AUG 1 — Over the last several weeks of June and July, the nationwide roadshow by the MCA Transformation Task Force has been gathering feedback from party members on how it can transform itself to have a much stronger bond with the community.

In these closed-door dialogues, members talked about what changes they want to see in the party. For them, it wasn’t important to dwell on what had happened. Rather, they were concerned with the future. My team and I were extremely encouraged by the “never-say-die” attitude of our members. While I was thinking of how I could lift their spirits, they were instead trying to lift our spirits.

We don’t have any time to waste. The MCA must use all its energy and concentrate on a solution-based approach.

We must ask ourselves hard questions. If the community we serve think we are lacking in some ways, the onus is on us to find out what they think are our shortfalls. If we don’t find out, we will face a rude awakening at the ballot box.

As a service entity, we must constantly ask ourselves: “What do we want to achieve? What are our goals?” Then we work backwards and ask: “How would we rank our situation today, on a scale of 1 to 10?”

We should list out all our current practices, good or bad, that helped us in the last 60-plus years. Thinking in terms of the scale also makes us aware of our progress — how else can we know if we have moved a step closer to “10”?

Despite the recent disappointments, the MCA has many achievements which we are very proud of. We have served the community since 1949 and have been an active partner in government from the first municipal elections in 1955.

What was the know-how and resources that enabled the party to achieve this? It is important that we know this because when we know what works well, we can then reaffirm those practices while continuing to improve. If a particular strategy or practice does not help in moving forward, then we must have the courage to change it.

Then when we have made progress towards our targeted outcome, we must review the work done through its cause and effects. This has to be a continuous cycle. As they say, the only constant in life is change.

Together, the steps above — Outcome, Scaling, Know-How & Resources, Affirm & Action, and Review — form the acronym OSKAR, which provides a basic framework for the process of the MCA’s transformation agenda.

Yes, the Chinese community is very unhappy with some government policies and consequently the MCA has to face the backlash. The core to this disenchantment is the feeling of being alienated. However, this is not all bad. One can only have strong emotion when one cares. To me, what we are seeing today is a result of embedded feelings for our nation — a sign that people care for Malaysia.

It is only to be expected that a hard-working opposition would see opportunities in the people’s frustrations. The MCA must then work even harder to resolve the real issues and put in perspective those which have been overplayed.

I have friends who have been away for a while who are astonished with the savagery of the backlash the MCA is facing. Having a more detached vantage point, they are able to see that perhaps we have been too busy putting out fires caused by our counterparts from the other side that we have forgotten to tell our side of the story.

It is just not enough to busy ourselves doing the work of government. We must also contend with the psych war, which our opponents have excelled in. They score a “10” in creating a constantly angry society! We must learn to address this.

Let me share a story: Once there was a man, Mr A, who shifted into an apartment. His new neighbour began to scold him every day for no reason until he wanted to fight back. But another neighbour told Mr A the other guy was angry because he had his own problems. Mr A then stopped being angry at the neighbour, because he realised the man wasn’t attacking him personally.

This parable can be applied to some Malaysians, who are letting their emotions dictate their thoughts and actions.

Instead of looking for scapegoats to get angry at, the Chinese community has to look beyond its own problems and understand that other communities in Malaysia have their own issues too.

The MCA, as part of Barisan Nasional, has to find solutions that will help to shift the paradigm of the Chinese mindset. A more holistic approach is necessary.

From our many encounters with the community, I know that even purely Chinese-centric issues must be viewed within the Malaysian context. There is actually no other way. But first, we have to stop behaving like Mr A and his neighbour being angry at each other all the time.

What is the outcome we want to work towards? To have a moderate and progressive Malaysia, where we work, laugh and share with our neighbours.

That  must be our starting point.

* Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai is the MP of Bentong, Pahang. Follow him on his blog (www.liowtionglai.com/blog), or on Twitter (@liowtionglai).

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.