Spirit of unity: Dr Wee (centre) flanked by MCA deputy president Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon (left), Chong and Jeck Seng (third from right) with delegates at the convention in Pontian. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
PONTIAN: MCA will do its best to help Umno win the Mahkota by-election in return for its coalition partner’s help in the Tanjung Piai by-election in 2019, says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
The MCA president said Umno will field a candidate in Mahkota and MCA will do its best to help the candidate.
“This is the Barisan Nasional spirit. The Umno machinery previously helped MCA’s Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng win the Tanjung Piai parliamentary seat.
“We are now hoping that the ‘Tanjung Piai spirit’ will be translated to a win in Mahkota,” he said after launching the Johor MCA Youth and Wanita wings convention here yesterday.
While MCA has its own campaign strategy, Dr Wee said the party will follow the instructions of Barisan’s by-election director, Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.
In the Tanjung Piai by-election, Jeck Seng emerged the winner with 25,466 votes in a six-cornered fight, with a majority of 15,086 votes against his closest rival, Pakatan Harapan’s Karmaine Sardini who got 10,380 votes.
Meanwhile, Dr Wee added that Johor executive councillor Lee Ting Han will be leading the party’s state machinery in the by-election, set for Sept 28.
“Lee, who is Johor MCA secretary, has been appointed the ‘bapa angkat’ (coordinator) for the by-election, while party secretary-general Datuk Chong Sin Woon will be the national-level coordinator.
“All 26 of our divisions in the state will be involved and the party’s central leaders have also been told to go to the ground and assist the machinery starting tomorrow (today),” he added.
Nomination and early voting have been set for Sept 14 and 24 respectively.
The seat fell vacant after Sharifah Azizah Syed Zain passed away on Aug 2. The former Johor Wanita Umno chief won the seat with a 5,166-vote majority in the March 2022 state election.
Separately, in his opening speech at the Johor MCA convention, Dr Wee encouraged leaders to be more vocal about policies and issues affecting the rakyat.
Dr Wee, who is also state MCA liaison committee chairman, said this is to ensure that MCA continues playing the role of check and balance.
“MCA cannot only depend on the president to be vocal. All members should do the same in issues affecting the people.
“I want all party members, especially the younger ones, to be more active in speaking out on issues and policies such as the matriculation intake.”
Dr Wee added that when MCA was in the Federal Government, there were “others” who criticised and attacked the party.
“Now is the time we use the same standards others had for us to measure their performance,” he said.
