Don't trivialise recent exodus of party members, ex-leader tells MCA
Lee Way Loon
Published: Mar 29, 2025 4:00 PM
Updated: 7:15 PM
Summary
- Former MCA vice-president Ti Lian Ker urges the party's leadership to address the recent exodus of members proactively, rather than playing it down.
- Ti believes the defections are part of an orchestrated move by Perikatan Nasional to weaken BN's hold in Johor and Pahang, and that MCA lacks direction.
- He also warns that MCA is failing to attract younger members to its fold.
Former MCA vice-president Ti Lian Ker has called upon the party’s central leadership not to be seen as "lethargic, sluggish, and procrastinating" in their response to the exodus of party members.
Instead, he said the party must be seen to be proactive and pre-empting further escalation of members leaving the party.
One of the most significant departures came when former MCA Youth secretary-general Leong Kim Soon led a group to quit and join Bersatu on March 24.
Ti pointed out that Leong should not be dismissed as a minor figure within the party and that the wave of defections that first began in Johor is now spreading to another BN stronghold, Pahang.
"There is no smoke without fire. I believe the party must take this development seriously rather than hoping for the issue to fade away or assume that this is a minor or a non-problem," he told Malaysiakini in a Chinese-language podcast on Wednesday.
The interview is available today on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
PN’s plan
Elaborating, Ti believed the "exodus" was part of an orchestrated move by Perikatan Nasional to weaken BN’s hold over Johor and Pahang.
He said this shows that PN, especially Bersatu, is an operative party, whereas MCA is still very much in an administrative mode.
Instead, he said the party must be seen to be proactive and pre-empting further escalation of members leaving the party.
One of the most significant departures came when former MCA Youth secretary-general Leong Kim Soon led a group to quit and join Bersatu on March 24.
Ti pointed out that Leong should not be dismissed as a minor figure within the party and that the wave of defections that first began in Johor is now spreading to another BN stronghold, Pahang.
"There is no smoke without fire. I believe the party must take this development seriously rather than hoping for the issue to fade away or assume that this is a minor or a non-problem," he told Malaysiakini in a Chinese-language podcast on Wednesday.
The interview is available today on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
PN’s plan
Elaborating, Ti believed the "exodus" was part of an orchestrated move by Perikatan Nasional to weaken BN’s hold over Johor and Pahang.
He said this shows that PN, especially Bersatu, is an operative party, whereas MCA is still very much in an administrative mode.
Former MCA Youth secretary-general Leong Kim Soon
"Many young members on the ground feel MCA lacks direction, that the leadership does not care about them, or that they have strained relationships with local leaders.
"Take Leong for example - he once contested for the Bentong MCA division chief position but lost to Hoh Khai Mun by just over 20 votes.
"Clearly, he has influence. If I were Bersatu and needed people, I would target this group and recruit them," said Ti, urging MCA’s top leadership to treat the matter seriously.
"I would like to call upon the leadership to conduct a post-mortem and assess what is happening on the ground, rather than avoiding responsibility, dismissing it lightly as if it were not a very pleasant topic to talk about.
"I think that is not a very responsible or responsive leadership," said the former senator, who is based in Pahang.
‘Members upset’
Ti believes that many party members are dissatisfied with MCA’s current state.
"They feel that the leadership should provide a clear direction and have the courage to make firm decisions. We can see that Umno is cooperating well with DAP and PKR, while MCA seems to be treated as if it does not exist.
"I do not wish to criticise the leadership of the president (Wee Ka Siong), but most of the feedback I have received suggests that members want to see action, responses, and leadership.
"They are asking whether MCA’s leaders are actually leading the party or merely staying within their comfort zone," he said.
Ti noted that while MCA is highly efficient in execution and administration, this efficiency has not translated into much-needed political results.
"Take Leong for example - he once contested for the Bentong MCA division chief position but lost to Hoh Khai Mun by just over 20 votes.
"Clearly, he has influence. If I were Bersatu and needed people, I would target this group and recruit them," said Ti, urging MCA’s top leadership to treat the matter seriously.
"I would like to call upon the leadership to conduct a post-mortem and assess what is happening on the ground, rather than avoiding responsibility, dismissing it lightly as if it were not a very pleasant topic to talk about.
"I think that is not a very responsible or responsive leadership," said the former senator, who is based in Pahang.
‘Members upset’
Ti believes that many party members are dissatisfied with MCA’s current state.
"They feel that the leadership should provide a clear direction and have the courage to make firm decisions. We can see that Umno is cooperating well with DAP and PKR, while MCA seems to be treated as if it does not exist.
"I do not wish to criticise the leadership of the president (Wee Ka Siong), but most of the feedback I have received suggests that members want to see action, responses, and leadership.
"They are asking whether MCA’s leaders are actually leading the party or merely staying within their comfort zone," he said.
Ti noted that while MCA is highly efficient in execution and administration, this efficiency has not translated into much-needed political results.
"The younger generation today wants action. They want MCA to be ‘more sexy’ and they think MCA is not attractive, so this is our problem," he said, adding that party leadership should learn from its mistakes.
"We have a membership of over a million, but how many of these members are truly still with MCA? Are they still voting for the party?"
The ‘Ah Q mentality’
On March 24, Bersatu deputy president Hamzah Zainudin, who received the membership forms from Leong and his supporters, appointed Leong as the chairperson for Bersatu’s associate members’ wing in Bentong and Pahang.
Hamzah reportedly claimed that more would be joining Bersatu in the near future and expressed confidence that the party could win the Bentong parliamentary seat in the next general election.
Bersatu deputy president Hamzah Zainudin
Two days later, MCA Youth chief Ling Tian Soon, in an interview with Astro AEC, expressed disappointment with Leong’s departure but insisted on viewing the matter with a sense of normalcy.
"Our party is a large organisation with over 1.04 million members. People come and go. This incident was magnified, which is why it has drawn so much attention," said the Johor state executive council member.
In response, Ti likened this argument to the “Ah Q mentality”, referring to a mindset of self-consolation in avoiding confronting reality.
"I am not calling him ‘Ah Q’, but I do think this kind of argument is very much in line with the ‘Ah Q’ mentality - because it is an attempt to avoid facing the real issue,” he lamented.
The “Ah Q mentality” originates from “The True Story of Ah Q”, a famous satirical novella by Chinese writer Lu Xun.
The titular character, Ah Q, is known for his habit of rationalising failures as victories, using self-deception to maintain a false sense of superiority.
Over time, the term has come to describe a mindset that refuses to acknowledge setbacks or problems, instead finding comfort in illusory success.
"Our party is a large organisation with over 1.04 million members. People come and go. This incident was magnified, which is why it has drawn so much attention," said the Johor state executive council member.
In response, Ti likened this argument to the “Ah Q mentality”, referring to a mindset of self-consolation in avoiding confronting reality.
"I am not calling him ‘Ah Q’, but I do think this kind of argument is very much in line with the ‘Ah Q’ mentality - because it is an attempt to avoid facing the real issue,” he lamented.
The “Ah Q mentality” originates from “The True Story of Ah Q”, a famous satirical novella by Chinese writer Lu Xun.
The titular character, Ah Q, is known for his habit of rationalising failures as victories, using self-deception to maintain a false sense of superiority.
Over time, the term has come to describe a mindset that refuses to acknowledge setbacks or problems, instead finding comfort in illusory success.
Every time one MCA member leaves and joins Bersatu the average IQ in both parties drops.
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