Tuan Speaker,
I rise to debate on the Motion in
appreciation to the speech delivered by his Excellency Tuan Yang Terutama (TYT)
in this august House on this 21st April 2015.
Tuan Speaker, 2015 has been a year of
upheaval for Malaysia, the economic, social and political landscape of the
country take a heavy pounding and with the people confused and angered to the
lack of direction and answers to the problems face by the nation.
Survey by
Merdeka center
A survey by the Merdeka center in 2014
on whether the country is going in the wrong or right direction shows that as
at October 2014, 54% of those survey said its going in the wrong direction
versus 37% saying its going in the right direction.
I believe if a survey is done right now,
more than 60% would say it’s going in the wrong direction especially with the
implementation of the GST and the depreciation of the Ringgit, prices of goods
and services have soared by some 20-25%.
The survey shows that people are most
concerned (65%) with the economic issues comprising price hike, petrol prices,
cost of living rising house price and employment. Other issues such as crime
and social problems, racial issues and political issues although are important
take a backseat to economic issues.
Right to
Independence Referendum
Tuan Speaker, with all these negative sentiments
and worries there arise a movement within Sarawak demanding for an Independence
referendum such as that of the Scotland independence referendum.
Tuan Speaker, the question is “whether
Sarawak has the right to call for a referendum?” Is it seditious to call for an
Independence referendum?
Tuan Speaker, the Proclamation of Malaysia and
also the Cobbold Commission reports prior to the formation of the Federation of
Malaysia, stated the conditions and rights that were meant to safeguard the
autonomy and the special interest of the people of Sarawak, protecting, among
others, these regions’ rights on religion, language, education, administration,
economy and culture.
However, latest developments in the country is breaking the heart
of Sarawakians as our partner in the Malaysia federation has almost wiped out
all the conditions and rights that are meant to protect and safeguard the
autonomy and the special interest of the people of Sarawak.
First there is the Kelatan Hudud bill that intended to change our
secularism into an Islamic state and the refusal of the PM to make a stand on
this Hudud issue. Never in the history of Malaysia has the very foundation of
the nation, i.e secularism, been questioned and shaken and yet the PM refuses
to make a stand on this issue. PAS with the collaboration of UMNO is
challenging the federal constitution and the Malaysia agreement and yet Sarawak
government has been left out of this. Sarawak has to make a stand and let us
make this stand in this August House telling our partner in Malaya that we will
not take this nonsense further and unless they stop it now Sarawak will relook
into the Malaysia agreement and no Sedition Act can stop us from holding a
referendum as to the future of Sarawak in Malaysia.
Tuan Speaker, former Inspector-General of
Police Tan Sri Abdul Rahmim Noor says the implementation of Hudud may lead
Sabah and Sarawak to conduct a referendum for independence as the states had
never agreed to the Islamic penal code before forming Malaysia. (April 6, 2015
malaymail online)
I must say he got that right as the Malaysia
Agreement definitely spelled that out very clearly. However, I must add that
Hudud is not the only issue on the mind of Sarawakians now. There are numerous
issues that Sarawakians are not happy and felt that the promises made prior to
the formation of Malaysia had been ignored by the federal government.
Especially with the Scotland’s Independence referendum fresh on their mind,
they are calling for the same referendum for Sarawak.
Tuan Speaker, the movement is gaining
momentum among the youth of Sarawak regardless of race and religion background.
They are calling for a referendum for independence of Sarawak as they lost
their confidence that Sarawak will be treated as an equal partner instead of a
mere state within Malaysia.
Our YAB CM has candidly revealed that the
demand for 20% oil and gas royalties had been turned down by the federal
government and Petronas. The question is “what’s next?” How can the federal
government refused such a fair and equitable demand since Sarawak has been
robbed of by the 1976 Petroleum agreement.
Recently Parliament intends to pass
amendments to the Seditious Act which also seeks to introduce a clause that will "make clear" that
any act of inciting any person or group to demand for the secession of any
state from Malaysia is deemed seditious. That clause was finally withdrew after
strong opposition in the Parliament from the opposition members in the house.
Limitations of the CM
Tuan Speaker,
I must admit and many would agree with me that the CM has spoken a lot of things
right and make Sarawakians “feel good” such as the allocation of fund to the
Chinese Independent school, no hudud in Sarawak, made the state cabinet and
state civil servants take the integrity pledge and speak out against religious
bigots and extremism.
However, the CM cannot stop the federal
government from implementing the GST, he cannot make the federal government
agree with the 20% oil and gas royalties, he cannot stop the prices of goods
from spiralling, he cannot stop the poor from been poorer and he cannot make
the federal government stop the leakages and undo the 1MDB scandal and he
cannot rid Sarawakians from the mounting 740 billion national debt.
Performance of State minister
Tuan Speaker,
the CM is the head of the state government but he is only as good as the team
of the state cabinet. Would he sacked the ministers or assistant ministers if
they are under performed and disregard the interests of the peoples?
Tuan Speaker, many of the
current cabinet members are not even following the footsteps of the CM and some
of them are not living up to the expectation of the CM as well. An example is
the “Fire hydrants not functioning at the Sibu airport” which I had highlighted
in November 2014 in this August House. I said the “14 high pressured water
Hydrants at the Sibu Airport are not functional as the water pipes that linked
them to the source of the water has busted and thus there is no water supply to
the said hydrants. If fire broke out then the consequence is beyond words.”
Until today,
the water hydrants are still not working! What kind of government is this? Do
we have to wait until people’s lives are lost or injured to take actions? The
Sibu airport extension’ project which was completed in December 2011 cost the
tax payers 140 million and yet the government can’t spend another I million to
make it good? Even after the issue has been highlighted in this August House
and the state minister’s reply that his ministry will look into the matter has
been recorded in the Hansard, the matter is still left unresolved almost 6
months after that.
The people
just cannot accept this kind of couldn’t careless attitude of the government
and the lives and security of the people should be the top priority. Tuan
Speaker, would the CM do something about the state minister in charged? Or is
the CM just good in rhetoric? I hope the CM would address this issue in this
August House.
Dilemmas of Sarawak-An agreement forged and
forgotten
Tuan Speaker, year
after year, Yang Berhormat from both political divide came to this House and fought
and lobbied for what our counterparts in West Malaysia had already enjoy
decades ago, the basic facilities like clean water supply, electricity,
hospitals, fire fighting, decent tar sealed roads and sometimes even police
station.
Are we proud of ourselves sitting in this
Majestic House and drawing a fat allowance when our people have to suffer due
to our inability to provide more for them? Yet sometimes I really wonder
whether politics have taken away the conscience from some of us, those who
supported the GST, those who remain quiet about the wrongs/ unfair treatments
that the federal government had inflicted upon our beloved state and its
people.
Tuan Speaker, the question is “why is Sarawak
lagging so far behind our West Malaysia counterparts. Over the 52 years, how
much had the Federal government taken from the state and how much in return had
they granted us that made us the poorest state in the Federation? The Petronas
Twin towers and the F1 racecourse and the PutraJaya, would I be wrong to say
that they wouldn’t be there without the money from Sarawak’s Gas and Oil?
Tuan Speaker, look at our brothers and sister
living in the remote areas of Sarawak, they don’t even have treated pipe water
and their children can’t even read at night because there’s no electricity
supply and they have to travel on almost inaccessible road to the hospital for
hours if their children fall sick. Where is fairness? Where is equity?
If the CM is really serious about upholding
Sarawak rights and autonomy, then it’s time for the CM to put his foot down
firmly and tell Putrajaya either you give us what’s rightfully ours or the
state BN shall withdraw its support for the federal BN.
I am sure the CM knows that Sarawak holds the
balance of power in the parliament and the BN federal government would collapse
without the support of Sarawak BN. So Sarawakians want to now, is the CM
willing to use this Ace to negotiate with the Federal government for a fair and
equitable treatments? If not, why?
On the plate to
negotiate with the federal government should include 20% oil and gas royalties,
50% of the taxes and revenues generated from Sarawak and a revisit the 18
points in the Malaysia Agreement.
CM should be
the CM for all
Tuan
Speaker, to show that Sarawak state government care for the people, it is high
time that the Sarawak government put aside politics and grant allocation to all
the elected representatives in Sarawak. Tuan Speaker, aside from Selangor
who provides RM200, 000 allocation each for the people-friendly programme for
the opposition-held seats, Penang also provides allocations of RM40, 000 to
each of its opposition members for small-scale development projects.
It
really is not the amount that matters. It is the fact that a government
realizes that even their political foes represent the people and public funds
are for all and not just for those who vote in the government.
The
CM should understand that politics
is not a zero sum game and that peoples' interests always come first.
Developments in Sibu
Tuan Speaker, let me conclude my debate to
touch on the development in Sibu. There is an urgent need for more funding to
the local authorities such as the SMC and SRDCand the JKR to enable them to
carry out their duties effectively and cannot hide behind the excuse of
insufficient funding all the time.
Below are some of the matters that need
immediate attention:
1)
Street lights
in Sibu in general are insufficient and most are very dim and need replacement
to the energy saving lights such as LED,
2) the drains are in dismay conditions with so much rubbish and
settlement that make them ineffective for proper discharge of water and thus
many areas were hit by flash flood after a downpour,
3) most of the roads need urgent upgrading and not just patching
up as they pose great danger for the road users,
4) the heavy traffic
congestion needs flyover and more dual carriageways to cater for current
traffic flow and for future growth,
5) More CCTV to be installed to combat
and prevent crimes and,
6) The Sibu General Hospital needs a
multi-story car park to be built immediately,
7) The Lanang Bridge’s toll has to be
abolished,
8) Issue of houses
without certificate of fitness for occupation and individual land titles are
still unresolved,
9) Government departments
are not giving friendly and efficient services to the general public,
