Three men, three messages, one goal — to be top dog in MCA

By Clara Chooi

KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 — The heat is on in the MCA presidential race as the competitors in the three-way battle hit hectic campaign trails today.

The messages that the three — incumbent Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek and Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting — send out over the next few days will be crucial in determining their fates and that of the party’s when the March 28 polls arrive.

Knowing full well that the contest is a neck-and-neck one, the presidential hopefuls have each deployed different strategies to garner the support they need to clinch the top post.

Tee Keat, who is said to be the underdog in the race, has wasted no time in reaching out to the party’s 2,000-plus central delegates and rushed up north today to Penang, Kedah and Perlis to meet them.

Unlike his contenders, Tee Keat has chosen to avoid talking about the mistakes of the past and is focusing instead on the possibilities of the future for the MCA.

Penang MCA chief Eng Hiap Boon, who is accompanying Tee Keat for today’s functions, told The Malaysian Insider that the leader’s primary focus is to convince the delegates that he is an agent of change.

“He is not speaking anymore about what happened in the past. There is no longer need for that because everyone is already aware of the crisis the party is in.

“Now, the main concern is about the future of the MCA. We need a leader that can transform the party and this is what Tee Keat wants to do,” he said.

Eng said that this was the message that Tee Keat relayed to some 40 central delegates who turned up for a brunch function in Butterworth this morning.

“The response was good from the delegates,” he said.

Besides trying to convince the people of his change agenda, it is also clear that Tee Keat wants desperately to win back the hearts of the Chinese community, recognising that after the MCA’s dismal performance in the 2008 general election, support from the community had further dwindled.

“This is very important for us. We need to reach out to them and focus on building better ties with the Chinese community,” said Eng.

to be top dog in MCA ?

I call on Malaysian Insider especially Clara Chooi to change the title heading as it is very demeaning to refer to the three Chinese as Dogs . The three pictures up there are Chinese and not ALL Chinese are Dogs . Some maybe Dogs but NOT all Chinese are Dogs . Where did you receive your education ?Clara Chooi ? from a dog school ? or are you serving your doggy masters from the opposite divide ?