For Chua, work comes first

By Teoh El Sen - Free Malaysia Today

FMT EXCLUSIVE KUALA LUMPUR: While still haunted by allegations of nepotism, new kid on the block Chua Tee Yong -- son of MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek -- has decided to follow in his father's footsteps and ignore his critics.

The 33-year-old Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry, the youngest deputy minister in the current line-up, told FMT that he was "not too bothered" by all the talk.

Chua's current priority is work, he said, which he described as "hectic" so far.

In the second and last of FMT's two-part interview with Chua, the first-term Labis MP tells us more about his recent appointment and what he thought about MCA's chances in the next general election.

Noticeably reluctant to talk about speculations on his appointment and also on second-term Gelang Patah MP Tan Ah Eng's anger at being allegedly sidelined for his post, Chua instead chose to dwell on his ministry's problems and successes.

Tan was the other name submitted by Dr Chua to the Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak for the Cabinet post. She was, understandably, upset as she is currently the only one among all the 15 MCA MPs who has never held a government post.

Speaking on MCA and the next general election, Chua said in the current political scenario there was no such thing as a safe seat anymore and admitted that similar to the Pakatan Rakyat, MCA had done its fair share of good, as well as bad.

Chua, who was appointed to the MCA central committee in November last year and presidential council in April, said with his Cabinet appointment, he was still "managing by" and indicated that he had no immediate ambitions for a higher MCA post.

Although he never directly mentioned his father in the interview, Chua did show support for the new leadership, which he said was trying its best to reunite party members and, more importantly, gaining back the support of the rakyat.

Here are excepts of the interview:

FMT: On to politics and MCA, people say that you are not qualified enough or too young for the deputy minister's job. What do you think about such perception and does that affect your performance?

Chua Tee Yong: I think there is no need to reply to that; I think in life you don't have to reply to every accusation that is hurled at you. Because then you would be wasting or investing your time in just answering them.

And some people say your father's position helped you get here. And your appointment was based on "nepotism" or "cronyism" rather than merit. How do you respond?

Some believe in my ability and some are congratulating me. I believe there would be a range of responses. I must thank the prime minister for trusting my ability and giving me confidence. I think I will just concentrate on doing my work and not be worried about what people say, because in politics there are always varied opinions of any decisions that we make anyway. So I am not too bothered.

How about (Gelang Patah MP) Tan Ah Eng; people say she was more senior and deserved the post more than you?

I think I do not need to go into her case as she has already said what she has to say. That's it. I don't have to say anything on that.

So far, how has your appointment been?

With my appointment as deputy minister, I would like to thank my constituents. Without their support the past two years, (things) would not have been easy.

In any constituency, the local people play a role to help you to reach out to a wider group of people. I would also thank the MCA and the prime minister for their support. Since I've been appointed, it has been hectic.

In layman's language, can you tell us about what your ministry does?

The Ministry of Agriculture is supposed to provide the services and funds necessary to ensure that we have a certain level of production of food, livestock, and fisheries to sustain the demand and consumption of our country. But, of course, this is ultimately what we hope for, but to attain self-sufficiency is not as easy as it is hoped.

What is your scope of duty in your capacity as deputy minister?

I'm not given a specific task. But the most important thing is to look at where the issues are to help out the rakyat.

How do you feel about your current post in agriculture, do you like the ministry you are in? Do you think you were made for this or do you aspire or think you would be better utilised elsewhere?

I think it's okay... the post I'm having. The most important thing in any post is we need to take the trouble to know it -- to have briefings and dialogues and to go to the ground to understand the issues and try to resolve them.

In any ministry, at the end of the day we are trying to help the rakyat.

You cannot say that if you are trained as an accountant, you have to be in the finance ministry. Likewise, I don't think anyone who study a certain profession must work in the profession they are supposed to be in. I know of farmers who are doctors, engineers and accountants. I believe my experience as an internal and external auditor does help, because with that (background), I would be able to understand issues and deal with management.

Does your duties overlap with the minister's?

We have to maintain contact at all times. We also have our weekly post-Cabinet meetings which is also a good venue for us to see what are the issues being looked at by himself and me. The ministry is big enough to avoid overlapping (laugh). There is certainly a lot of things we need to look at. Certainly there are things we need to improve, things we need to put more effort into to ensure the industry grows -- especially industries we are promoting such as ornamental fish, birds' nest and certain fruits we are looking at.

What are the main challenges of handling this ministry?

Obviously there would be challenges, as we all know. One problem we always have is that we don't own most of the land as it is confined to the state. Every state regardless of whether it is under Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, has its own priorities. And usually, development is the key as revenue is gauged by how much they (the state) can get by in terms of land tax, assessment and things like that.

In that sense, can we say that agriculture is slowly being pushed aside here?

I think this is happening in every country, not only in Malaysia. Even in China. In Singapore, there is virtually no agriculture. And in Japan and Taiwan, you have to specifially allocate places for planting.

You mentioned that there are some things you are proud of?

The things the ministry would be proud is the fact that despite whatever inefficiency, we have tried to and have actually successfully maintained a 70% self-sufficiency.

Let's take ornamental fish: the value of our exports here has risen from RM106 million in 2004 to more than RM748 million in 2008. We are trying to increase it even higher. We mainly export Arowana, gold fish, and so on to Europe and the US. But we are not a big player, as the whole industry is worth RM27 billion.

Moving back to MCA, how well do you think the party will do in next general election? What is its position now?

Everyone hopes for a good win in any general election; we don't go in hoping to lose big. We can't tell at this moment whether the next general election will be positive or otherwise. But we are trying our best to reach out to the people and voters. Of course, there will always be issues; likewise, if you look at Selangor, in the two years (Pakatan Rakyat has been governing it), it is already handling some "time bombs". But I do admit that the BN, throughout its 50 years (in power), had had its fair share of good things and also weaknesses.

And how do you see MCA in Johor: is it losing its base?

I think in the current political scenario, there's no such thing as a safe seat. Every election or by-election would require the efforts of the candidate and the machinery to run it smoothly. It is no longer the scenario where you put a 'stone' there and it would definitely win.

How do you see MCA in the future with DAP now in the lead getting in new voters?

To be fair, it's not just DAP but PKR and PAS are also doing this (getting new voters). At the division level, we are already recruiting new voters and members are also starting to work. MCA was in an internal turmoil for awhile, and with the new leadership, more emphasis is being placed to reunite members and do the necessary.

There are now more presidential council meetings to discuss more issues, and we do make a stand on certain topics regardless of whether people agree or disagree. There is also the effort to look at the 10th Malaysia Plan to structure it to what the Chinese community hopes for. We are also having more dialogues with NGOs, associations and residents to get a better feel and reach out to the voters.

How about yourself? In your position, would you contest any posts in the next party election?

Ever since I became an MP, my focus was to acclimatise and get to know my job well and get to know my constituency and touch base with the people in my constituency. But after I was appointed (as deputy minister), I had a whole new ball game to look at in terms of the ministry and its functions and the problems faced.

So I don't really think about that (contesting for party posts) at this moment. But obviously, politicians harbour ambitions, hopes and aspirations, but I'm currently just concentrating (on my current job) and managing it by.

There are so many associations wanting to have dialogue with us. But so far it is still manageable and this is also due to the support of my family.

I would also like to thank my wife for this. Because it's not beeen easy in the sense that there won't be much time for them.