2+1 Terms, that's all for PH in Selangor
This is because Barisan Nasional under Noh Omar, and his predecessor, Khir Toyo were managing the state badly. Complaints about the local councils reached them, but they turned a deaf ear, leaving problems unresolved.
Having dealt with a number of local councils in the past, I know that our local government is one of the worst managed tiers in the country's aministration. While it is true that the failure is often on the part of the local councils, the onus is still on the State Government to rectify what needs to be improved in terms of delivery of services.
PH which was supposed to implement the local council elections but it chose to follow the legacy of the past government by appointing one after another, councillors who are non-performing and often evasive when complaints are not solved. These are political appointees, no difference to the BN time. Their appointment is nothing but a reward for their party work.
What makes matter worse is that they do not appoint people who are hardworking and serious about solving problems in the community. They go after low lying fruits and claim credit for those things, just to please their political masters. Often I am the one who tell them that there are unsolved issues in a certain community, but not all of them take this kind of feedback enthusiastically.
In the past, when complaints were not resolved, all I had to do was to file in a story in the press which I was stringing with. Today, Malay Mail is gone after the likes of Nadeshwaran, Azmi Ansar and Lee Boon Siew left the desk. Under a new editor, Malay Mail was a confusing brand -- that I could not even tell whether it was a newspaper or a magazine. Its death was predictable.
Star Metro and NST Streets have also turned into meowing cats; that's why, without a watchdog over them, the local councils no longer pay attention to complainants. During my time, we would challenge the authority if they claimed that they had rectified the problem. We would ask the complainant to show us why the complaint had not been resolved. With the evidence provided by the complainant, we would publish the council's response against the evidence to show that nothing had been done to solve the complaint.
Phone calls, Whatsapp messages and letters to the councillors, state assemblyman, member of parliament, state exco and Menteri Basar are ignored. All that they are good at is to crucify the complainant, but when I praise or even give credit to someone whom credit is due, they say I am being biased or pro-XYZ. The same people I complain against are also getting the credit when they solve people's problems.
In the first place, some complaints which I raised are not difficult to solve. It is not like building a new market for the people and vendors.
For example, several humps in my housing estate which were built by the local council are higher than what they should be. Every time if you drive a Honda car (or those who low bottom) over these humps, you can hear the sound of the hump hitting the bottom of your car.
PH's First Term Much Better
The first term of PH was good. Everyone was new, and hardworking. I remember two State Exco immediately went to see the Managing Director of Panasonic after I told them that MBPJ had been giving the company a lot of hassles just to get a Green Energy showroom approved.
Never before had this happened in Selangor, except with someone like the late Dr Pius Martin, who was the state assemblyman for Bukit Lanjan. The Panasonic MD was so full of praise for the two state exco.
However, things started to deteriorate when Azmin Ali took over as Menteri Besar. And today, I can say Selangor is no difference to when it was under BN.
One can write scores of letters to the local council, and follow up letters and even personal Whatsapp messages to both the State exco in charge of local council and the Menteri Besar, nothing is done.
I have exhausted the due process over the past two years. Scores of letters have been written, and follow ups done via email and Whatsapp messages. Till now, a number of these issues are still not resolved. Instead, the local councillor in charge of my zone choose not to even respond to phone calls, and if in a meeting, at least respond via Whatsapp. If the complaints are solved, there is no need for me to even contact him. That's how serious we took our reporting!
Thumbs-up for First Batch of Councillors
I remember those days when people like Chan Chee Kong, Chua Yee Ling and Lee Khai Loon were councillors. These young men acted proactively to solve the complaints.
Despite of a heavy downpour, Chee Kong and Yee Ling came with a big umbrella to see the sinkhole after I informed Chee Kong that a sinkhole had appeared in the middle of a road. I ended up buying them a good meal and thanked them for their prompt response. I am nobody, but the sinkhole could have caused some cars plunging into it!
I remember there were complaints from the operators of a graveyard. Foreigners living in a nearby apartment threw rubbish into the graveyard every day. I still wonder how Khai Loon managed to solve the problem, but he did. He also met up with some residents of a few condominiums regarding the lack of parking area. A few months later, carparks were done up properly for the residents.
Compare this with the a few recent councillors in my Zone. Complaints to one previous councillor appointed by DAP's Tony Pua just fell on deaf ears. I thought the recently appointed councillor would be much better, so I spent time giving him some background to the complaints. But, it leads to nothing but further frustrations.
A full set of letters were also sent to both Tony Pua and Elizabeth Wong to follow up with the local councillors. I am not sure what they did, but now, instead of picking up the phone or responding to Whatsapp messages, the councillor (like the previous one) just turns a deaf ear. Both councillors are Tony Pua's men. Tony Pua cannot deny that he does not know about these complaints.
Easy To Turn A Deaf Ear
In a society that is generally passive, it is easy for these politicians to turn a deaf ear on one or two more outspoken people who raise complaints after seeing problems not solved.
Because for the past 30 years, I have been bringing up complaints on behalf of people, and helping them to solve their problems, I become the "easy target" for these politicians who try to discredit me.
The same ADUN who responded enthusiastically to the Panasonic boss' complaint after I told her about his problem with MBPJ, is now evading even her constituents. When I visited a wet market recently, one of the traders said, "When the YB came by, she would take another way to avoid meeting us." These traders were operating out of makeshitf stalls. That's why I know I am not the only one whom the Yang Berhormat ADUN has turned a deaf ear.
These days, if you don't like certain complainants, you just "block" them. But, is this how the Honourable Member of Parliament or State Assemblyman is to behave? He/she is elected to serve the constituency, whether it is one person or a thousand. Cutting off the communication channel is not an option, but would only attract more brickbats. I remember MP of Kepong, Dr Tan Seng Giaw telling me that even if someone from Kedah were to complain to him, he has the obligation to help raise the complaint to the government agency concerned.
Considering that I was one of the first few people who stoood to her defence when her political enemies attacked her relationship with her boyfriend, the way she is now behaving now is simply appalling. As a Yang Berhormat, she has to better improve her public relations with even her critics. Most critics are reasonable if you are open and show your willingness to solve problems. I have handled some toughest customers in the past, and they turned out to be very friendly. One of them even told me, "Stephen, please come over to Ipoh for lunch. If you don't come, I will complain about your product!" We had a good laughter after that.
I wonder if the way how the current batch of ADUN and State Exco behave, is it one way for Selangor to lose big to BN and to punish her own party, no?
For one thing, I do not know if this ADUN is still linked to the Azmi gang. I don't care about their internal politics. But I am talking about my ADUN. Technically, she would still have to solve complaints within the constituency whenever they are brought to her attention. But, is she opening up her channel to listen to complaints? No!
I have given her credit for what she has done (credit to whom credit is due), but when she turns her back on complaints, I will still hold her accountable.
What peeved me the most is when complaints are raised directly to both the State Exco in charge of Local Government in th epast and the Menteri Besar of Selangor himself again today, and still nothing is resolved.
Complaints have to be solved
But, with me, complaints are complaints and they have to be solved. There is no two ways about it. The local council can give the standard excuse to say they do not have budget, but if the complaint remains unsolved after two years, I think it is sheer lack of commitment to their work.
If complaints not resolved at the local council, I would expect the state exco to respond to the complaints. If even at his level problems are not solved, the onus is on the MB to solve the problems. After all, PH is the state government. If council staff or presidents are not performing, should they not be moved to some distant towns within the state and far away from home?
I believe in giving credit to whom credit is due, and if the problems are resolved after highlighting just once or twice, I will give these people the credit. Just do not think that by evading issues, or sweeping them under the carpet, especially when I have been closely following up on matters for two years or more, you can get away. Even I will lose my patience with such poor delivery of service.
I have also lavished my compliments on both Tony Pua and Elizabeth Wong in the public domain. Tony, when he explained how he helped to save the rakyat's money from former prime minister, Najib Razak's pet projects, but when it comes to public relations, I think he scores ZERO points. Most of the time, I would give the excuse to my friends that this guy Tony Pua be a highly functional autistic person.
This is based on my personal observations of his behaviours, but it does not mean that I will spare him of my criticisms especially when he does not even care to respond to messages or more importantly solve the complaints raised to his attention over the past few years when he became our MP. A fellow DAP colleague of his told me that is the reason why Tony was voted out of Selangor. Goodbye to you, Tony. If you continue to irk us, we will take you to task, and forget about us supporting you.
Suffice for me to show you all just a few of the pictures that I have received from other complainants. They do not even affect me or my home, but as one who used to highlight their complaints and getting their problems solved through the local media, I will continue to highlight the lackaidisical attitude of our current batch of PH leaders in Selangor.
If they want my list of complaints, I would suggest that they refer to the scores of letters that I sent two years ago, and all the follow-up emails thereafter.
Just this afternoon I viralled out a message:
The only solution is to keep PH at the national level (parliament) but kick out all the slacking PH Aduns in Selangor who think they will remain in power forever.
I have given PH 2+1 terms to improve Selangor but it has gone off track now. Complaints to local councils, councilors, ADUN, MP, state Exco and even MB is not able to solve complaints of poor management.
To this, I received a Whatsapp response from a senior cabinet minister: "Ph can b a good opposition." This is a tongue-in-cheek comment, but I think he has a point. Another old friend of mine responded, "That's telling it like it is 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👏🏻." Many more people agree, but I cannot quote all of them.
Rafizi (or maybe, Nurul) has said it and I am saying the same thing now that I fear for Selangor. Unless the PH Presidential Council choose the right candidates in the coming General Election, after monitoring the state of the state for the past two terms, the chances are high that PH will be kicked out of Selangor. I shall not mention who these candidates are in order not to shame them, but representatives from PH Presidential Council can easily get in touch with me. They have my contact number.
Make no mistake about this, we are the voters! We are not party people. If we can vote in a coalition to run the country or state, we can also kick them out when they begin to behave like they are invincible. Politicians have to learn to be humble and serve the people, or even PH will be kicked out of Selangor.
Please viral this out, BN supporters. More to come.....
But, these pictures are more recent....
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