A New Direction for the MCA:
MCA As A Force of Change
Following the unprecedented poor showing in the 12th General Election, the MCA needs to reengineer, reorganize, rebuild, reinvent and revitalize the Party.
Be the Force of Change: Real Courage, Real Politics
The aims and objectives of the MCA, as clearly laid out by the founding fathers of the MCA will remain the same. However, these aims and objectives will be fine-tuned, taking into consideration changes in the political landscape and the needs of Malaysians to reflect the country’s current political reality in a globalized world.
These changes will be effected through 3 platforms:
1. Real Politics, Real Influence
2. Real Equality, Real Rights
3. Real Socio-Economic Growth
I. REAL POLITICS, REAL INFLUENCE
The way forward for the MCA is to be a real political party, which will fit into the new political landscape and reflect the political reality.
1.1 Change to think National
a) MCA will take a multi-racial approach to champion the rights and causes of the people and the country.
b) Although MCA is a race-based Party, it can play an active role in championing national issues such as good-governance, anti-corruption, freedom of religion, an independent judiciary, greater security, gender equality, civil liberties, poverty and a greener environment by being more issue-centric as against ethno-centric.
c) MCA will continue to play an active role in helping the Chinese community in economic development and strengthening its competitiveness in the national, regional and global market.
d) Similarly, MCA will continue to play an active role in enhancing Chinese education in the country, and ensuring freedom of religion and culture.
1.2 Change to real partnership within the Barisan Nasional
a) MCA will relook its partnership in the Barisan Nasional coalition, especially with UMNO. MCA needs to correct the perception of a master-servant relationship. UMNO should be viewed as a leader within the BN and not as a “big brother”. Only then, can the MCA deliver the Chinese votes.
b) In line with this, it is pertinent for the MCA to discuss with its BN partners and to lay down new and clear ground rules for the future direction of the coalition.
c) MCA needs to be more vocal on issues, especially those affecting the Chinese community, without being threatening or antagonistic. Championing of a community’s rights and privileges should be less communal by way of adopting a constant, consistent and systematic approach in development planning, distribution of these rights and privileges.
d) In line with this, MCA should be more assertive in ensuring that the implementation of government policies to be more transparent, fair, democratic and accountable.
e) MCA wants to be a political party that will reflect the current political landscape in Malaysia. The Party needs to advocate clear and unequivocal values such as equal opportunities and privileges for all, justice, integrity, discipline and mutual respect for all religions and cultures. Religious and education issues should therefore be resolved without giving the impression of having to beg and petition the government.
f) MCA should play a leading role in the formulation and tabulation of any bills or policies and the implementation of policies to ensure that there is no discrimination in the process.
1.3 Change in the role in opposition-led states
a) MCA needs to monitor the performance of state governments under the Pakatan Rakyat leadership. In line with this, MCA leaders in these states must continue to maintain its ties with the voter and social networking with NGOs and Chinese-based associations to voice their concerns and views. This will help the Party to win back their support in the next General Election.
1.4 Change to real democratic party election and recruitment
a) To better reflect members’ aspirations, the Party Constitution should be amended to allow state chairmen to be elected and not appointed by the President. This will ensure that the leaders better reflect the wishes of the members in the state. Since leaders of Youth and Wanita wings are elected, the state chairmen should also adopt the same process.
b) State chairmen should be given executive power at state level to recommend the nomination of councillors for local government and candidates for the General Election.
c) Recruitment of Party members should be transparent and without discrepancies to reflect the integrity of the Party’s membership list.
d) The Party Constitution should be amended to facilitate the admission of any Malaysian citizen of Chinese parentage into the Party.
e) The process of member recruitment should be done in a simple and democratic way. The number of members in a branch has always been a contentious issue. Therefore a verification exercise should be carried out by the central secretariat with the cooperation of the state and divisional secretariat right to the branch level to reflect the exact number of MCA members at all levels.
f) Candidates chosen to contest in the General Election should take into consideration the input of Party members, especially at the divisional level. Last minute changes without considerations should be avoided so as not to cause dissatisfaction among members and possibly, sabotage.
Candidates for the general election should be selected:
i. from the division through recommendation;
ii. from the central leadership, but with the consent of the majority division members;
iii. without gender discrimination.
1.5 Change to real effective communications
a) MCA must be more relevant to the increasing number of affluent, educated and critical mass. In line with this, it must take note of the increasing importance of a new media, including the Internet, blogs, SMS, which is more influential in shaping the perceptions and views of the new generation. In view of this, the Party must engage the new media as a new platform for information-dissemination.
b) Thus, the Party should be more careful and sensitive in putting information across in order that these would not be seen as “unsubstantiated” or “half truths”
c) MCA needs to be more ICT proficient in its information dissemination to cater to an increasingly more ICT-savvy community.
d) The Party should advocate for greater freedom of the media and provide more forums and dialogues to feel the pulse of the people.
2. REAL EQUALITY, REAL RIGHTS
The MCA must continually uphold and advocate the fundamental rights of the rakyat for equal and fair treatment. As a major component party in the ruling Barisan Nasional government, the Party must seek a fair, democratic, transparent solution/way of resolving problems and issues that are every citizen’s rights as enshrined under the Federal Constitution.
2.1 Change to real freedom of religion
a) MCA accepts Islam as the official religion of Malaysia. The MCA also stands with the people in upholding and respecting religious freedom and is against the spirit of overzealousness and intentional discrimination based on religion.
b) MCA believes the freedom of religion is an individual’s choice. Therefore, every person must be allowed the freedom to choose his/her religion.
c) There is a need to foster alliance between peoples of different faiths and to develop clear policy statements and to encourage dialogues between peoples of all faiths with a view of fostering greater understanding and respect for all religions. These include policy on converts and burial rights of family members and the rights of the converts’ spouses and children.
d) MCA resolves to pursue the government to formalize the provision of land for places of worship, to formalize the process and approval for renewal, repair, rebuild and to erect buildings as places of worship.
e) MCA will continue to call for the setting up of an official mechanism under the Prime Minister’s Department to look into the needs of non-Muslims who make up about 40% of the country’s population. As Islam is also a state affair for the Muslim community, it is also reasonable that there is a council or committee for other faiths to be set up under the state government to better coordinate matters concerning religion.
f) Conversion of religion:
i. On the issue of conversion, MCA fully supports any person’s rights to profess the religion of his/her choice, but that exercise of right cannot take away the rights of another, leading to retrogression and leaving family members with fewer rights and thus, making them worse off than before.
ii. Upon the conversion of an individual, there are areas of concerns for the spouse who has freely chosen to remain in his/her faith i.e. issues of divorce, division of assets, maintenance, distribution and inheritance, custody/guardianship of children and the ability to have an equal say in determining their religion and upbringing. The legislative pillar of the government must study this matter and find an amicable solution.
iii. The law must be amended to ensure that when an individual embraces Islam, the convert’s spouse (or ex-spouse), children and other family members’ rights and entitlements under civil laws remain unchanged. Regardless of the conversion, all issues arising out of the marriage must be settled according to civil laws and not state Islamic enactments since the marriage was solemnized or registered under civil laws. Furthermore, legislations must also be adopted to specify that only the civil courts have jurisdiction to hear/decide on such matters.
iv. The rights and entitlements of the unconverted spouse must be guaranteed and so any legal and extra legal solutions must be Constitutional-compliant.
2.2 Change in the judiciary system
a) The MCA must address concerns on the independence of the judiciary and respect for the separation of the powers among the three pillars of the government – the legislature, executive and the judiciary ‑ to bring back the people’s confidence in the rule of law.
b) In line with this, MCA shall advocate, solicit and solidify policies/enactment of rules to restore public and international confidence in the independence and professionalism of the Malaysian judiciary.
c) The MCA also acknowledge the widespread concerns over the slow process of adjudication of cases before the Malaysian courts and that such concerns are tackled promptly.
d) MCA welcomes the setting up of a Judicial Commission that will ensure a transparent system of appointing judges of the highest integrity, calibre, intellect, knowledge and are impartial and without any vested interest. The Party also supports the call to review the judiciary’s terms of service and remuneration to ensure that the bench can attract and retain the best talents.
e) MCA also acknowledges perceptions of corruption in the judiciary. There is therefore a need to deal with such perceptions.
2.3 Change in the economic policy
a) The New Economic Policy (1970-1990) – which was replaced by the National Development Policy (1991-2000) and the Vision Development Plan (2001-2020) is still a contentious issue in the country. The MCA advocates meritocracy and needs, not ethnicity, as the cornerstone of all economic policies to ensure fair play and higher competitiveness and efficiency.
b) It is noted that the target of 30% corporate wealth ownership for the Malays has been effected, but the other objective of poverty eradication was seldom emphasized. Similarly, the restructuring of society (to erase the identification of race with a particular vocation) had only focussed on the services, economic, educational, trade and commercial fields in the private sector, with no affirmative action in the public sector.
c) MCA suggests a key public policy to ensure more public participation and consultation on national economic policies and guidelines at the consultation and formulation stages to better reflect the people’s and the industry’s needs and aspirations.
d) Similarly, the implementation of policies and guidelines must be more transparent by providing the public with data compilation methodology, accuracy and up-to-date data and information.
The following actions should be taken:
i. empowering economic growth through the promotion of entrepreneurship, regardless of race, so that Malaysia can be more competitive in the global era.
ii. emphasis on poverty eradication as a socio-economic strategy to help all disadvantaged and underprivileged groups.
iii. provide data derivation formula, accurate and relevant data and formulation pertaining to the policies, its achievements or failure to the public to erase any suspicions.
iv. articulate and promote the agreed upon and desired economic policy to redress social and economic inequalities.
v. set up a mechanism to monitor and ensure that all programmes and projects are implemented according to set regulations and guidelines.
vi. agencies responsible for implementation of policies should ensure that guidelines pertaining to any programme/approved project/project to be implemented be made available to the public. Any public complaints or reports of ethnic discrimination should be quickly investigated and explanations given to defuse public grievances.
vii. more affirmative action to recruit more non-Malays in the civil service to reflect the plural society of Malaysia.
e) In the long term, the MCA is convinced that affirmative action should move towards the direction of economic needs rather than ethnic consideration. Any affirmative action should not deprive the non-Bumiputeras from economic and education opportunities.
f) MCA is confident that these efforts will subsequently attract more public support to the introduction and implementation of economic policies and to erase mistrust, misconception and misperception as well as to counter any baseless allegations.
3. REAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC GROWTH
Political will and commitment of the MCA should encompass the following aspects in helping the nation to create a more conducive environment in socio-economic development.
3.1 Change in equal opportunities in education
a) There should be fairer allocation and distribution of funds to all schools to ensure equal education opportunities to all. This will reflect a BN government that is fair to all races in providing opportunities in education.
b) The development of vernacular schools, including Chinese primary schools, should be part and parcel of development programmes. New Chinese primary schools should be planned for areas where needed. Sufficient development and maintenance budget be given to vernacular schools, including Chinese primary schools.
c) Development of conforming secondary schools should also be included as part and parcel of the regular development programme of the Ministry of Education.
d) The Unified Exams of the Chinese Independent Schools has been recognised worldwide at the basis for entry into universities. Therefore it is only fair that holders of Unified Exams be allowed access to local public universities.
3.2 Change in measures to control inflation
a) Controlling inflation will be the biggest challenge to the government especially with the high fuel prices and the subsequent rise in cost of services and cost of living, including transportation and food.
b) In line with this, MCA will monitor and provide input and feedback to the government on the impact on the lower income group and the industry.
c) MCA will be helping to identify areas suitable for agricultural activities and more areas to be gazetted to be agricultural area so that will be more systematic and strategic approach to agriculture development, taking into consideration the projected increase in population.
3.3 Change to a greener environment
a) Climate change would have a far reaching/recurring implication on weather, food production, disease pattern and economic consequences. Global warming will cause fluctuation in the weather and changing disease patterns, including the re-emergence of tropical diseases in Malaysia
b) Due importance should be given to environmental concerns. Going green should not be confined to just planting trees, but also ensuring the balance between development and the environment.
c) In line with this, MCA advocates sustainable development so that the fauna and flora will be maintained for future generations. Concerted efforts should also be accorded to promote the 3Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle).
d) Consistent with this, there is a need to educate/encourage Malaysians to reduce the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags and to reuse plastics and to use alternatives.
e) There is a need for sound water management to ensure safe, reliable and affordable water. Water catchment areas must be protected from pollutions and logging.
3.4 Change to better public security
a) The MCA must address the people’s concern on crime and other security matters.
b) Towards this end, it must ensure that the government take all necessary measures to build an efficient and reliable and trustworthy police force and one that is capable of dealing with modern-day crimes and meting out penalty quickly.
3.5 Change to more effective human resource development
a) To utilize the 1.2 million civil servant more productively and creatively.
b) Better management of foreign workers. The influx of foreign workers, a large proportion illegally, has caused social and security problems in the country. The government should tighten the entry of such workers and fine-tune the process of recruitment of such workers.
c) Unemployment brings huge social and security problems. Alleviating poverty and ensuring a decent wage level for workers will also help address social problems, including political instability. The government should look into setting up a Council to recommend decent wages for workers in all sectors of the economy. A decent wage rate will also attract more Malaysian workers and reduce the dependence on foreign labour.
d) The cost of living differs between urban and rural areas and Sabah and Sarawak. Therefore, instead of a single national decent wage, the government should consider adopting a wage policy for certain occupations, eg. wages in the plantation sector to tie up with commodity prices.
e) MCA will support all efforts taken to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign workers and to encourage Malaysians to take over jobs currently undertaken by foreign workers.
3.6 Uphold principles of honest Governance
Reaffirm the government’s commitment to the FREE MARKET principle where enterprise and entrepreneurship are celebrated and rewarded; where private enterprises are protected by the rule of law.
3.7 Infrastructure to be prioritized to sustain growth
Streamline and strengthen the delivery system, physical and legal infrastructure to promote greater business growth and competitiveness including
a) A level playing field for local business with operating conditions on par if not better than conditions in neighbouring countries; including competitive electricity, fuel, power, road tax, toll and corporate tax
b) Prioritize the upgrade and building of the Public transportation system: committed to work tirelessly to ensure an efficient and well-connected public transportation is built in major population concentration areas. An efficient public transportation forms the core-competitiveness of any city and town; committed within a reasonable time line to get the MCA membership behind this major push towards connectivity and ease of moving people and goods around the country -- this is a primary focus to bring about welfare for the people.
c) Lobby the government to complete and make public an Energy Master Plan; detailing the reserves of oil and gas and other sources of energy and inform the public and businesses how the country’s future sources of energy will come from and their costs
d) Work with the relevant authorities to ensure the Food Self Sufficiency Blueprint for Malaysia must be given serious attention and urgent implementation to protect Malaysia from the threat of food shortages and high price imported food. Malaysia currently imports some RM23 billion of food; this enormous food bill can be translated into a robust home food cultivation industry.
3.8 Use Government funds wisely in subsidies and support
a) Through MCA’s representative in Government, ensure that the government uses subsidies creatively for productive purposes such as directing subsidies to nurture new industries and helping Malaysians in distress. Subsidies do not make the economy competitive, it is also not the best use of government funding. An IMF study found that the richest 20% of households received on average 42% of the total fuel subsidies; the bottom 20% of households received less than 10%.
b) It is clear that in Malaysia, the worse affected lower and middle income have completely no alternative in getting around, past government policies have misguided the people to purchase the private car en masse (which numbers some 9 million in total) and, together with house mortgage, Malaysian consumers owe a whopping RM427 billion in household loans. This is as much as 80-90% of our GDP! This situation must be gradually corrected over time.
3.9 Direct measures to strengthen the middle class and to uplift the livelihood of the bottom segments of poor Malaysians.
a) Inequality in Malaysia needs to be corrected. Individual inequality in Malaysia (as measured by the GINI coefficient) is the second highest in Asia and highest in ASEAN. The government must refocus its attention to develop programmes and policies to reduce overall inequality instead of focusing the discussion on income distribution which is almost entirely in terms of ethnic inequalities with passing reference to regional inequalities between states.
b) There are still many Malaysians who are considered poor. Low income and low capital do not allow them to move up the value chain and majority of them are not capable of higher value add work. Priority must be directed to finding new sources of income for these people.
3.10 Promote fiscal responsibility and prudence:
a) The government administration must strictly adopt a culture of accountability and fiscal prudence. MCA will lobby for a Fiscal Responsibility Act where government spending will be tightly supervised and regulated.
b) The economy has been running on budget deficit since 1998, and it has been borrowing from the domestic economy (much of this from the Employee Provident Fund) to finance these deficits. This concern must be urgently addressed.
3.11 Lobby for professional promotion of Malaysia abroad
Greater efforts must be made to promote Malaysia as a brand. Malaysia’s multi-cultural assets must be developed and promote to put Malaysia more prominently on the world map.
3.12 Change in youth development
a) MCA believes that the country’s future progress and development depends on the younger generation. Thus, a national agenda for youth development is important.
b) At the Party level, MCA must make all efforts to reach out to the younger generation to engage them in active discussions on current issues as well as to tap their talents.
CONCLUSION
A new direction for the MCA must be all encompassing. It must look into all issues that are close to the hearts of the people and to take quick and decisive measures to alleviate them. More importantly, the MCA must be able to reach out to the masses to hear their concerns. It is also important for the Party to engage the young and the up and coming leaders. The Party must be seen to be a revolving one and to be relevant in the new era, with enthusiasm and vigour.
