All Things Not So Rosy for PH in Selangor

 

By Stephen Ng

All things are not as rosy for Pakatan Harapan as politicians would have us think, even as the coalition looks set to win in the coming General Election at the federal level.

            Because of the various scandals involving former Prime Minister, Najib Abdul Razak and the still unresolved 1MDB scandal, the entire court cluster involving billions of Ringgit, and now the littoral combat ships another RM9 billion, most people are already expressing their disgust with Umno, especially since the Covid pandemic had left many in the middle-income group (M40) to slide into the B40 category. 

PH can win handsomely at the federal level, provided it is able to work in cooperation with the various Opposition parties in East Malaysia. This is the most crucial time for PH if it wants to be given a second chance to form the new government. Most people do not want the court cluster to go scots-free neither do they want under-performing ministers from PH’s previous government to be recycled.

However, at the Selangor state level, unless a thorough revamp is done to improve the delivery of services at the local government level, PH risks being ejected out of Selangor. They ought to know that no one is indispensable. PH leaders are certainly not invincible nor can they remain permanently in the corridors of power.

Selangor at Risk of Falling into the Hands of BN

 People’s grouses are growing stronger at the grassroots level as the Menteri Besar, Amirudin Shari and several state exco continue to turn a deaf ear to the complaints that went all the way up to them.

A state leader who spoke up against the proposal for incinerators, for example, was labelled as a ‘loose cannon’ instead of celebrating the voices of dissent in what is supposed to be a democratic state assembly. 

In another case, complaints involving a non-gated and guarded community under the jurisdiction of Ampang Municipal Council (MPAJ), had been brought up to MPAJ since 2015. It was over a simple issue involving an overzealous residents association wanting to collect its monthly security fees of RM700 from every household.

Several people including Amirudin and State Exco in charge of Local Government, Ng Sze Han had been copied, but the case dragged on for the past seven years.

The resident association had sought for judicial review of MPAJ bylaws and although the High Court had ruled against them, but MPAJ later sided the resident association, which led to complainants now being told to open the security barrier gate themselves.

        This is something that Ng, being the person at state level directly in charge of local councils, could have intervened by issuing an order. After all, the collection of monthly fees is a matter of voluntary contribution. Since this is not a gated and guarded community, no resident association has the right to impose security fees or create nuisance to the non-paying residents.

However, based on my personal experience with my local council and the state government, little can be expected to be done by Ng and Amirudin. The state government is more interested in carrying out further deforestation projects, its proposal for incinerators, and what a state assemblyman claims to be a lopsided deal involving a land swap.   

Building Up My Own Case to Prove a Point

Two years ago, when I encountered several issues involving a certain councillor appointed by the Member of Parliament, Tony Pua, I decided to take up the hatchet. I wrote some 10 to 15 letters highlighting various outstanding issues (some as old at 10 years) to the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS).

Since then, and despite scores of letters sent to people at all levels, including the local state assemblyman, Elizabeth Wong; Damansara MP, Tony Pua; the past councillor, Ng Wei Keong and current councillor, Calvin Cheong; State Exco, Ng Sze Han and MB Amirudin himself, MPS continues to drag its feet as though nothing has happened. Some issues may have been resolved, but there is no communication either from the local council nor any of the people concerned. 

I had expected this kind of response as MPS would often give its response, 'No Budget this year,' as I have been dealing with the local council since 1998. Things have not improved since the then Pakatan Rakyat took over in 2008. Local councillors are still politically appointed; and although the first batch of councillors were ‘gung-ho’ about serving the people, the later batches of councillors have, in the words of a senior DAP leader from Perak, ‘started to take it as just another job.’

Even complaints to DAP chairman, Lim Guan Eng, Selangor DAP head, Gobind Singh, Lim Kit Siang, Amanah president, Mat Sabu and PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli, PH president, Anwar Ibrahim, appear to have fallen on deaf ears, as the local council continues to drag its feet over the issues raised.

It is most unfortunate, that with the exception of a few who bothered to find out more, most at the PH leadership are still operating in the one-way communication mode, leaving the ordinary complainants the impression that these leaders no longer care about their issues, after the general election.

Bukit Lanjan state assemblyman Elizabeth Wong immediately left the chat group despite being added to a chat group with the idea of her knowing that the complaints from residents are not from just one person.

As one critic describes some of these PH leaders, “I speak, you listen” and “If you speak against me, you are my enemy.” Such attitude has to change, and a more servant attitude will have to be adopted if PH wants to continue to serve Selangorians, since they are placed there by voters like you and I.

As far back as 2008, when PH won the State of Selangor, I had given PH a 2+1 terms and often defending them, saying, “Two terms to clean up the mess, and performance and delivery of the local councils will take off to a new level in the third term.” The situation had deteriorated since Azmin Ali became the Menteri Besar.

However, unless the current batch of PH leaders take the revamping of local councils seriously, it risks losing the support of people as more vocal critics have started to voice out the poor delivery of services at the local government level. This is after all closest to the hearts of most people.

In the coming months, you will get to hear more criticisms from people who had once fought for PH. We have also pre-empted these PH leaders, as we are not the enemies hiding under the blanket. We care and want PH to continue serving the people, but we detest any attempt to return to complacency, corruption and cronyism. It was because of these reasons BN was thrown out of Selangor.

            If PH ceases to be the state government after GE15, it is because of the local councils working quietly against them. I have said this to the first batch of councillors as early as 2008. After all, they have been used to the lackadaisical attitude since BN's era, and you are bound to have ringleaders not only in the local government but in every government agency and ministry, who would try to sabotage any initiative by PH. During former prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, he used the term, 'Little Napoleon' on some of these people in civil service. 

            When you have a weak government that does not show them who is boss, these same people will become bolder and create more problems. 

             As George puts it, ‘People who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.’

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 Photographs are collected over a period of two to three years: