MCA is shameless for washing its hands of problems it should take responsibility for as a component of Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Harapan leaders told Balakong voters at a final ceramah last night before polling for the by-election today.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, who is also the finance minister, said MCA had not taken responsibility for its mistakes, while PH ministers like him racked their brains to reduce the country’s RM1 trillion debt.

“That’s why you should not forgive MCA,” he told a crowd of 800 gathered at Batu 11, Cheras ,for the four-hour ceramah.

Similar messages were echoed by PKR deputy president Azmin Ali, DAP’s Tan Kok Wai and Tony Pua, Amanah’s Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad and Hanipa Maidin, and PH candidate for Balakong, Wong Siew Ki. 

“MCA, I’m telling you tonight, you are responsible because the country is almost bankrupt because you helped Umno and BN. The people must rise and reject you.

“Now the people are struggling because of the country’s huge debt. It’s not just the Malays, Chinese, Indians also suffer,” said Azmin. 

Wong, the DAP candidate, also bluntly called MCA “shameless and lazy” for promoting itself as checks and balances to the government when it had allowed problems created by the previous administration to fester.

“We’re literally wiping your butt. You want to take credit for ‘checking and balancing’ us to wipe your butt? What’s wrong with you? That’s shameless and lazy,” she said.

Lim said MCA picked on him because it didn’t have substantial issues to campaign on.

“They complained that I said I’m Malaysian first. What’s wrong with that? Their politics is just like Umno – Malay first. Pakatan is different.  

“They accused me of betraying the Chinese when I said I’m Malaysian first, when there are people who sold out the country and who robbed the people’s money,” said Lim.

PH leaders have also taken MCA to task for being complicit in backing Umno and PAS’s brand of Malay-Muslim supremacy that threatens to destroy the country’s ethnic and religious harmony. 

Lim, Azmin and DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang were treated like celebrities as the crowd rushed forward to shake their hands and take photographs with them last night. – September 8, 2018.