The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Apa saya bahas dalam Bajet 2012 Posted: 18 Oct 2011 06:38 PM PDT 19 OKT — Setelah satu hari menunggu giliran untuk berucap bahas bajet 2012, akhirnya sebelum rehat pukul 1 tghari , saya memulakan ucapan dan kemudian menyambongnya pukul 2.30. Kami diberi 20 minit untuk berbahas. Terlalu banyak yang hendak diperkatakan tetapi malangnya masa tak cukup. Saya telah menyentuh beberapa tajuk besar antaranya tanggungjawab membuat keputusan terbaik, kritikan bajet secara menyeluroh, soal alam sekitar, keselamatan dan peranan agama. Saya memulakan ucapan dengan membaca ayat Quran dari Surah Hud ayat 88, yang membawa tema perlunya reformasi atau dalam istilah Al Quran Al Islah. Saya juga memetik kata- kata hikmah orang tua-tua memberi amaran kepada pemimpin-pemimpin: "Mengejar pangkat mau menjilat Mengejar harta mau melata Mengejar kedudukan mau melendan Mengejar pengaruh mau bergaduh Mengejar dunia mau menganiya" Saya menyatakan juga tentang kegagalan dasar kerajaan dalam menangani isu kesan alam sekitar. Saya membawa contoh Bukit Merah yang pernah dicadangkan untuk tapak loji nadir bumi yang akan dikendalikan oleh Mitsubishi dari Jepun. Usaha itu mendapat tentangan pada tahun 1982 sehingga 167,000 penduduk Pekan Papan dan sekeliling telah membantah kerana kesan alam sekitar yang membahayakan kesihatan penduduk, antaranya leukimia, keguguran, cacat kelahiran dan kanser paru- paru. Kejayaan menutup tapak itu adalah tanda kejayaan NGO menimbulkan kesedaran bahaya kesan alam sekitar dan ia juga menandakan sikap penduduk yg prihatin yang tidak rela dijadikan mangsa di atas nama pelaburan yang menguntungkan. Walaupun kini dalam pasca Bukit Merah masih ada berbaki 800,000 ton sisa radioaktif yg belum dihapuskan. Untuk menghapuskan sisa radioaktif itu menelan belanja US100juta. Malah kematian akibat kesan radioaktif ini juga tinggi iaitu 9 kes kematian kerana leukimia, selalunya kes leukimia hanya berlaku dalam kes terpencil. Tiba-tiba hari ini kita dikejutkan dengan kes yang sama akan dibuka di Gebeng, Pahang oleh syarikat Lynas Corp dari Australia. Bayangkan kalau Bukit Merah luasnya hanya 9 ekar, kini di Gebeng luasnya 100ekar iaitu seluas 140 padang bola! Apakah sikap kerajaan yg lebih melihat laba ekonomi dan keuntungan dari kesan jangkapanjang yang mengancam keselamatan dan kesihatan awam? Dasar kerajaan terperangkap antara mengaut keuntungan atau menyelematkan kesan alam sekitar dari radioaktif. Walaupun kerajaan memberi jaminan bahawa radioaktifnya rendah tetapi sebagaimana yang digambarkan oleh pencinta alam sekitar relatifnya radioaktif itu rendah tidak menafikan ianya bahaya cuma tahapnya sahaja rendah atau tinggi! Dalam menyentuh persoalaan Gebeng, ucapan saya dicelah oleh Ulu Selangor bertanyakan saya secara nakal apakah saya bertentangan pendapat dengan Hulu Langat dari Pas yang memberikan pandangan bahawa radioaktif di tapak Gebeng tidak bahaya. Semua sudah mengetahui bahwa Hulu Langat, Yb Dr Che Rosli adalah pakar nuklear yang dihormati. Saya mengatakan di sebalik saya memghormati pandangan Dr Che Rosli, kes Bukit Merah menjadi rujukan secara hidup kesan dari sisa radioaktif, ia tidak perlu untuk mana mana pakar untuk memberitahu kita apa yang berlaku di Bukit Merah. Saya sempat juga menyentuh isu keselamatan di mana saya mendedahkan surat yang saya terima secara misteri. Saya menerima dari orang lain surat itu yang meminta saya supaya mendedahkannya. Surat itu ialah dari PGA (Pasukan Gerak Am) Briged Tengah mengarahkan anggotanya dan keluarga mereka serta pesara polis supaya menandatangani memorendum membantah kenyataan Timbalan Presiden PAS Mat Sabu tentang peranan Mat Indera yang dikatakan seorang komunis. Saya menegaskan bahawa kalau betul surat arahan dari Pegawai Tinggi Polis dalam kes Mat Sabu, maka polis tidak profesional dan telah campurtangan dalam persoalan yang sifatnya politik! Adakah polis secara sengaja cuba menimbulkan kemarahan terhadap Mat Sabu? Ataukah Polis menerima arahan dari pihak politik untuk merencanakan kebencian terhadap Mat Sabu? Saya minta Menteri Dalam Negeri memberikan penjelasan tentang surat ini. Saya diganggu dalam ucapan saya oleh Kulim-BandarBharu yang menuduh saya membuat fitnah! Saya kata saya cakap dalam parlimen dan bukan di kedai kopi! Saya bertanggunjawab atas soalan saya. Kerana diganggu, masa saya terjejas jadi isu peranan agama saya tak sempat nak perincikan. Saya mencadangkan hubungan antara agama mestilah memperbanyakkan dialog dan perbincangan secara bertamadun dan bukan dengan menimbulkan kemarahan atau isu yang sensitif. Saya mencadangkan juga akta zakat bagi memperkemaskan pengurusan dan kawal selia zakat bagi membantu pengukuhan umah. Malangnya masa tidak cukup dan saya terpaksa berhenti setelah diarahkan oleh Tuan Speaker. Selesai ucapan saya membuat sidang akhbar bersama rakan dari Kuala Kedah atas dua isu. Pertama sikap kami secara peribadi dalam perhimpunan sejuta umah di mana kami melihat ini eksploitasi Umno dan golongan desperate untuk menimbulkan kebencian antara agama dan bukan keharmonian antara agama. Kedua saya mendedahkan surat yang saya terima secara misteri yang memberi petunjuk bahawa Polis dari PGA terlibat mengarahkan secara resmi supaya anggotanya , keluarga dan pesara menandatangan kempen membantah Kenyataan Mat Sabu. jikalau ini berlaku ia sesuatu yang malang bagi Polis yang tercalar imej mereka kerana menjadi alat kepada pihak tertentu yang desperado untuk berpegang kepada kuasa mereka yang semakin terhakis. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Passionate Malaysians Down Under Posted: 18 Oct 2011 04:55 PM PDT OCT 19 — In May this year I received an invitation from the Malaysian Students Council – Victoria Chapter, Australia to speak at the Malaysian Aspiration Program 2011. I was excited as I have never had the opportunity to visit Australia before. After confirming my attendance, I contacted friends and supporters of Pakatan Rakyat there and thus arranged a semi-working, semi-holiday trip with my wife to Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney. As a politician, I have spoken to Malaysians in the US, UK and Singapore. I thought I've seen it all. Furthermore, I graduated from a British university and typically held the snobbish view that Malaysians in Australia have too much fun and were less interested in current affairs back home. I was proven wrong. From the Malaysian Aspiration Program where I sat in a forum with Umno's Dato' Zaki Zahid (one of the more rational voices in the party) and Bersih Australia's David Teoh to my lectures at the University of Melbourne, University of Sydney and the Australian National University as well as meeting Malaysians informally throughout my week-long trip, the Malaysians in Australia showed a greater level of passion and enthusiasm than Malaysians overseas that I've encountered before. There were even Australians, Singaporeans, Vietnamese who through mixing with Malaysians develop a passion for the country that was simply amazing. Each of them has their own story to tell. The older ones came ages ago – in the 1970s university fees were free for everyone and thus parents had to only fork out living costs. Some fell in love with the locals or for one reason or another postponed their decision to return to Malaysia. One PJ boy wanted to return only to be turned-off by a major private company in Malaysia that openly tempted him to return by getting involved in corrupt deals. Others needed to earn the higher wages here in order to support their family back home. As they keep postponing their return to Malaysia, they develop deeper roots in their adopted home, making it difficult for them to return when they eventually could. Thus the common refrain that Malaysians who choose not to return are unpatriotic is definitely false. We live in a global world after all, where people can easily move to different countries where they feel it is better for them and their families to eke a living. Definitely, home is where the heart is but everyone has different circumstances that lead them to where they end up in life. Yet after the historic changes from the 2008 elections, many found a reason to believe that change is possible in Malaysia. Finally there is a fledgling two-party (or more accurately, two-coalition) system that is emerging and a generation of multiracial Malaysians that is spearheading the struggle for a better Malaysia. Web 2.0 is allowing them to follow developments back home in real-time. Furthermore, while it is unlikely that the older Malaysians who have established themselves in Australia to return, we can still tempt the younger ones who are still idealistic to make a difference in Malaysia – the Reformasi and now, BERSIH Generation. Unfortunately, there are still those who turn them off by resorting to old politics. While the Malaysian Consul General in Melbourne Dr Mohd Rameez Yahya came to my talk at the university and politely introduced himself, another government official in Sydney pretended he was a self-employed Malaysian in Australia when I greeted him as a colleague of his took photos and notes of my programme. These tactics, that are reminiscent of the Cold War and authoritarian regimes were typical up to my time as a student overseas, are fortunately less potent today. In these days of Facebook and Twitter, Malaysians from different backgrounds showed their courage in standing up for change when thousands turned up across the world in support of BERSIH on 9 July. Surely, if the government is serious about transformation than they must stop these bullying tactics. As it happens, this might come from overzealous mid-ranking civil servants trying to impress his higher-ups or an insecure politician but it does not work and only make a mockery of Malaysia's democracy in this day and age. At the end of the day, the system is facing a more powerful force that unites these Malaysian citizens, former Malaysians and Malaysians at heart: the desire for a better Malaysia. They have achieved incredible things in Australia: some have become top businessmen, corporate executives, politicians, activists and academicians. Rather than turning them away, Malaysia should take advantage of this passion. Whether by physically returning to the country, investing in the Malaysian economy or simply sharing their expertise and experience back home, Malaysia stands to benefit enormously from the 100,000 Malaysians down under. In fact, I learned much from meeting this exceptional group of Malaysians. Their enthusiasm reminded me of the reason I got involved in politics, away from the rough realpolitik back home. As for the younger group – many of whom plan to return to Malaysia at one point or another – I tried to reach out to them by saying that each of them matter in making a difference in Malaysia. Change after all may seem part of a grand historical design but at the end of the day happens when enough people do whatever possible within their individual capacities to make it happen. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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