KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 — Malaysian Armed Forces Chinese Veterans Association (MACVA) honorary secretary Lft Col (Rtd) Wong Ah Jit said his group will remain politically neutral, but its members may state their personal views on Malaysian politics.
He explained that his group was not affiliated with any political party or biased against any.
“We even turned down invitations from the Defence Ministry on an event pertaining the GE14,” he told Malay Mail today at an event commemorating Malayan victims of the Japanese occupation in conjunction with Qing Ming at the Hokkien cemetery here today.
Wong was commenting statements by another similar group, the National Patriots Association (Patriot), cautioning the government over national issues heading into the general election.
He said MACVA has nearly 1,000 members nationwide and some are also in Patriot.
Unlike his group, however, he noted that Patriot was not bound by the Veteran's Act 2012 as it comprised both retired military and police personnel, aside from being registered by the Registrar of Societies (RoS).
Wong highlighted that MACVA was obliged to be politically neutral by law.
“Patriot has a different approach towards issues and they have been expressing their views accordingly,” he said.
At the event today, close to 100 ex-servicemen gathered to offer prayers and laid wreath at the memorial.
