Thursday, November 09, 2006

Repost From Political Apathy to Plain Empathy...

With all that has been going on:
- Rebellious Town Councillors who wantonly flout the law
- Pak Lah's children getting smaller contracts then Mahathir
- Town Councillors arguing that there are others whose house is bigger...
- Illegal immigrants in Sabah naturalised for political gains
- Slipping in TI's Corruption Index
- Experimenting with our children on the system of education in Malaysia
- NEP and the gravy train on the Crony Express....
I want to repost an excerpt of my Sept 20th posting :FROM POLITCIAL APATHY to PLAIN EMPATHY....

"Last week the residence association which I am involved in revealed that a bridge project which we have been fighting against all this while...and loss because the decision went up to the MB. Inside information revealed that the bridge project was awarded to construction companies linked to the senator and MB. (bro of the senator has a constrcution company) Not wanting to be defeated, I said, if that is true, then we should expose this to all and sundry. The reply "this is politics, why get involved."There seem to be such a turn off when it comes to any form of political involvement. Maybe the term is not "political involvement" since that arouses a sense of political partisanship. ie.Pas member or BN or Keadilan which leads to divisiveness in a community. So maybe the term should be a "collective voice speaking up for issues in ones community, the weak and the downtrodden in society." Since we don't have local elections, there must be some other way for us, the people to provide checks and balance to the local municipals and governments. If we, the people are not involved or ensure a level of "noise" is heard, then the capitalists, the investors, the money driven buisnessmen will develop that empty land as a shopping mall in front of your house, that bridge connecting other housing developments to your quiet neighbourhood, the robbing of our parks for development, the raping of our forest for timber money and the incinerator in your neighbourhood. The reason is if we, the people do not court the politicians, the capitalists and businessmen will. Its not their fault, they just"cari makan", but the boundaries should be defined by government.Don't be political, but make yourself heard and care for the weak and downtrodden in our society. The Moorthy's, the Lina Joys, the indiscriminate demolishing of indian temples, the Ahmad Hafizals (arrested for not joining the National service but revealed that he and his family were hardcore poor) and the Jamal Haruns (put their baby up for sale so that their eldest daughter could go for operation). The involvement could be as small as writing to a local newspaper (online or paper) or joining an NGO or political party which stands up for your ideals...but the idea is making "noise".

We got to reclaim our land. Lets care enough for each other as Malaysians irregardless of race. Lets show that the rakyat is trully the boss which is the basis of Democracy!

Monday, November 06, 2006

The proud and the Humble....

The HUMBLE
KLANG: Kapar Umno Youth chief Faizal Abdullah has resigned as a Klang Municipal Councillor following the controversy over him constructing his house without obtaining approval from the council.
In a statement issued late last night, 35-year-old Faizal, who is also the state party deputy youth chief, said he resigned after being advised to do so by Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo.
“With full repentance, I willingly relinquish my post as a Klang Municipal Councillor. My resignation letter will be sent to the Mentri Besar and the Council president by tomorrow (today) by 3pm,” he said.
Here is one who has honorably resigned and there is appearance of genuine repentance.

The PROUD
KLANG: The Klang UMNO division rallied behind its chief Datuk Zakaria Md Deros with a show of loyalty, claiming that he had been “sabotaged” by the Opposition. “The entire thing is the work of the Opposition to discredit him. The only wrong thisng here is thenon submission of building plans, that’s all.” Said division information chief Shoimi Shafie.

How can a man and political party become so blind and arrogant that they cannot see the gross injustices of the entire situation. Instead, they accuse the Opposition of hyping up the issue when the rakyat has been so incensed bringing even the Sultan into the picture.

It is evident that the man and the party he leads do not understand accountability and good governance. They are proud and power drunk. It is most unfortunate.

Friday, November 03, 2006

1 "Little Napolean" down 1000 more to go

I had my office in Pandamaran for 10 years before finally giving up and moving out of Klang. Majlis Perbandaran Klang (MPK or Klang Town Municipal) is a very inefficient town council probably because of the BIG “C” which implies a lack of integrity and honesty amongst those working there. The town is dirty and despite the many letters to MPK about the rubbish, there is little enforcement. The PM called the heads of these little kingdoms; "little Napoleans."

It was revealed over the last few weeks that there were 3 family members serving as town councilors in the Klang Municipal. The father, Datuk Zakaria Md Deros was accused of :
· Building his four-storey Istana Idaman, a 17 room mansion, without submitting the building plan to the council.
· He had also failed to pay assessment for 12 years for the house he is staying in.
· Zakaria also illegally built a restaurant, DZ Satay House, on state reserve land. The restaurant was recently sealed off by the council.

What irks me is that despite the obvious disregard for the law, this politician, who is also Klang UMNO Division Head shows his pride and foolishness. Firstly, he thinks the crime is building a mansion in a low-cost housing…”It might have been unsuitable...” as reported in the STAR:

…breaking down several times during the 4pm press conference, he admitted he made a mistake when he designed a “house (referring to the mansion) which might have been unsuitable for the low-cost housing estate” in Kampung Idaman.
“However, it was never my intention to boast or show off by building a bigger house which has been called 'Istana Datuk Zakaria' by some,” he read from a 12-page statement at his current double-storey low-cost house in Kampung Idaman here.
“My wife and I merely wanted a more comfortable dwelling for our 11 children, seven daughter in laws and 11 grandchildren.


Many of us would also like to have our all our children living in the same house and have a wonderful castle in Disneyland, but not all of us are Town Councillors…we have to unfortunately pay for it and get local Town Municipals for approval or else even awnings get torn down!

He added that the family had also planned to create community-centred rooms in the new house, including having a tuition centre, a surau and an activity corner.
“If our sincere intention had been misinterpreted, we apologise for not having properly explained our little contribution,” Zakaria, flanked by sons Zainuri and Zul Hisham, read from his prepared statement.
“I thank those, including the media, for giving me guidance on the need to follow rules and regulations.”


Having public amenities in your private home is very noble, but unfortunately doing kind deeds doesn’t abscond you from the law. So now its the inconvenient public who have "misinterpreted your good intentions."

He explained how the family had been rooted in Kampung Idaman for more than 30 years since moving from the KTMB quarters in Port Klang. He had been a railway gatekeeper then.
“We feel really close to the people here and that is why, despite our new prosperity, we still choose to remain here because we want to continue serving people here,” Zakaria said.
“Together with other leaders, we have helped to build a mosque to replace the dilapidated surau, construct a sekolah agama rakyat and primary school.”

Very good. Zakaria is a good State Assemblyman although I would like to think that that was his job. He was merely doing his job.
Eventhough he resigned, I believe he was edged out and it was not an honorable resignation. There is no repentence or acknowledgement of wrong doing here.