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Wednesday, 18 November 2009

Thought Of Returning To Cabinet Never Occurred To Me - Soi Lek

By Alan Ting

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 (Bernama) -- MCA Deputy President Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said Tuesday the thought of going back to the cabinet has never occurred to him.

"I never think of any government post. I have never asked for any post, not even in the GLCs (Government-Linked Companies), or whatever it is. If anybody thinks I'm fighting because I want to go back to the cabinet, I think they will fall flat on their face.

"If they think I want to fight because I want to be appointed to any statutory body like KTMB, then they are wrong. You can check with anybody. I never asked for this," he told Bernama in an interview.

Instead, Dr Chua said, he did not understand why some people wanted to link the greater unity plan (GUP) with a cabinet position when he already made it clear that he was not asking for any government position.

"Why must GUP be linked to a cabinet position?" he asked. "I'm happy with what I have and what I am. If people want to find fault with me all the time, they can carry on. I was quite amazed when one person wanted to be personal with me during the briefing on Sunday. He was chased out," he said.

During the briefing on GUP at the party headquarters, a grassroots leader from the party's Selayang division raised the issue of Dr Chua's involvement in a sex DVD scandal and was asked to leave the meeting by the other grassroots members.

Dr Chua said that even during his tenure as a member of the Johor Education Foundation, he had discouraged his children from applying for study loans from the foundation.

Instead, they had to further their studies with other scholarships, he added.

On the meeting between the MCA and top leaders of the Chinese community Monday night, Dr Chua said the community leaders expressed their concern and wanted the party's internal conflict to be resolved as soon as possible.

"They felt that there was nothing that cannot be discussed and settled within a short possible time," he said.

Apart from that, Dr Chua said, the party also discussed with the community leaders matters related to the economy, and they were generally supportive of the Prime Minister's economic initiatives.

"They said the Prime Minister is on the right track, (implementing measures) such as the relaxation of the quota ruling (of 30 per cent Bumiputera equity requirement for 27 services sub-sectors) and (deregulation of the) Foreign Investment Committee (FIC) guidelines but they felt more needed to be done in order to attract direct foreign investment.

"They also agreed that we (Malaysia) are too dependent on foreign workers, which we (the MCA) have raised before," he said.

Dr Chua also said that during the meeting, the community leaders also wanted the government to give financial aid, in a systematic manner, to Chinese schools and independent schools.

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