IN the last three years, MCA has quietly reconnected with more than 550,000 of its members in preparation for the 14th general election.

Via phone calls, door-to-door visits and promotional activities, the discreet campaign by the second largest component party in  Barisan Nasional aims to strengthen electoral support for the ruling coalition.

MCA deputy president Wee Ka Siong confirmed there was an ongoing campaign to touch base with its members. 

The ethnic Chinese party has about 1.1 million members, but political analysts say a large membership base may not necessarily translate into votes.

While it was no small feat for MCA to reach out  to more than half a million members in three years, said political analyst Dr Phoon Wing Keong,  there was no guarantee that these members will vote for MCA in the coming elections.

“A lot of MCA members don’t support their own party. Many joined the party for business purposes, to get contracts. These are the members who may vote for the DAP,” said Phoon.

For instance, although MCA had more than a million members in 2013, only 661,469 Chinese Malaysians voted for BN. In contrast, 2.92 million Chinese Malaysians voted for the now-defunct opposition pact Pakatan Rakyat.

As a result, MCA suffered its worst electoral outing in history, winning only seven federal seats and 11 state seats in total. It was a sharp decline compared with the 15 parliamentary seats and 31 state seats it won in 2008.

Phoon said while the DAP had only about 84,000 members prior to the 2008 elections, it went on to win more than a million votes in the polls.

In 2013, DAP won 38 out of 51 parliamentary seats and 95 out of 103 state seats it contested.

Although DAP doubled the number of its members to 160,000 in 2014, its membership is still less than 15% of MCA’s.

PKR won more than 20 parliamentary seats in 2013 even though its membership roll was also far more smaller than MCA’s, said Phoon.

Political analyst James Chin agreed a large member base did not always translate into support at the polls.

“The kingmaker is the general public who are non-members,” said Chin, adding that many Chinese Malaysians were unhappy with MCA over its silence on the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal and its subservience to Umno.

Phoon said MCA, being more than 60 years old, would have accumulated many members but this had nothing to do with its political strength.

“Submitting a form is enough to be a member; there is no selection or screening and as long as you are willing to join and pay the fee, you’re in. In comparison, political parties in Singapore and China are stricter, they screen and filter before admitting members.

“This is why MCA has so many inactive members,” Phoon said.

He said MCA also needed to get rid of the “ghost members” that were added to the membership roll nearly 10 years ago when its  former deputy president Chua Soi Lek and former president Ong Tee Keat were engaged in a power struggle.

Phoon said MCA was better connected to various Chinese associations, compared with DAP.

However, he said it was more important for MCA to focus on improving the quality of its members, and to work on its articulation, analysis and research on public policy to attract better quality members.

“Otherwise, even if you have more members, it is just loose, bulky machinery.” – February 10, 2018.