Media Statement: BN Government Deliberately Blocking PR's Security Move

Inspector General of Police and Home Ministry must stop playing politics and immediately approve Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya and any other city council’s application to establish their auxiliary police force to combat crime.

To assist the battle against crime, Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya (MBPJ) has applied to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) for an auxiliary police force in Feb 2009 and had allocated RM4.3million to train and equip 100 personnel from its enforcement unit to complement the police force in PJ. However, it was rejected in 2010 based on lame excuse that the crime rate had declined and there was no need for MBPJ to have its own auxiliary police as there will be ‘overlapping functions’ with the police.

MBPJ has since applied again for auxiliary police in the city in June 2012. However, the City Council has yet to receive any response from the IGP. We are extremely disappointed that the Police force is playing politics over the set up of the auxiliary police, and refuses to give priority to the safety and security of Selangor residents.

In fact, the establishment of auxiliary police forces is one of the recommended initiatives under Najib’s Governmental Transformation Program (GTP)’s Reducing Crime NKRA. Nevertheless, Inspector General of Police (IGP) and Home Ministry have shown clear double-standards in granting auxiliary police administration approval, as requested by Police Act 1967 (Part IX, 47-50).

Media Statement: Ensure oil money put into good use

Petronas executive vice president of finance Datuk George Ratilal on 5 Jun 2013 has openly disagreed with the Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Paul Low, who had previously attributed Malaysia poor ranking Resource Governance Index (RGI) to Petronas’ overseas non- disclosure agreements (NDA). Ratilal insisted that Petronas has been transparent in overseas operations and their standard of disclosure is as good as other international oil companies such as Shell and Exxon-Mobil.

This open disagreement from Petronas is clearly a rebuke aimed at our newly minted Minister in Prime Minister’s Department. My earlier rebuttal statement had argued that the poor RGI ranking has little to do with disclosure of overseas operations but operation and business activities within Malaysia and now Petronas confirmed it that even there’s such indicator, Petronas has been living up to international standard.

We hope that by now Paul Low has already read the RGI report and realize that Malaysia poor ranking in RGI is due to the lack of comprehensive disclosure policies in Malaysia legal framework such as the freedom of information law and the lax of Petroleum Development Act 1974 in requiring Petronas to disclose certain information of their operations and business decisions within Malaysia such as the award of contracts, exploration license, subsidies, royalty transfers etc. Petronas is not required by the law to disclose this information and therefore should not be the scapegoat of the Barisan Nasional government for their inability in resource governance.

If the BN Government is really serious about transparency, we would like to challenge BN to push for Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, which allows the public to seek information made by government ministries and department as well as government-linked companies (GLCs) like Petronas. With that, the public can ask for information from Petronas such as the award of contracts and license grants, which in turn lessen leakages and corruption in the process.

Media Statement: Singapore no role model for online media controls

Communications and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek has said that the federal government is studying the possibility of regulating online news portals, imitating Singapore’s move to do so.

Since Singapore - seen as being more sophisticated - has come up with the regulation, the Malaysian government will look into its feasibility, he said.

Before taking Singapore as a ‘role model’, we suggest that the minister looks at the 2013 Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters without Borders to measures the freedom to produce and circulate accurate news and information in 179 countries.

Singapore ranks worse than Malaysia, standing at 149th while Malaysia is at 145th. This is even after Malaysia suffered one of the biggest falls in ranking - a sharp drop of 23 places - among the countries surveyed.

Therefore, it is obvious that emulating Singapore’s regulations on Internet monitoring would be a clearly regressive move for Malaysia.

Media Statement: Stop Being 'BN Apologist'

Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Paul Low should perhaps do his homework first before attempting to “justify” Malaysia’s poor rankings in the Revenue Governance Index Report

Paul Low should read the Revenue Watch Institute (RWI) 2013 report first before defending the Barisan Nasional government of their inability in resource governance, which is clearly shown by the Malaysia’s poor ranking in the report’s Resource Governance Index (RGI).

In responding to the poor ranking, Paul Low was reported saying that it is because the disclosure of overseas agreements make up a "big item" in the index and Petronas has to respect the host government’s requests for non-disclosure while doing operation overseas. This excuse given is contrary to that stated in the RGI report.

Media Statement: Malaysia Poor Ranking in Resource Governance Index (RGI)

Malaysia fares worse than Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Iraq in the latest Resource Governance Index published by Revenue Watch Institute.

Malaysia ranks 34th out of 58 countries with a score of 46 out of 100 in Resource Governance Index (RGI) published on 8 May 2013 by Revenue Watch Institute (RWI), a non-profit organization that promotes effective, transparent and accountable management of natural resources. Malaysia is categorized as ‘weak’ among the four standards of governance - satisfactory, partial, weak and failing while our neighboring countries Indonesia and Philippine are categorized as partial with better rank of 14^th and 23^rd respectively. We also tail behind 8 African countries - Ghana (15^th), Liberia (16^th), Zambia (17^th), Morocco (25^th), Tanzania (27^th), Botswana (30^th), Gabon (32^nd) and Guinea (33^rd) as well as countries like Indonesia Kazakhstan (19^th), Venezuela (20^th), Azerbajian (28^th) and Iraq (29^th).

Petroleum sector is one of the most important sectors in Malaysia, representing 10% of gross domestic product and 20% of exports as well as 40% of federal government revenue in 2011.  According to Petroleum Development Act of 1974, Malaysia national oil firm, Petronas, has the exclusive right to manage the petroleum sector and can grant licenses and sign contracts without public scrutiny. It is only accountable to the Prime Minister. Because there’s a lack of disclosure policies, Petronas is currently publishing little information on extractive contracts or resource-funded subsidies. On licensing, it announces the award of licenses through press releases with little details and without the disclosure of the terms and conditions.

Stagnant Water to Dried Land

About 2 weeks ago we've received complains that an abandoned land near SS2 mall and Damansara Bistari has turned into a 'lake' - stagnant water that smells and a potential breeding ground for different diseases. 

So I did a press conference together with the residents, pegawai kesihatan from MBPJ and our councillor Lee Suet Sen on 18 May 2013. The land owner responded to the call and dried up the land. On the right is the picture of the dried land on 28 May 2013.

To all the land owners, please make sure your land don't pose any inconvenience and potential health hazard to the residents around. Thanks. 

Flash Flood, Rivers and JPS

I did a press conference on 22 May 2013 together with the residents around Jalan SS21/42a to highlight the urgency of JPS (Jabatan Pengairan dan Saliran) to start their river embankment  project, which was supposed to start on 13 Mar 2013. The JPS contractor has finally started work the following day after the press conference. 

Serious riverbank erosion as a consequence of the lack of concrete embankment not only pose danger to buildings by the side of the river (pic) but also bring significant silting effect (pic) downstream, causing shallower riverbeds and potentially flash flood. In fact, Kampung Chempaka, which is situated downstream from this area, just suffered flash flood about 3 weeks ago at Jalan PJU 1/4. 

Erosion: Dangerous to Buildings by Riverside (upper side of the pic)

Silting Effect: Accumulation of Sediments

12 Days After GE

I would like to share with you here a beautiful write-up by Lauren Chew, my 17 year-old intern, about her internship with me. Lauren is in the middle in the photo, while her dad by her side. Mr Chew entrusted his daughter to me just a few months before she leaves for US to pursue her study in Political Science.

Do take some time to read this article. It's simply beautiful. This is from a 17 year-old Malaysian girl who witnessed the dirty GE13 and yet still believe that we can change and there is hope for this nation, because beauty outweighs the ugly - infinitely.