FORMER MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat has no plans to retire

Tee Keat has no plans to retire Press Digest by Kong See Hoh PETALING JAYA (July 18, 2010): FORMER MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat has no plans to retire from politics despite losing the presidential contest in the party polls in March.

Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat

Unlike his predecessors who opted out of active politics after giving up the party top post, Ong has been doing a log of legwork in and outside his Pandan parliamentary constituency and warns that he may have to seek a new platform to continue his political journey should he be dropped from the Barisan Nasional candidates list in the next general election. “If I am dropped (from BN’s candidates list) in the coming general election, then it is not me who forsake the BN or MCA, I will make other arrangements,” he told Oriental Daily News in an interview published on Saturday. He admitted that he had been approached by lobbyists from other political parties before and after the party elections. Asked if he opted to remain in MCA because he did not want to be unfaithful to the party, he quipped that he would have to watch the 1969 Chinese movie “Jilted” or “Fu Xin De Ren” (The Man with the Unfaithful Heart) again to learn how to become a “jilter”. For the former party chief, life goes on as usual 100 days after losing the No. 1 post. In fact, he is working harder than before in serving his constituency and meeting Chinese groups all over the peninsula. Asked if he was laying the groundwork for the next general election, he said that apart from people outside the party, no one in the party dared to invite him to meet them now that he is no longer in power. He foresaw that he would not be fielded again in Pandan in the next elections, and said talk was rife that vice-president Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai would move to defend the Pandan seat. > Selangor MCA wants UPSR to be retained SELANGOR MCA liaison chief Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai said the state MCA agreed with the majority view of the Chinese groups that UPSR should be retained. He announced Selangor MCA’s stand at a meeting of the state liaison committee on Saturday. He said the committee will convey its decision to the party central and explain the stand taken. On Friday, five major Chinese groups – Dong Zong (United Chinese School Committees Association), Jiao Zong (United Chinese School Teachers Association), Hua Zong (Federation of Chinese Associations of Malaysia), Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) and Seven Major Clans Association – voted four to one to oppose the abolition of UPSR (Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah) until the government comes up with an alternative plan to the assessment test. Jiao Zong was the lone “nay-sayer” at the meeting. -- theSun Updated: 05:25PM Sun, 18 Jul 2010