KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 (Bernama) -- Politics took a back seat when MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat officially opened the SJK Cina Kepong 3 building here today.

Despite being mobbed by reporters who wanted his comments on the current situation in the party, Ong refused to budge.

"Some of you (reporters) here might be tempted to ask MCA-linked questions, but I say, we must do justice to the school. We are here to talk about education.

"To me, it's a matter of priority, education for the community, education that we could solicit commitment from the community would certainly be something more meaningful than the endless political squabbles," he reasoned.

Yesterday, a group comprising 16 party central committee members, on their own, issued a notice to call for an extraordinary general meeting on Nov 28, to decide if fresh party polls should be called.

The notice was issued in accordance with Article 31 of the party constitution.

Nevertheless, the embattled party president chose to comment in his blog, on his "Greater Unity Plan" for the future of the party.

On education, he said the present system of Chinese and Tamil schools should not be viewed as liability, as mother tongue languages were important for the communities.

"We do believe in unity in diversity and under the 1Malaysia concept, there is room for diversity and it should be viewed as an asset, not a liability to the nation," he said.