Tag: Welfare

House of MIC Chief’s Widow Burned, Receives Support from Melawati CSC

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SHAH ALAM, 30 Oct: Despite her late husband being known for serving MIC when he was alive, the suffering due to a fire at the house occupied by Devi a/p Raman, 66, three months ago was ignored by the party representing the Indian community.

However, Devi was fortunate when the Coordinator of the Melawati constituency Community Service Centre (CSC), S.Manikavasagam, together with the Api-Api Parish Headman, Husain Idris, came forward to offer help to the single mother.

Manikavasagam said, among the assistance provided includes a cash contribution of RM500 presented by the Kuala Selangor District and Land Office, as well as building materials such as wood and Nypa leafs from the Melawati CSC.

“The late S.Anandan, the former Kampung Telok Piah MIC Branch Chief, used to serve in the MIC and was previously given a medal of honour by Tan Sri V.Manickavasagam for his services.

“However now, when his wife encounters difficulties and her house was damaged by fire, not on of the MIC leaders came to visit or help out. Where is the slogan ‘MIC Cares’,” Manikavasagam said to TVSelangor.

Manikavasagam said, as a result of the fire which brought an estimated loss of about RM75,000, Devi also lost her source of income from a small food business she ran out of her house.

Devi, who will be celebrating Deepavali soon, has also been included in the ‘Jom Shopping’ (Let’s Go Shopping) programme in conjunction with the Deepavali celebration which is being held at the Giant hypermarket in Pasir Penampang today.

“All the assistance rendered is actually not enough, but at least it is able to ease the suffering and burden shouldered by Devi,” added Manikavasagam.

PR Urges Central Government to Revoke Protection of Companies Monopolising the Sugar Market

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KUALA LUMPUR, 30 Oct: Pakatan Rakyat (PR) urges the Central Government to revoke the raw sugar procurement system and the protection of companies monopolising the sugar market in this country resulting in the higher price of sugar.

Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya Utara, Tony Pua, said that the action to revoke would allow for the government to offer a lower sugar price for the people after opening up the market involving sugar companies in the country.

He said, with the elimination of the monopoly, the people will enjoy lower prices for sugar and sugar companies will become more efficient by not having to rely on government assistance.

“Pakatan Rakyat is of the opinion that the monopoly of sugar companies does not benefit the people at all.

“It is better to open the sugar market and let the price of sugar be determined by competition between companies and suppliers of sugar,” said Tony Pua in a press statement at the Parliament lobby.

Tony Pua said the method of importing raw sugar from companies abroad is just a trick to get a lower cost, enabling the company involved to gain handsomely.

“If sugar prices are set by the government, it should not increase their (companies) profits by so much.

“We suspect that the government is importing raw sugar to enable these companies to gain more profit,” he said.

Yesterday, Tony Pua revealed that the sugar price hike is not on the basis of subsidy cuts, rather it stems from the Central Government’s move to sign the raw sugar agreement at a high price.

In January 2012, the Minister of Domestic Trade, Consumerism and Cooperatives (KPDNKK), Datuk Ismail Sabri, announced that the government has signed a three-year deal to import raw sugar at the price of USD25 per 100lbs.

As a result, the people are forced to enjoy sugar that is more expensive due to the agreement signed by the KPDNKK last year.

Student: Government in a Hurry to Implement GST

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SHAH ALAM, 30 Oct: The Central Government is in a hurry to implement the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which will burden the people when there is no mechanism to increase the people’s income.

The President of Student Solidarity Malaysia (SMM) Safwan Anang, said that the Central Government has been urged to first solve the problem of corruption, leakages and improvidence occurring in expenses, as reported in the Auditor-General’s Report before the GST is implemented.

He said students will be affected and impacted from the implementation of the GST at the rate of 6 percent starting from 1 April 2015 because they are also consumers who buy goods and necessities.

“If the federal government does not want to hear the sound of protest, together, students are ready to mobilise this voice of protest,” he said when contacted by TVSelangor.

Safwan hopes that students will enhance awareness and understanding of the implementation of the GST so that they are able to be the people’s spokespeople.

“When the campus elections are still hot, it is hoped that the GST will also be debated. But unfortunately, this did not happen due to external political interference which has caused the GST issue to be quiet,” he said.

The introduction of the GST at a rate of six percent will be more burdensome for the young people because 82.5 percent of them earn RM3,000 and below.

The impact will be felt by the young people when the rate of inflation rises due to the increase in price of goods and services while income has not changed much.

RM3.14 Million Allocated to Improve Traffic Flow at Jalan Othman, Petaling Jaya

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PETALING JAYA, 30 Oct: The Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) decided to spend RM3.14 million to demolish the roundabout at Jalan Othman and replace it with traffic lights to solve the traffic congestion faced by motorists.

Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya Selatan, Hee Loy Sian said the project which will be completed within the next 10 months is expected to improve traffic flow in the area.

“Originally, this project would take eight months. However, because technical issues caused by piping and wiring in the area, we expect for the project to be completed in September (next year),” he said.

“Currently, motorists in the area would need to take an hour to pass through the roundabout.

After the project is completed, we expect motorists to save 80 percent of the time taken currently,” said Loy Sian.

Hee Loy said this during the ground breaking ceremony of the Jalan Othman Roundabout Upgrading Project, together with the Assemblyman for Bukit Gasing, Rajiv Rishyakaran.

He said, this upgrading project will benefit residents of Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 18, as well as those using the road leading to Puchong, Kota Damansara and Serdang.

Loy Sian urged the public to be patient at this point while waiting for the traffic lights to be set up in the specified period.

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CM Visits SP Setia Bhd Housing Project

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SHAH ALAM, 30 Oct: Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim spent over half an hour visiting the latest apartment housing project using the ‘prefabricated’ method which is being developed by a leading property developer, SP Setia Berhad.

During the visit to the project site, Abdul Khalid, who was accompanied by Selangor State Excos, was given detailed descriptions regarding the housing project by the Chief Operating Officer of SP Setia, Datuk Voon Tin Yow.

The housing project, among others, is being built near the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE) and Jalan Meru, Klang, with house area estimated at 850 square feet each.

A total of 3,960 apartment units at the 11-storey buildings are being offered at the market price of RM220,000, and has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and other facilities such as a swimming pool.

The medium-cost apartment project commenced building over a year ago and targets families with a household income of about RM3,000 per month.

It is understood that the housing project has been fully sold to the public.

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Selangor Provides Opportunity for University Students to be ‘Representatives of the People’

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SHAH ALAM, 29 Oct: Students of institutes of higher learning (IPT) have the opportunity to experience the real proceedings at the Selangor State Legislative Assembly (DUN) as ‘representatives of the people’ through the Selangor Young Assemblyman 2013 Programme from 16 to 18 December.

The programme, which is being organised for the first time, is a state government initiative to educate the younger generation on the role and responsibility of an Assemblyman, as well as provide exposure to the political world at an early stage.

The Selangor State Legislative Assembly Speaker, Hannah Yeoh, said the objective of the programme is to foster the attitude of leadership and cooperation between participants as well as to produce future leaders who have calibre and are responsible.

“The Selangor Young Assemblyman Programme organised by the Speaker’s Office and the DUN Office is especially for IPT students around Selangor to provide them a chance to experience real proceedings of the council,” she said in a press statement at her office this today.

Also present was the DUN Deputy Speaker, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad; the Assemblywoman of Damansara Utama, Yeo Bee Yin; the Assemblyman for Bukit Gasing, Rajiv Rishyakaran and the Assemblyman for Gombak Setia Hasbullah Mohd Ridzwan.

Meanwhile, Nik Nazmi said the programme is open to students between 18 to 24 years from public and private institutes of higher learning, non-governmental organisations (NGO) and student associations.

“This year, only 30 students will be chosen to participate in this programme. If the response is encouraging, we plan to run this programme two times a year,” he said.

He said participants will be given the opportunity to voice their opinions and ask the government about policies, especially those impacting the younger generation, in addition to providing the opportunity to bring up suggestions to introduce new laws in Selangor.

“Participants will play the role of an Assemblyman in the council session, together with the Speaker and I, the Deputy Speaker. The programme also received the attention of state government executive councillors who are expected to take part in the session.

In relation to that, those interested in participating in the programme can apply online at www.adunmudaselangor.com before 8 November.

Reduction in JPM Contract Worker’s Income Helps Avoid Wastage

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KUALA LUMPUR, 29 Oct: The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Run Razak, has been urged to reduce the income of contract workers under the Prime Minister’s Department (JPM) which is far higher from the income of civil servants.

The Member of Parliament for Serdang, Dr Ong Kian Ming said the reduction in the income of contract workers can reduce JPM’s expanses which will leap to the highest level next year.

He said the reduction can be seen as avoiding wastage in the high payment for the department.

“If Najib is serious in asking the people to change their lifestyles by shouldering the high cost of living because subsidies have been reduced, in addition to the goods and services (GST) being introduced, he too should reduce JPM’s expanses,” he said in a press conference here at the Parliament lobby today.

Kian Ming gave the example where the wage and allowance of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Innovation Agency Malaysia amounts to RM830,500 per year, which is about RM69,000 per month.

In addition to that, the CEO of the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) is paid a wage and allowance of RM622,000 a year, while the CEO of TalentCorp is paid RM420,000 a year.

He said that the income of the three CEOs are far higher compared to the National Secretary-General who receives RM23,577 per month.

“These examples involve a portion of agencies under the JPM, in fact there are more CEOs that receive incomes that far exceed that of Senior Managers of the same rank with Grade 54, but are paid far higher,” he said.

In relation to that, Kian Ming said Najib should also stop the establishment of new agencies such as Green Foundation (Yayasan Hijau) because existing agencies such as Malaysia GreenTech has the same function as the foundation which is to be developed.

The JPM budget leaped by 13 percent, making the amount RM16.45 billion and the amount is the highest allocation, breaking the previous record of RM15.62 billion (2011), which was announced in the National Budget 2014 on 25 October.

The Poor too have to Pay the GST

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SHAH ALAM, 29 Oct: The implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) may bring about negative effects to the poor who have to pay it once it is implemented on 1 April 2015.

The former Assistant Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, Dr Rosli Yaakob said the impact of the GST is comprehensive and would affect all economic networks, thus bringing about the impact of an increase in prices for a majority of basic food.

“The poor also become a victim of the GST because they are forced to pay it and this will only add to the tax burden on all levels of society because they are all consumers.

“Although the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that several basic food will not be imposed the GST, but it is not a guarantee that the price of the goods involved will be maintained,” he said in the Harakah Daily portal.

Yaakob, who is also the PAS Economic Expert, said the announcement of the implementation of the GST is also deliberately done at a period where it is still a long way before the 14th General Election (GE-14).

“Barisan Nasional (BN) assumes by the time of the GE-14, the impact of the GST which initially outraged the people would have settled and they would continue to support BN,” he said.

Dr Rosli said Najib’s claim that GST rate in Malaysia is the lowest, at the rate of six percent compared to Singapore and Indonesia, is not supported by any other statement.

“One fact that Najib failed to mention is that in Singapore, corporate and personal taxes are lower, between 16 to 17 percent.

“In Malaysia, despite announcing that it may go down by one to two percent, is that the rates of both the taxes are still high, between 23 to 24 percent,” he said.

MBPJ Becomes First Local Authority to Organise World Animal Day Every Year

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SHAH ALAM, 29 Oct: The Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) made history when they became the first Local Authority in Malaysia to organise the World Animal Day every year since year 2009.

The fourth celebration themed ‘Pet Ownership Responsibility’ was aimed at increasing awareness of pet owners and a sense of responsibility towards pets.

In conjunction with the World Animal Day 2013, a forum entitled ‘Responsible Pet Owners’ was held here at the MBPJ Community Library Knowledge Hall recently.

The programme was inaugurated by the Assemblyman of Seri Andalas, Dr Xavier Jayakumar, and was also attended by the MBPJ Director of the Department of Environmental Health, Dr Chitradavi, the Director of the DBKL Department of Health and Environment, Dr Hayati Abdullah, and MBPJ Council Members.

At the same event, pet owners were given certificates in addition to the presentation of work papers and a question and answer session with panel members.

MBPJ also informed that the by-laws concerning licencing and dog breeding homes have been implemented to ensure that irresponsible parties will not mistreat animals.

A penalty of RM2,000 or imprisonment of less than a year, or both, will be imposed if anyone goes against the by-laws.

MBPJ also established the Canine Advisory Team (CAT) in Selangor as a sign of concern and responsibility on animal welfare.

No Change in Position for Selangor CM, Khalid Ibrahim Remains – Anwar

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KUALA LUMPUR, 28 Oct: There is no scramble for the office of the Chief Minister of Selangor as Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim will continue to lead the state government leadership, said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

At the press conference today, the Opposition Leader also denies that there is a scramble for the position between Abdul Khalid and the PKR Deputy President, Mohamed Azmin Ali.

As the de facto leader of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Anwar who previously gave his opinion about the performance of the Selangor government administration, would know is the allegations are true.

“If Azmin wants to take, I would surely know. But the matter is not happening,” he said at the Parliament lobby.

Anwar previously gave his views on the performance of the government administration and economic development of the Selangor and Penang Government, but his statement was misinterpreted by some quarters.

According to local media reports, there are rumours stating that Azmin, who is also the Selangor PKR Chairman, will replace Abdul Khalid on grounds of being ‘stingy’.

Instead, when Azmin was met at Parliament, he said that there was no struggle happening between him and Abdul Khalid.

“There is no crisis or efforts to replace the Chief Minister. I agree with Anwar, in fact the effort is pretty good for the interests of the state,” he said.

He did present his intention when meeting Abdul Khalid for almost four hours recently to urge for the role of the Selangor Pakatan Rakyat Assemblymen and Members of Parliament to be better used.

“We discussed the issue of state development based on the memorandum recently submitted. The discussion went pretty well,” said Azmin who plans to meet Abdul Khalid again tomorrow.

Anwar Reveals that Najib is Hiding the Price Increase of Cooking Oil

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KUALA LUMPUR, 28 Oct: Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim questioned the move by Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to deliberately hide the rising prices of cooking oil and chose to publicly announce cuts in sugar subsidies.

He also questioned the move because palm oil production is currently surging and the people are shocked by the sugar price hike.

Anwar dais that he wondered why Najib is ‘shy’ to announce the increase in price of cooking oil that will be faced due to a reduction of subsidies worth RM505 million, the same as the reduction on sugar subsidies in the National Budget 2014 speech on 25 October.

“Why did the government choose to reduce subsidies and hide the effects of the subsidy reduction of cooking oil. At the current situation, when the production of crude palm oil in the world is at the highest rate,” said Anwar in the Budget 2014 debate speech here at Parliament today.

Anwar also questioned the central government’s move to not choose to allocate palm oil (CPO) subsidies for each household.

“For example, Indonesia provides two litres of CPO for each household, as well as biofuel subsidies. Why does Malaysia not carry out the initiative seeing that the price of cooking oil will increase,” he said.

Anwar, who is also the Member of Parliament for Permatang Pauh, said the impact of the reduction of sugar subsidies by 34cents will result in gains to the two sugar companies, Malaysian Sugar Manufacturing and Central Sugar, to 20 to 25 percent, which is RM1 billion a year, due to the strengthening of the company’s monopoly.

He said the subsidy reduction allows for corporate companies to double their profit bit the people are burdened by the increase of sugar prices.

“The profit before tax if the companies are around nine percent with the gross income of the industry of RM4 billion, and with the subsidy reduction, it will rise to 20 to 25 percent. It is clear that the ones losing and who continue to be burdened is the people and instead, corporate companies continue to be babied and protected by the government,” he said.

GST: People of Sabah and Sarawak will be Further Burdened

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KUALA LUMPUR, 28 Oct: The people of Sabah and Sarawak will be further burdened if the goods and services tax (GST) is implemented by the central government in the near future.

Member of Parliament for Sandakan, Wong Tien Fatt said the burden will occur because the people of Sabah earn far less than the people on the Peninsular.

He said the cost of living in the said states will also increase due to the higher prices of goods through the ‘carbotage’ policy of the six percent GST.

“The people of Sabah will be further burdened is the GST is implemented because the majority of people earn 30-40 percent lower than those in the Peninsular.

“In addition to the low wages, the people of Sabah also have the problem of the higher price of oil than the Peninsular,” he said in a press conference in Parliament today.

Tien Fatt also urged for all goods in Sabah and Sarawak to be standardised when the GST is implemented next year.

“If the GST is implemented, Sabahans have to pay more expensive prices than they should. We hope that if the GST is really going to be implemented, the federal government should standardise all prices in Sabah and Sarawak with the Peninsular,” he said.