometimes do not agree with what Perkasa does or says, so why should we set up another body to counter them?

Liow said Lim’s reported call was not MCA’s stand. — file pic

“Whatever action, there will be a reaction,” the health minister told reporters in Parliament today.

When asked if he felt Lim’s statement was irresponsible, Liow hesitated before pointing out that the vice-president’s stand was his personal view.

“It is not the party’s stand,” he reiterated.

MCA Youth chief Datuk Wee Ka Siong said the party never practised “tit-for-tat” politics and was of the opinion that forming a Chinese Perkasa to counter the original Perkasa would not solve any issues.

“We have never discussed the formation of the Chinese Perkasa. I do not believe in this and we do not subscribe to tit-for-tat politics. We will voice out the grievances of the community regardless of race, and even though the MCA is a communal-based party, we will still fight for all Malaysians.

“We do not need to outsource to any other NGOs and I am not aware that the party leadership had ever discussed setting up this ‘Chinese Perkasa’. It is a non-issue,” he said.

Wee, who was himself recently at loggerheads with Perkasa’s fiery president Datuk Ibrahim Ali, said that Lim could have been misquoted.

“I was informed by a friend of Lim’s that his words had been spun out of context,” he said.

He noted that Lim’s “close friend” had informed him yesterday of this, noting that Lim had only meant to say that the NGOs (like Perkasa) should battle out their struggles with other NGOs.

“You should check with Lim on this. I can only confirm that the party has never discussed this. Any such statement should come from the central committee or the presidential council.

Wee defended his colleague by saying Lim may have been misquoted. — file pic

“It is true that our leaders have a right to their own views, but we are talking about a party stand here on certain issues,” he said.

Lim had reportedly called for the formation of a Chinese Perkasa for the purpose of rebutting the often racially-sensitive statements made by the Malay rights non-governmental organisation.

He had said that it was not suitable for MCA, as a political party, to fight head-on with Perkasa as political parties and NGOs function at different levels.

When asked to comment further on Ibrahim’s statement that organisations like Dong Jiao Zhong were similar to Perkasa in their struggles, Liow was quick to refute this but admitted that this could be easily misconstrued as such.

“For us in the Chinese community, we look at Dong Jiao Zhong as educationists. As those who strive for better quality education... we do not look at them as extremist. But from another community, their views may differ,” he said.

Liow called on the organisation to effectively communicate their concerns to the Malay community in order to help them better understand their objectives.

“We need to create these kinds of bridges to promote this type of understanding. Rather than just be suspicious of one body, then create another body to counter that body. It is a vicious cycle and we do not want to see this going on,” he said.

MCA vice-president Datuk Chor Chee Heung told reporters that Perkasa was just a small body.

“Only one or two of their leaders act like they are crazy for publicity. We do not need to help them boost their popularity like this,” he said.