Stop Obsession with cabinet Posts: Tee Keat

MCA members should stop their obsession with holding cabinet posts and focus instead on resolving the woes of the grassroots , party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said yesterday.
"Having the people's aspirations in mind would be something more positive than being obsessed with personal political gains, particularly in relation to ministership," he said.
Ong praised his deputy, Datuk Dr Shua Soi Lek, for his willingness to head the party's government policy monitoring bureau, which will keep tabs on the ministries headed by MCA ministers.
"This is in line with what I said earlier because when I said that we needed to form such a bureau to handle the people's feedback, we must keep the people's aspirations in mind," h e said.
"I am glad he shares my view."
Ong said Chua, a former health minister, was "perhaps the best person" to advise new ministers appointed after the March 8 general election.
"As a former minister, he would be in a very good position to tell us about some of the issues currently confronting us. Issues do not come into place suddenly or abruptly," he said.
Ong , who is the transport minister, told a press conference his ministry is re-examining the e-Kesihatan Programme, which it cancelled earlier.
"For now, the concessionaire has been informed of the government's decision to discontinue with the agreement," he said.
"The project has been reffered back to the Road Transport Department(RTD) to re-look at the format as well as the details of the agreement. We need to look at it again, to look at the limitations and at the same time, we need to come up with something that will serve the public's purpose.
"We need to ensure medical certification of the fitness of public transport drivers, that is a must.
But we do not want to make it burdensome. So we have to strike the right balance between both."
Respondinh to calls to use the Emergency Ordinance to curb the mat rempai menace, Ong said:" In my opinion, the nations is not short of laws. If we,as a nation, were able to defeat a militant insurgency, we should be able to handle a social ill like this."
Asked about the mobes by PAS to open up to chinese supportes, Ong said such overtures were not new.
"Any party, including PAS, has a right to reach out to any segment of the populace. We shouldn't have qualms about it." he said.
"The current outreach proposal is not something new.... if we were to trace back 2 years, 10 1986, when the Chinese Consultative Council(CCC) was mooted and formed by PAS. The CCC has been defunct for years, without an explanation. It would be good for PAS to explain why the CCC was defunct before they came to a new iniative."
Ong had earlier launched Jalan Multimedia in i-City and and welcome the initial batch of tenants to i-City at Concierge@i-City here.