Speaking to FMT, he said this meant that MCA must go back to the basics and consider how to unite its members.
“Since the 13th general election, the leaders have been saying that the party needs to reform, but they never did anything. This general election, we really lost everything.
“MCA needs a fresh start, and whoever is going to lead the party next must start showing that they care.”
Yap said MCA had neglected its members and had failed to help them, even during the May 9 polls.
“If you don’t even want to help your own members, how do you expect to reunite the party?” he added.
Yap held the Serdang seat from 1974 until 2008, when he lost to DAP’s Teo Nie Ching. He lost to Ong Kian Ming in the following election in 2013.
A former DAP member himself, Yap had left the party for MCA, claiming that Lim Kit Siang who was chairman at the time was a dictator.
When asked who could best lead MCA in its efforts to reform, Yap said it was more important to ensure a balanced mix of fresh and experienced faces.
“The voice of the youth is important, but if they don’t have experience in politics, how are they going to lead the party?
“The party needs a good mix of young and old in its leadership line-up. You cannot eliminate the veteran leaders because there are leaders in Pakatan Harapan (PH) who have way more experience than our youth leaders.
“If you get rid of the older leaders, who is going to take on people like Kit Siang and Dr Mahathir Mohamad?”
‘Where’s their manifesto?’
Likewise, Yap said, there must be concrete steps taken to put in place an agenda for reform.
“Those who are seeking to contest leadership posts must be serious about wanting to revive the party. They must not just treat the party as a platform for their personal interests.”
One such step, he said, would be to come up with a manifesto.
“They must come up with a manifesto as the division elections are coming up. Once the elections are done, identify the strong leaders and start rallying for support to help reform the party,” he added.
He also suggested that MCA reduce its membership to focus on a smaller membership base.
“Those who are not happy with the party, let them leave. You don’t need so many members.
“They can reduce membership to about 250,000,” he said. “We don’t need quantity; we need quality.”
MCA is one of the remaining parties in the BN coalition following the exit of Gerakan in the aftermath of the May 9 election.
It was nearly wiped out in the polls, winning only the Ayer Hitam parliamentary constituency and two state seats, Titi Tinggi (Perlis) and Cheka (Pahang).
In the 2004 general election, MCA won 31 federal seats and 75 state seats in one of its best performances. However, the tables appear to have turned after 2008, when the party won only 15 federal seats and 32 state seats.
Its performance slid further in 2013, when it won seven parliamentary seats and 11 state seats.
‘Give way to younger leaders’
Former MCA member and Subang Jaya assemblyman Lee Hwa Beng agreed that MCA needed to reform but said former leaders must give way to younger ones.
“They are returning and refusing to let go because of the assets that MCA still owns.
“How old will former leaders like Dr Chua Soi Lek and Donald Lim be in 10 years’ time?”
If they really cared for the community, he added, they would let younger leaders like Gan Ping Sieu and Chong Sin Woon do the job.
“They are capable enough to lead change.”
He added that not all was lost with the party as any democracy needed a strong opposition to provide checks and balances for the ruling government.