Saturday, November 12, 2011

FMT - Overseas M’sians indignant with MCA

PETALING JAYA: MCA president, Chua Soi Lek, swiftness in clarifying the party’s stand on overseas voting came a little too late. Word had already reached Malaysians abroad and they have taken the party to task for it.

MCA central committee member, Ei Kim Hock, told the parliamentary election reform panel yesterday morning that Malaysians living abroad were unqualified to vote as they were “out of touch” with the country’s current affairs.

He added that MCA’s research had shown that most of these Malaysians only received information from dubious sources which may not paint a true picture of the situation here.

Within a few hours Chua chastised Ei for his improper explanation and clarified that MCA opposed overseas voting because of the “logistical nightmare” and resources needed for its success.

But by this morning FMT had received emails from Malaysians mostly residing in the US and UK expressing indignance over Ei’s statement.

Slamming Ei’s comments as “ludicrous”, “rhetorical” and “patronizing”, these Malaysians stated that they made an extra effort to keep abreast of Malaysia’s current affairs because of the very fact that they live abroad.

They also emphasized that their news sources comprised mainstream and alternative news portals, TV channels and blogs including Buletin Utama, Harian Metro, The Star, FMT, Malaysiakini, The Malaysian Insider and NST.

Juliana Zulkifli, an academic in Essex, said that Ei’s statement ‘is expected’ from a Barisan Nasional (BN) component party that stands to lose the most when Malaysians abroad vote.

She also noted its irony given the amount of effort and money spent by BN over the past decade in coming to “talk and update” the overseas Malaysian community of matters back home.

“The statement also seems counter-intuitive to movements such as the overseas Umno, MCA and MIC clubs sprouting here which are not exclusively helmed by students,” Juliana said.

“If BN is actively engaging members of the Malaysian community abroad then why deny them the right to vote?” she added.


Related Post

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...