MCA declares cyberspace war
By Rachel Kam and Christina Tan, TheStar
KUALA LUMPUR: The MCA has declared cyberspace war on its political rivals and will not take the defensive stand anymore, said its president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.
He said information in the new media was not filtered and, unfortunately, many people believe what they read without knowing the truth.
“We have to admit that our efforts are still weak compared with the Opposition.
“The time has come for us to not only provide explanations but do what the Opposition does, (that is) to attack, and not just to defend,” Dr Chua told a press conference yesterday, after chairing a meeting attended by some 1,200 party division leaders.
He said every MCA leader should start to use Twitter to counter the lies.
“We started this last month. Most of us have been tweeting, but not all. So they know what to do. Last time, we said we have one month to start, so they have a few more days,” he added.
When asked how the MCA was going to change the people’s perception of the party and to get them to trust and believe in what it has to say, Dr Chua said they only had to speak the truth and people would know in time to come.
“Most MCA members have experience in the struggle, so they are more ethical. Many of them hold government posts and have accurate information, not just rumours. They also know what is self-regulation,” he said.
On another matter, Dr Chua said the party was working on getting more Chinese voters and getting its members to register as voters.
He admitted that divisions had not taken this matter into consideration for the last one year, adding that close to 200,000 party members had yet to register as voters.
The MCA, he said, would also be conducting internal training by the end of the month to enhance the members’ morale in terms of unity and love for the party and country.
Asked about CIMB group chief executive officer Datuk Nazir Razak’s comment on the New Economic Policy, Dr Chua said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had often expressed similar views.
“Both the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister are aware that any new policy should be one that is market-friendly and based on needs and merits,” he said.
