Malaysia LAH

Malaysia LAH 3



Friday 1 June 2012

Debate Speech on 21st March, 2012 by Wong Ho Leng, MP for Sibu, on Motion to appreciate the King’s Speech

Debate Speech on 21st March, 2012 by Wong Ho Leng, MP for Sibu, on Motion to appreciate the King’s Speech
I wish to raise a few issues in this august House:

1.     Security
Security is a big problem in Sibu. On 20.10.2011, a father, his son and his daughter-in-law were brutally murdered at their house in Bawang Assan, Sibu. His wife was injured and faked dead to escape murder. On 10.12.2011 a young lady was murdered while waiting to cross the Igan River in Sibu. On 11.1.2012 a businessman was killed when shopping. These crimes remained unsolved. On 3.1.2012, a family of 4 were murdered by their neighbor who climbed over the ceiling because there was no partition wall between the terraced houses. That is the only murder that was solved.
On 13th March 2012, a cleaner was beaten unconscious and gang raped in a bus near a school and bus terminal in Pelawan, Sibu.
Burglary, robberies, and vehicle thefts have increased in Sibu. But not all cases had been reported to the police, because the public do not have confidence in the police. Many elderly Chinese went to lodge police reports but they cannot speak Bahasa Malaysia. The police cannot understand them, and they cannot understand the police. It is just like chicken talking to ducks.
This is not a problem in Sibu alone. It happens in other police stations in Bintulu, Miri, and Kuching where there are no multi-lingual police officers manning the counters. I appeal to the Government to station more multi-lingual police in these towns in Sarawak.
The people in Sibu are complaining that the police in Sibu are unable to protect them. To be fair to them, even if the police are doing their best, they can’t do much if they do not have sufficient manpower to investigate and solve crimes.
Very often I have received complaints that the police refused to receive reports. This is unacceptable.
I have also received complaints that victims of crimes have been discouraged from making reports of thefts and robberies. They were asked to report accidental loss only. This is unacceptable. This is not the way to show that crime is not serious in Sibu.
I urge the federal Government to increase police manpower in Sibu. We want police who are honest and hard-working. We don’t want police who lied that Sibu is “no-gangster town”. This story is untrue.
We want clean police in Malaysia. On 14th March, 2012, the Inspector-General of Police said that only 1% of policemen are taking bribes. This is the greatest joke of 2012. We all know that there are police who are demanding for kopi-o even on road sides in broad day light. Although there are honest police, there are many more dishonest and corrupt police. The people have nowhere to complain. That is why we complain that the BN Government has failed the people by not establishing the IPCMC which was suggested by the Royal Commission of Inquiry on the Police. I appeal to the Government not to allow corruption continue in our country.

2.     Health Services
While his whole family was murdered, a little boy survived. Kelvin Ling was badly injured on his head. He could have lost his life too because there was no neurosurgeon in Sibu Hospital to operate on him. His life was saved only because he was flown in time to Kuching General Hospital by a private helicopter. We wonder why the Government cannot provide a reliable helicopter service in the event of emergency.
I agree with many in Sibu who complained that Hospital Sibu is 3rd class.
I urge the federal government to upgrade Hospital Sibu. Hospital Sibu caters for more than half a million people in Sibu and the hinterland of the Rejang River like Kapit, Belaga, Song, Kanowit, Bintangor and Sarikei. It is unfair for patients to have to wait for treatment. Some had died from waiting, just because there are insufficient specialists and surgeons. The federal government should employ more specialists and neurosurgeons in Hospital Sibu.
Those admitted to Hospital should be well looked after both by the doctors, nurses and their families. But many patients and their families have complained that the wards in Hospital Sibu are hot and uncomfortable.
The Government should look into improving the condition there.
Those admitted to Hospital require family members to take care of them. But there is insufficient parking space at the Hospital compound. There is also no place to accommodate family members who come from outstation. At any one time we can see that there are always not less than 40 family members sprawling on the floor on the corridors, sleeping on cardboards and old newspapers.
The Government should provide accommodation near Hospital Sibu for visiting families from outstation. Visitation by family members must be encouraged.
I also take this opportunity to talk about the health services in Lawas. I am given to understand that the condition in Lawas hospital is deplorable and cases have been brought to court for negligence of doctors which had resulted in death. A case in point is Kam Agong who died in 2002 at the age of 44 because of medical negligence when she gave birth to her 8th child.
Saya difahamkan bahawa Hospital Daerah Lawas dibina pada 16.5.1969 dan adalah bangunan yang tertua di Lawas. Pada 1999, JKR mengisytiharkan Hospital tersebut tidak selamat lagi diduduki sebab sudah uzur. Pembinaan sebuah hospital baru telah dicadangkan dalam RMK-7 (1996-2000) dan diluluskan dalam RMK-8 (2001-2005). Sekarang sudah masuk RMK-10 dan sudah 16 tahun berlalu. Pada 26.3.2011 Menteri Perancangan dan Pengurusan Sumber di Sarawak Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali mengumumkan yang sebuah hospital baru bernilai RM80 juta akan di bina di Lawas dan kerja-kerja pembinaan akan bermula akhir tahun lepas. Pada 15.4.2011 Menteri Kesihatan membuat pengumuman yang RM121.6 juta akan diperuntukan untuk membina hospital baru di Lawas. Tetapi tiada apa apa kerja yang telah dimulakan setakat ini. Yang anehnya, yang dibina adalah sebuah hotel di Lawas, Hotel Seri Malaysia.
It is scandalous that instead of building a hospital, a hotel was built.

Can the Government explain why? Is the Ministry of Health not able to tell the difference between a hotel and a hospital?

3.     Chinese Education


Education is an important bulwark to national development. Malaysia is a multi-racial country, and the right to receive education in one’s mother tongue is a constitutional as well as a universal human right.
I am given to understand that 29 headmasters, 39 assistant headmasters and 287 teachers who do not have Chinese qualifications are sent to serve in Chinese Primary Schools in Sarawak. Most of these teachers did not even pass UPSR’s Chinese subjects.
This cannot be right. The Government must ensure that headmasters who are sent to serve in Chinese primary schools must pass the Chinese subject in SPM.
With headmasters and teachers not knowing Chinese, it is no wonder that I have received frequent complaints that some headmasters had been discouraging students from taking Chinese subjects, or even if they do, not to sit for exams for fear that they will pull down the school results. This has become a serious problem in many schools in Sarawak and the education ministry must look into it to right a wrong to the Chinese community.
The practice of sending teachers without Chinese qualification to Chinese Primary Schools will severely affect the teaching standards and administration of these schools. It is not conducive to educational development, especially when it is well accepted that Chinese schools contribute tremendously to national development.
The fact that there are 355 teachers who are non-Chinese qualified are teaching in Chinese schools means that there is a shortage of this number of teaching staff in Sarawak. The Government should rectify this situation immediately.
Also, there are clerks and administrative officers in Chinese schools who cannot speak Chinese. This is unacceptable because that prevents parents from communicating with them.
Also, the Government has recently recognised qualifications from 146 universities from China. This is good news.
I understand that these Universities in China recognize the Unified Examination Certificates (UEC) results for the purpose of admission. So, can I know, why should the Government not recognize UEC?
Many people take it that the practice of sending non-Chinese qualified teachers to Chinese schools is a way of the BN to marginalize Chinese education. Should that be the case, why should we be talking “1Malaysia”?
It is time for the BN Government to know what exactly does the Chinese want.
Our country has 1294 Chinese Primary schools. 222 of them are in Sarawak. I believe it is only fair for Sarawakians to demand that 20% of education allocations be provided to Chinese primary schools in Sarawak.
4.     Suppression and Oppression of People
It is time that the BN Leaders repent from being bullies of the people.
This House has heard of the letter from Assistant Minister of Sarawak Mong Dagang recommending that an OKU Frusis Lebi be stripped off his welfare and agricultural aids on the ground that he had supported the opposition.

We have also seen that Senior Minister of Sarawak James Masing support Mong Dagang, even threatening the people, “jangan lawan towkay”.

This is a clear case of the BN leaders oppressing and suppressing the people. What is disgusting is that even OKU and ignorant rural folks are not spared by the brutal acts of BN leaders.
I want the PM to tell us whether it is the BN’s practice to bully, oppress and suppress the people who do not support Government policies.
A few days before the Sarawak state election of 2011, Wong Soon Koh, who is a SUPP leader and Senior Minister in Sarawak, told Sibu folks that after the Sibu by-election defeat of the BN, the PM had considered stopping the Sibu airport extension project.
We all know that the PM uttered the most notorious “you help me I help You” statement in the Sibu by-election. Can we know from the PM himself whether he did threaten Sibu folks in this manner?
I have also known that fertilizer subsidies had been withdrawn from farmers who used to be SUPP members on the ground that they have now gone to support the Opposition.
The people have freedom to vote for candidates of their choice. This is a right under the constitution. The people are tax payers. The welfare monies and agricultural subsidies come from the people, not from the BN leaders or from the PM. We have heard ‘Rakyat didahulukan’. This has totally no meaning now when BN leaders can cut welfare aids and agricultural subsidies at their whim and fancy.
The rhetoric “rakyat didahulukan” sounds dreadfully hollow, because the BN Ministers are even cutting assistance to the disabled.
“Rakyat didahulukan” is a rhetoric because the BN leaders are now saying that BN leaders are the towkays. The BN Government ought to be ashamed of this.
Wong Soon Koh had also told Sibu folks that the flood mitigation project was almost stopped because of the by-election loss. He also threatened that should he lose the 2011 state election, all development projects will stop.

This is the political culture of samseng. I am sure that the PM is aware of this.
Is the PM condoning all these? If not, why was no action taken against his Ministers?

http://holeng.dapsarawak.com/?p=1685#more-1685

Plights over NCR Land – Oppression and Suppression by BN

Plights over NCR Land – Oppression and Suppression by BN
The Dayaks of Sarawak are entitled to Native Customary Rights (NCR) land, but their plights have long been neglected, only because they are the vote banks of the ruling coalition (the Barisan Nasional [BN]).
Let me narrate 2 stories first.
Story 1:
Rumah Juing, a longhouse at Pasir Emas, Sibu, faces a grim future. The land on which it was built in 1989 will be alienated to a private company. The longhouse folks had been asked to move out, and negotiations for resettlement had failed. More than 200 longhouse folks cried for help from the Barisan Nasional, but no help came. They are trespassers and squatters.
Story 2:
In 1996, the BN issued a Handbook, calling it an “official communication guide on NCR development matters”. They promised those natives who own 50 hectares (123 acres) or more of NCR land undreamed-of wealth. They promised rural folks an annual dividend of up to RM40,000 calculated on the basis of crude palm oil price at RM1,400 per tonne. That would mean an annual dividend of RM325 per acre. But the crude palm oil price has since tripled, yet the undreamed-of wealth was so far-far away in “Never”land. Those natives who have entered into joint ventures to develop their NCR land cannot even wriggle out of the agreement. They also cannot go to the Court, even if they receive no dividends.
Now, let me tell the goings-on.
As the largest state in the federation, no one in Sarawak should be land hungry. Blessed with 124,449 square km (12.4 million hectares) of land, Sarawak is a land of aplenty. The fate of Rumah Juing is an irony, but Rumah Juing is not alone.
No NCR can be created after 1st January 1958. Section 5 of the Land Code (Sarawak) states explicitly that as from 1st January, 1958 no recognition shall be given to any NCR over any land in Sarawak, and if the land is state land any person in occupation thereof shall be deemed to be in unlawful occupation of state land.
In normal state of things, longhouses expand due to population growth, or they would split because of disputes. Unlike the Chinese, the natives do not move to urban centers. For those who move out, many have built their longhouses on state land. Though some of these longhouses have been supplied with water and electricity, many have not. More often than not, roads and other infrastructures to their longhouses are pathetic.  
The native legislators (ADUNs) from the BN dare not speak out their plight, as it is political suicide to incur the wrath of their political masters. Often, those who speak out the plight of the natives are ADUNs from the Opposition, us the Pakaan Rakyat, despite stinging criticisms from the BN native leaders that we are not more “Ibans” than they are.
The NCR land size in Sarawak is dwindling, being alienated by the state Government to crony conglomerates for oil palm plantation developments.
Through a scheme seductively labeled “New Concept of NCR Land Development” in 1996, many NCR land have been alienated for joint venture oil palm plantation development with big companies/investors. The NCR lands were amalgamated and titles issued in the name of the joint venture company. The landowners would have no beneficial legal equitable or caveatable interest in the land issued with titles. Apart from dividends promised, they are relegated into absolute obscurity. In this joint venture company (JVC), the Land Custody and Development Authority (LCDA) will hold 10% equity, the natives participants are given 30% equity, and the balance 60% equity will be procured by the investors who will inject cash to the venture.
As at 13th May, 2009, 406,425 hectares of NCR land had been agreed for New Concept NCR land development involving 26 joint ventures. As at 22nd June 2011, the area had been expanded to 412,219 hectares involving 34 projects.
Although the development involves the natives’ own land, more foreigners are employed than from the longhouse community. The natives received pathetic amount of dividends from these joint ventures.
On 13th May 2009, James Masing, the Minister of Land Development, told the state legislature that only 4 out of the existing joint ventures managed to pay out dividends amounting to RM2,301,116.86. That represents an annual return of RM0.27 per acre to the landowners, a sum hardly sufficient to buy a cigarette!
Though the state Government has been asked to update the dividend pay-out, no information is available as yet.
The LCDA and its associated companies faced problems from these joint ventures. On 18th February 2011, the LCDA and the state Government lost a legal battle involving the joint ventures of NCR land development at Pantu, Sarawak (Kuching High Court Suit No.22-1-2005-1(SG), known as the “Pantu case”.
The native ancestors had settled in Pantu since 1880. The Plaintiffs landowners are the 7th generation settlers. Attracted by the promise of undreamed-of wealth by the BN Government, the enthusiastic landowners involved themselves in the joint venture. In 2004 their crops and fruit trees were cut and their lands cleared for oil palm plantation envisaged under the Joint Venture Agreement by Indonesian workers of the joint venture company. Valuable crops and several burial sites at the NCR land were also destroyed.
Some 6 years after commencing the oil palm plantation, and 3 years after the oil palm fruits were harvested, no dividends were distributed to the enthusiastic participants. The undreamed-of wealth did not come. The erstwhile landowners do not have any rights whatsoever.
Linton Albert the Judge in that Suit, himself a Sarawak native, aptly put it in this way: “These are cries for justice and the court must respond even if no one else does because one cannot simply throw one’s hands in the air and say that is how life is.”
The New Concept of NCR land development has the noble object to eradicate rural poverty. What happened was a far cry from nobility. The Judge said in succinct language thus: “It is sad that the lofty aims set out in the Handbook had been lost in implementation perhaps by the overzealousness of the various state functionaries involved in the implementation who no doubt have concealed the miseries that the oil palm plantation has brought about and the benefits a far cry from those flaunted in the Handbook.”
The landowners won, because the Court held the agreement illegal, because the subsidiaries of LCDA who implemented the project were non-natives, and under s.8 of the Land Code, no benefits over native land can be enjoyed by non-natives.
The judgment was delivered on 18th February, 2011, 57 days before the Sarawak state election. Despite its rhetoric of being a caring Government the BN made sure that the fruits of victory by the natives would not be enjoyed as yet. They appealed to the Court of Appeal, which has yet to hear the case. Then, 2 months after the BN was returned to power (by the natives), on 22nd June 2011 at the state legislature the BN amended the law to plug the loophole against any chance that such joint venture agreement would be illegal. Under the new law, the natives who had entered into the venture cannot even go to the court to ventilate their just claims.
Such is the fate of the natives who have stood by the BN through thick and thin. Not a single native ADUN from the BN dared whisper a simple “No” to the amendment. For the Pakatan Rakyat, myself, Ting Tze Fui, Chong Chieng Jen and Baru Bian spoke against the amendment. And, the BN law-makers turned the table on us, saying that we are against development.
I have reiterated umpteenth times in the legislative chambers that DAP is never against development, so long as they are meaningful to the people. In his first speech in the Dewan Undangan Negeri delivered to object to the amendment, Baru Bian (PKR) said the same thing.
DAP is steadfast to speak the plights of the natives in the Dewan Undangan Negeri when their own representatives dare not. We are not deterred by the many lies of the Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu uttered in and outside the legislative chambers that DAP has oppressed and suppressed the natives in their opportunities on NCR land development. The story of the fate of the natives in the Pantu case provides a complete picture that those who oppressed and suppressed are those in power, the BN. The natives in Sarawak should put an end to this BN’s charade soon.

23.2.2012
http://holeng.dapsarawak.com/?p=1659#more-1659

Confidence in Sarawak

Confidence in Sarawak
The State Government spoke highly of SCORE and almost everybody in Barisan Nasional spoke about that. It looks as if the success or failure of Sarawak lays entirely on SCORE.
But the people are leaving Sarawak. Why? The answer is simple. Jobs are scarce in Sarawak. There is poverty in all races, especially among the natives. Corruption prevails in Sarawak. The rich had become richer, and the poor had become poorer.
In November 2011, I said in this House, “Close to 100,000 natives and anak anak Sarawak left Sarawak because they lost faith in Sarawak, as they seek employment in Singapore, Johore and Klang Valley. If development distribution is equitable, the children of Sarawak will not have to leave their homeland. Many Sarawakians who have better brains also lose faith in the State. They have left to find greener pastures elsewhere.”
In his winding up speech, the Right Hounourable Chief Minister disagreed with my figure. He indicated that I should prove this statistics. Here I am, I am now going to prove it. Tuan Speaker, I am now going to prove it with the figures supplied to Members of Parliament in the answer on 16th March, 2011.
In 1970, Sarawak had a population of 976,269. That represents 9.35% of the nation’s population of 10,439,430. In 1980, 10 years later, Sarawak’s population was 1.2 million. That represents 9.16% of the nation’s population of 13.1 million. In 1991 Sarawak population was 1.6 million, representing 9.09% of the total population of 17.6 million. In 2000, Sarawak’s population of 2,012,616 was only 9.06% of the nation’s total of 22,202,614. In 2010, Sarawak has a population of 2,420,009. That represents a mere 8.78% of the nation’s total of 27,565,821.
The important question we must ask is this, why has the percentage of population growth in Sarawak reducing, decreasing all the time when the national population growth is increased. The answer is simple, have we maintained 1970 figure, 9.35% and then by the year 2010, Sarawak should have a population of 2,577,404. There is a difference of 157,395 people. Where are they? They have sought a greener pasture outside Sarawak.
I was being conservative when I said that “close to 100,000” “Dayaks and anak anak Sarawak” have left a greener pasture outside Sarawak.

http://holeng.dapsarawak.com/?p=1733#more-1733