What exactly is the role of the Member of Parliament?

 

I remember some 20 years ago, Dr Tan Seng Giaw used to tell me that it is not the Member of Parliament's responsibilty to peek into clogged drains and other public amenities. 
            Yet, without fail, the Kepong MP would faithfully come to the ground to see for himself the complaint, big or small. This was part of his weekly schedule of meeting the people on matters that affected them. 

Local Government's Failure

            While Dr Tan and I (MP and voter) agreed that looking at clogged drains should be the job of the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), we all know the reality on the ground -- the local government throughout the whole country has failed miserably.  

            I can say that at the very least, Penang seems to havve gotten it right. Well, at least on one aspect -- cleanliness of the island! 
            It is this failure of the local government that has brought misery to the people. While writing this piece, a friend from Australia sent me a video which is kind of comical, yet a great depiction of the disconnect between the elected representatives of the people and the voters themselves. Pause a while to have a good laugh at this video.  

            To begin with, it is the local council that needs to look into providing a good bridge for the people. 
            In states where there is a luxury of appointing local councillors, it is these people who are the frontliners to look into issues. State assemblymen are the next in line. 
            And if both local councillors and state assemblymen fail to carry out their job well, and there are unresolved complaints, the state exco and the Menteri Besar are ultimately responsible. Jobs can be delegated, but not responsibility. This is a basic principle in management.

            Although technically it is correct to say that the MP is not supposed to be a longkang MP, he is still the people's elected representative. He cannot turn on a deaf ear to the voters. 

        It is hard to tell people you are elected by the people for the people, without being with the people when they are faced with a particular issue.

            Although this video had gone viral before, but it is still a very important lesson for all MPs whom these days seem to think that their role is only focused on big national issues. 

The Big Disconnect 

               Let me give you a good scenario based on the feedback that I received. On 22 October 2018, five months after Pakatan Harapan (PH) won control of the federal government and retained control of the Selangor state government, a number of residents of a section of Petaling Jaya, met with their newly elected member of parliament (MP), state assemblyman and perhaps also their local councillor to get to know them better and to voice their concerns and complaints with them, and seek their help to address.

           The issues raised included damage to roads due to digging to lay the Petaling North Sewer system, a federal project, with the roads poorly re-surfaced, 

            The seemingly dangerous level to which the water in the river flowing through their neighbourhood rises during heavy rain, residents with homes by the river complained of a foul stench emanating from the river at times. A resident complained about portions of sunkened or broken drain in parts of their neighbourhood which could be potential breeding grounds for dengue.

        Another resident complained that whilst the state assemblyman was promoting green initiatives such as urban organic farming and permaculture amongst residents of Petaling Jaya, however there was a lack of MBPJ municipal recycling bins placed around the area to encourage recycling. 

        Some residents expressed concerns about the possibility of an elevated highway being routed through their neighbourhood and so forth, and others raised questions about the restoration of local council elections.

          About 50 complaints were recorded and the state assemblyman assured residents that action would be taken to address them by the relevant departments over the subsequent months. Some of these issues were addressed, such as the sunken and broken parts of the drains replaced replaced, and some resurfacing of bumpy parts of the road.

            The MP thanked residents for attending this meeting session which was to find out their local problems and concerns. The MP then told the residents present, "I hope that you will also think about national issues, and I very much appreciate you bringing up the issue of local council elections."

          The response by the residents should tell the MP that there is a big disconnect between the MP and the residents. MPs should realise that what affect the people the most are the local issues, rather than the national issues which they can do nothing about apart from voting, and where they have no access to information about, except what they can get from the local newspapers and through social media.

            Unless the lawmakers are on the ground often enough, they will be out of touch with the reality that their constituents have to face daily. Those who believe they can come out with good policies without being on the ground are living in their own bubbles.

            My question to such MPs is simple: If, after 2+1 terms in Selangor, there are no policies drafted to improve the delivery of services by the local government, who is to blame? 

            There appears to a big disconnect somewhere which, unless MPs and state assemblymen start taking interest in the welfare of their constituents, they will lose Selangor the moment the Opposition come back together again and is able to convince the voters that they can do a better job.

            I have, in fact, Whatsapp several ministers from Umno and MCA to see IF THEY CAN (i) revamp their parties from within and (ii) start serving the people more and, of course, (iii) purge from their parties anyone caught receiving bribes, then wait and see if people's votes would not return back to them.  

        Probably I am a dreamer, but at the end of the day, this is what the rakyat want: Both Opposition and Ruling Party compete to serve the rakyat better and reduce corruption to Zero. In quality management, zero defect does not mean perfection, but a goal that a company sets for the workers to achieve. 

            I have said this that UNLESS PH can come out with good policies that are drawn out in line with what they see happening on the ground, local government issues will continue to be a thorn in the flesh for the people. What PH does not need are state excos who dare not rock the boat just to protect their positions.

        Who else can the rakyat turn to if both the local and state governments do not pay attention to their complaints on the ground? Campaign for the next general election five years from now should begin the moment the current election fever is over. Whether local MP, state assemblyman or local councillor, they should try to solve the people's complaints.

        For example, a restaurant owner complained to me that he lost some RM40k when the local council came to remove the retractable awnings because it was "an obstruction to the traffic." I cannot help but laugh when I heard the explanation given to him on paper. 

        This is something which Gobind, if he wins as MP of Damansara, should hear this himself since the complainant did not get any help from Tony Pua.

Blame Game 

           The other complaint that I received is that at a public town hall meeting on 29 June 2022, of three PKR members of parliament with residents of Petaling Jaya who are concerned with the impact upon them by a proposed elevated highway running through their neighbourhoods, the blame game was played up by the MPs.

             While it is true that the federal government was the one that approved the highway, what people were unhappy was that since land is a state matter, the Pakatan Harapan-led state government could object to the construction of the highway and refuse its approval, and the former Pakatan Rakyat and now PH state governments of Selangor had done so in two past incarnations of the proposed highway; but so far, as claimed by the resident, "nothing had been done by the state government to stop or to indicate that it would block the third incarnation of this proposed highway."

            Instead, the local authority and/or the state government said that they had not yet received any application from the highway developer for approval to route the elevated highway through Petaling Jaya.            

            On 2 July 2022, some of these MPs and PH state assemblymen joined residents at a silent protest against the elevated highway.            

            This has become a sore point for many of the residents -- a lesson that I hope MPs in Pakatan Harapan will learn when dealing with their voters. There appears to be a disconnect between MPs at the federal level and the state government on a matter that is close to the hearts of the voters.

            They should, like William Leong, look for solutions, not just point finger to the previous administration but demand an explanation from the state government. 

            Now, I want to see what Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari will have to say to the PJD Link Highway protestors and Leong's concerns about the quarry mini-licenses at Lagong forest reserve.