Lim Guan Eng |
- RM50 Million Should Be Spent On Providing Free Wifi Instead Of Spending RM50 Million On Duplicating Efforts In Giving Free Email Accounts Is Typical Profile Of BN Government Being Penny Wise Pound Foolish
- Chua Soi Lek Should Not Follow Utusan Malaysia’s Tactics Of Racialising The Results Of The Sarawak General Elections, When The Key Issue Is About Change Not About Whether Voters Want Chinese Representation In Government.
- Sarawak Deserves Better: Make Sarawak Cleaner, Greener, Safer And Fairer.
- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak should extend the benefit of income tax rate of 15% for five years under the Returning Experts Programme (REP), not just to experienced professional Malaysians working overseas, but also to those working here in locally
| Posted: 21 Apr 2011 12:49 AM PDT Malaysians hope that the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will heed the voice of the rakyat and Malaysian netizens to cancel the provision of free 1Malaysia email accounts and give free wifi instead. Even though this is now not a government initiative but a private sector initiative, spending RM50 million on duplicating efforts of Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail etc to provide free email accounts is typical profile of a BN government being penny wise pound foolish. Giving free email accounts is not the most important service in the world. Somehow the government is missing the wood from the trees. Just like the RM52 billion bumi shares scandal, where RM52 billion worth of shares supposed to be given to ordinary Malays/bumiputera natives went missing. Instead of setting up a Royal Commission of Inquiry(RCI) to serve public interest by investigating and taking action against the culprits responsible for running of RM52 billion worth of shares, the BN government appears more interested in setting up a RCI over some dubious sex video tapes by individuals seeking political vengeance. Why focus on providing something that is already free? This is just like selling ice to the Eskimos. Focus on providing free wifi or improving broadband speed, quality and reliability. The government should stop the monopoly given to certain companies and should instead open up the industry to competitive bidding so that users can enjoy better connectivity on par with our neighbouring countries. The Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) should also avoid charges by some net citizens of being deceitful following the quick amendments of details relating to the 1Malaysia email project. There is a big difference on Tuesday in its website and yesterday, as it is now called a private sector initiative when it was previously listed as a government initiative. Since yesterday, the description of the RM50 million project read: "The 1Malaysia Email project which features the domain name of 'myemail.my' is a private sector initiative led by Tricubes Berhad to provide a unique and official email account and user ID for interested citizens of Malaysia." Pemandu should come clean and explain this glaring discrepancy which raises questions about its clarity, certainty and reliability of information released to the public. Najib had announced the project on Wednesday, saying all Malaysians aged 18 and over would be given a free account to allow for direct and secure communications between citizens and the government. There are concerns both about privacy and security of those using these email accounts, who fears not only that their communications may be monitored and intercepted but also whether any messages or transactions made are reliable and trust-worthy. That is probably the reason why there are now close to 40,000 Facebook users joining in a virtual protest against the project run by Tricubes Bhd, which is currently in danger of being delisted from Bursa Malaysia for financial irregularities Worse is the latest report in Malaysiakini that even though the email account is free, some of the services are not free but fees will be imposed. Instead of clarifying this issue, the BN government should quickly cut its losses and disassociate itself with this private initiative from a company under a "financial cloud". DAP reiterates our appeal to the state government to focus on providing free wifi and improving broadband speed at affordable rates at international standards. LIM GUAN ENG |
| Posted: 20 Apr 2011 11:19 PM PDT Press Statement By DAP Secretary-General And MP For Bagan Lim Guan Eng In Kuala Lumpur & Kuching On 18.4.2011 MCA President Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek should not follow Utusan Malaysia's tactics of racialising the results of the recent Sarawak state general elections when the key issue is about change not about whether voters want Chinese representation in government. UMNO paper, Utusan Malaysia, had asked BN to ignore Chinese voters just because they supported the opposition. I wish to reiterate that DAP's theme and focus in this Sarawak state general elections is not SUPP but on Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Taib Mahmud; not about whether the Chinese want representation in government but whether all voters want change;. DAP won 12 out of 15 seats in Sarawak because voters want change and prefer a two-party system over one-party rule, people's power over one-man rule, and good governance over Taib's misrule. BN has suffered not only a loss of 16 seats but more importantly an 8% reduction in popular votes by BN from 63% in 2006 state general elections to 55% now. What type of democratic elections allow a party that wins 55% of the popular vote and yet garner more than 77% of the total seats? Clearly this is a mockery of democracy, in complete defiance of the principle of one-man, one-vote. SUPP's failure to listen to the people's verdict, by not demanding Taib's immediate resignation, will only dishearten its supporters but hearten Taib. Any attempts to threaten to leave the state government or punish urban and Chinese voters for supporting the opposition, is a desperate effort by MCA to distract and cover up media attention from the real issue of whether SUPP dare to ask Taib to go. Chua Soi Lek Should Prove That He Does Not Practice Double-standards By Asking Mah Hang Soon To Resign As Perak State EXCO Immediately. For this reason MCA President Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek's call that SUPP should not accept any position in the Sarawak state Cabinet, as the party had lost the Chinese community’s support, is to help SUPP hide from addressing the Taib Mahmud issue. If Chua is consistent then he should have given similar advice to Gerakan President Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon. Is Chua not practicing double-standards when Chua did not ask Tsu Koon, after Tsu Koon lost the 2008 general elections badly, not to go through the back-door of being appointed a Senator and a Cabinet Minister? Why then did Chua not object to MCA joining Cabinet and accepting Ministerial posts after MCA had lost badly in the 2008 general elections? If Chua is genuine, then he should instruct Perak MCA State EXCO Dato Dr Mah Hang Soon to resign immediately as MCA won only one state seat in the last 2008 general elections. Chua's failure to ask Mah to resign shows his typical double-standard of saying one thing but doing another. Clearly Chua is not only deceiving himself but also deceiving others when he says that this Sarawak state elections is about whether the Chinese wants representation in Government. The voters want change, especially for Taib Mahmud to retire immediately. What is of interest to the people of Sarawak, is whether SUPP has learnt its lesson from the voters by stopping from becoming Taib's representative and turn to demanding Taib's immediate resignation. For how long still must SUPP continue to defend Taib? Will SUPP realise that they need to change from blindly supporting Taib only after they have lost every single seat? If BN Takes Punitive Action Against Urban Voters, The Chinese Community & Anyone For Exercising Their Democratic Rights To Vote For The Opposition, Then What Is The Point Of Holding Elections? For a paper that wants to celebrate the murder of innocent non-Malays during the bloody May 13 riots in 1969 as a holy and auspicious day, to continue such racist and extremist attacks is not surprising. What is surprising is that for an UMNO paper like Utusan, UMNO continues to allow and sanction its racist approach against non-Malays and non-Muslims both in Peninsular and East Malaysia. Is such racism and extremism by an UMNO paper consistent with 1Malaysia? In any elections, the people have a right and freedom to choose who they want to vote for. To punish them for making that choice freely is dictatorial and feudal. DAP had won 12 seats in Sarawak despite facing BN's misuse of government machinery, money politics, fear and intimidation as well as media control until internet sites like Malaysiakini were hacked and shut down. Despite such dishonest tactics, there was an 8% swing in popular vote against BN, with BN dropping from 63% in the 2006 state elections to 55%. This 8% swing in popular vote against BN is a small political earthquake in Sarawak. Unfortunately as a result of unfair delineation of constituencies, the one-man, one-vote principle is not respected. Despite winning 55% of the popular vote, BN has won more than 77% of the seats contested. It is this violation of the one-man, one-vote principle that is undemocratic and should be addressed by Chua Soi Lek. LIM GUAN ENG |
| Sarawak Deserves Better: Make Sarawak Cleaner, Greener, Safer And Fairer. Posted: 20 Apr 2011 11:23 PM PDT Speech By DAP Secretary-General And MP For Bagan Lim Guan Eng During The Final Day of Campaigning In Sibu On 15.4.2011. Pakatan Rakyat's vision for Sarawak is to provide free wifi in population centers, wipe out hard-core poverty, implement open tenders for government contracts and land sales, give state land back to the people, establish institutionalised yearly allocations for schools, provide infrastructure of electricity and roads, abolish unfair bridge tolls and give all senior citizens RM 600 annually. There will be zero corruption in Sarawak. An open tender system will ensure that only those that offer the best price, best quality and with the necessary experience and track record be chosen. All will be treated fairly regardless of race, religion, gender or political background. For instance it is ridiculous that the building of the Lanang Bridge in Sibu was done without an open tender. Funded through exchange of land, the RM10 2-way toll for the 1.2 km bridge is even higher than the RM7 toll for the 13.5 km Penang Bridge. Since Penang Bridge is 11 times longer, based on the RM7 Penang bridge toll, the Lanang Bridge toll should only be 60 cents not the present RM10. Collecting 60 cents is insignificant, if PR wins power the Lanang Bridge toll will be abolished. These are the major initiatives that any good government should carry out. One of the most important issues is the land grab by the BN government, especially the anger amongst the natives whose land has been deprived and the urban population having to pay high land premium for lease renewals. PR detects a strong mood for change even amongst Dayaks,many who are victimised by BN Sarawak government's land grab. I met Dayaks who have been arrested and sent to police lock-ups just for defending their land. A people-centric land policy should be implemented where all elected representatives, Ministers and Chief Minister and their children are not allowed to apply for government land. All low-cost houses will also be given freehold title free of charge. And no land will be taken for private purpose but only for public purpose like building schools, roads and hospitals. All this has been done by the PR state government in Penang. Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud Should Redeem Himself To Sarawakians By Convincing Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak To Increase The Annual Royalties For Oil And Gas From 5% To 20% Or RM 1.5 Billion To RM 6 Billion A Year. Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud should insist that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak increase the annual royalties for oil and gas from 5% to 20%. This would allow Sarawak to increase its royalties from the present RM1.5 billion annually to RM6 billion. As the Prime Minister is here for a week to campaign for BN in the Sarawak general elections, Tan Sri Taib should take the opportunity to boldly tell him that Sarawak should enjoy a fairer share of the state's resources. Now is the time to prove that Najib's assurances ring true that Sarawak BN has his ear and close attention that the Federal government would act on all requests from the BN Sarawak. What better occasion to fully utilise this opportunity than to demand that the oil and gas royalties for Sarawak be increased from 5% to 20% to reward Sarawakians for their loyalty to BN as a BN fixed deposit state. At the same time, Taib should take the opportunity to redeem himself for his failures in 30 years in power by offering something tangible for Sarawak. The time has come for Tan Sri Taib to prove that he dare to fight for Sarawak's rights with the Federal government. With RM 6 billion, Sarawak can enjoy many benefits. Apart from the RM1 billion annual allocation to the Dayak Endowment Fund to help uplift the Dayaks and other native communities and include them into the economic mainstream; provide the best infrastructure in the state; provide free wifis for all the major population centers; and Sarawak can be the first state not only to wipe out hard-core poverty but also poverty in Malaysia. LIM GUAN ENG |
| Posted: 20 Apr 2011 11:39 PM PDT Press Statement By DAP Secretary-General And MP For Bagan Lim Guan Eng In Kuala Lumpur On 13.4.2011. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak should extend the benefit of income tax rate of 15% for five years under the Returning Experts Programme (REP), not just to experienced professional Malaysians working overseas, but also to those working here in locally. By only limiting this 15% flat income tax to professionals overseas is highly discriminatory to those Malaysians working here. Whilst tax is an important factor, a lower tax rate alone is not a sufficient inducement when there are other important considerations such as pay, quality of life, promotion prospects, racial quotas and discrimination. Since Merdeka, an estimated 2 million Malaysians, mostly highly skilled talents, have migrated and left Malaysia. Worse, is that many Malaysian scientists stay back and work upon graduation. At least 30,000 of these Malaysian scientists, who have completed their studies overseas, are working in the Western countries lured by higher pay and opportunities to further their researches Since 2001, the country has only attracted some 300 Malaysian experts living abroad to return home with the majority being medical and financial specialists, scientists and those involved in the information technology sector, according to the Ministry of Human Resources. The shortage of scientists in Malaysia is so acute that Malaysia has only 1,500 scientists and researchers for every one million people compared with over 10,000 scientists and researchers for one million population in the developed countries. So far the Federal government's efforts to attract back Malaysians working overseas have failed miserably. The “brain gain” scheme in 1995 that set a target of attracting 5,000 talents was a complete failure. In 2004, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, Datuk Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis in a parliamentary reply stated that the scheme attracted 94 scientists (24 Malaysians) in pharmacology, medicine, semi-conductor technology and engineering from abroad between 1995 and 2000. By 2004 only one remained. Amongst the many reasons given for many experts and professionals to leave is the lack of career advancement and the unhealthy climate of racial discrimination and quotas. No professional would want to bring up his children is this type of environment which does not offer them equal opportunities and reward |
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