MCA has appointed 30 coordinators in Penang – eight to parliamentary constituencies and 22 to state seats – to work on the ground and build a service network as the Chinese party pools its resources to help Barisan Nasional (BN) regain power in the upcoming 15th general election (GE15). 

Penang MCA liaison committee chairman Tan Teik Cheng said 80% of the coordinators are “new faces” or political rookies, adding that they may not necessarily be picked as BN candidates for the election. 

Tan, who is also MCA vice-president, said BN has yet to decide on seat allocations.

In GE14, MCA was allocated 10 seats, while Gerakan, another component party of BN in Penang, was allocated 13 seats. 

Tan said the main task for the coordinators is to service the people in various constituencies and build rapport with young, first-time voters. 

He said if these coordinators do get picked as candidates by the BN leadership, then their work with the people would be seamless as they would already be known to the voters.

The 30 coordinators are reported to be mostly graduates and professionals. Of the eight appointed to the parliamentary constituencies, one is a doctorate holder, one has a master’s degree, four have bachelor’s degrees, one is a lawyer and the other is a senior engineer. 

Of the 22 appointed to the state seats, three of them have doctorates, two have master’s degrees, nine have bachelor’s degrees and four are diploma-holders. Of the professionals among them, one is an engineer while three are lawyers. Most are said to be under 45 years old, with a few aged above 50.

Tan said appointing political rookies as coordinators is a bold move by the party as it displays the reforms MCA is making after a disastrous GE14. 

He said apart from a good tertiary education, the coordinators must master three languages. 

He said all coordinators were required to pass a language test administered at the MCA headquarters. 

“They needed to be assessed on their abilities to lead and if they fit the criteria to be a candidate,” Tan said.

“All votes matter. We can no longer assume that Chinese votes will automatically go to MCA or the Indian votes to MIC.”

Penang has 13 parliamentary constituencies and 40 state constituencies. 

In GE14, Umno contested in five parliamentary constituencies, with MCA and Gerakan standing in four each. 

Of the 40 state seats, Umno contested in 15, MCA contested in 13, Gerakan in 10 and MIC in only two. 

Before the dissolution of the state assembly for GE14, BN was in power in the state with 37 seats.

Tan said for GE15, there will be around 270,000 new voters in Penang. 

The additions are those who were automatically registered, as well as Undi18 voters.

Tan said a survey showed that young voters are more interested in the well-being of the country’s economy and are tired of racial and hate politics. 

“They also don’t like it when politicians fight for positions. 

“I am also made to understand that some young people are influenced by their parents on how or for whom they should vote. 

“But I believe young voters can make up their own minds. They have their own ideas.

“They can now access a lot of information. So it’s up to the various political parties, (including) MCA, how they pitch themselves to attract young voters to support them,” Tan said.

Citing the Johor election results as an example, he said a BN post-mortem showed that first-time voters there generally supported the opposition coalition, and that was the reason BN won the state elections. 

Tan said while BN won and boosted its chances for GE15, the scenario may not be the same for Penang, whose voters are mainly Chinese. 

“(The situation in) Johor gave us good feedback, but the situation in Penang is different from other states where Chinese voters have high expectations and whose votes could go either way.”

Tan said the chances of MCA doing well in Penang in GE15 are much better as he claimed “the Chinese voters are no longer as supportive of DAP as they were in the 2018 general election”.

“Voters tend to gravitate towards service-oriented state legislators. We once asked people who asked MCA for help why they didn’t seek help from state legislators, and this one person told me that YB (state legislator) would only tell him to go to this and that department to solve the problem himself.

“It’s unlike MCA’s one-stop service to solve problems for the people,” he said. 

“Our main aim is to provide a wide range of services to the public.

“We found that the upper middle class and businessmen have seen the true face of PH (Pakatan Harapan) in the 22 months it was in power. 

“They are starting to change their perception of MCA.” 

Tan said for GE15, MCA is targeting the 40% of the voting public who are considered swing voters.

He said it is not impossible for BN to regain power in Penang, and is optimistic that it will get the support of voters. – July 30, 2022.