Call for Royal Commission of Inquiry on how the dreams and aspirations of Sabahans and Sarawakians in forming Malaysia had been fulfilled or  betrayed in the past five decades

Last month, together with DAP MPs Hiew King Cheu (Kota Kinabalu), Teo Nie Ching (Serdang) and Lim Lip Eng (Segambut), I visited Kota Belud and Tuaran, which left us with one abiding impression – how the dreams of Sabahans in forming Malaysia had been betrayed in the past five decades.

In Kota Belud, 800 students and 54 teachers of SMK Tambulion have been suffering daily from the worst and most disgraceful 8km road which covered them in dust, turning them into orang putih, an ordeal which will last another year or two.

But this was not the only outrage in Kota Belud, for we visited Camp Paradise military complex meant to house 1,800 personnel. What we saw were impressive high-rise quarters which were virtually empty. Camp Paradise is now Ghostland Paradise with only some 35 personnel in a complex for 1,800 people – what a gross waste of public funds.

Will the Defence Ministry decide that no new army complexes would be built in the country until Camp Paradise is fully utilised?

We also visited the Jelapang Padi in Kota Belud where 5,300 acres of padi land and 500 houses were flooded under six feet of water in January caused by absence of proper drainage and irrigation system.

In Tuaran, we found that it deserves  a place in the Book of Records.

This is what I tweeted from Tuaran:

In Tuaran attend DAP CNY OH Sabah tale of horrors continue Tuaran has most unique hospital not just Msia but world – without a single bed!

150k ppl Tuaran have 2go2KK 4hospitalisation Big shame! 4nearly 30 yrs string of promises 2build ward w beds never met #Save Sabah/Malaysia!

2nd Tuaran horror Dy educ minister Fuad promised last yr work on new secondary school in Pekan Nabalu near Tuaran wld start b4 Xmas Not kept

Horror3 – 1994 Umno/BN promised 2build bridge over Sg Damit Tuaran Promises repeated in 4 gen elections Never kept #Save Sabah/Malaysia!

Our visits to Kota Belud and Tuaran have confirmed the shocking neglect, discrimination and marginalization of the ordinary Sabahans regardless of race, religion or region by a handful of political opportunists who have waxed rich from the wealth of the state of Sabah while the people of Sabah had been reduced to the poorest in Malaysia.

2013 in three years’ time mark Sabah’s 50th anniversary in the formation of Malaysia. It is appropriate in preparing for the occasion to seriously assess whether the dreams of Sabahans in 1963 to form Malaysia together with Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia had been fulfilled or betrayed.

Have the people of Sabah been granted their full citizenship rights as Malaysians in the past five decades?

Let the debate and soul-searching begin as to how one of the richest states in Sabah had been reduced in five decades to become the poorest state in the federation.

In the nineties, the Barisan Nasional promised Sabahans that poverty in Sabah would be eradicated in the year 2,000. However, instead of abolishing poverty in 2000, Sabah’s poverty rate became the worst in the whole of the country.

Barisan Nasional next promised that hard-core poverty in Sabah would be abolished in 2010. This is another candidate heading for the mountainous dump heap of Barisan Nasional broken promises, in Sabah and in Malaysia!

Sabahans and Malaysians remember that to topple the PBS Sabah government, Umno and Barisan Nasional pledged that if they come to power in Sabah, they would be genuine power-sharing through the rotation of the post of Sabah Chief Minister among the three major communities in the state.

What is the Umno/Barisan Nasional record of their rule of Sabah in the past 16 years since 1994?

UMNO/BN had betrayed their pledge of power-sharing by rotation of Sabah Chief Minister’s post as in the past 16 years, the Chief Minister’s post was held by a Kadazan native for 9 months, Chinese for 4 years and Umno for more than 11 years!

Nothing could be more eloquent than this episode to highlight the enormity of the breach of faith and betrayal of pledge of Umno/Barisan Nasional to the people of Sabah in the past 16 years of their rule of Sabah.

This is a far cry from the great promises shared by Sabahans in the early decades of nationhood.

Bapa Malaysia and Malaysia’s first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman made the historic proposal for the formation of Malaysia comprising Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore at a speech to the Singapore Foreign Correspondents’ Club on 27th May 1961.

The people of Sabah and Sarawak were promised progress and development, at least to the level achieved by the Peninsular states.

Have these promises to Sabah and Sarawak been fulfilled in the past five decades? The answers must be a loud No.

Where have all the wealth of Sabah and Sarawak gone to in the past five decades?

After nearly five decades, many in Sabah and Sarawak even lack the most basic infrastructures to be found in the rest of Malaysia like regular electricity supply, uninterrupted piped water and good roads and bridges.

This year, the people of Tawau celebrated Chinese New Year’s Eve in darkness because of power blackout –  not a rare occurrence but a regular ordeal to the people of Tawau, Sandakan, Lahat Datuk and most parts of Sabah. The provision of piped water is in constant state of crisis. The state of the roads and bridges in Sabah are a scandal.

The people of Sabah are entitled to ask why with Sabah’s immense wealth, they cannot enjoy the basic infrastructures that are taken for granted in other states – why, for instance, Sabahans must suffer constant power black-outs which are unheard of in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Alor Star, Ipoh, Seremban, Malacca, Johore Bahru, Kuantan, Kota Bahru, Kuala Terengganu – even in Kuching, Sibu, Miri?

After Tunku Abdul Rahman’s historic proposal for the formation of Malaysia in May 1961, various consultations were conducted after various objections internally as well as from foreign powers, even involving the United Nations.

There was a Cobbold Commission which conducted a survey of the people in Sabah and Sarawak to ascertain the views on the formation of Malaysia.

I think there is no more meaningful manner for Sabah and Sarawak to mark their 50 years of Malaysian nationhood than to conduct a comprehensive review of the successes and failures in all aspects of development in these two states in the past five decades with feedback from the people Sabah and Sarawak.

I therefore call on the Federal Government, together with the Sabah and Sarawak state governments, to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry on how the dreams and aspirations of Sabahans and Sarawakians in forming Malaysia had been fulfilled or betrayed in the past five decades.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry should conduct hearings in all the 57 parliamentary constituencies in Sabah and Sarawak to give an opportunity for the voices of Sabah and Sarawak to be fully heard.

If the Federal Government is not prepared to establish such a Royal Commission of Inquiry, then the Parliamentary Select Committee on 1Malaysia GTP Roadmap should take over this onerous and challenging task.

[
Speech (6) by DAP Parliamentary Leader and MP for Ipoh Timor Lim Kit Siang in Dewan Rakyat on the Royal Address on Thursday, 18th March 2010
]

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 20 March 2010, 3:28 pm and is filed under
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Parliamentary Select Committee on 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme Roadmap headed by an Opposition Member of Parliament

Unfortunately, we do not have efficient, independent and professional national institutions whether the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the Police, the Judiciary or the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to fairly and fearlessly uphold what is right and true as they all have bent themselves to serve the political dictates of their political masters although they vary from the national interests.

Malaysians are entitled to ask why the Home Ministry is completely insensitive, unconcerned and indifferent about the long-standing exploitation of the “race and religious” cards by Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian  making a mockery of Najib’s 1Malaysia, while trigger-happy like the latest case concerning the China Press – for wrongly reporting that the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan has resigned when his termination would be effective and final in September!

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has denied that the China Press editor is being pressured to resign or face three to six-month suspension of the newspaper – saying that only a show-cause letter had been issued.

Let Hishammuddin answer in Parliament – what is the big deal about the China Press report?  It had made a mistake and a correction had been made.

In mature democracies and developed countries, the media had reported about presidents and prime ministers resigning, and if they are proven wrong, correrctions are adequate although the credibility of the media concerned takes a beating.

Why should the Home Minister be breathing down the neck of the media in such a case – unless case can be made out that the report had gravely jeopardised public order or national security?

It would be the height of ridicule for Hishammuddin to attempt any such justification.

These deviations from and challenges of the 1Malaysia concept should come under the scrutiny and ambit of a Parliamentary Select Committee on 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme Roadmap if the Cabinet and Parliament are serious about this national objective.

Let me give notice that I will move a motion to amend the Motion of Thanks to add the words – “and to set up a Parliamentary Select Committee on 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme Roadmap headed by an Opposition Member of Parliament”.

The 1Malaysia Parliamentary Select Committee will not only monitor the implementation of the “1Malaysia, People First and Performance Now” principles, but also the seven clusters of issues and initiatives relating to unity, viz:

The economy and national unity under 1Malaysia.

Education and national unity under 1Malaysia.

Promoting 1Malaysia social interactions.

Managing religious and cultural polarities.

Promoting and practicing all-inclusive 1Malaysia politics.

Towards a truly 1Malaysia government.

Promoting an all-inclusive 1Malaysia media.

The 1Malaysia Parliamentary Select Committee will also monitor the achievements of the six National Key Result Areas or NKRAs: viz, reducing crime, combating corruption, widening the access to quality and affordable education, improving public transport, expanding rural infrastructure and raising the standard of living of low income group.

[
Speech (5) by DAP Parliamentary Leader and MP for Ipoh Timor Lim Kit Siang in Dewan Rakyat on the Royal Address on Thursday, 18th March 2010
]

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 20 March 2010, 3:23 pm and is filed under
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Sabah State Assembly next month should pass special resolution to support RCI on 50 years of Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia

The Sabah State Assembly, when it meets next month, should pass a special resolution supporting the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry on how the dreams and aspirations of Sabahans and Sarawakians in forming Malaysia had been fulfilled or betrayed in the past five decades.

However, even before the Sabah State Assembly meets starting on April 15, I hope that the Sabah and Sarawak Barisan Nasional MPs would speak up in Parliament in the current parliamentary debate on the royal address to endorse my call in Parliament on Thursdays for such a Royal Commission of Inquiry.

2013 in three years’ time mark Sabah’s 50th anniversary in the formation of Malaysia. It is appropriate in preparing for the occasion to seriously assess whether the dreams of Sabahans and Sarawakians in 1963 to form Malaysia had been fulfilled or betrayed.

Have the people of Sabah been granted their full citizenship rights as Malaysians in the past five decades?

Let the debate and soul-searching begin as to how one of the richest states in Sabah had been reduced in five decades to become the poorest state in the federation.

Before Malaysia was formed in 1963, a Cobbold Commission conducted a fact-finding survey of the people of Sabah and Sarawak for their views as to whether the new nation should be established out of the federation of Sabah, Sarawak, Singapore and Brunei with Malaya.

Numerous fact-finding tours were also organised at that time to send Sabah and Sarawak leaders to Malaya to see for themselves the benefits and developments  Sabah and Sarawak would enjoy  if they agree to the establishment of Malaysia.

It was precisely on the dual promises of the constitutional safeguards for Sabah (commonly known as the 20 Points) and Sarawak and the material and developmental rewards the two states would enjoy that the new Malaysian nation was formed in 1963.

My visit into the Sabah interior yesterday has reinforced my conviction that a Royal Commission of Inquiry on five decades of Malaysian federation is vital and paramount as there are deep-seated frustrations and dissatisfactions that the two promises of constitutional safeguards and development progress for Sabah and Sarawak had not been realised.

The purpose of such a Royal Commission of Inquiry is for the Malaysian government and people to ascertain  and to remedy and rectify the frustrations and disappointments of Sabahans and Sarawakians over the dual promises on the formation of Malaysia some 50 years ago.

Yesterday, together with DAP MPs Hiew  King Cheu (Kota Kinabalu), Teo Nie Ching (Serdang) and Lim Lip Eng (Segambut), and DAP Sabah State Assemblyman for Sri Tanjong Jimmy Wong, I visited Keningau and saw for ourselves the historic “Batu Sumpah” at the Keningau District Office, bearing the words:

“BATU SUMPAH MENGIKUT PERLEMBAGAAN

Ugama Bebas dalam Sabah

Tanah2 dalam Sabah di kuasai oleh Kerajaan Sabah

Adat istiadat anak rayat Sabah dihormatkan dan dipelihara oleh Kerajaan.

Sebalik pula rayat2 Sabah di dalam interior bersumpah taat setia kepada Kerajaan Malaysia.”

These were the terms of the oath of loyalty of the Sabahans from the interior five decades ago in exchange for the formation of Malaysia. Have these solemn pledges laid out in the Keningau Batu Sumpah been honoured by both sides?

I asked the Sabahans in Keningau and they were distressed that the Malaysian Government had not honoured the terms of the Batu Sumpah.

This is what a Royal Commission of Inquiry on five decades of Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia should probe into – the extent of fulfillment  and shortfalls of the constitutional safeguards for Sabah and Sarawak on the formation of Malaysia.

Even on the other promise of material development, it is clear that the material and infrastructural development and progress of the  ordinary people of  Sabah and Sarawak had fallen far short of expectations.

The DAP team visited Kg Tuarid Liawan which is only 1.5 km from Keningau and we found extreme poverty and shocking infrastructure backwardness.

In Kg Batu Biah about 8 km from Keningau, there are water pipes for 15 years but with no water supply.

In Tambunan, we saw a road in good condition but which was dugged out last year and remade – the equivalent of pork barrel politics of funds being given to build a bridge where there is no river! I understand the digging of a good road just to rebuild it cost some RM150,000. It would be better to spend this money be giving cash payout of RM10 for every voter in Tambunan and allow some cronies to benefit from such political largesses for “building a bridge when there is no river”.

In fact, Sabah probably leads the country as the state with the most pipes without water and  most electric lines without power.

The people of Sabah and Sarawak were promised progress and development, at least to the level achieved by the Peninsular states.

Have these promises to Sabah and Sarawak been fulfilled in the past five decades? The answers must be a loud No.

Where have all the wealth of Sabah and Sarawak gone to in the past five decades?

After nearly five decades, many in Sabah and Sarawak even lack the most basic infrastructures to be found in the rest of Malaysia like regular electricity supply, uninterrupted piped water and good roads and bridges – and not bridges when there is no river!

This year, the people of Tawau celebrated Chinese New Year’s Eve in darkness because of power blackout – not a rare occurrence but a regular ordeal to the people of Tawau, Sandakan, Lahat Datuk and most parts of Sabah.

The people of Sabah are entitled to ask why with Sabah’s immense wealth, they cannot enjoy the basic infrastructures that are taken for granted in other states – why, for instance, Sabahans must suffer constant power black-outs which are unheard of in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Alor Star, Ipoh, Seremban, Malacca, Johore Bahru, Kuantan, Kota Bahru, Kuala Terengganu – even in Kuching, Sibu, Miri?

A Royal Commission of Inquiry on five decades of Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia will put all these shortfalls and failures of the dual promises of constitutional safeguards and development progress in proper perspective and in the forefront of the national agenda.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 20 March 2010, 3:32 pm and is filed under
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Allow the Police to start on a new page on Police Day on 25th March

After a year of premiership, national and international confidence in the key national institutions and the system of governance in Malaysia have deepened instead of being improved.

Although there is a lot of talk about achievements in the NKRA for combating crime, in particular street crime, the fact is that as far as the man-in-the-street is concerned, they are still hounded by the endemic crime and the fear of crime.

The fact that there are more gated-and-guarded communities in the country in the past year is the best proof that all the talk about NKRA achievements in combating crime is no real meaning to the ordinary people.

A meaningful NKRA for combating crime is when the people feel safe and secure enough to dismantle the guarded and gated communities instead of the reverse – with more people feeling unsafe as having to build new guarded and gated communities.

The Prime Minister and the Home Minister must accept the reality that an essential element to have a new start in restoring public confidence in the efficiency, independence and professionalism of the police is to have a new Inspector-General of Police.

This is why Hishammuddin should not be breathing down the necks of China Press for its report that Tan Sri Musa Hassan was resigning as Inspector-General of Police to allow the Police to start on a new page on Police Day on 25th March, there would be joy and jubilation not only among loyal and patriotic Malaysians who have always put national interests above self, but also among top police officers as well as the rank-and-file.

This is why –

On 28th July, 2009 I spearheaded a parliamentary roundtable reaching an unanimous conclusion that Malaysia needs a new IGP to create a safe Malaysia and break away from colonial past by introducing democratic policing to protect the people and not the regime in power;

On 1st August, 2009 I said in my speech in Kuantan that Musa was wreaking personal vengeance against me and other Pakatan Rakyat leaders for the parliamentary roundtable calling for a new IGP to create a safe Malaysia;

On August 7, 2009 I issued a media statement that “Take a secret poll among the 2,000 top police officers from ASP upwards and an overwhelming majority will definitely vote for a new IGP”; and

On August 8, 2009 I said in my media statement that “Police, Home Minister and Prime Minister will not be able to hold their heads high in international community if Musa is renewed as IGP when under his three-year leadership, only 1% of the people feel safe”.

[
Speech (8) by DAP Parliamentary Leader and MP for Ipoh Timor Lim Kit Siang in Dewan Rakyat on the Royal Address on Thursday, 18th March 2010
]

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 21 March 2010, 5:14 am and is filed under
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New Economic Model – has it been hijacked by Neo-NEP Umnoputras like Perkasa

When Datuk Seri Najib Razak became Prime Minister last April, he announced that the government would introduce a new economic model for the country to ensure that Malaysia makes a quantum leap to escape the middle-income trap to become a high-income country through greater emphasis on innovation, creativity and competitiveness.

In May last year, the Second Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said the new economic model would be announced in the second half of the year.

Time is clearly of the critical essence to launch a new economic model as Husni subsequently admitted in a very frank speech in December that the country had lost a decade in economic stagnation.

In actual fact, the World Bank had recommended that Malaysia adopt a new economic model three years ago, stressing that industrial countries are already aiming for economic model 3.0, and with competition at economic model 1.0 intensifying, striving to achieve economic model 2.0 is not an option for Malaysia but a necessity.

The question is why the World Bank’s advice that Malaysia migrate to a new economic model 2.0 was ignored for three years, losing more precious time for Malaysia to catch up in the international competitiveness race when the country had become a straggler as compared to other countries.

When the country achieved nationhood in 1957, Malaysia was the second most economically-advanced country in Asia after Japan.

Today, South Korea’s GDP per capita is US$16,450, Singapore US$34,346, Hong Kong US$29,559 while Malaysia is still at US$7,469 – with the disparity between Malaysia and these countries set to become wider in the coming years and even risking of being overtaken by countries like Thailand, Vietnam and even Indonesia!

The time-line for the announcement of the new economic model has been repeatedly deferred, from last year to the beginning of this year, then to this month to coincide with the completion of Najib as Prime Minister and now finally to June when the 10th Malaysia Plan will be presented to Parliament with the NEM to be revealed later this month for public feedback.

The disruption of the plan to announce the new economic model to commemorate Najib’s first year as Prime Minister is a setback for Najib’s 1Malaysia as well as a competitive and innovative new economic model and a success for the plethora of Neo-NEP Umnoputra NGOs and NGIs to whom have been outsourced the agenda of Umno’s NEP-putras.

Malaysians and the world are wondering what new economic model of greater innovation, creativity and competitiveness could be formulated by Najib against the backdrop of reactionary and extremist pressures with irresponsible and baseless alarms like “the Chinese community will take over the country in the next general elections” and that Article 153 of the Constitution would be trampled upon with Malay interests (when they mean Neo-NEP Umnoputra interests) sidelined.

It is also pertinent to ask how Najib could inspire confidence in the Malaysia 2.0 new economic model when he has done nothing in the past year as Prime Minister to stop the brain drain of Malaysia’s talents abroad or to achieve brain gain.

One of the specific proposals made by the World Bank three years ago for Malaysia to migrate to a new economic model Malaysia 2.0 was: “Engaging and attracting back talented, experienced, wealthy and well-connected members of Malaysian diaspora”.

If Najib is incapable of checking Malaysia’s braindrain which had led to the emigration of two generations of the best and brightest overseas as to create a two-million-strong Malaysian diaspora in the world, how can the Prime Minister succeed in achieving “brain gain” or to reverse “brain drain” from the Malaysian diaspora?

It is not only non-Malays but more and more Malays have also joined the emigration trail.

I still remember the ambitious “brain gain” programme of the Eighth Malaysia Plan ten years ago to “reverse brain drain” to transform Malaysia into a K-economy and Information Society through a two-pronged strategy, viz:

An annual “brain gain” of 5,000 “extraordinary world citizens of extraordinary talent” to “lure the best brains regardless of race or nationality, from Bangalore to California”; and

Encourage 500 skilled Malaysians overseas every year to return home with their expertise from 2001.

This ambitious “brain gain”  programme was an unmitigated failure – with Malaysia losing even more talents in the past decade.

Malaysia is not short of proposals for a new economic model Malaysia 2.0 but what is sorely lacking is the political will to implement them.

How can Najib ensure that the new economic model of Malaysia 2.0 to be announced by him will not fail because of the lack of political will to carry out far-reaching government transformation programmes including restoring national and international confidence in the key national institutions and the system of governance in Malaysia?

[
Speech (7) by DAP Parliamentary Leader and MP for Ipoh Timor Lim Kit Siang in Dewan Rakyat on the Royal Address on Thursday, 18th March 2010
]

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 21 March 2010, 5:00 am and is filed under
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Where are the “sharks” of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?

On corruption, where are the “big fishes”  the country had been promised would be netted and prosecuted in connection with the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone scandal.

I am surprised in read in the press today a statement by the MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat that the Opposition did not want him to win and be re-elected as MCA President in the MCA “Three Kingdom” party elections.

Let me declare here and now that DAP has no interest whatsoever in the MCA “Three Kingdom” party battle, in particular in the fight to be MCA President expected to be a three-cornered one among Ong, former MCA President Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting and the MCA Deputy President Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek.

I do not want to emulate former Gerakan President, Tun Dr. Lim Keng Yaik who recently declared that Gerakan had “lost Penang for good”, gave very low assessment of his successor Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon and contemptuous dismissal of the Najib premiership when he said: “I give up la talking to this government” to make any similar comments about the MCA leaders.

But I want to tell Ong  that he is to go down in history as a short-term MCA President and Transport Minister, do it with a bang and not in a whimper.

He should go all out to bring in the “sharks” of the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone scandal to justice and not be content with the “small fries”.

For several months, I had refrained from commenting on the PKFZ scandal after putting intense pressure on Ong to “tell all” about the scandal – at one stage, posing three-questions-a-day for 36 days without pause, totaling 108 questions, to force Ong to act on the PKFZ scandal.

I wanted to give Ong a completely free hand and not to feel to be under any pressure when there were signs that some action were at last being taken to ensure proper accountability for the PKFZ scandal.

However, up to now, only four not major personalities had been charged in court for corruption and abuses of power in the PKFZ scandal before the new year, with the promise by the Attorney-General, Tan Sri Abdul Gani Othman himself that “big fishes” in the PKFZ scandal were almost ready to be brought to book and prosecuted in court.

The whole nation waited in bated breath for the arrest and prosecution of the “sharks” of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal, as nobody really believe that the four middling persons charged last December could be responsible wholly or even for majority part of the PKFZ scandal.

But the waiting of 27 million Malaysians have turned from day-to-day, to week-to-week and now month-to-month.

Malaysians are even more astounded when Ong attributed his political troubles and survival as MCA President to the PKFZ scandal, when the “sharks” of the PKFZ scandal are still scotfree and not accounted for.

All Malaysians want an answer from Ong – where are the “sharks” of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?

[
Speech (9) by DAP Parliamentary Leader and MP for Ipoh Timor Lim Kit Siang in Dewan Rakyat on the Royal Address on Thursday, 18th March 2010
]

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 21 March 2010, 5:45 am and is filed under
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Will Najib be the last UMNO Prime Minister and the RAHMAN prophecy fulfilled in next general election?

Coming to the end of Najib’s first year as Prime Minister, the country is bogged down with many unresolved questions and issues, including:

the two missing jet engines disappearing all the way to Uruguay;

the multi-billion ringgit submarine that cannot dive;

the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal still awaiting the prosecution of “big fishes”;

who killed DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock who went willingly to Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters on July 15, 2009 and came out as a corpse the next day;

when MACC will break its apron-strings to its political masters making it the catspaw of Umno/BN political agenda to declare war on Pakatan Rakyat instead of declaring war on corruption;

Malaysia’s unchecked plunge down the slope of decreasing international competitiveness accompanied by avoidance of FDI and flight of domestic capital;

First anniversary of Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan and concept dogged by the worst politicking of race and religion in recent years, spearheaded by none other than the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Umno media Utusan Malaysia;

The lack of political will to institutionalize inter-religious consultation to promote  inter-religious understanding, goodwill and harmony evident from divisive and protracted controversies over the use of the term “Allah”;

the difficult birth of Najib’s Malaysia.2 new economic model with the continuing and even worsening crisis of brain drain, demonstrating that Najib’s administration lacks the political will for the government transformation to win the international competition for talents needed to successful free Malaysia from the middle-income trap and catapult to a high-income country.

The political persecution and trials of Parliamentary Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim;

the false light at the end of the tunnel for restoration of national and international confidence in the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary highlighted by the 5-0 Federal Court decision on the two Perak Mentri Besar case;

the escalation of Umno/Barisan Nasional conspiracy to cause the disintegration of Pakatan Rakyat and downfall of Pakatan Rakyat state governments; etc.

We have just marked the second anniversary of the historic political tsunami of the March 8, 2008 general elections which witnessed a paradigm shift in Malaysian political thinking and expectations.

What were never thought of as possible in the first five decades of nationhood have become common-place and are even in danger of being taken for granted.

All eyes and thoughts are focused on the next general elections — whether the 13th general elections will complete the process prepared by the 12th general elections for Malaysia to have a new ruling coalition in the seat of federal government in Putrajaya apart from the state government level.

The next general elections, expected in the next 18 months, will provide answers to many intriguing questions, including:

Whether the most famous political prophecy, RAHMAN on the first six Prime Ministers will be fully completed with Datuk Seri Najib Razak as the last UMNO Prime Minister?

Whether Pakatan Rakyat will end and replace Barisan Nasional as the new national government of Malaysia?

Can Najib’s 1Malaysia and Malaysia.2 new economic model save him and the Barisan Nasional in the next general election?

Can Pakatan Rakyat emerge from the many internal problems of late to become stronger, more cohesive, disciplined and purposive to rally and unite Malaysians to form a new government to achieve Malaysia’s full potential, both in terms of human and natural resources?

Time will tell.

Let all Malaysians unite with one resolve — to make the 13th general elections the great turning point for Malaysia to embark on the road of a truly united, just, prosperous and harmonious Malaysian nation where all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region can fully identify with and hold their heads high.

[
Speech (10) by DAP Parliamentary Leader and MP for Ipoh Timor Lim Kit Siang on the Motion of Thanks for the Royal Address in Parliament on Thursday, 18th March 2010
]

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 21 March 2010, 6:10 am and is filed under
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DAP to assist Sabahans stranded in Peninsula

By
Queville To | Free Malaysia Today

PENAMPANG: DAP is planning to go in search of destitute Sabahans stranded in Peninsular Malaysia.

A special gathering is being planned for them in the Klang Valley to listen to their plight and to find ways to help them.

Speaking at a news conference here, Ipoh Timor DAP MP Lim Kit Siang said the gathering was tentatively fixed for April 18.

“We call on all the Sabahans currently working or stranded in Peninsular Malaysia to come to this meeting so that their voices can be heard.”

The meeting is being organised by the Sabah DAP chief-cum-MP for Kota Kinabalu Dr Hiew King Cheu, and coordinated by DAP MPs for Serdang and Segambut, Teo Nie Ching and Lim Lip Eng.

Many of the Sabahans said to be stranded in the Peninsula are believed to victims of various forms of socio-economic neglect and deprivation, either through exploitation or unemployment.

Hiew said that there are about 160,000 to 200,000 Sabahans working in the various sectors in Peninsular Malaysia and quite a sizeable number are from the interior of Sabah, including Ranau and Tambunan.

He said that if both the federal and the state governments are reluctant to help this group of Sabahans, DAP would.

Meanwhile, Lim reiterated his call for the lifting of the ban on the book The Golden Son of Kadazan’.

Describing Peter Mojuntin as a hero not only for Sabahans and the Kadazandusun Murut (KDM) community but also Malaysians as a whole, he said one way of giving proper recognition to Mojuntin in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Sabah in Malaysia (in 2013) would be to lift the ban on the book.

The book by former Melaka State Assemblyman, Bernard Santa Maria, was banned in 1978.

“I hope that this issue will be raised by the BN MPs in the current debate on the King’s speech in Parliament. Our Sri Tanjung State assemblyman will raise it in the State Assembly, next month, and we call on not only the people of Sabah but all Malaysians to support and endorse this online petition for the lifting of the ban on the book,” he said.

Lim later also signed the online petition lauched by Sabah DAP, calling on the BN government to lift the ban.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 22 March 2010, 5:27 pm and is filed under
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Healthcare As A Bottomless Pit

By
M. Bakri Musa
, MD, MS, FRCSC, FACS

[Invited editorial,
Malaysian Journal of Medical Science, 17(1):1-2, Jan-Mar 2010
.]

As a young surgeon at the General Hospital Kuala Lumpur in the 1970s, I remember pleading with Tan Sri Majid Ismail, then Director-General of the Ministry of Health, for funding of my research project.

            A distinguished clinician turned policy maker, Tan Sri Majid was professionally interested in my proposal.  Nonetheless he politely declined it, but not before offering me a comforting explanation.  Between funding me and building a Klinik Desa (rural clinic) in Ulu Kelantan, the choice was clear, he gently told me.  Besides, he assured me, I would have minimal difficulty securing funding elsewhere while those poor Kelantanese had no choice.

            Tan Sri Majid said something else that reverberates in me today.  “Healthcare is a bottomless pit,” he advised me, “but the resources to meet those literally endless worthy needs are limited, so society must set its priorities and draw the line somewhere.”  The job of government is to ensure a minimal acceptable level of care for all, he added, and beyond that it is for individuals to set their own limits with their own resources.

            Malaysia does this with its dual public and private healthcare systems.  Tan Sri Majid was adamant in maintaining this clear separation lest there would be confusion in the respective missions and objectives.

            America today is in the midst of a wrenching debate on healthcare reform, specifically its massive price tag and the provision for a “public option,” a government-run insurance company.[1]  Similar debates occur elsewhere, Malaysia included.  These deliberations would be elevated greatly if we were to heed Tan Sri Majid’s observation on resources being necessarily limited and the necessity to set priorities.

            It is understandable for America, the richest country, to have difficulty acknowledging the first, and as for the second, the setting of priorities is too often confused with rationing, a highly emotive issue.

            This need for setting priorities is never more urgent today.  In the past, the best that physicians could do was to bring our patients back to their pre-morbid state.  Today the goals go far beyond, from enhancing lives (cosmetic surgery) to eliminating genetic diseases through bio-genetic engineering.

            Consider the wonders of modern drugs.  In the past they were for curative purposes in a limited setting, as with antibiotics for infections.  Today the biggest expenses are for drugs in maintaining chronic conditions (anti-inflammatory medications), enhancing life (Viagra and oral contraceptives), and reducing risk of diseases (the statins).[2]

            Similarly with public health; in the past interventions were limited to specific communicable diseases as with childhood immunizations.  Today we have the various screening tests for cancers.

            Regular exercise, good diet, and smoking cessation too are also health enhancing and good preventive measures.  Issues would arise however, if we insist that health insurers pay for our lean cuisine and health club membership.  Where to draw the line, in the public health as well as clinical setting, is the great challenge.

            Also often forgotten is that there is minimal correlation between outcomes and expenditures in healthcare.  America spends twice as much as Britain (relative to the economy), yet it would be hard to argue that Americans are as healthy as the Brits, let alone twice that.[3]

            While the bulk of the healthcare dollar is expended on hospitals, pharmaceuticals, and physicians, nonetheless the costs are primarily physician-driven.[4]  Many are thus misled into believing that focusing on physicians specifically is the key to improving citizens’ health and or controlling costs.

            In truth, much of our present good health is due more to civil engineering marvels as central sewer and water treatment plants, as well as modern refrigeration.  Malaria, still a scourge in the Third World, was eliminated in California’s Sacramento Delta through the building of levees and consequent drainage of the swamps, not advances in parasitological research.

            This observation is worth emphasizing.  With rapid urbanization, the inadequacy of these basic infrastructures has turned Third World cities into public health time bombs.[5]  Stroll through an exclusive neighborhood of Kuala Lumpur and you will see garbage strewn all over, stagnant drains spewing unbearable stench, and septic tanks leaking their waste.  Esthetics aside, those are real health hazards.

            These infrastructures are prerequisites for our good health, yet perversely they are not considered as healthcare expenses.  Malaysia spent hundreds of millions on the aborted new bridge to replace the existing causeway in Johor Baru, yet it does not have a water treatment plant.  The returns on investment for a new water treatment facility would be much more in terms of health and thus productivity of citizens.

            In between necessary infrastructure spending and providing basic medical care, there is the legitimate need for publicly-funded medical research even, if not especially, for a developing country like Malaysia.

            I did research in transplant immunology before returning home but felt minimal inclination to continue it in Malaysia even though the country then had an active kidney transplant program under the capable leadership of Drs. Hussein Awang and Bakar Sulaiman.  For one, I did not think that we could compete intellectually and resource-wise with programs in the West.  For another, I was more attracted to the neglected but more relevant area of immunology of parasitic infections.  You can be assured that there is minimal interest in the West to undertake such research, hence the need for countries like Malaysia to undertake them.  Besides, they are best done locally as we have the most at stake.

             Incidentally, Dr. Hussein’s brother Yahya, once my medical officer in Johor Baru, would later perform the first heart transplant in the region.

            I am grateful to the wisdom Tan Sri Majid imparted on me.  All of us involved in healthcare, from the policymakers to administrators and practitioners to researchers ought to participate in the exercise of acknowledging our limitations and setting our priorities.

______________________________

[1]   American Health Care Reform Debate, see:
www.healthreform.gov

[2]   Drug costs Economic Burden of Illness in Canada, 1993.  Health Resources Centre, Canadian Public Health Association, 1565 Carling Avenue, Suite 400, Ottawa, Ontario K1Z8R1; Tel: (613) 725-3769; Fax: (613) 725-9826.

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/ebic-femc93/pubinfo-eng.php

[3]   Peterson, Chris L and Rachel Burton:  “
U.S. Health Care Spending:  Comparison with other OECD Countries
.”  Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report to Congress, Sept 17, 2007.

[4] Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Office of the Actuary, National Health Statistics Group,
 2007 National Health Care Expenditures Data
, March 2009.

[5]   Patel, Ronak B and Thomas F. Burke:  Urbanization — An Emerging Humanitarian Disaster.  Perspective:  Global Health.  New England Journal of Medicine, 361:741-743, August 20, 2009.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 22 March 2010, 8:20 am and is filed under
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Lim to Najib: Explain ‘massive’ oil find

Free Malaysia Today

KOTA KINABALU: DAP Parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang wants the government to disclose full details of an alleged new oilfield discovered by national oil company Petronas.

“I call on the PM Datuk Seri Najib (Razak) to make a ministerial statement in parliament tomorrow (today) on this very important subject, the biggest oil find in the Malaysian history and the role of Petronas because Petronas is now contributing about 42 per cent to the country’s revenue,” he told reporters here yesterday.

Lim was commenting on Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s statement on Saturday that he had been told of the discovery of a new oilfield by Petronas, which could be the biggest oilfield in the world.

“I have heard about this but up to now the government has not made any announcement. I think this should not be kept under-wraps.

“Malaysians have a right to know as it will mean that the future of Malaysia will be cast in a different light.

“It is (also) very important in view of the ongoing controversy over oil royalty for the oil-producing states in Malaysia.

“The government would have gone bankrupt without the oil money and there must be proper accountability on how this Petronas money is being spent.

“There must be a total review of the whole question of Petronas, the oil royalty and the question of the oil find,” he said.

Lim reiterated Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) call for the review and increase of the 5 per cent oil royalty for Sabah to 20 percent, so that the state government would have more money to develop the State.

Last Friday PR kicked off a nationwide road-show, led by Kelantan senior executive councillor Husam Musa and Tengku Razaleigh to explain the controversial oil royalty issue.

Husam said the road-show will seek a referendum on PR’s proposal to give oil-producing states — Sabah, Sarawak, Kelantan and Terengganu — 15 percent of oil royalties when it comes into federal power.

He said the decision to include Sabah and Sarawak in the referendum was in recognition of the goodwill and understanding that dated back to Sarawak’s first oil find.

“At the beginning, Sarawak was to have received 12 percent in oil royalties. But because Petronas was still a fledgling company at the time, a compromise was struck.

“Petronas agreed to give both Sabah and Sarawak five percent in royalties. The aim was to help Petronas consolidate its financials. But this goodwill gesture was eventually buried,” Husam reportedly said.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 22 March 2010, 8:25 am and is filed under
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Pandemonium in the house as MP breaks procedures

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@limkitsiang
 :

Gross abuse of standing orders by KotaBelud MP condoned by deputy speaker resulting in unprecedented pandemonium Parliament worst in 53yrs

03/22/2010 01:37 PM

Had warned if KotaBelud MP is allwd by dy speaker then dangerous precedent is set n PR MPs can do same. Chair failed resulting in 1hr chaos

03/22/2010 01:42 PM

2day most shameful episode in parliamentary history Standing Orders arbitrarily violated, Minister Nazri made unrepentant sexist remark

03/22/2010 01:56 PM

All bcos Umno obsession 2persecute Anwar 4 APCO-1Malaysia speech The hr-long bedlam was not over Anwar but abuse of parl process n sexism

03/22/2010 02:01 PM

No way any1can stop Umno crazies hounding AI over his speech but not ride roughshod over Parl standing orders as if govt MPs can do anything

03/22/2010 02:11 PM

Result? Dy speaker virtually lost control of House in hr-long din n melee with scores of PR MPs standing up in unison in collective protest

03/22/2010 02:14 PM

Hope no more repetition 2day’s disgraceful spectacle Precondition Chair must uphold StandingOrders n not b party 2its trampling by govt side

03/22/2010 02:19 PM

Umno can get what they want by speech by MP/Minister in or out Parl If MPs can stand up like KotaBelud n speak there will b endless fracas

03/22/2010 02:39 PM

Disgraceful parl episode 2day another blackmark in lengthening list failures of Najib’s 1st year as PM Didn’t Cabinet expect PR MP outrage?

03/22/2010 02:52 PM

Pandemonium in the house as MP breaks procedures

By Syed Jaymal Zahiid | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 — Parliament descended into pandemonium today as Kota Belud MP Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan broke parliamentary procedure in order to threaten Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (picture) with being referred to the Parliamentary Rights and Privileges Committee.

Abdul Rahman spoke after Question Time and cited Parliamentary Standing Order number 37 1 (A) to give himself time to issue the threat to Anwar explain his “One Israel” remark.

The warning from the BN backbencher was initially met with fierce objection from Ipoh Timur MP and the DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang who argued that Abdul Rahman had no merit to raise the Standing Order.

Deputy Speaker Datuk Ronald Kiandee, however, allowed the Kota Belud MP to finish speaking.

Permatang Pauh MP Anwar Ibrahim had recently claimed that APCO Worldwide, an international public relations company hired by the Najib Administration to promote his 1 Malaysia concept, is Israeli-linked and was behind the “One Israel” campaign that marked former premier Ehud Barak’s government in the 1990s.

Abdul Rahman said the statement issued by APCO denying the allegations made by Anwar was proof that the 1 Israel slogan is in no way linked to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1 Malaysia slogan.

The BN government also denied that APCO is in their hire, said the Kota Belud MP.

“Yang Berhormat Permatang Pauh has clearly misled the House based on the statement made by APCO,” he told the Dewan Rakyat.

“If this is not stopped, it can be continuously used by the opposition in their ceramah events,” he added.

In allowing Abdul Rahman to continue Deputy Speaker Datuk Ronald Kiandee, said that “the opposition have often been allowed to raise their point of order so we should allow the others too. I just want to let him finish presenting his argument”.

Chaos ensued in the House as other opposition MPs attempted to stop Abdul Rahman from continuing while their BN counterparts blasted them for attempts to disrupt the proceeding.

“On what grounds is Kota Belud allowed to table the motion?” shouted Lim Kit Siang  only to be drowned by shouts of “coward” and “sit down” from the BN side of the House.

Minister in the Prime Minister Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz had to interfere amid the chaotic sitting and told the Deputy Speaker that the government took the allegation, which he claims is not true, very seriously.

This did not stop the verbal fracas.

Opposition MPs continued arguing that the House had not been consistent as BN MPs are allowed to raise the Standing Order when a PR leader allegedly makes a misleading statement while BN lawmakers have walked away unscathed when doing so.

Kiandee then managed to calm the heated situation and reasoned that the motion allows Anwar to explain his allegation in a week’s time failing which the government will consider taking further action.

He subsequently decided to allow the motion. Any decision made by the House Speaker is final according to Parliamentary Standing Orders.

The Deputy Speaker did not allow opposition lawmakers to raise the same Standing Order following the Government’s denial that APCO is working for them. Opposition lawmakers claim the denial is a lie.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 22 March 2010, 3:22 pm and is filed under
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Sabah power supply scandal deepens

By
Queville To | Free Malaysia Today

PENAMPANG: The electricity supply scandal in Sabah has taken a new twist.

Figures disclosed by the state and federal power utility companies are at variance with each other and do not add up, according to a top parliamentarian.

The discrepancies are so great that DAP Parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang has questioned whether the persisting poor and worsening System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) on power supply in the state was genuine, or a deliberate fix.

He believes it could be part of measures to create a ‘panic situation’, so as to compel the people to accept the controversial coal-fired power plant.

He said suspicion arose from the consistent disparity in the SAIDI figures that were given out by the Federal Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister, Peter Chin Fa Kui, the Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) and the Energy Commission Malaysia.

“There are doubts about the statistics that have been given out about SAIDI,” he said.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, he cited Chin’s comment recently that the SAIDI for Sabah for last year was 2870 minutes per consumer per year

However, a senior officer of SESB told the Public Forum on Energy Options for Sabah held at Asia City on Saturday, that the SAIDI for Sabah for last year was 2284 minutes.

Adding to the confusion is an Energy Commission Malaysia report that the SAIDI for Sabah for the first six months of 2009 was 423 minutes.

“How did this 423 minutes in the first six months have a big jump to 2870 in just six months time? Which is the correct figure – the one given by the minister – 2870 minutes or the one given by the SESB – 2284 minutes?” Lim asked.

SESB’s Managing Director, Baharin B. Din in April last year said the SAIDI for Sabah in 2006 was 4000 minutes and it had gone down to 1000 minutes. The Energy Commission’s report contradicts by saying that the SAIDI for Sabah for that year was 2778.

“What is the reason for this huge discrepancy? Is that genuine or deliberate to create a panic situation to push for the coal-fired power plant? Something is very, very fishy about the reliability and credibility of this SAIDI figures.

“I think there’s a need for a full inquiry as to why we have such an extraordinary leap in the SAIDI from 423 to 2870 or 2284 for the 12 months.

“I think what SESB must make public the SAIDI for each of the town in Sabah. There’s no reason for keeping this figures secret. It cannot be an Official Security Act (OSA) as we are supposed to be talking of era of transparency and accountability.

“The SESB after failing the people of Sabah for so long must now begin to behave like a responsible corporate organization by making public all these figures,” Lim said.

Lim who is also the MP for Ipoh Timor went on to cite the national SAIDI figures provided by the Energy Commission to show how bad was Sabah in terms of power supply as compared to the other states.

For the Peninsular Malaysia, the overall SAIDI for 2008 was 87.3 minutes per customer per year. The state with the highest SAIDI was Johor with 120.5 minutes and the lowest SAIDI were the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Cyberjaya at 6.6 minutes, something which is unimaginable for Sabah.

“Why can Peninsular have overall SAIDI of 87.3 minutes with an average of 20 minutes of breakdown as compared to Sabah which has a SAIDI of close to 3000 minutes and the best that the government can do is to reduce it to 700 minutes by the end of the year?” he questioned.

On Chin’s promise to resign if he could not reduce Sabah’s perennial power shortage by the end of this year, Lim said not only should the minister concerned resign but the Prime Minister and Chief Minister of Sabah should step down too.

He explained that this was because the Prime Minister too had pledged in the reports on Government Transformation Program, to improve the reliability of electricity supply for Sabah from 1974 minutes in 2008 to 700 minutes, 273 minutes for Sarawak and 60 minutes for Peninsular Malaysia, by 2010.

Lim also asked if Chin was aware of the purchase of the second-hand generator sets for Sabah, and if so why he approved it.

“If he’s not aware then it clearly shows his incompetence,” he said.

Both Sabah DAP chief cum MP for Kota Kinabalu, Dr Hiew King Cheu and DAP Sri Tanjung State assemblyman, Jimmy Wong are pessimistic about the target of reducing the SAIDI for Sabah from 2870 minutes to 700 minutes by year end, citing the existing infrastructure of the SESB which is either obsolete or consisted of second-hand equipment.

Hiew said he had been told by some senior SESB officials and engineers that it was literally a “mission impossible”.

Wong said that the existing mess concerning the power supply in the state was the result of meddling and exploitation of the SESB by a senior politicians in collaboration with Peninsular Malaysia-based companies, in the maintenance and purchase of power generation equipment.

Hiew called on both the federal and the state governments to scrap the plan for the coal-fired plant, claiming that 99.4 per cent of the participants at the Public Forum on Energy Options for Sabah were against it.

“The government should scrap it and stop talking about it…that’s our stand.”

                This entry was posted on Monday, 22 March 2010, 8:22 am and is filed under
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Why is Sabah still poor? asks Kit Siang

By
Queville To | Free Malaysia Today

KOTA KINABALU: DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang has called for the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on whether the expectations of Sabahans and Sarawakians in forming Malaysia had been fulfilled or betrayed over the past 50 years.

He stressed that this would be appropriate in view of the fact that in 2013 the country would mark the 50th anniversary of the formation of Malaysia.

“Have the people of Sabah been granted their full citizenship rights as Malaysians in the past five decades?

“Let the debate and soul-searching begin as to how one of the richest states in Sabah had been reduced in five decades to become the poorest state in the federation,” he said in a statement issued here on Saturday following a visit to Keningau.

Lim who is also the MP for Ipoh Timor is currently in the state on a three-day working visit. He is accompanied by the DAP MPs for Serdang and Segambut, Teo Nie Ching and Lim Lip Eng as well as Sabah state assemblyman for Sri Tanjong Jimmy Wong.

He recalled that before Malaysia was formed in 1963, the Cobbold Commission conducted a fact-finding survey of the people of Sabah and Sarawak for their views as to whether the new nation should be established out of the federation of Sabah, Sarawak, Singapore and Brunei with Malaya.

“Numerous fact-finding tours were also organised at that time to send Sabah and Sarawak leaders to Malaya to see for themselves the benefits and developments Sabah and Sarawak would enjoy if they agree to the establishment of Malaysia.

“It was precisely on the dual promises of the constitutional safeguards for Sabah and Sarawak and the material and developmental rewards the two states would enjoy that the new Malaysian nation was formed in 1963,” he said.

He said that his visit to Keningau had reinforced his conviction that a RCI is vital as there are deep-seated frustrations and dissatisfactions that the two promises of constitutional safeguards and development progress for Sabah and Sarawak had not been realised.

The purpose of the RCI would be to help the government and people to ascertain and remedy the shortfalls of the constitutional safeguards for Sabah and Sarawak on the formation of Malaysia, he said.

The forgotten oath

Lim also shared his thoughts on the ‘Batu Sumpah’ at the Keningau District Office which read:

“BATU SUMPAH MENGIKUT PERLEMBAGAAN

1.Ugama Bebas dalam Sabah

2.Tanah Tanah dalam Sabah di kuasai oleh Kerajaan Sabah

2.Adat istiadat anak rayat Sabah dihormatkan dan dipelihara oleh Kerajaan.

Sebalik pula rayat2 Sabah di dalam interior bersumpah taat setia kepada Kerajaan Malaysia.”

“These were the terms of the oath of loyalty of the Sabahans from the interior five decades ago in exchange for the formation of Malaysia. Have these solemn pledges laid out in the Keningau Batu Sumpah been honoured by both sides?” he asked.

He claimed that many Keningau folks were distressed that the government had not honoured the terms of the Batu Sumpah.

It is generally agreed that infrastructural development in the state is far short of expectations and the DAP leader emphasized this by relating to the distressing sight of extreme poverty when he visited Kg Tuarid Liawan about 1.5 km from Keningau.

“In Kg Batu Biah about 8km from Keningau, there are water pipes for 15 years but with no water supply. In Tambunan, we saw a road in good condition but which was dug out last year and remade. I understand the digging of a good road just to rebuild it cost some RM150,000.

“After nearly five decades, many in Sabah and Sarawak still lack the most basic infrastructure to be found in the rest of Malaysia like regular electricity supply, uninterrupted piped water and good roads and bridges – and not bridges when there is no river,” he added.

He quipped that Sabah probably leads the country as the state with the most pipes without water and most electric poles/lines without power.

He also hoped Sabah and Sarawak Barisan Nasional MPs would speak up in parliament during the current parliamentary debate to endorse his call for the setting up of the RCI.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 22 March 2010, 8:30 am and is filed under
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‘Third force’ claim demands PM’s intervention, says DAP

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@limkitsiang
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Had Parliament press conference calling 4PM 2intervene 2end unprecedented crack between Home Minister n IGP surfaced publicly last few days

03/23/2010 11:50 AM

Told Hishammuddin ending his pc b4 me that crack between IGP n him has 2b ended Jokingly he said he would kiss up w IGP on Police Day (1)

03/23/2010 12:01 PM

How nice if 1st crack top security ldrship cld be easily resolved with a kiss! IGP’s allegation of ‘3rd party’ directing police most serious

03/23/2010 12:08 PM

‘Third force’ claim demands PM’s intervention, says DAP

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 — DAP wants Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to intervene and end the speculation surrounding the influence of a “third force” on the police force.

DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang, who was flanked by fellow party colleagues Liew Chin Tong, Anthony Loke and Tony Pua, told reporters in Parliament today that he was not convinced with Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin’s reply earlier during Question Time in dismissing the rumours.

“We are seeing for the first time in the history of this country, a crack at the highest level of leadership of national security between the Inspector-General of Police and the Home Minister.”

“I call upon the Prime Minister to intervene and to end this ugly public spat between the Home Minister and the IGP,” said Lim.

He claimed that the uncertainty of the autonomy of the police force proved that Najib was losing control of his own administration.

“The PM seems to be losing control of many parts of his own government. This so-called small rumour is by the IGP himself, and if the Home Minister cannot ask the IGP to clarify, there is surely something wrong between the Home Minister and the IGP,” said Lim.

The DAP also demanded that either the Home Minister or the IGP resign if the controversy continued.

Lim’s remarks come as a response to the Home Minister’s written reply to a question posed by DAP’s Loke during Question Time.

Hishammuddin had dismissed any truth regarding the presence of a “third force” influencing the police force.

“There is no problem between the IGP and me,” said the Home Minister.

He went on to state that even if there was a “third force”, it would not affect his relationship with IGP Tan Sri Musa Hassan.

“If the relationship is not close, there is no way we can reduce crime or move the national key result area (NKRA) as we have planned,” said the Home Minister.

Musa had claimed in an interview in Mingguan Malaysia on Sunday that a “third force’”comprising “politicians or certain individuals” was influencing the police force.

Musa, whose contract expires in September, also had alleged there were some who wanted him out sooner than his retirement date.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 23 March 2010, 4:50 pm and is filed under
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Once Perlis Speaker has confirmed receipt of Titi Tinggi Assemblyman Yip Sun Onn’s resignation, it cannot be retracted or it could be challenged in a court of law

It’s a political bombshell – the resignation of Titi Tinggi Assemblyman from Perlis, Yip Sun Onn after he was removed from the state executive council and replaced with Indera Kayangan assemblyman Dr. Por  Choo Chor last Friday because of MCA’s “Three Kingdom” factional infighting.

But it is also a legal bombshell – for once Perlis Speaker, Yazid Mat has confirmed receipt of Yip’s letter of resignation (which he has done to more than one media), Yip’s letter of resignation cannot be retracted or it could be challenged in a court of law.

Various parties, including the Speaker, the Perlis Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohd Isa Sabu and the Perlis MCA Chief Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, are trying to persuade Yip to reconsider his resignation – as reported by various printed and online media.

But this is too late. Once Yip’s resignation letter had been received by the Speaker, it cannot be retracted and if Yip tries to do so, his status as State Assemblyman could be challenged in a court of law, as Yip would be an unlawful State Assemblyman from the date of his resignation and the Speaker would be acting unlawfully in allowing the resignation letter to be retracted.

Of course, the Speaker could take pains to ascertain whether Yip’s letter of resignation was a genuine one or whether the signature was counterfeit or result of blackmail – but the Speaker’s powers are limited and he could not ask Yip to reconsider and withdraw his resignation if Yip had indeed sent in such a letter.

It is understandable that there is a sense of panic in MCA and Barisan Nasional camp because this cannot be a worse possible time for them to face a by-election with the Pakatan Rakyat. But that is another matter.

The Perlis Speaker and Mentri Besar should not be acting in any manner making them into national jokes if they try to get Yip to reconsider what is already a fait accompli and beyond the powers of Yip to undo – his resignation as Titi Tinggi Assemblyman in Perlis.

What the Speaker should do honourably and properly is to submit Yip’s resignation to the Election Commission for a by-election to be held within 60 days.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 23 March 2010, 5:12 pm and is filed under
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Rumah Sakit Yang Sakit

An Open Letter to Health Minister

Dear Yang Berkhidmat Liow Tiong Lai,

Mr. Wong, an elderly man presented at Hospital Likas because of severe breathlessness and was found to have severe pneumonia on chest x-ray.

He was then admitted to the High Dependency Unit of Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) 30 minutes away for treatment.

He improved after six days and was then transferred to the normal ward for further recuperation.

A bed was urgently needed one day later and the frail Mr. Wong was then shipped off to Hospital Bukit Padang for ‘rehabilitation’.

Alas, he did not improve but instead deteriorated.

As Hospital Bukit Padang was devoid of the necessary equipment and setup for managing emergencies and ill patients, Mr. Wong was then resent back to QEH for further management.

More tests were required and old Wong was then sent to Sabah Medical Center for a CT scan.

I’m not sure what happened to Mr. Wong thereafter.

Dear Minister,

I hope this short story did not catch you in an awkward moment as the infamous video did to your amorous predecessor.

I hate to interrupt you in the midst of your personal battle for self preservation in the increasingly irrelevant political party called MCA but the healthcare crisis in Sabah has just taken a turn for the worse.

The locals in Sabah refer to hospitals as ‘rumah sakit’ – translated literally to mean a ‘sick house’.

Increasingly, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the only tertiary referral center in Sabah is living up her grand title of being a sick house.

Partially shut down since September 2008, the ailing sick house of Sabah has turned critical recently, with worsening cracks and falling tiles and a real threat of frank collapse.

The older blocks nearby were declared unsafe and subsequently evacuated and shut down.

Ill and frail patients were shipped off in a frenzy like unwanted cargo to nearby centers like Hospital Bukit Padang the mental institution, Hospital Likas, and the  makeshift hospital of Lingzhi Museum in Kepayan and of course, UMNO’s favourite Sabah Medical Center (SMC).

Mr. Minister of Health,

The formation of the Queen- SMC-Likas-Lingzhi-BukitPadang medical maze has brought total chaos to healthcare services in Sabah.

The docile and unassuming Sabahan patients are constantly playing a wicked game of musical chairs, being transported around from one hospital to another according to their changing healthcare needs.

There is not one single center that can address a patient as a whole.

A lady in labor will be told that she can’t do so in QEH, while a fitting patient are whisked away from Likas to QEH.

A child with a broken limb may go to SMC but the surgery can only be done in Likas.

Elderly Mr. Wong is merely one of many such victims.

Continuity of care is virtually impossible when patients are moved about every few days.

Valuable investigations and data are lost in the process of multiple transfers resulting in costly, repeated tests.

Patients have even died due to the lack of emergency equipment and the deficient setup at the peripheral wards.

You will not hear all these because your little pharaohs in the state health department have done a great job concealing negligence, mismanagement and sheer stupidity.

Medical personnel are suffering in silence too.

Doctors from house officers to specialists are rushing around the five medical centers daily, wasting precious time, fuel and energy in the process of doing so.

Medical officers have been doing eight to fifteen on-calls every month as a result of the increased locations housing the sick.

That is fifteen days away from home and family every month, mind you.

Just in case you forgot we too have young, growing kids to care for.

Absent parents do not make for good family dynamics, won’t you agree?

We are risking our lives each working day wondering if the abandoned tower block will one day collapse upon us and send us to our Maker.

Our comrades serving in Sabah Medical Center are not having it any better.

In spite of the Barisan Nasional’s grandiose publicity buzz over the RM 245 million purchase of Sabah Medical Center, the medical personnel and patients have remained mere squatters in the premises.

The medical staffs are receiving summonses so very too often as a result of limited parking space.

Those of us in surgical disciplines are working till 9 pm on Mondays to Fridays so as to optimize the operating time of our three miserable rented surgical theatres.

In the SMC wards, 4-5 patients are cramped into rooms meant for two as the hospital was built to house a capacity of 150 beds only.

Mr. Minister,

My colleagues and I cordially invite you to come and see the ground situation for yourself without a grand entourage of administrative boot-lickers.

Patients who require hospital admission have to be turned away due to the insufficiency of places.

The inpatients meanwhile are packed like sardines in the current wards, with hardly a metre of space between beds.

The situation is comparable to a Vietnamese refugee camp.

Hospital-acquired infections are the norm rather the exception.

When a patient with tuberculosis coughs his lungs out, everyone in the ward will be inhaling the highly infectious Mycobacterium.

After 50 years of independence, our ill patients who require close observation are still sharing monitors and other equipment between themselves.

Is this the standard of care that Barisan Nasional is according to Najib’s self-proclaimed fixed deposit?

Whatever happened to all the oil money that Sabah has generated for Tanah Melayu over the last 50 years?

So you see, Mr Health Minister, we don’t need more jobless house officers, more empty promises and more tasty slogans like 1Malaysia.

We need 1Hospital and 1HealthMinister who is attuned to the sufferings of the rakyat under his care.

Do and be all that even though Sabah will most likely hand Barisan Nasional another landslide victory come next general election.

With warmest regards,

Product of the System
.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 23 March 2010, 5:00 am and is filed under
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The difficult trials of Anwar Ibrahim

By
Gideon Rachman
 | Financial Times

Published: March 23 2010 02:00 | Last updated: March 23 2010 02:00

Gideon Rachman: I met Anwar Ibrahim, the leader of the Malaysian opposition, in the ornate surroundings of the Landmark Hotel in London last week. He was remarkably relaxed for a man who is due to be put on trial, on charges of sodomy next week, which is a crime in Malaysia punishable with a long jail term. If convicted, this would be a return to a prison cell for Anwar. He was arrested in the late 1990s and served six years in solitary confinement on previous charges of sodomy (later over-turned) and corruption.

Yet for a man about to undergo a humiliating and dangerous ordeal, Anwar seemed in remarkably good form: relaxed, cracking jokes and outwardly convinced that he would beat the rap. I asked him how he could be so laid-back, given the trial that he was about to face. He replied coolly: “It’s not that I’m oblivious to it, or unaffected by it, but you have to just get on with life.” He knows that he can survive prison and he has the support of a staunch and politically-engaged wife and six daughters.

I first met Anwar in 1992, when he was Malaysian finance minister. At the time, the going was good, both for Anwar and for Malaysia. The country was booming and the young finance minister was widely regarded as the favoured protégé and heir apparent of Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s long-serving and autocratic prime minister.

Since then, Anwar’s life and career have taken many unexpected turns. In 1998 he fell out with Mahathir, after launching an attack on corruption in Malaysia. He was hit with the criminal charges that landed him in prison.

But Anwar has proved remarkably resilient. He has served time in prison, he has been beaten up in custody, he has faced humiliating personal allegations and he has health problems – in particular, a bad back, that he blames on mistreatment in prison. But nonetheless, he has made a political comeback.

In 2008, Anwar’s opposition coalition won 82 seats in Malaysia’s 222-member parliament. For the first time for many decades it is possible to imagine the ruling party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), losing power. But, as a result, Anwar is a marked man. In the coming days, as well as going on trial, he is likely to be suspended from the Malaysian parliament, following allegations he made about Najib Razak, the prime minister.

Personally, I think if I were in Anwar’s situation, I would have thought seriously about not taking that plane back to Malaysia. But he flew back the next day.

What is it that keeps someone like him going: courage, a strong family, a sense of duty, ambition, stubbornness? Probably, a little bit of all of the above. A sense of destiny also helps. When I asked Anwar if he thought he would one day be prime minister, he smiled and replied yes.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 23 March 2010, 8:38 pm and is filed under
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Class divisions in access to healthcare — what about Malaysia?

By
Azly Rahman

‘Why can’t all Americans have the same access to healthcare to those enjoyed by members of Congress?’ is a popular question on the ObamaCare debate.

At the time of writing I am following the debate over universal healthcare for all Americans. If the US$1 trillion Bill passes, it will help insure 32 million Americans that do not have access to healthcare.

This is another controversial issue in the tradition of Democrats and Republicans. This is a good case study of one of the enduring issues of an advanced capitalist state.

I know friends who do not have health insurance and who question the human rights dimension of it – right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, endowed by the Creator who insist that ‘all men are created equal’ and cautioned by the Enlightenment thinker Jean Jacques Rousseau that “… everything is good in the hands of the Author of Things and everything degenerates in the hands of Man”.

From the point of view of the Democrats, the health insurance system is broken and in deep crisis. Millions cannot get proper medical health. The insurance system is predatory. Expanding health coverage and lowering prescription drug prices, and giving insurance rebates to companies are the main features of this proposal.

From the Republicans’ point of view, Americans need health reform but not to the point of bankrupting the country. A Bill which covers the cost of abortion is the controversial part of it; that Americans must not pay for those who do not have the respect for life. The Bill is said to be a wrong approach that will make winners and losers in the system. Essentially it will open up other complications in virtually all aspects of the system.

Whatever the outcome of it, Americans will still be divided ideologically on this issue. The argument is emblematic of the American political philosophy: what is the role of the government vis-a-viz the social contract between the ‘ruler and the ruled’?

It is a classic Jeffersonian-Franklinian debate. America has evolved into a country envisioned by Benjamin Franklin – America which is more of the big business and less on the man on the street.

Americans are taught to not trust governments; its history is that of a revolt against British colonialism famed by the slogan ‘taxation without representation’ and therefore ‘give me liberty … or give me death’, as the revolutionary leader Patrick Henry said.

Americans went to war and bankrupted the nation. It was a Republican war. That drained trillions of dollars, perhaps contribution to the near-collapse of the American Empire, as many a Complexity theorist would propose. The Butterfly that flapped its wings in Baghdad, near Saddam Hussein’s mansion has contributed to the turmoil in the Obama Office.

Rights of all Malaysians

But what is the situation in Malaysia, as we have evolved as a modern state enculturalised by happenings in other advanced countries such as the US?

How do we care for the sick? Essentially is there also a class system in our healthcare system? Do the poor get the same treatment as the wealthy members of parliament or those in the list of billionaires?

With the proliferation of private hospitals, are we creating the foundations of a class system that will inherit the problems the Americans are trying to resolve?

Or is this merely a natural progression of an economic system that is also predatory in culture – that the rich will be richer and the poor growing in numbers?

With the urge for Malaysian private hospitals to venture into ‘medical tourism’, will our good doctors abandon their Hippocratic Oath in favour of professional hypocrisy?

Marx would say that we are defined by the economic condition we are in – we are homo economicus. I suppose how we live and how we die and how we are taken care of in-between this period of ‘borrowed time’, depends on how the state defines what human rights mean vis-a-viz our ability to pay for healthcare and how we lived our lives as a economic beings.

We must consider that each human being is a cog in the wheel of Capital. Those who own the machines of production oftentimes influence policies through political-economic arrangements.

A wealthy country such as Malaysia that prides itself on tall buildings and a growing number of billionaires ought to start reflecting on the need to ensure that each citizen will have affordable healthcare.

One wonders what the limit of wealth creation is and where the moral dimension is in capitalism, when the rich control the lives of the poor.

By shaping ideology and creating installations to change the social relations of production – and by doing this through the control of mind, media, machinery, and materials – we expect that wealth is to be shared. Socialism for the rich must be replaced with capitalism for the poor.

It’s 11pm here in New York. The historic Bill has just been passed, 219 to 212 in the House. God bless the life of 32 million more Americans. Let Malaysia learn from this victory!

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 24 March 2010, 9:19 am and is filed under
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Does Perkasa Get the Hint?

by
Kee Thuan Chye

The Sultan of Selangor has done the right thing in withdrawing from his earlier agreement to open the inaugural general meeting of Pertubuhan Peribumi Perkasa Negara (Perkasa) on March 27. Although the reason given is that the Sultan does not want to be seen to be supporting a politician, namely, Ibrahim Ali, who heads the NGO, the more important implication is that right-wing organisations, even though they are championing Malay rights, have to be “tolerant and respect other races” and operate within existing laws.

Such a message is timely, especially since the country seems more divided than ever along racial lines. After the 2008 general election, Umno and certain individuals have been playing on racial sentiments to win back the Malays who had voted against the party, by warning them that the race is under threat. This has provided the impetus for organisations like Perkasa to garner support and step up right-wing activism.

If Ibrahim Ali is to be believed, Perkasa is attracting new members every day. He expects a gathering of 10,000 at the March 27 general meeting, which is pretty phenomenal for an organisation that is only one and a half years old. He has since gone on to form the Majlis Perunding NGO Melayu, a consultative council comprising 80 or so NGOs pledging to defend Malay rights, the institution of the Malay rulers and Islam.

Logically speaking, there seems no need to defend any of these because no one is foolhardy enough to fight them. The special position of the Malays is well protected, the Malay rulers are on a strong wicket, and Islam is firmly entrenched as the main religion of the country. The administration of this country, backed by the military and other institutions, is committed to ensuring that they will be upheld. Who would be bold or strong enough to go against that?

This is, however, not logical enough for Perkasa and its comrades. The Majlis Perunding NGO Melayu has asked to meet with Prime Minister Najib Razak before he announces his New Economic Model, which is expected to be soon. Ibrahim Ali, who is also their spokesman, has made it clear that “we want any policy made by the Government to get support from all quarters”. He also said that “if the Government wants the support of NGOs, (it) should also give due consideration to our views and feelings”.

This stance taken by Ibrahim and the council of NGOs reflects what the Jews would call chutzpah. They are thus encouraged probably because the Government has been taking a tolerant attitude towards them. Some political observers feel that the Government is actually making use of these right-wingers to articulate what the Government itself can’t, without contradicting its outward advocacy for 1Malaysia. Perkasa and its ilk serve the purpose of uniting those Malays who feel they are under threat, which Umno welcomes, while Najib goes about wooing the non-Malays with his multi-racial sloganeering.

Meanwhile, yet another right-wing group has emerged. Calling itself the Organisation of Former Umno Elected Representatives, it purports to champion Malay interests in the fields of economics, education, religion and language. That seems to somewhat duplicate the agenda of Perkasa and the Majlis Perunding NGO Melayu but it doesn’t seem to matter to its members. Perhaps they feel that by dint of their being former Umno representatives, they may be better received and considered more influential.

The trend, on the whole, is rather disturbing. The rise of the right wing could further widen the communication and harmony gap between the different races. It’s already giving the impression that a section of the Malays are getting agitated. The sad thing is, they’re getting agitated for the wrong reasons. Their enemy is not the non-Malays, but the right-wing leaders would have them believe this is so. And this is being abetted by the mainstream media.

Khalid Samad, the PAS MP for Shah Alam, recently said that Perkasa is “not a problem”. He asserted that “they don’t have much influence in society”. One hopes he is right. If the right-wing elements within Umno itself should be empowered by this growing development, the consequences might be dire. An Umno controlled by right-wingers is not a pretty prospect. Imagine a Malaysia regressing into becoming an ethnocentric culture when the signs of progress are pointing in the opposite direction. We will all lose out.

One of the messages conveyed by the Sultan of Selangor’s private secretary, Lela Bakti Mohamad Munir Bani, when announcing His Highness’s decision to not officiate at Perkasa’s meeting, contains much-needed advice: “Perkasa should be tolerant and respect other races in Malaysia, live in harmony and work together to develop the country.” There’s nothing equivocal in that message. If Perkasa still doesn’t get the hint, those who support it deserve what they get.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 24 March 2010, 5:00 am and is filed under
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Najib should give Liow Tiong Lai an ultimatum to resolve the Sabah health crisis or be sacked

I am shocked and outraged by a letter I have received from a serving medical officer of Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu about the deplorable conditions of the hospital complexes in Sabah particularly Kota Kinabalu which had been likened to Vietnam refugee camp.

Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai  had been Health Minister for more than two years and despite repeated complaints, he had turned a complete deaf ear and blind eye to the  prolonged healthcare crisis and the deplorable hospital conditions in Sabah particularly in Kota Kinabalu.

The serving doctor in QEH wrote of the horrors suffered by the sick in Kota Kinabalu where they are subjected to “a wicked game of musical chairs” shunted around various hospital centres according to their changing healthcare needs as “there is not a single centre that can address a patient as a whole”.

The medical maze, which has brought total chaos to healthcare services in Sabah, includes the state’s only referral centre, Queen Elizabeth Hosptal and nearby centres like Hospital Bukit Padang the mental institution, Hospital Likas, the makeshift hospital in Lingzhi Museum in Kepayan and Umno’s favourite Sabah Medical Centre (SMC).

This is the tale of horror as narrated by this QE doctor:

“Mr. Wong, an elderly man presented at Hospital Likas because of severe breathlessness and was found to have severe pneumonia on chest x-ray.

“He was then admitted to the High Dependency Unit of Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) 30 minutes away for treatment.

“He improved after six days and was then transferred to the normal ward for further recuperation.

“A bed was urgently needed one day later and the frail Mr. Wong was then shipped off to Hospital Bukit Padang for ‘rehabilitation’.

“Alas, he did not improve but instead deteriorated.

“As Hospital Bukit Padang was devoid of the necessary equipment and setup for managing emergencies and ill patients, Mr. Wong was then resent back to QEH for further management.

“More tests were required and old Wong was then sent to Sabah Medical Center for a CT scan.

“I’m not sure what happened to Mr. Wong thereafter.”

The QEH doctor who made these revelations of the deplorable health crisis in Sabah in the form of an Open Letter to Liow Tiong Lai, wrote:

The formation of the Queen- SMC-Likas-Lingzhi-BukitPadang medical maze has brought total chaos to healthcare services in Sabah.

The docile and unassuming Sabahan patients are constantly playing a wicked game of musical chairs, being transported around from one hospital to another according to their changing healthcare needs.

There is not one single center that can address a patient as a whole.

A lady in labor will be told that she can’t do so in QEH, while a fitting patient are whisked away from Likas to QEH.

A child with a broken limb may go to SMC but the surgery can only be done in Likas.

Elderly Mr. Wong is merely one of many such victims.

Continuity of care is virtually impossible when patients are moved about every few days.

Valuable investigations and data are lost in the process of multiple transfers resulting in costly, repeated tests.

Patients have even died due to the lack of emergency equipment and the deficient setup at the peripheral wards.

You will not hear all these because your little pharaohs in the state health department have done a great job concealing negligence, mismanagement and sheer stupidity.

Medical personnel are suffering in silence too.

Doctors from house officers to specialists are rushing around the five medical centers daily, wasting precious time, fuel and energy in the process of doing so.

Medical officers have been doing eight to fifteen on-calls every month as a result of the increased locations housing the sick.

That is fifteen days away from home and family every month, mind you.

Just in case you forgot we too have young, growing kids to care for.

Absent parents do not make for good family dynamics, won’t you agree?

We are risking our lives each working day wondering if the abandoned tower block will one day collapse upon us and send us to our Maker.

Our comrades serving in Sabah Medical Center are not having it any better.

In spite of the Barisan Nasional’s grandiose publicity buzz over the RM 245 million purchase of Sabah Medical Center, the medical personnel and patients have remained mere squatters in the premises.

The medical staffs are receiving summonses so very too often as a result of limited parking space.

Those of us in surgical disciplines are working till 9 pm on Mondays to Fridays so as to optimize the operating time of our three miserable rented surgical theatres.

In the SMC wards, 4-5 patients are cramped into rooms meant for two as the hospital was built to house a capacity of 150 beds only.

On QEH, the only tertiary referral centre in Sabah, the QEH doctor has this to say:

Increasingly, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the only tertiary referral center in Sabah is living up her grand title of being a sick house.

Partially shut down since September 2008, the ailing sick house of Sabah has turned critical recently, with worsening cracks and falling tiles and a real threat of frank collapse.

The older blocks nearby were declared unsafe and subsequently evacuated and shut down.

Ill and frail patients were shipped off in a frenzy like unwanted cargo to nearby centers like Hospital Bukit Padang the mental institution, Hospital Likas, and the  makeshift hospital of Lingzhi Museum in Kepayan and of course, UMNO’s favourite Sabah Medical Center (SMC).

The QEH doctor said he and his colleagues invite Liow “to come and see the ground situation for yourself without a grand entourage of administrative boot-lickers”.

He continued:

“Patients who require hospital admission have to be turned away due to the insufficiency of places.

“The inpatients meanwhile are packed like sardines in the current wards, with hardly a metre of space between beds.

“The situation is comparable to a Vietnamese refugee camp.

“Hospital-acquired infections are the norm rather the exception.

“When a patient with tuberculosis coughs his lungs out, everyone in the ward will be inhaling the highly infectious Mycobacterium.

“After 50 years of independence, our ill patients who require close observation are still sharing monitors and other equipment between themselves.

“Is this the standard of care that Barisan Nasional is according to Najib’s self-proclaimed fixed deposit?

“Whatever happened to all the oil money that Sabah has generated for Tanah Melayu over the last 50 years?

“So you see, Mr Health Minister, we don’t need more jobless house officers, more empty promises and more tasty slogans like 1Malaysia.

“We need 1Hospital and 1HealthMinister who is attuned to the sufferings of the rakyat under his care.”

This is an utter shame for the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia and his pledge of “People First, Performance Now: I will send the QEH doctor’s indictment of the healthcare system and the Health Minister ‘s failure and negligence  to the Prime Minister, who should table it on Friday’s cabinet meeting as an example of failed Minister in his Cabinet.

Either Najib give Liow an ultimatum to immediately resolve the deplorable healthcare  crisis in Sabah or Najib should make an example of Liow by sacking him and appoint a new Health Minister for the country.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 24 March 2010, 11:40 am and is filed under
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With 10 days to his full-year as PM, Najib has lengthened his list of “dubious firsts” – this time, interfering with Perlis Speaker’s duties to act on the resignation of MCA Titi Tinggi Assemblyman

With only 10 days to go to complete his full year as Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has lengthened his list of “dubious firsts” – this time, interfering with the Perlis Speaker’s duties to act on the resignation of the MCA Titi Tinggi Assemblyman Yip Sun Onn.

This week saw the Najib premiership chalking up two “dubious firsts” apart from the many in his 11+ months as Prime Minister – the other being the public spat between the Inspector-General of Police and the Home Minister, with the head of police making the very serious allegation in a newspaper interview of a “third party” undermining his authority in the police, by giving directives to the police personnel behind his back, saying that the third party could be “politicians” or “certain individuals”.

Although both the Home Minister and the IGP had appeared jointly for a sudden photo-shoot yesterday to claim  that relations between them had never been better, expecting Malaysians to be so simple-minded as to be taken in by their play-acting and to believe that the public  spat between the two had never happened, the episode  had gravely shaken public confidence not only in the Home Minister and the Inspector-General of Police, but raised fundamental questions about the cohesiveness and sense of purpose of the Najib premiership.

Najib had to reached in Hong Kong where he was attending an investment conference to give the last word on the latest flip-flop of his premiership – that Yip Sun Onn has not quit his seat although the Perlis Speaker, Datuk Yazid Mat, the Perlis Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohd Isa, the MCA President, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and the MCA Perlis Chairperson Datin Chew Mei Fun had all publicly confirmed that Yip had sent and the Speaker received the resignation letter.

The Perlis Speaker openly admitted an unlawful act in withholding Yip’s letter of resignation and betrayed his petty outlook and lack of understanding of Najib’s 1Malaysia concept when he scoffed at my statement that the speaker had no right to try and convince an assemblyman to retract a resignation letter and should instead exercise standard protocol by submitting it to the EC.

Yazid told Malaysian Insider: “Anyway, it is none of his business…this is not even his state.”

It would appear that the Umno is even more afraid of MCA if there is a Titi Tinggi by-election in Perlis, although both have regarded Titi Tinggi as a safe seat for Barisan Nasional.

In the March 2008 general election, Yip won with a 1,814-vote majority polling 3,399 votes as against 1,585 votes secured by independent candidate Mohd Razi Mustapha and 846 votes by PKR candidate Keria Senawi.

It is clear that both Umno and MCA leaders are afraid of a by-election in Titi Tinggi for if MCA candidates loses or does  badly, it would not only be a barometer of the fall of the Barisan Nasional government in Perlis but also in Putrajaya in the next general election.

This mortal fear for a by-election cannot however be an excuse for the Perlis Speaker to act improperly and unlawfully in withholding Yip’s resignation until all avenues are exhausted – including invoking the name of the Prime Minister – to compel Yip to withdraw his resignation.

As a result of the Perlis Speaker’s unlawful action, any voter in Titi Tinggi can institute a legal challenge questioning the legality of Yip’s status as State Assemblyman.

If there is a legal challenge, it will be another crucial test for the independence, impartiality and integrity of the Malaysian  judiciary against the backdrop of the intervention of the Prime Minister in interfering with the proper and lawful discharge of the Perlis Speaker’s powers and duties.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 24 March 2010, 3:49 pm and is filed under
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