MCA: Women members have better touch when engaging people

PETALING JAYA: MCA’s women members fare better when it comes to reaching out to voters, says the party’s Wanita chief.

Datuk Heng Seai Kie said a woman’s natural traits of patience, tolerance, caring and kindness come in handy when engaging with people.

As of October last year, Wanita MCA had 456,970 members, constituting 41.8% of MCA’s total membership. They are all also part of Jalinan Rakyat Plus (JR Plus), a nationwide programme to get in touch with the grassroots.

“We understand the differences between urban and rural voters. We have different strategies for reaching out to both,” Heng said.

Wanita MCA has submitted a list of 29 potential candidates to the party leadership for the general election, she said. However, they are being realistic. “We have to prioritise the party’s interests. The candidates’ chances of winning, and not gender, is the ultimate deciding factor,” she said.

Heng added that those on the list had been advised to work hard on the ground and touch base with the people to increase their chances.

She said earlier that female representation in the Cabinet and state assemblies was only 10.4%.

She believed that exposure to the issues championed during International Women’s Day and the conversation on having 30% women at board level would have increased awareness of female representation among women voters.

“Given a choice, a woman voter will support a woman candidate, provided that the latter can prove her capabilities,” Heng said.

MCA vice-president Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun noted that MCA was the first party to amend its constitution so that division Wanita chiefs could automatically become central delegates.

Chew, who is slated to contest in the Raub parliamentary seat, said that there was no straightforward answer regarding the optimum number of women candidates.

“We want more to be fielded, but there are many factors to consider,” she said.