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Of kisses
& skimpy
misses
by Giam Say Khoon and Loo Sim Ee
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
UALA LUMPUR: Malaysian
K Chinese are no mere passengers
and the community is here to
build a nation, says MCA presi-
dent Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat.
“Therefore, the time has come for
all races and religions to understand
and respect each other, to put an end
to the preaching of hate perpetrated
by fanaticism.
“We must stand up to injustice
and engage any other like-minded
forces to seek redress on issues of
public concern. We have to be bold
and loud if we have to,” he said when
speaking at MCA’s 60th Anniversary
celebration at the party headquarters
yesterday.
He said inter-racial relations must
be unshackled from the zero-sum
mentality where one community
gains at the expense of another. “We
stand for the simple notion that a
person is treated with equal concern
and respect as a Malaysian.”
He said party members and lead-
ers must take immediate affirmative
action to reimage and reinvent MCA
to remain politically relevant not
only in Barisan Nasional but also in
the eyes of Malaysians.
“This, we must do in response
to the public’s demand for good
governance and efficient public
delivery. The MCA and BN have
failed to live up to these expecta-
tions and this is why support has
declined.
“MCA needs to listen to the
public, and they want their voices to
be heard. The voices echo from all
walks of life, people with different
colours speaking different languages
carrying the same message. They
ask for change,” he said.
The first step, said Ong, was to
address the nation’s economic woes
and do away with piecemeal and
short-term solutions.
“We must promote micro-credit
and small and medium enterprise
financing for Malaysians. Transpar-
ency and accountability must be
in order to replace red tape, delays
and leakages that ruin our efforts to
reduce income disparity,” he said.
“Next, we must concentrate on
politics and make decisions that will
bring impact to the future generation.
Our party was a proactive partner in
Member of Audit Bureau of Circulations (Malaysia)
» ’Politics’ of Selangor water pg6-7
pg18
Stop preaching
hate, says Ong
BERNAMAPIX
Still talking ... Ong stressing a point to his deputy Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek at the MCA’s 60th anniversary
celebration yesterday. Ong quashed speculation of moves to call an EGM to unseat him. Reports page 3.
the struggle to gain independence.
“Premised on this spirit, our party
needs to participate in mainstream
politics, be courageous and expand
our roles, ensuring that broader
politics are multi-racial and just,”
he added.
Switching to Mandarin, Ong
said the people had become very
sensitive to racial harmony and
that “we cannot allow irresponsi-
ble politicians to continue playing
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TELLING IT AS IT IS
» Revenge feared after mutiny pg9
racial and religious cards, which
will ultimately destroy the
country”.
“We live and own the land to-
gether, we are one of the masters
of the nation who built the country
together. So we will stand against
power and resource monopoly and
manipulation, simply because we
are not squatters who came to share
the gains of the country,” he said.
On his suggested affirmative
Award winning newspaper
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Monday
March 2, 2009
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actions, he said “MCA will start
with improving service standards,
putting in place systems that will
ensure promises are delivered”.
“We will reinvent ourselves and
continue with the struggles against
poverty, misery and ignorance. We
will promote integrity, freedom and
the right to live a wholesome life
one chooses in this country. We will
not serve just a segment or a group,
but all Malaysians,” he vowed.
News without
borders
Abdullah: Yes,
I’ll hand PM
post to Najib
HUA HIN (Thailand): Datuk Seri Abdul-
lah Ahmad Badawi said yesterday he
would stick to the plan to hand over the
premiership to his deputy Datuk Seri
Najib Abdul Razak after the Umno
election this month.
“Well there was this plan that I have
made, so we have to follow the plan,” he
said at the end of an Asean Summit.
Abdullah, who is also Umno
president, was commenting on specula-
tions he will not relinquish his post after
the party election later this month.
Najib is set to take over the party
leadership from Abdullah as the sole
contender for the Umno presidency
after nominations closed for the top
positions late last year. Traditionally,
the Umno president also assumes the
premiership, while the deputy president
becomes the deputy prime minister.
– Bernama
Perak politics
headed for
another collision
by Humayun Kabir
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
IPOH: Perak is heading for another major
political “collision” – this time between
State Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar
and the pro-Barisan Nasional assembly
secretary Abdullah Antong Sabri.
Yesterday, Sivakumar’s lawyers
said an emergency sitting will
proceed as scheduled tomorrow as it “is
perfectly legal as stated under the Perak
Constitution and in accordance with
established parliamentary practice in
Commonwealth countries”.
However, Antong said Sivakumar’s
call for the sitting was illegal and
cannot be held because it has not
received royal consent in accordance
with assembly Standing Orders and the
state constitution.
This has prompted the speaker to
issue a rebuttal.
At a hurriedly-called press confer-
ence at the office of his lawyer Chan Kok
Keong at 7.30pm yesterday, Sivakumar
» Turn to Page 4