‘Chinese aware of hudud lies’

Many in the community know claims by DAP and PAS are false, says Chua

MANY Chinese are now more aware that DAP and PAS lied about the implementation of the hudud law, said MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.

He said the Chinese know it was false that hudud law would be able to reduce crime, among others, as claimed by DAP.

“I’m sure the Chinese know this by now. The hudud law affects a lot of things, including the investment climate of our country,” Dr Chua said after giving a pre-annual general meeting (AGM) briefing for party central delegates at Wisma MCA here yesterday.

He said the hudud issue was the most popular topic brought up by central delegates during the briefing and dialogue.

As of 7pm yesterday, many of the 2,341 central delegates had arrived from all over the country for the party’s AGM, which will take place today.

On the Opposition’s proposal in their alternative Budget to set the minimum wage to RM1,100a month, Dr Chua explained that an additional RM12bil will have to be forked out a year to meet this standard.

“This means the cost of workers for a company will shoot up by about 30%. This will cause companies to downsize their staff and cause unemployment,” he said.

Such a policy, he said, would cause the country to go bankrupt.

Dr Chua went on criticise another proposal by the Opposition to abolish tolls, as such a move would see toll collectors and others losing their jobs.

On Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s comment on the importance of mastering Bahasa Malaysia, Dr Chua agreed as it was the national language.

“Everybody realises the importance of Bahasa Malaysia but our mother tongues can also be spoken as well as English,” he said.

At the pre-AGM dinner last night, Dr Chua said more than 50,000 people had applied to join the MCA since the last general election, adding that most of the applicants were women.

“Between last general election and 2010, the party approved some 31,000 applications, 60% of them women below 40,” he said, adding that this showed the people still had faith in the party.

On the upcoming general election, he said there were members lobbying to be candidates and this was a sign that they were confident of winning.

Chua said the party was also the first to provide an insurance plan for its members, he said, adding that so far 700 members had made claims.