The government should also look into the issue of Third Party Insurance Coverage where many motor vehicle owners could not purchase insurance coverage. Even could purchase, they were subjected to high premium payments plus payments for some other items. This should be made illegal and the insurance companies should be punished with hefty fines and jail terms to its officers. This practice tantamount to licensed robbery by insurance companies and should be stopped.
Monday, November 8, 2010
SAMAN EKOR
Saman Ekor or police summons issued from speed traps should be abolished! It is unjust and is against the universal rule of natural justice. The motorists and owners of motor vehicles caught by speed traps and those who received Notification of Traffic Offences by way of Polis 170A who failed to pay their summons found themselves blacklisted by the authorities. They could not renew or pay road tax of their vehicles. This policy of the Barisan Nasional government against motorists and owners of motor vehicles are more draconian than action taken against citizens under the Anti-Terrorism and Internal Security laws. Such treatment of citizens are worst than treatment given to communists when communists were around in the country. At least, some communists caught with firearms were brought to trial, but, here there is no trial, but, direct sentencing by blacklisting these motorists and motor vehicle owners from renewing their road tax without a hearing from the court.
To add salt to the pain, citizens also received summons from the police for alleged traffic offences caught by speed traps which happened some ten years ago! One of the saman ekor referred to me was a 1999 summons! How can a motorist remember what happened some ten years ago! The policeman who issued him the summons could have died now! The government should put a stop to this. These motorists in such circumstances were forced to pay their summonses as most of them did not want to go to court.
To add salt to the pain, citizens also received summons from the police for alleged traffic offences caught by speed traps which happened some ten years ago! One of the saman ekor referred to me was a 1999 summons! How can a motorist remember what happened some ten years ago! The policeman who issued him the summons could have died now! The government should put a stop to this. These motorists in such circumstances were forced to pay their summonses as most of them did not want to go to court.
The fine is also very heavy, may be, with interest as they were paid more than RM100.00 – RM300.00 for each offence for such summons. I still remember, ten years ago, motorists were made to pay RM5.00 and the most RM30.00 only. Sometimes, the Ketua Polis Daerah would just cancel the saman ekor. People had become fed-up with this government. They had become more rebellious and hostile towards this government.
The government should put a time limit to these saman ekor. If the alleged offenders could not be traced, say, within oneyear, these saman ekor and also Notification of Offences under Pol.170A should automatically lapse. Most, important all alleged offenders should not be blacklisted as what currently happened now.
DAYAK CULTURAL SCHOOL
While there is a need to build more Chinese schools for the Chinese community, I regret that the Barisan Nasional government had not been sensitive enough to the needs of dayak community. I had once, if I am not mistaken, spoken about dayak education, and I am here pursuing the matter again for the community. We had gained independence for so long but, there is no full fledged dayak school in the state. I am afraid, many dayaks of younger generations to come will themselves not able to understand their culture and language well.
Although it may not be a policy of the Barisan Nasional government to build schools for every race in the Nation, but, we must understand that the dayaks are a huge population in the state and in Borneo. Would we in a multi-racial society like to see dayaks lose their identity and culture? On behalf of the dayak community, I hereby urge that at least, a Dayak Cultural School be built in the State, where dayak children and those interested in dayak culture and language can learn such dayak arts like ngajat, dayak music and customs. The Barisan Nasional government should understand that culture and language, if properly exploited can help boost our tourism industry.
Maybe with the same premises, an Indian Cultural School should also be set up to cater for our Indian community. The Indian community although small, but, had contributed their part to nation building and we should not forget them.
Although it may not be a policy of the Barisan Nasional government to build schools for every race in the Nation, but, we must understand that the dayaks are a huge population in the state and in Borneo. Would we in a multi-racial society like to see dayaks lose their identity and culture? On behalf of the dayak community, I hereby urge that at least, a Dayak Cultural School be built in the State, where dayak children and those interested in dayak culture and language can learn such dayak arts like ngajat, dayak music and customs. The Barisan Nasional government should understand that culture and language, if properly exploited can help boost our tourism industry.
Maybe with the same premises, an Indian Cultural School should also be set up to cater for our Indian community. The Indian community although small, but, had contributed their part to nation building and we should not forget them.
CHINESE EDUCATION
Education is important in nation building and the matter is protected under our Federal Constitution. There should not be any discrimination against the Chinese community in area of education as every race and every Malaysian should be treated equally. With this, the state government is also urged to liaise with the federal government to build more Chinese primary schools in the State. Areas that both the state and federal governments should consider for the building of Chinese primary schools is in Ong Tiang Swee Road in Batu Lintang Constituency in Kuching. Chinese population in the area has been growing in recent years.
Mr. Speaker, I am also much concerned of the recent close down of the Chung Hua Primary School No. 2 which since colonial times had catered students in Padungan and Main Bazaar areas in Kuching. These students were then recently moved to a new site in Stutong area in which is very far for people of Padungan and Main Bazaar. The school had produced many brilliant businessmen and many are leaders in the Chinese community. What the Chinese community in Padungan and Main Bazaar areas need is a Chinese school not very far from their areas. So the best site, I humbly say would be Ong Tiang Swee area where government land is plenty. May both the state and federal government give serious thought for a Chinese school be built in Ong Tiang Swee area.
NATIONAL SECONDARY SCHOOL IN ONG TIANG SWEE ROAD
I have recently met some teachers and parents of students in Sekolah Kebangsaan Ong Tiang Swee in Batu Lintang Constituency and I was told the school since built in 1965 it is still a primary school. This has not been fair to those living in Ong Tiang Swee area and this is one area that the Opposition had always been returned with good votes. With growing population within Ong Tiang Swee and adjacent areas teachers and parents voiced out the need that the school be upgraded at least up to Form 6 level.
The parents told me that with challenging demand of present society in search of livelihood where they had to wake up early to beat traffic jams, they said it wound be stressful to send their children to secondary schools outside their area. The need to pick up their children from secondary schools outside the area in the evenings would cause much stress to the school children as well as they only could reach their homes quite late in the evenings. At the same time, the facilities of the said school had not improved much since 1965. The state government is urged to liaise with the federal government to see that the school be upgraded to secondary school in soonest possible. That is education in this school should be provided from kindergarten to Form Six level.
The parents told me that with challenging demand of present society in search of livelihood where they had to wake up early to beat traffic jams, they said it wound be stressful to send their children to secondary schools outside their area. The need to pick up their children from secondary schools outside the area in the evenings would cause much stress to the school children as well as they only could reach their homes quite late in the evenings. At the same time, the facilities of the said school had not improved much since 1965. The state government is urged to liaise with the federal government to see that the school be upgraded to secondary school in soonest possible. That is education in this school should be provided from kindergarten to Form Six level.
There is no reason that the school should not be upgraded as the matter has been long outstanding. Moreover, government land is plentiful in Ong Tiang Swee area. We now could observe that there are many government quarters being left abandoned in Ong Tiang Swee area and the land had not until now been put into good use. This abandoned land should be used to up grade or for the extension of this Sekolah Kebangsaan Ong Tiang Siang Swee. The school once upgraded should be equipped with modern facilities suitable for students’ need in the city.
POLITICIANS ARE GREEDY, SELF-SERVING AND SELFISH?
The state election is near, but, instead of talking about issues and how to solve issues for the betterment of the state, nation and everybody, what I heard most often is that voters talked about politicians as greedy people and people who are selfish and greedy for power. It is common now that one can hear a Yang Berhomat or his family member be allocated thousands and thousands of hectares of land by the government or was awarded lucrative government contracts and have flashy cars, big houses and properties overseas and living beyond means. Whether these could be true or not, shows that a political illness has to be cured. To attract foreign investments and to boost public confidence in our democratic system, the Country should act like what the Philippines did to Marcos and his family and proper legislations be passed to seize properties ill acquired or properties of those who lived beyond means.
People in the streets are also fed up because politicians instead to be thrifty and careful in public spending will come with ideas for mega projects such as the dams like Bakun, the crooked bridge, the 100 storey skyscrapers and so forth in the hope that they could be awarded the contracts to these mega projects, yet, with inflated costs. The inflated costs will go as political consideration for the award of the projects. It is legal no doubt, but, this is a form of corruption.
It is also common in coffee shops to hear members of the public to say why so and so who is a hard working and honest politician who has his heart close to the people been “killed off” by own comrades and opponents and so on. Although we could not run away from “coffee shop politics”, but, public confidence in our democratic system is waning with negative perceptions against politicians in both camps in this country.
Voters said they should be guided by issues and politicians should be clear in their struggle so that voters could judge for themselves who they should support and elect as their representatives. However, voters are frustrated, confused and sick as politicians are said self-serving and greedy. It is for these reasons that many young educated people are fed up with our democratic system which caused them left the country.
Now, we also have too many people who have not registered themselves as voters as they are also fed-up because we failed to solve the issues about cronyism, favoritisms, racialism, corruption, abuse of power and the like. As politicians, we should be the guiding force for change for the better and should be the guiding force to stop cronyism, favoritisms, racialism, corruptions, abuse of power and so on. If our struggle is not sincere, a day will come that we will regret for failing to do our part when we have the opportunity, but, failed and or neglected to do so.
God has given us everything and everyone should have enough to eat if we are not greedy, but, greed will destroy this world and more people will die of hunger.
We must remember God never sent us here to destroy each other and God never sent us here to take away the wealth that belongs to the country and people. We are only allowed to take what is ours only and we are not to rob others. In this planet, we only need three meals a day and if we eat more than that we may not be healthy. Perhaps, what we should need now is a bit of comfort and some savings for the rainy days. We must understand, once we leave this world, we bring nothing with us, but, only our name to our resting place.
TELEPHONE SERVICE IN GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS
The answering phones did not improve telephone services in statutory bodies and government departments. Many told me that these answering phones are irritating and a nuisance. When a phone call is made, the answering phone performed the job of a telephone operator. The answering phones will say that if you want to speak in English, press 1 and if you want to speak in Bahasa Malaysia, press 2 and so on. The answering phone will take a few minutes to finish talking before it may begin to direct you to which button you should press. As we all know, the longer we spend on the phone the higher our phone bill will be. This is definitely not fair to the consumers.
After pressing the necessary button, you will then be left to wait for the phone to be answered and at times the answer will never come. It is indeed very frustrating when asked to wait and yet you could get the officer to speak to you. What will happen if there is an emergency? The answering phone could not provide the immediate response needed. I would also propose that for government departments and statutory bodies where clients or customers rang up often, to install more phone lines so that there would be better accessibility.
BATU LINTANG NEEDS A GOVERNMENT CLINIC
Batu Lintang Constituency badly needs a government clinic or at least a regular mobile team of medical staff to provide medical services. The Constituency is with growing population and should not be left without a government clinic. The government should understand that government clinics outside the Constituency were always crowded and these clinics no more could accommodate the need of increasing population in Kuching City.
The government should understand that money spent on building the proposed 100-storey skyscraper would be a waste of public money. This huge money should be used for construction of hospitals and medical care facilities. The government should understand that if people are healthy, productivity will increase and there would be less money spent on medical care. In view of this need, it is proposed that a government clinic to be built on the empty piece of land that formerly housed the foodstalls in Tabuan Jaya. If this piece of empty land would not be suitable, I suggest that a plot of land should also be acquired somewhere at Ong Tiang Swee Road for a government clinic to be built in the Constituency.
SARAWAK DAMS
We don’t know the actual money involved, but, it is estimated that we spent 15 billion ringgit to build the Bakun Dam. The government is pleased with the construction and completion of this Bakun Dam, but, we must take a second look before we should build another dam. We must understand that hydroelectric plants are not renewable plant because only constant maintenance will keep the dams going. Maintenance of the dams would be very costly if we want to dams to go perpetually and once not properly maintained the hydroelectricity produced by the dams will stop. We need to understand nothing in this world can last forever, unless God allows it. The possibility that the dams will collapse could not be discounted. We could not discount technical faults in such massive structures, such as breakdown of powerhouse equipments, erosion of spillways, failure of valves, sluice gates get jammed and so forth. These dams being large structures are easily targets for terrorists and we could not discount some mad people out there would re-enact a 911 strike with a hijacked airplane!
For those living near Bakun and Balleh river it is better that you all think of having a safer home. Let it be made known that Sabah and Sarawak did in recent years register earthquakes or tremors many times and such earth tremors can cause cracks or collapse of dams.
We have come across where dams in the world collapsed or cracked. Koyna Dam in Maharasthra, Western India has contributed to earthquakes in recent years including the devastating 1967 Koynanagar earthquake that caused roughly 200 deaths, 2200 injuries and destroyed enough homes to render more than 5000 people homeless. In China Shimantan and Banqiao Dams collapsed in August 1975 where millions were left homeless and deaths count of not less than 20,000. The extent of the damage had remained a state secret. In May 2008, a dam in the Sichuan Province in China was said cracked caused by earthquake.
Now, the state and federal governments are happy that Bakun Dam has been successfully built, but, we may one day see a catastrophe, which I hope will not.
We have come across where dams in the world collapsed or cracked. Koyna Dam in Maharasthra, Western India has contributed to earthquakes in recent years including the devastating 1967 Koynanagar earthquake that caused roughly 200 deaths, 2200 injuries and destroyed enough homes to render more than 5000 people homeless. In China Shimantan and Banqiao Dams collapsed in August 1975 where millions were left homeless and deaths count of not less than 20,000. The extent of the damage had remained a state secret. In May 2008, a dam in the Sichuan Province in China was said cracked caused by earthquake.
Now, the state and federal governments are happy that Bakun Dam has been successfully built, but, we may one day see a catastrophe, which I hope will not.
SWERGAGE SYSTEM IN KUCHING
There was an ecological sanitation pilot project at Hui Sing Garden, Kuching, some years ago. This pilot project was supposed to pave the way for a better sanitation and sewerage system in Kuching City, but, the project has failed. The government in this failed project had spent huge sums of money by calling companies and experts from Norway and Denmark to study and implement the pilot project. Now, the government had left those who participated in this project on their own to take care of the problems that they currently are facing. They could not flush their toilets now as dirty water would gush out of the toilet bowls. Their toilet bowls had been leaking for years now as they could not find spare parts to repair their toilets. They are forced to pay heft water bills because of the leakage of their toilet bowls. Two state ministers who are still here and two mayors who are no more mayors were said had inspected these sanitation project and was aware of the problems faced by the residents affected, but, nothing had been done to solve their problems. The government took a simple and irresponsible way out to solve the problem by just issuing a letter date 22 July, 2008 by telling the residents affected that the government was terminating the project and told them that, “the State Government has gained considerable experiences and knowledge on functionality and performance of the system.”
However, although the State Government said it had gained experiences and knowledge of the functionality and performance of the system, the State Government had failed to learn a lesson from the failed sanitation pilot project at Hui Sing Garden in Kuching by going ahead in full swing the implementation of the sewerage system currently under construction in KUching City without experiments being conducted to determine its effectiveness before full implementation. We agree that a detailed study has been made before implementation, but, what would happen if the system would be broken down and there would not be spare-parts available later on? Who would shoulder the loss and damages incurred by the residents of the affected areas? It is said the contract for the current Kuching City Central Wastewater Management System Package I scheduled for completion in October, 2012 at a cost of about RM530 million with inflated cost of RM78 million involves a company which is said has no experience at all in undertaking such a huge sanitation project. This project has now makes every Sarawakian to foot the extra cost of RM400.
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
Being a lawyer, I hereby declare my interest in this matter touching on the administration of justice. We all want to see an efficient judicial department, but, we should not in pursuit of efficiency forget the importance of justice and the welfare and health of those involved in the administration of justice.
In the pursuit of efficiency, court has been order to sit and hear cases at 8.30 a.m., instead of the usual 9.00 a.m. and quality of work has been compromised. Such a change had affected the daily lives of many members of the police force, prison and court staffs, judges, magistrates, lawyers, witnesses and members of the public. Lawyers, judges and prosecutors now have to work until late night as they have to rush and finish their cases within a certain time frame period. Those involved in court work has short lunch break and cases finished for the day as late as 7.00 p.m. There were cases where judges, lawyers and those involved in the in trials only left court as late as 9.00 p.m. By the time they reached home it would already be very dark. Their kids may have already gone to bed by the time they reached home. They could not now spend much time with their children. In order to finish cases at hand, some judges even suggested trial to continue at weekends.
To police and prison officers, they have to reach their offices even before dawn as they have to get ready the prisoners so that prisoners could reach court before 8.00 a.m. In the long run, the health of those involved in the administration of justice would be affected. This will not be good and the government will in turn, see rising cost in hospital bills from government servants. Time will come that many government servants may just fall sick. The government should first conduct a study and impact of change on the health and psychological effect of such a drastic change before implementing a change in the administration of justice. We don’t want due to work stress a day will come that there could be bad things happening in court which may take lives of judges, lawyers and those involved in the administration of justice.
In the pursuit of efficiency, court has been order to sit and hear cases at 8.30 a.m., instead of the usual 9.00 a.m. and quality of work has been compromised. Such a change had affected the daily lives of many members of the police force, prison and court staffs, judges, magistrates, lawyers, witnesses and members of the public. Lawyers, judges and prosecutors now have to work until late night as they have to rush and finish their cases within a certain time frame period. Those involved in court work has short lunch break and cases finished for the day as late as 7.00 p.m. There were cases where judges, lawyers and those involved in the in trials only left court as late as 9.00 p.m. By the time they reached home it would already be very dark. Their kids may have already gone to bed by the time they reached home. They could not now spend much time with their children. In order to finish cases at hand, some judges even suggested trial to continue at weekends.
To police and prison officers, they have to reach their offices even before dawn as they have to get ready the prisoners so that prisoners could reach court before 8.00 a.m. In the long run, the health of those involved in the administration of justice would be affected. This will not be good and the government will in turn, see rising cost in hospital bills from government servants. Time will come that many government servants may just fall sick. The government should first conduct a study and impact of change on the health and psychological effect of such a drastic change before implementing a change in the administration of justice. We don’t want due to work stress a day will come that there could be bad things happening in court which may take lives of judges, lawyers and those involved in the administration of justice.
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