Chow Kon Yeow: 曹观友

The Parliamentary Opposition Leader’s Roundtable Meeting on Water Bills today asked Prime Minister to intervene and withdraw the two Water Bills as national sovereignty is at stake.

The passing of the two bills to open door to privatisation would also eventually allow foreigners to take over water companies.

Malaysia is a signatory to General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS) and it would allow MNCs to take over water and sewerage services in the country if it is run by privatised business entities and not provided as part of government services to the people.

Parliament should reaffirm water as a fundamental right and it has a duty to promote that right to water.

The two water bills are not only about water but about our national sovereignty.

“Are we to be the generation to be known to have sold our independence and national sovereignty,” asked one environmentalist.

The meeting also resolved to submit a series of amendments to the bills to incorporate recommendations of the civil society.

An additional RM13 billion is needed for the services and development expenditures for the year 2005. This is the second Supplementary Budget for the previous year. Parliament is asked to approve such supplementary allocations which have been disbursed earlier from the Simpanan Luar Jangka. This is a classic example of “rubber-stamping” but MPs can still take the opportunity to question the relevant Ministries on why such additional funds were needed.

According to the Standing Orders of Dewan Rakyat, the debate can only take place three days after it had been tabled for first reading. One day is allocated for general debate and another two days for debate at committee stage (meaning each ministry receiving additional allocation will be scrutinized individually).

The Supplementary Supply (2005) Act 2006 is to authorize a sum not exceeding RM10,152,874,593 from the Consolidated Fund for operating expenditures.

Below are some details on how why such additional expenditures are needed:

RM250,000 – membiayai perbelanjaan utiliti dan penyelenggaraan Istana Negara
RM53,300 membiayai kenaikan dan pelarasan elaun Ahli SPR
RM490,000 Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam
RM708,000 Pencen, Elaun Bersara dan Ganjaran
RM8.2 m kenaikan elaun Ahli Parlimen
RM4.4m Akademi Audit Negara

Whereas for development expenditures, an additional RM2.9 billion is needed for the year 2005. This is needed for purpose that is not originally budgeted for or when there is a shortfall in the original estimates.

Examples of where the allocation is going:

RM 1 billion penyusunan semula pengangkutan awam di Lembah Klang (PUTRA dan STAR)
RM580m peningkatan modal berbayar Bank Simpanan Nasional
RM683m peningkatan modal berbayar Cyberview Sdn. Bhd.
RM13 m Kementerian Perusahaan Perladangan dan Komoditi
RM96m Kementerian Sumber Asli dan Alam Sekitar
RM12m Kementerian Pengangkutan
RM271m Kementerian Pelajaran
RM250m Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi

Usually the whole nation will be abuzz when the yearly Budget is tabled, but little attention is given to Supplementary Budget. This can be as high as 20-30 per cent of the original budget and this would create a higher deficit than originally estimated.

Fancy, who is waiting in Parliament to speak since this morning? I cannot blame you if you cannot guess who is the Minister waiting to reply on behalf of her Ministry on the current debate on the 9th Malaysian Plan.

Hail the Queen of Parliament, Rafidah has been found sitting at her place since 10am this morning. What a rare sight in Parliament to see Rafidah come down to earth from her Queenly throne to an earthly minister , waiting to reply on points raised by MPs on the affairs of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.

Since the AP saga last year, Rafidah has not attended Parliament to reply to any questions except for the opening of the new Parliament session and the tabling of the 9th Malaysian Plan in March.

Rafidah, I think, is forced to attend because of Kit Siang’s pressure asking Pak Lah to sack her if she refuse to attend Parliament to reply. More seriously, Pak Lah is scheduled to come to Parliament on Thursday afternoon to wind up debate on the 9th Malaysian Plan. It would surely look bad on Rafidah for not attending Parliament if her boss comes in ocassionally to answer questions.

Well, Malaysian Plan is presented once every five years. There is no reason why any Minister cannot make an effort to come.All the more, our Queen of Parliament.

Kit Siang blogged on the matter last week. (more…)

The Prime Minister will table an emergency motion to mourn the passing of former Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Ghafar Baba on 23 April 2006:

“Bahawa Dewan ini,
merakamkan perasaan dukacita yang amat sangat di atas kembalinya ke Rahmatullah Tun Abdul Ghafar bin Baba, bekas Timbalan Perdana Menteri pada 23 April 2006;

Negara telah kehilangan seorang negarawan dan pejuang yang tidak dapat dihitung jasanya kepada masyarakat dan tokoh seperti Allahyarham sukar dicari ganti. Allahyarham memperlihatkan kematangan dan sentiasa menyampaikan suara keseimbangan terutamanya dalam perkara-perkara yang sensitif yang menyentuh agama,kaum budaya dan bangsa. Allahyarham adalah pemimpin yang sentiasa komitted untuk berkhidmat kepada rakyat dan negara tanpa mengira penat lelah, agama, bangsa dan status sosial.Semoga Allah S.W.T. sentiasa mencucuri rahmat ke atas rohnya dan meletakkannya bersama-sama orang yang beriman; dan

Menyampaikan ucapan takziah kepada keluarganya.”

Yes, he is tabling the motion now. I think it is being telecast live on RTM1.

The Chinese media gave very prominent coverage to my press conference statement on Gerakan phantom members in Penang.

Dr Teng Hock Nan was asked to comment by Guang Ming Daily and he was quoted as saying, “there is nothing to comment… Gerakan does not need to manufacture phantom members…after all this is not election year.”

Just read between the lines, “this is not election year”, well Dr Teng is saying, “if this is election year we will surely manufacture many phantom members.”

As to the allegation of phantom voters, there is no rebuke from Dr Teng.

Please help to look out for phantom voters in your area.

Phantom members and voters are nothing new in Malaysian politics.

Yesterday, I saw a stack of letters at my office and found out that these are letters returned to the sender because the mails cannot be delivered to the address.

On examination, I noted that the sender of these letters was the Parti Gerakan Penang headquarters and the postman must have wrongly returned those letters to the DAP instead of the rightful receipent.

All the 14 letters were sent to a single address along Jalan Tanjong Tokong.

I think all of them are phantom members of the local Gerakan branch. I am more interested to find out whether they are also phantom voters planted by the Gerakan in the previous elections or for the coming general elections.

The DAP had in the past accused the Gerakan of manufacturing phantom voters in their constituencies. One classic example was found in the address of Dr Teng Hock Nan where about ten persons with different surnames and ethnic background were found to have registered as voters. Another one was in Rifle Range Flats where more than 30 persons were found registered as voters in a tiny cubicle unit.

Gerakan had remained silence over the DAP’s exposure.

Well, with the finding of these 14 letters, I think Gerakan is still manufacturing phantom members and voters so that someone like Dr Koh Tsu Koon, Dr Teng Hock Nan could be returned as Gerakan state leaders and to elected offices like the Chief Minister.

Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon should be shameful in that since taking over the post in 1990, he has done little to complete the Komtar development project .

Komtar may one day be listed in the Guiness Book of Records as the project that take half a century to complete. Launched in the early 1970s, this urban renewal project was meant to showcase Gerakan’s achievement in running Penang.

Although the Tower podium and shopping arcade were completed within the first decade, development of other phases of the project were either sold to private investors or left to rot till today.

Anyone passing through Magazine Road, Maxwell Road and Prangin Market areas would be shocked to see the rotten sides of the Pearl of Penang.

Tsu Koon has an office up in Level 28 in Komtar but he seems oblivious to the state of affairs below his office.

I am not wrong to say Tsu Koon has not add a new piece of brick onto the Komtar project.

Hotel Shangrila, Prangin Mall and the abandoned Metrojaya Complex and the Lion Group projects are all undertaken by the private sectors not the Penang Development Corporation. Infact lands acquired from the rakyat were sold to these private developers. This indeed is a betrayal.

I visited the area yet again yesterday morning and I can only say if Tsu Koon is unable to do anything to Komtar, then let the new Chief Minister complete the project within one term of office.