Kedah Umno Youth has denounced its MCA counterpart for demanding the sacking of Umno minister Nazri Aziz, after the latter attended a Chinese New Year event dressed in black.

In a statement yesterday, Kedah Umno Youth chief Shaiful Hazizy Zainol Abidin took aim at the state MCA Youth wing for being too emotional, asking them to “shut their mouths” and focus on the coming general election.

"To us, Kedah MCA Youth has gone overboard by demanding that Nazri be sacked by the party leadership.

"We understand the sensitivity of the Chinese community, but are nevertheless confident that this could be have been resolved internally, instead of in the open," Shaiful said.

China Press reported yesterday that Kedah MCA Youth chief Tan Chee Hiong took issue with Nazri's black attire at a Chinese New Year celebration in Sungai Petani.

In a press conference after the celebration, Tan urged Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to sack the tourism and culture minister for "lacking cultural sensitivity."

According to Shaiful, such “cheap” stunts are not the way to win the support of the Chinese community.  

"They should look at attractive ways and approaches to win the confidence of Chinese voters," he said.

The Kedah Umno Youth wing also said the recent MCA Youth protest against Nazri was unacceptable, claiming that Umno Youth does not react in a similar fashion when there are incidents offending the Malay community.

The MCA Youth protest was staged last Saturday to demand an apology from Nazri for his remarks on billionaire Robert Kuok and MCA.

Instead of such gestures, Shaiful suggested that MCA does better in the coming general election.

"We urge MCA to improve its performance in the next general election.

“Its failure (in the 2013 polls), which saw the party winning only two state seats and no parliamentary seats in Kedah, makes MCA unqualified to demand Nazri’s sacking.

“Our advice is that MCA Youth needs to give its full commitment to strengthening the party machinery.

“Kedah Umno Youth urges MCA Youth to shut up and do its job, and not be so ‘childish’,” Shaiful added.