theSun | TUESDAY MARCH 3 2009
news without borders
‘Sabotage’ of poverty eradication programme
Here’s the proof, Penang
govt tells MCA
by Himanshu Bhatt
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
GEORGE TOWN: The Penang
government yesterday produced
evidence to back its claim that the
MCA has been unduly meddling in
its state-wide poverty eradication
programme.
State Health, Welfare, Caring
Society and Environment committee
chairman Phee Boon Poh showed
reporters a copy of an official state
letter issued by a local welfare office
signed by an MCA-appointed assist-
ant welfare officer.
The letter, issued through the
Welfare Department’s Seberang
Perai Utara office, gave instructions
to poverty aid applicants to go to
Bagan MCA’s service centre with
their personal documents for further
action.
“This is treason,” Phee said after
a press conference in the chief
minister’s office here. “They have
exploited a state government letter-
head for their own publicity.”
Phee also showed a copy of a let-
ter in Mandarin, signed by the same
officer, with the letterhead having
the state crest replaced by an MCA
logo.
“This is an official
state project. How can
they throw the state
crest and substitute it
with their own party
logo?” he said.
When contacted, wel-
fare assistant Tan Teow
Joo, who signed the let-
ters, said he did not have
any ulterior motive except
to help applicants by mak-
ing it easier for them to get
guidance from the MCA’s
service centre.
“I did not have any
political intentions, and I
hope this matter will be put
to rest as soon as possible. I
just want to serve the peo-
ple,” he added.
Phee said he had received com-
plaints from people that they were
scolded when they tried to process
their applications.
Phee had on Feb 25 claimed that
MCA members contracted to work as
assistant welfare officers in Penang
had cast aside aid forms submitted
by hardcore poor applicants.
He said forms with supporting
signatures by Pakatan Rakyat as-
semblymen were ignored, and ap-
plicants were told to get signatures
of Barisan Nasional representatives
instead.
He also claimed that on at least
one occasion, the form was torn in
the presence of the applicant.
In response, Penang MCA deputy
chairman Eng Hiap Boon accused
the state administration of trying to
pin the blame on MCA for the delay
in meeting its self-imposed March 8
deadline to remove hardcore pov-
erty in the state.
Change and freedom will
come with a price: Zaid
by Tan Yi Liang
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PETALING JAYA: A panel of
media and political experts
has agreed that there is a pos-
sibility for change and hope
for freedom in Malaysia, pro-
vided that the current system
is reformed to allow room for
discourse and dissent.
“Hope and freedom and
change come with a price.
And the question is, are we
prepared to pay the price?
If we are not, then it will not
come so easy,” said former
minister in the Prime Minis-
ter’s Department, Datuk Zaid
Ibrahim.
“That price is not for any
‘Malaysian Obama’, it is for
the people to answer whether
they are ready for that,” said
Zaid, who was a panelist at
Obama-Magic in KL, a series
of forums here featuring
Obama campaign director
Phee shows Roger Fisk.
reporters “In our country, we have a
a copy of long way to go for that free-
the Welfare dom. We have elections once
Department every five years, but we need
letter a lot more for this country to
showing mature. Our leaders today talk
‘meddling’ of uniting the people, they talk
in local of freedom and democracy
welfare but I don’t sense a real, genu-
procedures ine desire to do that,” said
by MCA. Zaid, who called on Malaysian
leaders to embrace “ordinary”
values.
“The reason we are in a
5
state of flux is because we do
not have the leadership that
extols the virtues of ordinary
people, of excellence, honesty
and integrity. We take pride
that we are clever at fixing
and manipulating things, so
long as we have power,” he
said, before comparing the
Malaysian situation with the
American Obama scenario
“America has had its share
of leaders who sacrificed for
all these values, and we too
have had leaders like that.
But we need more of them.
People who stand up for the
normal, usual good things
about leadership that you
and I know,” said Zaid, adding
that Malaysian leaders should
not gloss over principles of
leadership.
“Leaders must have some
principles that they stand for,
and I think sometimes people
gloss over this because they
want to be practical,” said
Zaid, who was asked what
advice he had for incoming
prime minister-in-waiting,
Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak
“I hope he (Najib) will be a
leader for the country first, and
not put Umno first. This is very
important. Sometimes, issues
and problems in this country
are seen in the perspective of
a particular party. I think we
are bigger than that, and we
have the capacity,” said Zaid.
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