Open for business: Dr Mah (fifth from left) officiating the launch of the MCA Ipoh Timur branch office. — RONNIE CHIN/The Star
Mah: MCA has always been taking the issue seriously
IPOH: MCA has always championed education and does it without a fuss, says Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon.
The party deputy president said MCA has been doing so all this time, citing the collaboration between the New Era University College and the Sultan Idris Education University (UPSI).
“I had initiated it at that time, after the idea was brought to me.
“During my tenure as deputy Education minister, I had pushed for the collaboration and finally it has come to a reality, just like the Chinese proverb, ‘gong cheng bubi zai wo, gong cheng biding you wo’ (not claiming credit but always making sure to contribute their share to the success of the cause),” he told reporters after launching the Ipoh Timur MCA’s new service centre in Jalan Ong Chin Seong here yesterday.
Dr Mah was responding to DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke, who in a recent interview with Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Sufian Hamdan in their “Keluar Sekejap” podcast, claimed that MCA had the image of not prioritising the needs of the people, especially the Chinese community.
“I am not sure of his true intentions, but people can only guess.
“That is why for me, I feel such statements merely create a lot of unnecessary arguments, and it also shows their arrogance,” said Dr Mah.
He also disagreed with Loke who labelled MCA as “parti towkay” (party of business owners or bosses).
“I do not think that all party members are bosses.
“When this term was used by Loke, did he give any thought to how our party members would feel? This has created unnecessary unhappiness.
“I don’t think all our members are ‘towkay’,” he said.
Dr Mah also said that as a leader in the unity government, Loke should bring everybody together by concentrating on nation-building instead of wasting time creating unhappiness.
Dr Mah said that as leaders of MCA, it was their duty to play a role as a check and balance.
“When we see any problems in any policy matters, we must bring it up. We must be the voice of the people so that the government can relook, study and come up with better policies.
“For example, on the Central Database Hub (Padu) system, I think the ministry concerned had failed in a way to explain to the people, and outline clearly their intentions on the plan, about the targeted subsidy and so forth.
“After a big fuss on Padu, later it was announced that they could gather the information from the various agencies, so what was the need for a big fuss,” he said, adding that before any policy is rolled out, proper planning and explanation are required.
Dr Mah said many people are expecting much more than what the government is currently doing.
