KOTA KINABALU: Independent Luyang assemblyman Dr Hiew King Cheu yesterday formally submitted his application to join MCA via Sabah MCA state Chairman Wilfred Yong.
With MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and state MCA leaders as witnesses, the former Sabah DAP chief handed over his application to Yong.
Liow said Dr Hiew’s decision to join MCA through the party’s Kota Kinabalu division would enable him to serve his Luyang constituents even more effectively.
“I welcome Dr Hiew into MCA to continue and assist the people in Luyang and Sabah. Most importantly Dr Hiew has been a dedicated and committed assemblyman serving the people in Luyang and he needs a good platform to perform and deliver the results.
“I am confident with the blessing (and) support from the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman this platform will be a big platform for Dr Hiew to serve the people. I appreciate his commitment to continue to serve,” he told reporters.
Liow assured Dr Hiew that he will have the fullest cooperation from MCA central, state as well as division to ensure smooth service and commitment to the people in the aspect of bringing more development to the constituency.
According to Liow, Hiew’s joining MCA would enable Barisan to engage more with the people and this would contribute positively to the country’s development.
“We cannot as a country continue on a destructive path and be divided along racial lines. We need to focus on developing this country to achieve our aspirations of becoming a developed nation by 2020,” Liow said.
Among those present were Sabah MCA Wanita Chief and Kota Kinabalu division chairman Datuk Agnes Shim and state party secretary Datuk Chew Kok Woh.
To the question if he foresees objections from other Barisan Nasional component parties over Hiew’s move of joining MCA, Liow replied, “Dr Hiew’s application is a very special case because he contested in MCA’s constituency. Luyang is MCA’s seat. If he wanted to join another party other than the one that was allocated the seat, then that would need the relevant parties consent.
“I have consulted the PM as well as Sabah CM and they have given me their blessing and they also feel very happy for Dr Hiew to make this very important decision to contribute to the government as Luyang had been MCA’s seat,” he said.
Barisan Nasional had fielded Shim to contest the Luyang seat won by Hiew on the DAP ticket in the May 2013 polls. Hiew subsequently quit the opposition party last September.
Prior to this there had been speculations of Hiew possibly joining another Sabah Barisan Nasional component, the Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) but PBS had been very adamant that this would be against the agreement the Coalition has with regards to an opposition elected representative applying to join BN.
Meanwhile Yong said Dr Hiew joining MCA meant that the party once again had a representative in the State Assembly to voice the aspirations and needs of the various communities here, including the Chinese and this was important for Sabah MCA.
Yong pointed out that the party had not had a voice in the State Assembly after former Sabah MCA chief Datuk Edward Khoo failed in his bid to defend the Kapayan seat in the last election.
Hiew in thanking Liow and the MCA leadership for accepting him into the party, said his role now was not only serving his constituents better, but also to create more awareness about the good things that have been done for the people by the ruling government.
“My job now is to make the people understand what the government is doing for them. Whatever good the government has done is usually overlooked but any problems or issues are blown out of proportion,” he added.
Shim meanwhile added that Hiew’s move to join MCA was further proof that only Barisan Nasional could serve the people effectively.