PETALING JAYA: MCA began as a party that fought for people of every level of society and has continued to do so in the present even though it was set up by a grouping of business leaders, said Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
The MCA president said the label of "parti tauke" (party of business owners or bosses) attributed to the party did not reflect its legacy of serving the interests of the people since pre-Merdeka times.
"We have sons and daughters of farmers, hawkers, teachers. Does this make MCA a party of tauke?
"When MCA was established in 1949, it was by a resolution from chambers of commerce all over Malaya, which selected Tun Tan Cheng Lock to be the leader of a party to fight for the interests of the people," he said in a Facebook video posted on Friday (April 12).
Dr Wee made the statement after DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke claimed that MCA had the image of not prioritising the needs of the people, especially the Chinese community.
Loke said this in an interview with Keluar Sekejap co-hosts Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Sufian Hamdan last week.
Dr Wee pointed out that the current government also has to work together with industry leaders and business owners who are informally dubbed "tauke".
"Now that they (DAP) are ministers, they are friends with Tan Sris, Datuk Seris. Who is the parti tauke now?" he asked.
Dr Wee also said the existence of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar) and Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology (TAR UMT) stood as a testament to MCA's contributions to society.
"Utar and TAR UMT have produced 383,000 graduates. This is not a small figure. There are 53,000 students in these two institutions. If MCA had not done anything, how could we have this result?" he said.
In the six-minute video, he stressed that MCA has continued to play its role as check-and-balance for the government and doing everything it can to maintain the nation's ethnic harmony.
"We don't want the rakyat to fight each other. That's why we are seen as a party that is not extreme. We want to bring out the spirit of muhibbah (goodwill)," he said.
"We continue to maintain that we want a Malaysia that is harmonious and we want good relations between all communities," added Dr Wee.
He said any rights enjoyed by DAP leaders also resulted from the actions of past MCA leaders.
"Our citizenship rights, right to vote, the rights enjoyed by DAP. The right to be elected as an elected representative.
"Do we even have to say this? Don't say that we have not done anything. That is an insulting thing to say," he said.
Dr Wee refuted Loke's claim that MCA had failed to look after the people's welfare, especially the Chinese community, as MCA could not dance to DAP's tune.
"By their goal of wanting a Malaysian Malaysia, we don't agree on that point. Therefore, we have not achieved what they wanted, on their terms. They had the Setapak Declaration in the 1960s, wanting equality among the races.
"And then they wanted to abolish the quota system. By these standards, they have judged MCA.
"Now, by the grace of God, they are in power. Over to you now, do what needs to be done," he said.
Dr Wee said many claims by its rivals, including DAP was done for the sake of political interests, such as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) against Sales and Service Tax (SST) debate.
"As long as MCA says GST, they will say SST. That is the problem. They have oversold the idea of SST.
"But we have held on to our principles and continued to advocate for GST as far superior to SST. This is backed up by the rest of the world," he said.
