State Assembly DUN Speech on\u00a012 th July 2018\u00a0By\u00a0State Assemblyman for Batu Kitang, Lo Khere Chiang<\/p>\n
Honourable Datuk Amar Speaker<\/p>\n
Thank you for the honour and the opportunity to debate Tuan Yang Terutama,\u00a0Yang di-Pertua Negeri\u2019s opening address at this first meeting of the third session\u00a0of the 18 th Sarawak State Legislative Assembly on the 9 th day of July 2018. I\u00a0support and congratulate Tuan Yang Terutama for his articulate speech, covering\u00a0all aspects of the state\u2019s welfare, social and economic development, from education\u00a0to public health , social security and preservation of the environment.<\/p>\n
Honourable Datuk Amar Speaker<\/p>\n
First of all, I would like to congratulate Pakatan Harapan (PH) on winning the 14th\u00a0General Election.<\/p>\n
With the new government, a number of things have been done but there is one\u00a0elephant in the room that needs to be tackled and I am very concerned about it.<\/p>\n
In Pakatan Harapan\u2019s booklet \u2018Buku Harapan\u2019 issued before GE14, it specifically\u00a0promised to give back all rights that originally belonged to Sarawak as stated in\u00a0MA63 including Sarawak’s oil back to the government of Sarawak. Instead, just\u00a0less than a month after the election, we received a law suit from KL based Petronas\u00a0against the state government claiming the oil and gas from Sarawak to be theirs.\u00a0Sarawakians must come together to pursue and to demand for PH’s manifesto on\u00a0this subject to be fullfilled immediately. After all, this is what has been promised by\u00a0Pakatan Harapan to the people of Sarawak before the election.<\/p>\n
Entry of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu)<\/p>\n
Honourable Datuk Amar Speaker,<\/p>\n
Do we ever ask ourselves WHY PENINSULAR PARTIES are SO KEEN to come\u00a0over to SARAWAK? After DAP and PKR, Amanah and now Bersatu have\u00a0indicated their intention and interest to enter Sarawak. What is it here in Sarawak\u00a0that attracts them so much? What is the real motive behind all these? If it is about\u00a0power, with 113 seats and 30 million people over in Malaya, they already have it. The PH are in control of\u00a0the government of the day and thus the nation’s purse is in their hands.<\/p>\n
Honourable Datuk Amar Speaker,<\/p>\n
Sarawakians must be extremely careful as to who we let into Sarawak. KL based\u00a0Petronas has been exploiting and benefiting from Sarawak’s oil and gas by an\u00a0estimated RM500 billion since 1974 .<\/p>\n
How did Sarawak become termed as one of the poorest regions in Malaysia? Yes,\u00a0our people were less capable and less educated in the 1960s. That\u2019s the reason the\u00a018 points agreement was drafted by the British to protect the then less educated\u00a0people of Sarawak from the unfair challenges and clutches posed by Malaya and to\u00a0prevent exploitation of Sarawak by Malaya. Today, our leaders, regardless of race\u00a0and religion must now come together to protect our land and our people. We have\u00a0shown Malaya the respect accorded to them in the show of goodwill from Sarawak\u00a0all these years and now the time has come that they should reciprocate. All these\u00a0years, they have had a better life because they benefitted from our oil and gas as\u00a0highlighted by the honorable member of Bukit Assek in this August house on\u00a010\/7\/2018. Now it is only right that we use our oil and gas to develop our own\u00a0dilapidated basic infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Take for instance, my Arang Road and Capital Garden constituency. Padawan\u00a0Council needs RM20 Million and RM30 Million respectively to refurbish 30 years\u00a0old dilapidated drains and footpath and which are stagnant with water and smelly.<\/p>\n
Today after PH take over the federal government, they reduced their allocation for\u00a0BPI projects that Padawan council received from the federal government and how\u00a0much are these projects? At most RM2 Million and we have 26 councils throughout\u00a0Sarawak.<\/p>\n
Can we trust PH to take care of Sarawak? It already looks like item 41 of Buku\u00a0Harapan is far from being fullfilled. In Item 41 from Buku Harapan, I QUOTE:<\/p>\n
“To ensure the prosperity of the people of Sabah and Sarawak by enhancing the\u00a0States\u2019 economic growth. Sabah and Sarawak are rich in natural resources, such as\u00a0oil, gas and timber. But the wealth of Sabah and Sarawak has been exploited and\u00a0plundered by UMNO and Barisan National to enrich the peninsula, while the East\u00a0Malaysian states remain among the poorest in Malaysia. This inequality will cease\u00a0when Pakatan Harapan comes to power.” This is the exact quote from Item 41 of\u00a0PH\u2019s Buku Harapan.<\/p>\n
We must, through this Dewan, voice our objections to further West Malaysian\u00a0parties from coming in to take over Sarawak. When we lose our political grip over\u00a0our Dewan Undangan Negeri Sarawak, we shall lose our economy and our\u00a0prosperity. We don\u2019t need more West Malaysian parties here. From the allocation\u00a0of the present Ministerial posts where Sarawak has been so poorly represented, they\u00a0have already warned us of what\u2019s coming and is showing us who the boss is. Where\u00a0are all the talks and promises to honour and to respect MA63? Didn\u2019t the\u00a0Inter-Government Committee (IGC) spell out that 1\/3 of the 222 parliamentary\u00a0seats should belong to and be held by Sarawak and Sabah representatives? Here, in\u00a0Sarawak’s Dewan Undangan Negeri, we decide the fate of Sarawak in our own\u00a0hands. I have no confidence in West Malaysian based parties that they will look\u00a0after Sarawak better than we can look after ourselves.<\/p>\n
Honourable Datuk Amar Speaker,<\/p>\n
Very often we hear that even if the RM15billion oil revenue is given back to\u00a0Sarawak, the money is not enough to pay for our Health, Education and security\u00a0from the army to the police.\u00a0 However, this is not true. If Singapore can do it ,\u00a0Sarawak can do it better.\u00a0 In fact, I applaud PH\u2019s manifesto. The first thing PH should do is to honour and\u00a0announce what has been advocated i.e to table in Parliament, to recognize and to\u00a0honour MA63, to return the rights of Sarawakians as stated in MA63, to return our\u00a0oil rights as promised by Pakatan Harapan as manifested under Buku Harapan.<\/p>\n
By the way, Petroleum Development Act 1974, is under the purview of the\u00a0Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism. Tun Dr Mahathir\u00a0has rightfully appointed Honourable member for Kota Sentosa to be the assistant\u00a0minister in this portfolio.<\/p>\n
Now is the time for the honourable member for Kota Sentosa to preach what he\u00a0advocates, to and the clauses under PDA1974, to return what is rightfully belongs\u00a0to Sarawak. After all, PH has 113 members in parliament. Together with 56 from\u00a0Sarawak and Sabah, we can amend PDA 1974.<\/p>\n
We do not want just 20% of our oil royalty as informed by the honourable member\u00a0for Kota Sentosa in this August house on\u00a010\/7\/2018.\u00a0 5% is equivalent to only Rm800million\u00a0received by the state government annually\u00a0all these years. 20% is equivalent to RM3.2billion only. Sarawak\u2019s state revenue is\u00a0already RM6billion annually.<\/p>\n
We want what is rightfully ours. We want to be fairly treated. We want 100 % of\u00a0the oil revenue belonging to Sarawak. We want Rm15billion. 20% oil royalty or\u00a0Rm3.2billion is chicken feed compared to the RM15billion siphoned out from\u00a0Sarawak annually. It does not matter that the federal government\u2019s finance is in the\u00a0red now. Pakatan Harapan should stand by their manifesto and declare their\u00a0commitments to adhere to MA63. If the federal government does not have the\u00a0money to pay us, they can owe us and pay us at an agreed date later. In the\u00a0meantime, we shall stand firm behind our Chief Minister to demand that PDA is\u00a0null and void in Sarawak and Sarawak is not just one of the 13 states in Malaysia as\u00a0no legislations have been discussed and passed through our Council Negeri. Saying\u00a0there is no money because of the previous government’s folly is akin to cheating\u00a0Sarawakians and negating on the words of Pakatan Harapan.<\/p>\n
STATELESS CHILDREN<\/p>\n
Honourable Datuk Amar Speaker,<\/p>\n
Stateless children remain an unresolved issue which is unnecessarily cruel to the\u00a0families concerned. It is upsetting to me as I have pointed out the problem two\u00a0DUN sittings ago.<\/p>\n
UN refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Malaysia reported that there were 12,368\u00a0persons registered as stateless in Malaysia while Sarawak Welfare, Women and\u00a0Community development Ministry had estimated that 60,000 people are without\u00a0birth certificates in Sarawak early this year.<\/p>\n
This is an alarmingly huge number. Ironically, almost all these children are born\u00a0here but to either a foreign mother\/father.<\/p>\n
I have personally handled 15 cases with some of the children living in limbo for\u00a0more than 21 years old. Most will go to primary schools but once they transition to\u00a0secondary schools, they were not accepted as they do not have the identity card\u00a0(Mykad) which is needed for a number of entry registrations.<\/p>\n
These children have no access to higher education, cannot work or open a bank\u00a0account or get a driving licence or travel or get married. In government hospitals,\u00a0they were treated like foreigners having to pay a hefty sum for treatment. Among\u00a0these stateless children, there is animosity and anger at the unfair system imposed\u00a0on them, through no fault of theirs.<\/p>\n
For those who managed to get hired, they could only do mostly blue collar jobs\u00a0while some were unfortunately being taken advantage of. I have known of children\u00a0who are withdrawn and anti-social due to the stigma they live with.<\/p>\n
Putra Jaya\u2019s inaction on stateless children in Sarawak has been very cruel. I have\u00a0gone to the National Registration department (NRD) myself to help some of the\u00a0children but was repeatedly told that the final decision lies with Putra Jaya.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, Putra Jaya dragged the issue without a care about the plights of\u00a0these children. Some of the parents had gone to the NRD year after year but their\u00a0efforts had all been in vain.<\/p>\n
It is time, the NRD handed over this devolution of power to Sarawak NRD to\u00a0decide on the fate of these children instead of having to refer everything to Putra\u00a0Jaya which takes years to make a decision. While Putra Jaya sits on the matter, the\u00a0lives of these children continued on with pain. NRD excuses are manifold: there\u00a0were too many cases to handle, the final decision lies with Putra Jaya, documents\u00a0were incomplete and so on and so forth.<\/p>\n
I am hopeful that the PH government will hand over this devolution of power to\u00a0Sarawak for us to settle this matter swiftly. Do not let these stateless children\u00a0suffer any longer.<\/p>\n
Inadequate Internet service and Plight of Chinese schools<\/p>\n
Honourable Datuk Amar Speaker,<\/p>\n
A number of schools in my Batu Kitang Constituency are progressing towards\u00a0providing our classrooms with the necessary ICT facilites as educational tools in all\u00a0areas of teaching and learning.<\/p>\n
The goal of attaining STEM education is a priority in our education blueprint.<\/p>\n
However, it will not be possible without a tangible facility to start with – basic ICT\u00a0infrastructure and internet accessibility.<\/p>\n
Though some of these are government assisted schools, ICT equipment provided\u00a0by the Federal Ministry of Education in these schools are more than 15 years old\u00a0and has either been disposed of or is already incompatible with present needs. So\u00a0are the 40 odd notebooks supplied more than 6 years ago as in the case of SJK\u00a0Chung Hua Batu 4.<\/p>\n
In addition to that, the Ministry of Education under the Pakatan Harapan\u00a0government\u2019s recent directive to stop all computer classes has put SJK Chung Hua\u00a0Batu 4 & similar schools in further destitution.<\/p>\n
A four (4) months breach of contract (2014 \u2013 2018) caused by the directive from\u00a0the Ministry of Education after PH won GE14 has all ICT facilities provided\u00a0confiscated.<\/p>\n
This has also caused a cut-off of a sustainable income (taxed) for the school board\u00a0used to provide needs for the school ranging from repairs to supporting educational\u00a0activities. Among those to be seized are as below:<\/p>\n
LCD Projectors \u2013 23 units<\/p>\n
3D Visualizers \u2013 25 units<\/p>\n
Computer sets \u2013 50 units<\/p>\n
LCD Projector Screen \u2013 14 units<\/p>\n
Library System Software<\/p>\n
Administration System Software<\/p>\n
Due to this upsetting decision by the Ministry of Education under the Federal\u00a0Pakatan Harapan Government, more than one thousand schools are affected ;\u00a0timetables are disrupted, and more than two thousand computer teachers found\u00a0themselves out of a job all of a sudden.<\/p>\n
I demand that the Pakatan Harapan Government allows four (4) months soft\u00a0landing to affected Chinese schools .<\/p>\n
In terms of internet service, the present 100Mbps TM Unify package previously\u00a0paid by the Ministry for SJK Chung Hua Batu 4 will be terminated by the end of\u00a0this month (July) to be replaced by 3 ridiculous wireless modem called ZoomYES\u00a0with the speed of a minimum 1Mbps to a maximum of 4Mbps by YTL\u00a0Communication Sdn Bhd, as is arranged by the Federal Ministry of Education. An\u00a0ordinary household has 8 Mbps internet speed. How can anyone expect to run any\u00a0modern day computer with 1mbps let alone a school where many computers are\u00a0expected to run at the same time.<\/p>\n
Besides, our lower level English Language syllabus which is taught based on the\u00a0Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), teaching and\u00a0learning of all other subjects could not be done without this most basic 21st century\u00a0education learning facility.<\/p>\n
I demand that the PH government direct the Ministry of Education to provide\u00a0adequate internet speed to all our schools. If only our RM15billion oil revenue\u00a0annually is returned to us and schools and education is autonomous to Sarawak ,we\u00a0will be able to continue to assist Chinese schools like before including all rural\u00a0schools in Sarawak .We will be able to deliver affordable, robust, and secure\u00a0wireless platforms for all our schools.<\/p>\n
ILLEGAL GAMING<\/p>\n
Honourable Datuk Amar Speaker,<\/p>\n
I want to thank the police for their hard work in whittling down the menace of\u00a0illegal \u2018fish\u2019 machines which had caused many youngsters to be trapped and\u00a0addicted.<\/p>\n
I was told that there could be a few left operating underground and I hope that the\u00a0police will continue to fish them out and eliminate them once and for all.<\/p>\n
However, there are still a lot of cyber online gambling which has been going on\u00a0despite raids from the police. I know that the police are trying to tackle this\u00a0problem from their weekly arrests but despite the raids, such centres are still\u00a0sprouting up.<\/p>\n
My very concern is the youngsters who are lured to run these businesses. This\u00a0youngsters are not willing to do blue collar jobs but are taking it easy running such\u00a0illegal businesses.<\/p>\n
If these activities are not stopped, we may have an undesirable community who are\u00a0addicted to gambling while losing the younger generation to illegal activities.<\/p>\n
There are also cases of children who were made to sell drugs to feed their\u00a0gambling habits or to pay off their gambling debts. This is a danger, a menace and a\u00a0plague to society. This sort of \u2018disease\u2019 breeds loan sharks, drug dealers and violent\u00a0crimes. I seriously hope that the police under the Federal PH government will step\u00a0up efforts to eradicate this social menace.<\/p>\n
With this, I close my speech. Thank you, Tuan Speaker.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
State Assembly DUN Speech on\u00a012 th July 2018\u00a0By\u00a0State Assemblyman for Batu Kitang, Lo Khere Chiang Honourable Datuk Amar Speaker Thank you for the honour and the opportunity to debate Tuan Yang Terutama,\u00a0Yang di-Pertua Negeri\u2019s opening address at this first meeting of the third session\u00a0of the 18 th Sarawak State Legislative Assembly on the 9 th day of July 2018. I\u00a0support and congratulate Tuan Yang Terutama for his articulate speech, covering\u00a0all aspects of the state\u2019s welfare, social and economic development, from education\u00a0to public health , social security and preservation of theRead More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22443"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22443"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22444,"href":"http:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22443\/revisions\/22444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}