Grassroots to remain united

By NG SI HOOI and NG CHENG YEE

newsdesk@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: MCA division and grassroots leaders, including those from Youth and Wanita wings, have unanimously pledged to remain united, said party president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting.

“We want to rebuild, reinvent and reengineer the party in order to remain relevant and serve the community efficiently. This is our main priority. The grassroots leaders unanimously said they should not point fingers at anyone as it will only weaken the party,” Ong told a press conference after a special briefing of the party's grassroots leaders.

The two-hour briefing, at Wisma MCA here yesterday, was attended by more than 700 grassroots leaders and central committee members.

Support: Ong (seated, second from right) and Chan (on Ong's right) shaking hands with grassroots leaders after the special briefing at Wisma MCA in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. With them are MCA Youth chief Datuk Liow Tiong Lai and Wanita MCA chief Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen.

Ong said the grassroots leaders understood the party leadership’s intentions and decisions, and would jointly go through the difficult period together. He said the party would rectify weaknesses, stay united and continue to serve the community.

“The party president, deputy president and other party leaders not holding government posts will concentrate their time and energy on the party and the community.

“We will continue to maintain a good relationship and dialogue with the Chinese community.

“Those who hold government posts will work for the community through their roles in the Government. We will cooperate and coordinate on the roles assigned to us. We will play our designated role effectively to move the party forward and be relevant to the community,” he said.

Ong said the grassroots leaders would pull themselves together to contribute to the party selflessly.

“We will carry out brainstorming sessions to come up with strategies and plans to gain the support and confidence of the Chinese community,” he said.

“We will continue to carry out the programmes and plans that have brought benefits and are relevant to the community,” he said.