United front: Dr Wee (third from right) with other MCA leaders at the Negri Sembilan MCA convention in Seremban. — Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR: Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) Hospital’s Western medicine department has received the green light to commence operations, says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
“With both the Chinese and Western departments, we aim to extend assistance to more people,” said the MCA president.
“MCA has successfully set up two universities and a specialist hospital. We are determined to actively pursue our mission of serving the community and bringing about benefits to the people,” he said after opening the Selangor MCA convention at Wisma MCA here yesterday.
UTAR Hospital is a teaching and community hospital at the UTAR Kampar campus in Perak.
It comprises, among others, facilities for out-patient and in-patient treatment, diagnostics and treatment, medical and non-medical support, and research and education.
Its traditional and complementary medicine centre, which provides medical care and services in traditional and complementary medicine (TCM) including Chinese, Ayurvedic and Malay medicine, has so far received more than 20,000 patients from throughout the country since it began operations in April last year.
Meanwhile, Dr Wee has urged MCA members to campaign for Barisan Nasional candidates in the spirit of unity within the coalition.
Although the party is sitting out the polls in the six states, he said it would fulfil its role as a Barisan component member.
He spoke of how Barisan component parties had helped MCA to clinch the Tanjung Piai seat in the 2019 by-election, which saw Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng securing the parliamentary constituency with a majority of 15,086 votes.
“Such actions reflected the spirit of unity within Barisan.
“MCA must reciprocate this support,” he added.
He also spoke about the decline in Malaysia’s secularism and multicultural values due to some politicians who manipulated racial sentiments in their speeches.
“As one of the founding fathers of independence and nation-building, MCA must actively focus on self-improvement and maintain close communication with allies in Barisan,” he added.
Earlier at the Negri Sembilan MCA convention in Seremban, Dr Wee said MCA should recruit more young people as part of the party’s rejuvenation process.
Apart from having a proper succession plan in place, he said having more younger members would allow the party to better deal with issues faced by those in the age group.
“I must say that relatively, our members are getting older with those above 40 years now making up about 90%.
“We need to rejuvenate if we wish to stay relevant and to also better understand the problems of the younger generation as we move forward.
“If we do not recruit more young members, then I am afraid there will eventually be a generational gap in the party,” he said.
Dr Wee said the young who were not politically inclined could participate in the party’s non-political activities such as the Crisis Relief Squad Malaysia unit to help flood victims and those facing other problems.
“The young members, including the professionals and graduates, can always start as volunteers. Those who do not wish to be active politically can also join the technical and vocational education and training (TVET), public speaking, educational workshops or do community-related work,” he added.
He said it was important to have more younger members as the legal voting age has been lowered from 21 to 18.
“We need young people who have good social media skills like handling TikTok, so that we can feel the pulse of younger Malaysians,” he added.
