MB Negeri Sembilan tak faham Perlembagaan

Kenyataan media oleh Ketua Pembangkang DUN Negeri Sembilan merangkap ADUN Lobak dan Ahli Parlimen Rasah Loke Siew Fook pada hari Rabu, 10 September 2008 di Seremban.

MENTERI BESAR NEGERI SEMBILAN TIDAK FAHAM PERLEMBAGAAN NEGERI

Saya merujuk kepada kenyataan yang dibuat oleh Menteri Besar Negeri Sembilan Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan semalam yang memetik beliau menyatakan bahawa beliau akan membubarkan Dewan Undangan Negeri jika terdapat Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (ADUN) melompat parti hingga membolehkan pembangkang menguasai negeri berkenaan.

Kenyataan beliau seolah-olah membayangkan ketidakpercayaan beliau kepada ketaatan ADUN-ADUN Barisan Nasional. Sekiranya ada ADUN BN yang ingin meninggalkan BN dan menyertai Pakatan Rakyat, saya mengalu-alukan tindakan mereka. Tindakan mereka bukanlah untuk kepentingan peribadi tetapi boleh mencetuskan perubahan yang besar dalam arena politik negeri yang semakin berpecah dan segala keputusan pentadbiran kerajaan dibuat untuk kepentingan segelintir pihak tertentu.

Kenyataan tersebut juga menunjukkan keangkuhan Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan dan beliau seolah-olah tidak mengerti kuasa beliau sebagai Menteri Besar dan langsung tidak menghormati Institusi Diraja. Menteri Besar hanya boleh menasihatkan DYMM Yang Dipertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan untuk membubarkan DUN. Kuasa untuk membubarkan DUN terletak dalam tangan Tuanku. Tuanku boleh menolak nasihat daripada Menteri Besar dalam perkara pembubaran DUN seperti yang termaktub dalam Fasal 56 (2) Perlembagaan Negeri.

Yang Dipertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan sebagai Ketua Negeri juga boleh melantik mana-mana Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri yang mendapat sokongan majoriti dalam DUN untuk memegang jawatan Menteri Besar tertakluk kepada beberapa syarat tertentu. Kenyataan Menteri Besar Negeri Sembilan tersebut seolah-olah membelakangkan kuasa Yang Dipertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan.

Saya menyeru Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan supaya mendapatkan nasihat daripada Penasihat Undang-undang Negeri terlebih dahulu sebelum mengeluarkan sebarang kenyataan yang berhubung-kait dengan kuasa dan perkara dalam Perlembagaan Negeri atau Undang-undang Tubuh Negeri untuk mengelakkan sebarang keraguan di kalangan rakyat. . Read more!

Malaysian Chinese=American Jews? What say you?

This is the statement made by the UMNO Bukit Bendera Chief Ahmad Ismail. It is not only racist but try to make the Chinese in Malaysia as the enemy of Malays and Muslims. It is a very dangerous statement that will easily spark off tensions among the public.

I call on my fellow Malaysians to be calm and united we reject all sorts of racism in our society. Let's show ultras like Ahmad Ismail that they have no place whatsoever in this country.

I am confident that majority of our Malays brothers and sisters do not want to be associated with this sort of thinking. Let's voice up to condemn the likes of Ahmad Ismail in a mature and peaceful manner. Read more!

Now everyone can believe in CHANGE!

The tagline sounds familiar, don't you? Ya..i thought of it on my journey from Kuantan to KT yesterday. It was a combination of 2 great slogans and concepts. If you are a budget traveler, the first thing you think of is "Now everyone can fly", don't you? Why AirAsia able to change the way Malaysians travel so tremendously in the last few years? One concept. Reach out to everyone! Everyone is also a target.

That's one part of the slogan. The next is from the great Barrack Obama - "Change, you can believe in". Why Obama has been so successful in his campaign so far? One keyword - HOPE. And to make people believe in it.

Well, it is no exaggeration to say that the notion of 916 engineered by Anwar Ibrahim has successfully combined this 2 key concepts - reached out to everyone and provide a sense of HOPE. Tell me, who is not talking about 916 in Malaysia now? And the best part is many people whom i came across actually hope it will happen eventually.

My trip to East Coast over the weekend with Sdr Kit Siang confirmed this. Whenever i mentioned 916 or "pin tin" in Cantonese in my speech, the crowd clapped endlessly. I observed how ordinary citizens came up to Kit Siang in every place we went...the Kemaman Kopitiam in Kuantan, the restaurant we went for supper or lunch in KT..everyone in that particular place will come over to shake his hand and take photograph and expressed their hope for 916! Even the security guard in the hotel we stayed said this to Kit which i over heard - "Kita mau tengok ada ubah la! A Malay staff in a petrol kiosk was so happy to see Kit Siang. Everyone seems like meeting the Deputy PM in-waiting!

Well, this is a good sign not only for the DAP but for Malaysia. The Malays no longer buy the UMNO's propaganda that DAP is a "Chinese chauvinist" party. Malaysians in general irrespective of race or religion are ready for one thing - CHANGE. It is no longer a question of whether it will happen, it is when will it happen? The momentum of Change and the hunger for it is increasing day by day. Even 916 do not materialize, i am optimistic that BN will falls eventually.

Now, everyone can believe in CHANGE!
. Read more!

DAP rocks Kuantan!

Spent my weekend in the East Coast. I drove to Kuantan last Saturday to attend a party dinner organized by our Kuantan branch. I was in Kuantan 2 months ago for a ceramah with Datuk Seri Anwar and took the opportunity to meet some of our members there. They were planning for this dinner at that time and invited me as a speaker. I remembered that they told me they are not so confident in selling the dinner tickets as DAP Kuantan last organized a dinner many years back. They also said they faced problems in getting a venue, even a restaurant as some restaurants are afraid to do business with DAP as not to "make enemies" with MCA. This is the mentality in places where MCA and BN have total control.

Well, I am very glad to say that the dinner was a successful one. 70 tables were sold within 3 weeks and if the venue was bigger, more tables can be opened. There were 3 speakers from the central including Kit Siang, Teresa and myself besides our 2 Pahang state assemblymen, Leong Ngah Ngah and Chong Siew Onn.The 2 local MPs, Fuziah Salleh and Azan Ismail from PKR were there as well. The crowd response was overwhelming. There were a lantern festival function being organized outside the restaurant at the same time but the crowd were more keen to listen to our speeches.

And the best thing was there were many young volunteers helping out the dinner wearing DAP t-shirts. I really hope the dinner and the presence of a few national leaders provided a boost for the Rocket to take-off in Kuantan!

After Kuantan, we went to Kuala Terengganu on Sunday morning. It was a long drive along the coastal road from Kuantan to KT. It was my first time travelling along this road and i must say that it will be fun driving along this coastal road if you are on a vacation. Passed by many famous resorts - Club Med Cherating, Awana Kijal, Tanjong Jara, etc.. Took us 3 hours to reach KT and we went straight to attend a party function to announce the formation of 2 new branches in Terengganu. In my speech, i said that currently DAP have representatives in all the state assemblies except for Perlis, Kelantan and Terengganu. With our presence in Terengganu, we hope to send at least one Rocket into the state assembly in the next general election.

Took another 3 hours to get back to Kuantan and another 3 hours drive from Kuantan to KL. All in all, we travelled more than 700 km yesterday! . Read more!

Kudos to ACA Negeri Sembilan!

I wish to congratulate the NS ACA for their quick action this time in bringing the Lenggeng Assemblyman's case to court to be charged today. I have blog about this issue 2 days ago and urged the ACA to act fairly to regain their public credibility to encourage more people to come forward to help to fight graft. The public will do the country a big national service by coming forward to report cases and give information whenever they are being approached by corrupt officials.

Well, this is just the beginning. I urge the ACA to continue with their "hunt" and catch more "big fishes" instead of just "ikan bilis". The DAP will always give credit where credit is due. In this particular case, I would like to give a pat at the back of the State ACA Director! But i hope that they will do the same with other cases as well.



Friday September 5, 2008 MYT 3:32:32 PM

Lenggeng assemblyman charged with graft (updated)
By SARBAN SINGH

SEREMBAN: Lenggeng assemblyman Mustafa Salim was Friday charged at the Sessions Court here with two counts of corruption for allegedly receiving RM5,000 from a contractor on separate occasions near here last week.
Mustapha Salim - Filepic

The 50-year-old first term assemblyman allegedly took the money in return for his support for the contractor to obtain a permit to sell sand.

In the first charge, Mustafa had allegedly asked Manimaran Marimuthu for RM3,000 for a supporting letter to apply for the permit.

Mustafa allegedly asked the bribe through acquaintance Mustafa Pendek, 58, at Lot 1321, in the Pantai sub-district here at 11am on Aug 28.

In the second charge, he allegedly asked another RM2,000 from Manimaran three days later for the same purpose.

He allegedly committed the offence at 5pm at Restoran Jabrin Maju at No 17, Bunga Raya 2/1, Taman Bunga Raya 2 in Mantin.

(The state government had stopped issuing new permits to sell and mine sand for more than two years).

Mustafa, a former teacher, was charged under Section 10(a)(aa) of the Anti-Corruption Agency 1997 which is punishable under Section 16 of the same Act. If found guilty, he can be jailed up to 20 years and fined five times the bribe amount or a minimum of RM10,000, or both.

Mustafa, from Taman Desa Pelangi in Mantin, was arrested soon after he allegedly accepted RM2,000 from Manimaran at the restaurant.

He apparently panicked when the ACA officers introduced themselves and he is said to have tried to run away. However, he was arrested after he tripped and fell.

He was then taken to the ACA office here for questioning. His wife was with him when he was arrested.

Mustafa, a committee member of the Seremban Umno division, was released seven hours later on a RM3,000 bail after having his statement recorded.

Mustafa, who was in a suit, was calm throughout the proceedings. He pleaded not guilty to both charges.

About 20 of his supporters were also present in court Friday.

Deputy public prosecutor Abdul Razak Musa urged the court to impose a RM10,000 bail as the offence was serious.

"The court should impose a high bail as the accused had abused his position as an assemblyman," he said.

Mustafa's lead counsel Parameswaran Sundram asked the court for a lower the amount as Mustafa did not have a criminal record.

Mustafa was also represented by Rafizi Zainal Abidin and Abdul Halim Lokman.

Judge Kamarudin Kamsun then set bail at RM8,000 and fixed trial for Feb 26 and 27 next year.

Mustafa left with his supporters after posting bail at the registry. . Read more!

Lobak main road will be upgraded!

A heavy downpour yesterday afternoon again caused a flash flood in the main road of Lobak, Jalan Tan Sri Manickavasangam. Lobak has long been labeled as a "black area" as far as flash flood is concerned every time a heavy downpour lasted more than half an hour. During the last 4 years in my capacity as the state assemblyman for the area, i have raised up the issue many many times in and out of the state assembly.

Though the flood situation has been minimized with the project by the Seremban Town Council to widen the drainage system, the situation can be further improved. Motorists who use the road on a daily basis will concur with me. I always pressed the state government to upgrade the road in the last few years as Lobak is not only a residential area with many schools around but also an up and coming major business district in Seremban town. Just look at the number of commercial shoplots projects being developed along the area. The main road also served as an important connection to the North South Highway and Seremban 2 townships.

I have asked the question regarding "Projek Menaik Taraf Jalan Tan Sri Manickavasangam" in the last state assembly sitting. The written answer i received as below:

- Tender the ditutup pada 19 Jun 2008 dan proses penilaian tender sedang dilaksanakan Dijangka projek ini akan dimulakan pada akhir tahun 2008

- Kos yang dianggarkan bagi projek ini berjumlah RM2.4 juta dan peruntukan telah pun diluluskan.. Read more!

Let's see if ACA really fair!

I got wind regarding the arrest of the UMNO State Assemblyman for Lenggeng Mustafa Salim on the evening of 31 August. I was just about to leave my house for KL to attend a wedding dinner of my post-grad classmate in UM. I heard that the guy was arrested in a restaurant in Mantin red-handed with cash in his hand. I immediately rang up a couple of media friends. Credit to them, they acted really fast and professionally. The news was uploaded on many news website on that night itself. Some of them waited at the ACA state HQ until 12.30 am but still could not get a glimpse of the accused or even get confirmation from the state ACA director.

I held a press conference on 1st September with other state Pakatan leaders and a few PR assemblymen. While i acknowledged the efforts of the ACA in their many arrests recently, i lambasted them for acting differently to politicians from different sides. The whole country watched the news in TV and saw in the headlines of newspapers of how the 2 PKR EXCO members of Perak state government were brought to the magistrate to be remanded and handcuffed just less than 10 days ago. Well, i am not being apologetic for my fellow PR colleagues. If they are proven wrong, by all means charge them and penalize them. But why humiliate them in such a way? Will they run away if they are not being handcuffed?

Now coming back to the UMNO assemblyman for Lenggeng. He was caught red-handed and brought to the ACA state hq for questioning. The whole process was completed within 7 hours as he was released on that night itself around midnight. No remand order for further questioning. Hence, save him from being photographed by the media on the way to the magistrate court.

During my press conference, one reporter asked me to comment whether ACA is not being media-friendly? The reporters complained that they were denied any information about the case from the authority and have to wait outside the compound and the accused left by back door without their knowledge.

I told them it is not that ACA being media-unfriendly. If the accused is a YB from Pakatan, i am sure they will open their door to welcome the photographers and will immediately hold a press conference about the arrest! Come on, we are in a wired world now. Do the ACA think that they can still cover such cases from public knowledge? Instead, they should be more professional by at least confirming the arrest and let the reporters have an early day home. To the ACA, i think you guys have to go for a "media relations" course!

Now, it took only 5 days for Perak ACA to charge the 2 PKR EXCO members. Will the NS ACA act as efficiently as their counterpart in Perak? Let's wait and see. I am waiting and counting on the days till the Yang Berhormat for Lenggeng be charged in court! . Read more!