Ong Tee Keat dares MCA to admit it
UPPERCAISE
“…of course we are marginalised, big business to small stall owners know that — but MCA cannot admit it … silence is sometimes our only valid response”
Ong Tee Keat, then MCA vice-president, quoted in 2006 US diplomatic cable
A week after his remarks on marginalisation of Malaysia Chinese were revealed in a US diplomatic cable, former MCA president Ong Tee Keat has challenged the current party leadership to state their views on whether the Malaysian Chinese community feel left out, as he had said in 2006.
In a statement last night, Ong stood by the remarks attributed to him in a leaked US diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks. He explained the context in which his remarks were made: private comments in “casual conversation with academics and friends” during which he was asked about Singapore statesman Lee Kuan Yew’s comments that the Chinese communities in Malaysia and Indonesia were marginalised.
He said his remarks merely put forward the prevailing views held in the Chinese community at the time. And Ong said that it was up to MCA to decide if they share the sentiment of the Chinese community — a statement likely to be viewed as a clear challenge for the MCA to speak up and admit it.
