Impian Sarawak: Lights that Give Them Brighter Future

Before I came to Kampung Sait I thought my childhood was tough, no more after I met with Victoria, Cynthia and Redina here.  Believe it or not, these 3 girls in the picture always face with the possibility of doing their school works in darkness.  

Victoria, Cynthia and Redina (from left to right) and I. :) 

As many other native settlements in Sarawak, Kampung Sait is not connected to electrical grid for electricity. They have to use generator to power up their houses. So it is very common that many families still use candles and oils lamps at night. For the family that can afford generators, they normally can only afford to turn on the generator for a few hours at night, usually 7pm-10pm. 

For your information, while many of the villagers earn just a few hundreds per month, they need to pay so much more for electricity – the electricity generated from a diesel generator is about 40% more expensive per kWh than electricity we obtain in the city from the grid. There are times when the family is cash tight and can't afford diesel in that particular days, these girls need to study with their oil lamps. 

How in 2013 that Malaysian children are still deprive of the proper lighting to study? I believe everyone in this nation, regardless of the family income, should be entitled with equal opportunity to excel - that is, if they work hard enough, they will be able to be successful and achieve their dreams. With that, I believe every leader in this nation should work hard to ensure that the children get proper lighting to study. Sometimes leadership is not about complicated policies, it's about providing the most basic needs to the most neglected group in the country. 

The Barisan Nasional government did at once do rural electricity project at Kampung Sait by installing solar panels in the whole village. However, most of the solar panels were broken in less than a month and now none in the village was functioning. So these solar panels you see in the pictures are all not functioning. Believe me, this solar panel project is an expensive project and you need no further explanation to know who benefited from this project.  

I still remember the night I spent in Kampung Sait without electricity. It was dark, I needed to put torch by my side so I could use it if I need to go to toilet or somewhere in the middle of the night. The heat and the mosquitoes made getting into sleep, hmmmm, very difficult.  Of course, I didn’t sleep well that night.

I hope that with micro hydro-electric dam project and maintenance by the villagers (we'll allocate fund to their tabung managed by a committee), we can light up the many similar native villages for long term without putting financial burden to the people. 

I hope that the likes of Victoria, Cynthia and Redina can go home from school every day knowing that if they need to do their schoolwork at night, they can do it in brightness.  Let us bring light to their nights and henceforth bring lights to the future the children in Sarawak rural areas.

Change in Malaysia will not be possible without change in Sarawak, change in Sarawak will not be possible without a change of mindset of rural Sarawak, change of mindset will not be possible without Pakatan Rakyat going to the ground and give tangible benefits to the people. 

This is what Impian Sarawak is all about. For more information, visit: www.impiansarawak.com. 

Impian Sarawak: Endless Possibilities BN Style

Another village that I visited was Kampung Tanjung Batu. 

Here at Kampung Tanjung Batu, electric poles and terminals were installed 4 months before GE13 and the village was promised to be connected to grid electricity if they voted for Barisan Nasional. Now, many months after the election, there is still no electricity in the village. So the electric poles that you see in the picture here is actually 'empty'. In my later conversation with other village chiefs from Sri Aman, I found that such 'empty' poles are common in villages across Sarawak. This is definitely a good example of endless possibilities BN-style. 

"Empty" Electric Pole at Kampung Tanjung Batu

"Empty" Electric Pole at Kampung Tanjung Batu

"Empty" Electric Terminal at Kampung Tanjung Batu

"Empty" Electric Terminal at Kampung Tanjung Batu

For villages that are not connected to grid, many of the villagers are using generator to power up their house whereas the less fortunate ones continue on their life without electricity. Picture below show a typical diesel generator used by the villagers. For your information, while many of the villagers earn just a few hundreds per month, they need to pay so much more for electricity – the electricity generated from a diesel generator is about 40% more expensive per kWh than electricity we obtain in the city from the grid.

Diesel Generator 

We asked this man in the picture about what he thinks about the electric poles. Initially he said he was confident that the pole will be connected to the grid one day. I was surprised and asked further. Then he continued with this - the 'one day' will come 2 years later during the state election. Well, how true, how sad. 

In a state as rich as Sarawak, electricity should not be a privilege but a right. Sarawak and Malaysia deserve a better government. Change will not be possible without Pakatan Rakyat going to the ground and running small projects that give tangible benefits to the rural Sarawak.  

This is what Impian Sarawak is all about. Please support our campaign. For more information about the campaign, visit us at: www.impiansarawak.com. 

Impian Sarawak My New Friend

One of the villages I visited during my Sarawak visit was Kampung Tanjung Batu. There’s no running water there. The villagers need to bath and do laundry here at this river in the picture. Can you find a Barisan Nasional flag hanging upside down in the picture? :) 

The villagers here leave their laundry detergent by the side of the river so they don't need to carry them everyday to do laundry. While we are so used to using washing machine, in another part of Malaysia, there are people that still need to do laundry by the side of the river. 

Mordi (picture below), who was the candidate for Mas Gading and my ‘tour guide’ while I was visiting Kampung Tanjung Batu, told me that the first time he saw that people still need to bath and laundry in the river, he cried. He has been serving in the area for more than 2 years. He recalled that during the election, the Barisan Nasional people mocked him saying, “you work for 2 years but we only need to work for 3 days (to give away election goodies)”. Indeed, he lost the election in GE13. 

However, I am confident that he’ll be elected one day. The moment he told me he cried for the people, I knew in my heart that this is the kind of leader that the community need badly. All we need to do is to make sure he gets elected in the next election.

Mordi, the compassionate leader.

Ladies and gentlemen, we need to support people like Mordi to bring hope to this nation. Being in rural constituency means he needs to deliver tangible benefits to the people to break the mindset that only Barisan Nasional has the ability to deliver (albeit they deliver on right before election). We need to create wind of change in the rural area of Sarawak. 

This is what Impian Sarawak is all about. Please support our campaign. For more information about the campaign, visit us at: www.impiansarawak.com. 

Sabah & Sarawak Campaign Preparation: Return the Dignity to Choose

16 September is 40 days away. 50 years ago, on the 16 Sept 1963, Sabah and Sarawak joint Malaya and a new country called Malaysia was born.  However after 50 years, the Bumiputras in Sabah and Sarawak are the group that's left behind in Malaysia's economic development. 

The graph below shows Malaysia poverty rate by ethnicity.  While the Malay, Chinese and Indian have our poverty rate reduced by half to less than 5%, the percentage of poverty reduction for non-Malay Bumiputera is less than half and still lingering at as high as 17%. 

On the 5th May 2013, Pakatan Rakyat lost the hardest battle in the history of Malaysia. Numbers tell us that if we were to do better in Sabah and Sarawak rural area, we would have won GE13. Out of the 56 Parliamentary seats from Sabah and Sarawak, Pakatan Rakyat only managed to win 9 seats. The questions you may ask is, 'why do our fellow Malaysians in Sabah and Sarawak still vote for the Barisan Nasional?' 

Nevertheless, can we blame them for not voting for PR? I don't think so. Now, imagine yourself to be living in a rural area from Sabah and Sarawak, and for all your life you know only one party, who will come before the election to give you some money and then out of your natural gratitude, you feel obliged to put a cross at the Dacing sign on the ballot paper in return of their 'favor'. Something changed this GE. Another guy came in just 1 to 2 months before the election and told you that the person who has been giving you the money is a bad guy because he steals and kills, don't vote for him. Even he steals and kills, it has little to do with you really. So whom will you vote for? The answer is clear. 

It's time for us in Pakatan Rakyat to put in hard work to win the hearts of the rural Malaysians.    Power that comes too easily will make us lost the real meaning of where the power comes from - the people. To me, serving the rural communities is more than just winning the election, it is about giving back our fellow Malaysians the rights that they have long lost purely because of Barisan Nasional political convenience. Barisan Nasional deprived the communities for 4 years and as much as possible, keep their political exposure to the minimum, and just weeks before election, give them some money and ask them for votes. This is the easiest way for Barisan Nasional to stay in power. And as a result, our fellow Malaysians, not knowing their rights, are deprived of what they actually deserve. 

I am glad that in DAP, we have leaders who want to do things differently. We want to provide them first basic infrastructure (roads, water and electricity) then economic sustainability projects that allow them to increase their monthly income; we want to give them political educations - inform them their their democratic rights especially to their ancestral lands. Yes, BN will still give them money the last minute before election, and the people may still choose them, but at least, at least we return our fellow Malaysians the dignity to choose.  This is the essence of democracy.

Ladies and gentlemen, let's return our fellow Malaysians in rural Sabah and Sarawak the dignity to choose. Dignity, that everyone who lives in a democratic country, deserves. 

I was reminded of these lines that I wrote on my FB on the 6th May: - 

"Cry Malaysians cry, but only for a short while, there are a lot more things to do to achieve our dreams...... Indeed, the journey is longer than expected, but let's don't lose hope, let's continue to believe that when all of us come together, our dreams will come true one day." 

I count myself blessed to be a part of the campaign, a part of change that all of us long hope for. Sarawak campaign will be launched mid-September and I need to do a lot of work to make sure the first phase publicity is effective to raise sufficient funds (both from online donation and dinner) so we can implement the first round of projects that have been identified. Do support the campaign when it is launched! 
  

Yes, the journey starts now, one small step at a time, we'll eventually get there. I always tell my staffs this: it takes only one generation to bring historical change, and WE ARE THE GENERATION. 

Media Statement: Don't Kill Goose that Lays the Golden Eggs, Putrajaya told.

Media Statement by Yeo Bee Yin, DAP Social Media Strategist and ADUN for Damansara Utama on Friday, 2 August 2013 in Petaling Jaya.

Fitch revision on the Outlook of Petronas Long-Term Local Currency Issuer Default Rating to ‘Negative’ from ‘Stable’ serves as a reminder to Putrajaya so not to kill goose that lays the golden eggs. 

Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlook on Petronas Long-Term Local Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘Negative’ from ‘Stable’ on 31 July 2013, just a day after the country’s downgrade and not long after the downgrade of its Outlook on Foreign Currency IDR in September 2012. Now, its Outlook on both Foreign- and Local Currency IDR are ‘negative’ - lowering Petronas ability to raise capital in the future, both in the local and foreign currency credit markets.

Although Petronas maintains a strong standalone credit profile and Fitch believes that it is Malaysia’s strongest foreign currency debtor, the government influence over its cash flow, financial policies and strategies have apparently impacted its credit ratings as shown by the Fitch downgrades.

Selangor State Assembly (28 June - 8 July 2013)

I've just posted 2 reports on this blog the questions I raised to the Selangor State Government and the answers given (here) as well as the transcript of the speech I delivered (here) in the Selangor State Assembly Session held from 28 June to 8 July 2013 as YB Damansara Utama. 

The speech basically covered 2 parts -  constituency issues and state policies. Constituency related issues include crime and security, traffic congestion, local council services and flash floods while state policies include execution of freedom of information enactment for better transparency, parliamentary reform for better democracy and institute of policy research for better policy-making in the long run. 

It is important that we keep our government in check as the backbenchers so Pakatan Rakyat government will continue to improve on our competency, transparency and accountability. 

Unfortunately, I didn't gather many pictures in the State Assembly to share with you. Here are some of them. 

This is the picture I took from my seat. :)  

Here is a picture taken by Sin Chew of Adun Tanjung Sepat, Ir Mohd Haslin, and I at the State Assembly. He's going to be my 'neighbour' in the State Assembly for the next 4 to 5 years! :) 

Here is a picture taken by my intern through live-stream while I was delivering my first speech in the state assembly. Just in case you wonder, yes, I wear glasses, sometimes. :) 

Laporan Persidangan Penggal Pertama Dewan Negeri Selangor ke-13 (2/2)

Ucapan Membahas Usul Menjunjung Kasih ADUN DAP Damansara Utama Yeo Bee Yin pada 2 Julai 2013 (Selasa) di Persidangan Penggal Pertama Dewan Negeri Selangor, Shah Alam.

Terima kasih kepada Puan Speaker kerana memberi peluang kepada Damansara Utama untuk turut serta menyokong usul menjunjung kasih titah ucapan Duli Yang Maha Mulia Sultan Selangor pada 28 Jun 2013. Salam sejahtera diucapkan kepada semua ahli Yang Berhormat. Salam reformasi dan Salam Ubah.

Puan Speaker, Selangor merupakan negeri yang paling kaya di Malaysia dan menyumbangkan hampir satu perempat KDNK Malaysia. Kita juga mempunyai kadar penduduk yang paling ramai di Malaysia, iaitu sebanyak 5.46 juta penduduk. Komposisi etnik Selangor di mana 51 peratus Melayu, 26 peratus Cina dan 13 peratus India juga merupakan komposisi yang mencerminkan etnik yang terdapat di Malaysia, di mana Melayu, Cina, India masing-masing 50%, 23% dan 7%. Dengan itu, pentadbiran Selangor sebenarnya merupakan satu projek perintis bagi kerajaan pakatan rakyat dalam mempersiapkan diri untuk mentadbir Putrajaya bagi menggantikan kerajaan minoriti di Putrajaya pada masa akan datang.

Laporan Persidangan Penggal Pertama Dewan Negeri Selangor ke-13 (1/2)

Di sini adalah jawapan yang disediakan oleh Kerajaan Selangor untuk 10 soalan mulut dan 10 soalan bertulis yang saya  kemukakan di Persidangan Penggal Pertama Dewan Negeri Selangor ke-13 sebagai YB Damansara Utama. 

Jawapan bagi 10 Soalan Mulut Persidangan Penggal Pertama Dewan Negeri Selangor ke-13

Jawapan bagi 10 Soalan Bertulis Persidangan Penggal Pertama Dewan Negeri Selangor ke-13