Current Water Woe is Not an Act of God but a Man-made Crisis

Media Statement of Yeo Bee Yin, State Assemblywoman for Damansara Utama, on Wednesday 5 February 2013.

Current water woe is not an act of God but a man-made crisis. It wasn’t the dry spell that caused the water crisis but Syabas’s inability to reduce its non-revenue water in the past few years. We must embark on water restructuring exercise as soon as possible to ensure long-term water security for people in Klang Valley. 

Krisis air adalah akibat penswastaan berat sebelah industri air di Selangor

Kenyataan Media Yeo Bee Yin, ADUN Damansara Utama, pada hari Rabu 5 Februari 2014.

Masalah bekalan air sekarang bukanlah satu ‘ketentuan Tuhan’ bahkan satu krisis angkara manusia. Bukanlah kemarau yang mengakibatkan krisis air bahkan kegagalan Syabas mengurangkan kerugian air dalam masa beberapa tahun lalu.

Krisis air terkini bukan saja menyusahkan orang ramai malah merupakan satu tragedi kepada individu-individu seperti Puan Holifah Siman dari Taman Impian Ehsan yang keguguran anak kembarnya setelah terpaksa mengangkut berbaldi-baldi air dalam jangkamasa kekurangan bekalan air. Lebih menyedihkan lagi ialah krisis air sekarang ini sepatutnya boleh dielakkan sekiranya Syabas mampu mengurangkan kerugian air (non-revenue water, NRW) secara sistematik dalam beberapa tahun lalu.

Langkah pencatuan air pada masa sekarang menyasarkan untuk mengurangkan pengeluaran air mentah dari empangan Sungai Selangor dan Klang Gate pada kadar berjumlah 230 juta liter sehari, iaitu lebih kurang 5% daripada permintaan air di Selangor sebanyak 4,500 juta liter sehari. Dengan kata lain, jika dalam beberapa tahun lalu Syabas mampu memperbaiki prestasi NRW-nya setakat 5% sahaja pun, krisis air sekarang tidak mungkin terjadi. Ini akan menyelamatkan 2.2 juta penduduk Lembah Kelang daripada kesukaran pencatuan air dan Puan Holifah Siman mungkin masih riang.

Putrajaya murah hati dengan kontraktor tetapi kedekut dengan ahli bomba?

Kenyataan Media oleh Yeo Bee Yin, ADUN Damansara Utama pada hari Jumaat, 24 Januari 2014 di Petaling Jaya.

Perbelanjaan RM50 juta Kementerian Kewangan membeli peralatan tidak penting bagi Jabatan Bomba dan Penyelamat boleh digunakan untuk membayar gaji 13,000 anggota bomba (bergaji rendah) - malah boleh dijadikan bonus sebanyak RM3,800 seorang anggota.

Seperti yang didedahkan Jawatankuasa Kira-kira Wang Negara (Public Accounts Committee, PAC), kerajaan Barisan Nasional telah sekali lagi memperlihatkan kekurangan akauntabiliti dalam membelanjankan wang rakat dengan menghabiskan sebanyak RM50 juta membeli "CCS Cobra Cutting Extinguisher E300" melalui rundingan terus. Ini dibuat meski pun Jabatan Bomba tidak berkehendak untuk peralatan tersebut.

Kami percaya bahawa Jabatan Bomba akan lebih mendapat manfaat sekiranya dana tersebut digunakan untuk membayar anggota bomba dalam bentuk bonus ataupun kenaikan gaji. Pada waktu ini, ramai anggota bomba menerima bayaran rendah - gaji pokok seorang anggota muda adalah kurang dari RM1000, malah Ketua Balai pun digaji sekadar RM3,800. Tambahan pula, mereka tidak berhak untuk tuntutan lebih masa. Dalam skim gaji sedemikian, yang lebih rendah berbanding PDRM, walaupun dengan beberapa elaun, ramai anggota bomba merasakan sukar sekali untuk menampung keluarga, terutamanya yang bekerja di kawasan Lembah Kelang.

Putrajaya Paid Generously to Supplier but Peanuts to the Firemen

Media Statement by Yeo Bee Yin, State Assemblywoman for Damansara Utama on Saturday, 25 January 2014 in Petaling Jaya.

The RM50 million the Finance Ministry spent in buying non-essential tools for Fire and Rescue Department will better be spent on compensating the 13,000 (mostly underpaid) firemen – it could well be a bonus of about RM3,800 per fireman.

As revealed by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Barisan Nasional government has once again shown its lack of accountability in utilizing rakyat’s money by spending RM50 million in buying "CCS Cobra Cutting Extinguisher E300" through direct negotiation. This came even WITHOUT the Fire and Rescue Department requesting for it. 

We believe that the Fire Department will be better off if the money was used to compensate the firemen in the form of bonus or pay increment. As of now, many firemen have been underpaid - the basic salary of a junior fireman is lower than RM1,000 and even a Station Commander is only about RM3,800. Furthermore, they are not entitled to overtime claim. Under such a pay scheme, which is significantly lower than their PDRM counterpart, even with some other allowances, many firemen may still find it difficult to raise their families, especially those who are based in Klang Valley area.

Why did Putrajaya pay so generously to the supplier via direct negotiation but peanuts to the men and women who are standing at the forefront to protect the lives and property of the rakyat?  

Women in Tudung Should be Free from Discrimination: UMNO Shows Two Faces in Tudung Incidents

Media Statement by Yeo Bee Yin, State Assemblywoman of Damansara Utama on Sunday, 19 January 2014 in Petaling Jaya.

Women in ‘tudung’ as a way of professing her Muslim faith should be free from any forms of discrimination in Malaysia, as guaranteed by the Federal Constitution. Nevertheless, UMNO’s different response to discrimination against women in ‘tudung’ in SRJK (C) Nan Ya to that of the multinational retailers in Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) clearly showed that it practices “One Malaysia Two Standards”. 

Is Putrajaya Trying to Cover up the Blocking of BBC's "Kangkung" Site

Media Statement by Yeo Bee Yin, DAP Social Media Strategist and State Assemblywoman for Damansara Utama on Friday, 17 Jan 2014 in Petaling Jaya.

The incident of BBC’s “kangkung” article being inaccessible raised red flag on Putrajaya’s commitment to Internet and social media freedom, which is crucial for Pakatan Rakyat victory in the next General Election.

Wanita Bertudung Mesti Bebas daripada Diskriminasi

Muslimah bertudung mesti bebas daripada apa jua bentuk diskriminasi dan prejudis dalam proses pengambilan kerja. Syarikat sepatutnya mengambil pekerja berasaskan merit dan kecekapan semata-mata.

Baru-baru ini suatu status Facebook seorang wanita muslim bernama Mira Kamil telah tersebar luas apabila beliau berkongso pengalamannya melalui diskriminasi terhadap Muslimah bertudung. Beliau tidak diterima di beberapa kedai bertaraf antarabangsa di KLCC hanya kerana beliau memakai tudung. Kisahnya itu disahkan oleh Harian Metro apabila seorang wartawannya menyamar untuk mencari kerja di kedai-kedai tersebut dan ditolak mentah-mentah atas sebab yang sama. Keseluruhan proses itu dirakam dalam sebuah video di YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gCIxfbwMZGo

Open Letter to Prime Minister: Be a Man, Make Your Stand

Dear Prime Minister, 

Since 2 January, our country has once again plunged into the "Allah" chaos, a unique scenario that can be found only in Malaysia. The whole world is laughing at us but that doesn't bother me. What bothers me is this question that keeps lingering in my mind: where does the future lie?

It breaks my heart when I see our country wasting time fighting over the name of God instead of focusing on saving the declining quality of education, the lack of opportunities for the young and the many thousands of rural villages in Sabah and Sarawak that are still deprived of basic necessities.

It also breaks my heart when I see the bond we built as a nation since independence now on the verge of ruin. The gaps between us have just become wider. We have now a situation in Malaysia where someone may have to accept permanent state of inferiority and find himself more like an exile in his own land. This is surely not what our forefathers wanted when they first started this nation.


Mr. Prime Minister,

Malaysia's biggest disease now is hypocrisy. Religion has been repeatedly used to stir up emotions and hatred among the people for political gain. This is not a new weapon, throughout the history it has been used by those who could not prevail, either by persuasion or deeds.

I hope you'll do better than that, don't resort to such schemes to hide your inability to lead and govern.

I remember that you once likened the struggle of UMNO to that of Nelson Mandela's. I would like to remind you that Nelson Mandela had never resorted to splitting his country to gain political power. He stood for what is right and just, even if that meant having to go to jail for 27 years.

I will be very grateful if you, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, posses even the slightest bit of his moral strength. Have you the nerve and the will to stand and speak for what is right?


Mr. Prime Minister,

We must put an end to this "Allah" war soonest possible or it will put an end to our dream as a great nation.

Why are you keeping quiet?

I hate to admit that, but you are the one that should give the final call on the "Allah" issue because only your words will not be twisted and played up by the mainstream media.

We have no time to fight over "Allah" again and again. It is time to fight poverty, corruption, ignorance and incompetency. It is time to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation.

So I ask you now, for the good of all of us and for the love this great nation: please, tell us, how do we move forward?


Mr. Prime Minister,

For your information, my colleagues and I have made a stand as the lawmakers of Selangor after JAIS raided Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM). We stood on the promises of our forefathers as written in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, that everyone has the right to profess, practice and manage his and her own religion.

As for you, you announced the 10-point solution before the election but kept incredibly silent after 2 January. Is the 10-point solution nothing but a tool for you to win power? Does Putrajaya still stand-by the 10-point solution? It is exactly 2 weeks from JAIS's raid but you've made no comment about this. Is this what the Prime Minister supposed to be?

As a lawmaker of Selangor, I have made my stand clear over this issue, the very obligation the people have voted me to do. I am expecting greater conviction and greater courage from you, the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

So, be a man, make your stand.

Thank you.


Yours Sincerely,

Yeo Bee Yin

State Assemblywoman of Damansara Utama
16 January 2014