Chua: Warts are showing

SEREMBAN: The infighting in the DAP and PKR only goes to show that their leaders are not “perfect” as some made them out to be, said MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.

People should realise by now that they too have their fair share of problems like any other political organisation, he added.

“These are the trappings of power. If you do not fight or quarrel then it is not politics ... the rakyat should take note of these things,” he said when commenting on a recent spate of problems in the run-up to the PKR divisional polls and on the rift between DAP leaders in Perak.

The MCA too, he said, had its fair share of internal problems but its leaders have successfully overcome them.

“But we have been able to share the fruits of our labour (in the Barisan Nasional) for the past 50 years unlike the Opposition which had several problems just after two years (after coming into power in some states).

“They are already facing so many problems at the state level. I can’t say what will happen if they are elected into power at the central level,” he told reporters at the Seremban MCA division dinner on Sunday.

Earlier in his speech, Dr Chua commended Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for his role in helping to turn around the country’s economy.

He said they had to ensure provisions under the Prime Minister’s transformation programmes such as the New Economic Model and the 10th Malaysia Plan would help Malaysia achieve targets spelt out under Vision 2020.

The private sector, he said, must be the locomotive for the nation’s economic development for the next decade.

Although Najib should be commended for taking a bold step to liberalise certain segments of the economy, Dr Chua said more needed to be done.

For example, he said that when he spoke on the need to review the 30% bumiputra equity, it was not meant to “rob Ali to pay Chong”.

He said Malaysians are mature enough to talk rationally on how this could be done with all races benefiting.

Dr Chua also said that he was thankful to the Government for giving scholarships to 9As scorers in the last SPM examination.

“A total of 1,550 Chinese students got scholarships this time which was three times more than previously,” he said, adding that 92% of Chinese students who applied for places in universities were successful.

THE STAR (Tuesday October 5, 2010)