The Dewan Rakyat House Committee under the chairmanship of the Speaker should come out of its hibernation and hold an emergency meeting to take ownership of the many deplorable problems of Parliament House to address and resolve them.
There is a proposal that the Public Works Department should be responsible for the maintenance of Parliament House. This seems to be a sensible proposal but the decision should first be made by the House Committee which is responsible for ensuring that MPs enjoy proper facilities to enable to function properly, before the matter is taken to the Cabinet for endorsement.
Cabinet Ministers must learn to understand the meaning of parliamentary autonomy and independence as well as the doctrine of separation of powers among the Executive, Parliament and the Judiciary.
Works Minister, Datuk Seri Samy Vellu said that the PWD had carried out a lot of repairs on the building but there was recurring damage owing to absence of maintenance.
For instance, he said, each time the clothes hangers on the toilet doors were replaced, they went missing.
This is indeed most shameful, as it is most unthinkable that such gross indiscipline and thievery should be so rife in Parliament House, which should be the heart of a national campaign to fulfill the dream of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to have “First World Infrastructure, First World Mentality” in Malaysia.
But what should be a matter of grave concern is that Samy Vellu’s revelation of such gross indiscipline and rife thievery is news to everyone, as this is the first time I am hearing it, and clearly the House Committee of Dewan Rakyat knows nothing about it as it had not met at all for such a report to be presented.
If there is such gross indiscipline and rife thievery as to damage the facilities meant for MPs, then this should be the first task of the Dewan Rakyat House Committee to restore minimum discipline in Parliament.
Apart from leaking roof, the Speaker, Tan Sri Ramli Ngah has expressed a new fear over the electrical wiring which could result in a short-circuit and Parliament House catching fire.
If such a worst scenario should happen, with Parliament on fire, it would indeed be international news which is “Shame of Shame” for the Malaysian Parliament.
The House Committee of the Dewan Rakyat must meet next week itself to present a comprehensive report to Parliament when it reconvenes on June 18 as to what is actually wrong with the Parliament Building and what is being done about it.
When you have a bunch of JOKERS as PARLIAMENTARIANS what do you expect a COURT JESTER as a speaker to do. He enjoys the SITCOM COMEDY DRAMA displayed by the UNTOUCHABLE JOKERS withour raising an eyelid.
Those days we could hear the speaker in action and at the least hear him voicing out objections and instructions and reprimands. The guy now cannot even speak or rather explain in proper grammatical BM. Dont talk about his boss
As a trained Architect, Samy will say that he can’t take charge of maintenance. He is up to his neck with the highway concessionaires, toll collections, golf tournaments with the contractors, table talks with the indian mafias and so on. This maintenance job should be under the Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jali, since she managed to patch back the bocor so well.
They say this is an OLD building built in 1964, so sure lots of problems. The UK houses of parliament was rebuilt in 1834 after a fire; westminster hall, the oldest section, dates back to 1097. The Palace of westminster is still functioning fine.
Recently, Dolah told the press that we will build more bridges to Singapore so as to make the people of two side more closer and the development will be look like Manhatan of USA.
Dolah, we dont want to be like Manhatan, u just lower the toll at the second link bridge to Rm1 and Lee Hsien Loong will follow what we do. This will be the real action that will benefit to both side . The people of bothside will really enjoy!
The security now in JB is so bad to worse that the Manhatan Idea will turn to MAN HUTAN ! Want to see bridges. no need to USA, our close friend China will show you thousands of miracal bridges in their country.
Uncle Kit,
Nampaknya mereka (you tau la siapa mereka tu kan) SAPU SAMPAI BERSIH, cloth hanger yg begitu murah pun MEREKA SAPU BERSIH, apa lagi CONTRACT BESAR!
The parliament of Malaysia is collapsing both physically and metaphorically; the roof is leaking, misaligned and the shoddy electrical wiring is in danger of outbreak of fire and the MPs are wasting time talking nonsense and the Speaker can’t control anything. You have one section created a problem and another section debate the problem and next we taxpayers come out with money and pay. What type of game are we playing?
Crime rate has reached its highest form such that even clothes hangers are stolen in the toilet of the parliament. Thanks to Samy’s revelation. This is not surprising because the chiefs themselves are stealing from the country, ripping off millions and millions from the coffer of the country, and so from the top to the bottom, everybody is picking up this bad culture.
This again boils down to the basic problem that this blog has talked about again and again; education, meritocracy and the brain drain. This country just does not have the right people to run the show; people just acquire names and are not what they really are. The graduates are not really graduates; (unemployable; added marks in order to graduate ); engineers are not really engineers, and architects are not really architects, and the chief architect is of course Samy himself; MPs are not really MPs. Good people leave the country because they are deprived of opportunity as they have no other choice; on top of that good apples also don’t want to mix with bad apples because they could be infected in the long run.
Isn’t it shameful that this fundamental mortar stuff the Malaysian government couldn’t handle it properly in this modern ICT age? In Pharaoh age, the Egyptian pyramid was already built with very primitive equipments and so the great wall of China.
As Madmix pointed out Westminster hall, established in 1097 is still functioning; besides, the Westminster Administration is still considered one of the best in the world. Our Samy only thinks of the remedy of the roof to last for twenty years, even then whether he, “ an architect “, got the ability to do it right or not is doubtful.
Well, this parliament of ours has been a circus for a long time and whether it will remain so depends on the wisdom of us, the rakyat, in the coming G E.
We have all the ingredients for a sitcom entitled “House of Leaks”. There is no lack of clowns, buffons, and bumpkins to star in the show. They are better suited for a sitcom than the more serious business of trying to find solutions for what ills the country.
King Kong is right in saying the physical state of parliament is a metaphor of the ship of state because the compass that steers its direction is not merits but principally selective patronage.
It is the BN political system.
Ministers are not chosen for ministerial position not due to merits or capability but a reward for political loyalty. Selective patronage governs everything from appointment and promotion in Civil Service and GLCs to awarding of government contracts, scholarships.
Corruption is rampant because it is a part of that patronage.
This moribund state of BN ship is allowed to keep on sailing (and get re-elected in every general election) because of only one reason : the fear of majority Malays of meritocracy that will see other races do better and the unwillingness to let go the entire system of selective patronage that they see themselves as principal beneficiaries, no matter what the leakages and no matter how the ship of state will sink in the long run.
///For instance, he said, each time the clothes hangers on the toilet doors were replaced, they went missing.
This is indeed most shameful, as it is most unthinkable that such gross indiscipline and thievery should be so rife in Parliament House///
Who were the thieves, the maintenance crews or the YBs?
The quality of the nation depends on the quality of its people. If the people, or most of them are made to think that public properties belong to them, and if they do not take advantage of the situation, others would, and they seize it where possible for their own use, then it is only natural that clothes hangers would go missing after every replacement. And replacements will always be there because the government always has the money to replace lost items. Obviously the thieves did not think for a moment that their action was ethically wrong; and indeed thievery might have been imbeded in the persons as a reflex action.
Value and religion classes at schools must have taught the students the correct values, including not to be a thief. But the society at large have different practices. This is especially so in BN government adminstration, where the ministers did not have to take responsibilities but they enjoy the authority. The ways government projects are handled show clearly that the concerned persons were robbing the government, legally. It is legal thievery none the less, but that sets examples for the people to follow.
We have first class infrastrutures in form that never function properly, second class people who have paper qualifications that do not match their expected knowledge and skills, and third class mentality. Soon, when all the poorer countries catch up with globalization while we are still talking about glocal, i.e have dealings with outside world based on local NEP culture, we will be relegated to be in the fourth world.
This is just the beginning of a trend in Malaysia. what trend am i referring to? Consider this:
When 2 tittled-politicians greet each other, their greetings goes like this –
1st POLITICIAN: Apa Khabar, Datuk?
2nd POLITICIAN: Khabar baik, Tan Sri. Ada project ka?
With some not being able to get any project, what do you think is the next best thing to do?
That’s right! ‘Manufacture’ some projects! So don’t be surprised that the next sick buildings will be the Sultan Abdul Samad building, City Hall, the old Railway Staion, Angkasapuri, to name a few.
Who was it who said that Malaysia politicians are lacking in ingenuity and creativity?
And the series of sitcom continues with the title “Parliament on fire? DR House Committee must come out of hibernation”. That’s quite a sense of humor from Uncle Kit. Who need Universal Studio in Malaysia when you have the Parliament?
Dolah is a mental case to have dreamed of malaysai ever capable of having a “First World Infrastructure, First World Mentality.†His divide-and-rule strategy follows that of Uganda’s Idi Amin and his thousand-year NEP echoes that of Botha’s South Africa. He will soon follow the above 2 tyrants into political oblivion
“Cabinet Ministers must learn to understand the meaning of parliamentary autonomy and independence as well as the doctrine of separation of powers among the Executive, Parliament and the Judiciary.” – Uncle Lim
Uncle Lim, since when have our cabinet ministers learn to understand what was stated above.
I’m sure that everyone would have realised by now that the bumis are the chosen ones in this country.
So, what has parliamentary autonomy etc got to do with them?
Being the chosen ones they can ride roughshod over all others! Why should they observe such niceties?
It’s good for you to roast them but it would be even better to get them out of the government; they have become insufferable!
The Speaker of the house has just made a self-fulfilling prophecy, that a likely next event to disrupt proceedings may be of a fiery nature. Sometimes I do worry when our leaders use examples to illustrate dangers, but they do not think enough to see their comments may invite “elements” taking the cue from their utterances as another “project” to be undertaken, to defend the BN when the coalition takes a beating in Parliament.
I can see the PSD adevrtisement now:-
Jawatan kosong:- Pengarah – Jabatan “Guy Fawkes”
Location:- Jalan Parlimen, Kuala Lumpur
Number of Vacancies: Currently 1(One) May be increased at sole discretion of Minister.
Pemohonan mesti dibuat kepada Kementerian Kerja Raya u.p. Menteri SV.
All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence, NOT.
Kelayakan:- Mat Rempit/Minah experience highly preferred. In addition, previous experience in unsuccessfully changing a fuse will be highly regarded. Genuine Letter of Introduction from Umno Youth/Putera will assure at least an Interview. Those with fake Letters of Introduction will be rejected, even if you had paid RM150K to meet the KJ to get that fake letter .
All languages welcomed, no discrimination on grounds of race, age, language skills or gender.
JOIN QUICK, so that you will also qualify for the Government’s impending Salary Increase promised for all civil service employees by PM.
Note: Unsuccessful applicants for the above position may qualify for future vacancies suitable for those with experience in submerged road tunnel repair and underwater life-saving rescues.
A real mess indeed and yet no one seems responsible for tarnishing our Parliament.
Now if all those ministers had spent more time taking care of our Parliament instead of campaigning in by-elections we would not have such problems.
http://malaysiawatch2.blogspot.com/2007/05/parliament-flaws-most-evident-sign-of.html
All our attention these few days and weeks have been focused on the leaking Parliament building, the two leaking bocor MPs, etc etc that we may have missed other weaknesses in the whole administration system.
A couple months ago there were reports about the poor administration in the Health Ministry, of problems at hospitals and the poor, inefficient ambulance services that had caused deaths.
Wasn’t there that case up north in Seberang Perai or thereabouts about ambulances that were empty of petrol and could not be used resulting in a death of a patient? There were accusations that petrol was being siphoned off by unscrupulous people thereby rendering the ambualnces inoperable? There were promises that investigations will be made and the culprits brought to book and preventive measures taken to prevent recurrence. But these will be mere words if no actions are taken and more lives lost.
In yesterday’s Star 19th May, page N32, we have yet another case in Pontian of an inoperable ambulance “because the ambulance was out of fuel” and could not take a patient to JB hospital.
The ambulance could only fill up at 6.30 am and even then there was another blunder when it had to return to base as it’s oxygen tank was empty, wasting more precious time. Well what happened? The patient finally succumbed after 4 operations on May 15.
There was a peaceful demonstration by 30 people at the victim’s funeral at Port Dickson yesterday calling for the Health Ministry to investigate.
Why is our ambulance service so inefficient? Is anything being done by the Health Ministry and its Minister who must bear responsibily for all these deaths? Why are our ambulances inoperable due to empty fuel tanks, lacking in facilities or badly in need of repairs? Just what the heck is going on?
What is the MP for Pontian going to do about his constitutent, the victim? What is the Health Minister (from Johor) going to do about this incident? What actions have he taken since the previous sad incident? Must more people die unnecessarily?
As long as there is no accountablity,transparency and integrity,issuance of I/C to illegal immigrants;substandard work in public projects like the roof leaking of the Parliament and death resulted from ambulance depleted of petrol (just to name a few) and the like will continue to capture media headlines.The nation should thank conscientious and right thinking people like YB Lim and others for publicizing them.We do not want them to be swept under the carpet.It is hoped all the wrongdoings will diminish for the sake of a better Malaysia.
“Works Minister, Datuk Seri Samy Vellu said that the PWD had carried out a lot of repairs on the building but there was recurring damage owing to absence of maintenance.
For instance, he said, each time the clothes hangers on the toilet doors were replaced, they went missing”.
I really do not see the correlation from what this guy said. The first sentence mentioned about absence of maintenance and suddenly followed by quoting the missing clothes hanger on the toilet door. Can’t he give a better example to reflect on the seriousness due to absence of maintenance and not just missing cloth hangers which has nothing to do with maintenance but theft.
This really reflects on the capability and intelligence of the BN MPs. TDM really does not say something for nothing. His version of a half past six government is true to form. But sadly the end result is the rakyat is made to suffer for the only thing they know best is corruption, for practice makes perfect.
Samy Velu claim himself to be an architect, true or not? From what I heard he was an office boy turned technician.
Can anyone confirm what was he before? That samseng part I knowlah.
one famous US president once said: “ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country”. but have any of the politicians here in bodohland ever heard of it?
ever notice the size of the hands of many of these politicians? they are huge! why? bcos they are so frequently being used by grabbing whatever they can grab that they start getting bigger and bigger.
and have you noticed the size of their heads? because of intellectual atrophy they are getting so small that they have to hide them under their songkoks.
Tun Mahathir has said it – he would have removed Samy Vellu if he could.
Pak LAh would say the same thing too when he retires soon.
So, Samy, don’t be so thick-skinned! You have overstayed your welcome. Get off your fat bottom and drive off into the sunset peaceably, ok! Actually, Samy, there is no good thing left in you except, perhaps, that nice-looking toupee and probably the false teeth.
ahhh, so relieved
Samy Velu guarantees Parliament can last 150 years (NST, 21 May 2007)
“Actually, Samy, there is no good thing left in you except, perhaps, that nice-looking toupee and probably the false teeth.” Hornbill
You’re being too nice and too kind to Samy. There are parts of his anatomy that are equally false.
There are few other places in the world where ambulances are frequently out of petrol and could not take patients to hospitals eg Somalia. So, welcome to the “Failed States Club”
How many MPs are there? 200 MPs or so can’t even manage the Parliament house, how can they manage an entire country? Good grief!
P.J. Rourke wrote a book titled “Parliament of Whores”. He was taking potshots at the US government.
Maybe we should invite him to analyse the Malaysian PArliament and investigate how the nation’s highest representative office has prostituted its principles and soul for selfish and personal gains. That’s what prostitutes do – they sell their bodies and soul for filthy lucre!
Oh, I was thinking of the brutish majority of BN MPs that dominates the affairs and twists the agenda of parliament to suit their narrow parochial aims and personal gains.
I think that is also prostitution!
Heard from the grapewine that our PM’s bro nasi kandar down in Perth sudah bungkus because of quality of service and price. The price of their food keeps on increasing like our toll, petrol and commodities,etc. Other Asian eateries there are doing fine because their food price is reasonable and service is better. Looks like our bumi business cannot survive without govt protection. Our Bolehland govt should have insisted to the Aussie that all Muslim eateries there must have 30% equities and Malaysians over there should eat there even the price is more costly and the service is bad.
If only the renovation spec can be disclosed then the Rakyat will know what the RM90 million renovation is about. Everyone is keeping quiet because if this is disclosed, then shit will fly. If I am not mistaken, in the previous leak, there was a leak and our Semi Value said he would asked the contractor to repair the leak. Based on this, then there is some work done on the roof. It is also supported by the building rubbish found on the roof. These rubbish cannot be from the sky. Our contractors are in the habit of not clearing the rubbish by themeselves unless they are told. so all the talk are bulls**t. We are using good money to chase bad money. Another renovation project by BN for all the rakyat. No one is responsible. When did we see any contractor being penalised for their mistake. We are very nice people. Do what you like. We shall spend more money to correct it. The more urgent the project, the more money can be spent as it is a national project. This is Bolehland mentality way of resolving problems.
The FACILITY INFRASTRUTURE of the Singapore prison is better than THAT of our Parliament.
Last night, I viewed an interesting feature film at 10.30 pm on TV 8 Singapore. It was about the program of rehabilitation of prisoners of Singapore. They build factories within the prison with the intention of imparting skill to the prisoners and phasing them into society upon their return. The half an hour film showed the following:-
1. A modern kitchen with up-to-date kitchen facility where they catered meals for 7000 inmates a day.
2. A bakery facility to supply the cakes and desserts to the retail chains of Singapore.
3. A telephone operators and telemarketing company to do business with the outside world.
4. An embroidering factory with sophisticated and computerized machines to do embroidery for clothes, hats and other clothing materials.
It is not my intention to introduce the prisoners’ life of Singapore but rather than that I am very impressed by their facility infrastructure. The whole place was spotless, clean, shining with the stainless steel gated doors shining like a futuristic high tech establishment we saw in film like James bond’s picture. The whole place must be air-conditioned as the prisoners had to change their clothing to proper working uniforms and attires. They looked comfortable. The TV room, the indoor basket court were available clean and tidy as the award for their good performance. Listening to the women prisoners, working as telemarketers and telephone operators, oh my god! their courtesy and languages used were much better than out two bochor MPs. For sure there was no leak in the establishment as one couldn’t see any buckets and plastic sheets everywhere like our great parliament house. The management of these prisoners was not simple as the place had to be bare and simple to ensure there wasn’t place to hide any sharp object as weaponry. The knives of the kitchen were tightly controlled and the psychological aspect of the prisoners was closely monitored. Rows of PC in a clean spotless room where the prisoners were busily using for stocks key in were available.
The prisoners were happy as they had a place to learn new skill and at the same time contributing something back to the society and at the same time prepare themselves to phase back to the society later on. The bosses of the factories were happy as they got some cost effective products for the market and doing something good for the prisoners who were paid.
The theme emphasized on WORK VALUE and CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY and the program was very touching.
Where are the WORK VALUE and CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY factors ever existing in our Samy’s and some of the MPs’ minds? They are worse than the Singapore prisoners who at least are trying to learn something good and contribute back to the society.
Corruption is a criminal act but sorry to say it is a culture in our country, and the crony contractors had been protected like a strong castle. Is anybody told who the crony contractors were in this 90 million ringgits renovation work? They seem to get away easily as Samy said the roof was not specified in the contract.
Does Samy understand anything like the concept of total project management, like total maintenance, and total quality control?
After viewing the TV 8 feature film, borrowed from the chief architect Samy’s words: “ As a TV viewer, I can tell you that the management and competence of our country is very bad unfortunately—“ I am not a fan of Singapore, but it is a cruel hard fact.
” indoor basket court ” should read ” indoor basket ball court ” – my apology –
“Oh, I was thinking of the brutish majority of BN MPs that dominates the affairs and twists the agenda of parliament to suit their narrow parochial aims and personal gains. I think that is also prostitution!†– Endangered Hornbill.
With respect, twisting agenda may be a politician’s but not a prostitute’s predilection, the analogy being a trifle unfair to the prostitute or rather my preferred word, “sex workerâ€Â.
A sex worker does not twist agenda to serve personal ends. She (and in many cases, he as well) sells sex as work – a ‘honest’ day work in the special sense of working hard, and often hazardously in providing a service required by the client – for a prior agreed price.
There is no deceit. If the sex worker puts up a show of moan and groan it is what the customer expects.
Even for those of us who see things in moral terms – that prostitution is immoral – the sex worker does not even claim that he/she is doing any moral work, though they believe they are providing a valuable service.
In comparison, politicians often talk about the defining great moral issues of their day for the good of the nation and its people but more often than not it is a twist for his own personal agenda of personal enrichment and aggrandizement.
On top of that we the people don’t even know the “fee†for the political service. The official remuneration is only a fraction of the kickbacks and profit arrangements from marked up public contracts dished out to proxies at the expense of public coffers and sometimes even public safety as where a bridge or building or roof collapses.
If one’s moral universe is premised on sex being sacred and exclusive and, like love, not to be sold for a fee, then I suppose he will adjudge prostitution immoral. But if one’s moral universe is premised on honesty as opposed to hypocrisy (without associating with notions of sex), then I suppose one is entitled to adjudge many politicians as immoral, and the sex worker not so!
Things will come by back to those who taken a ‘short cuts’ in the life journey.
How could the government let the country and her ordinary people down, in particular the bumi?
I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry after reading all these news. But one thing for sure it’s a perfect script for sitcoms. If only we have the equivalent of David Letterman or Jay Leno shows here I am sure this recent episode of “leaks in Parliament” will be ideal materials for their talk shows.
In Malaysia the government is a great architect for starting and completing projects (inluding many white elephants) but tremendously poor to almost crude in upkeeping and maintaining them. This failure is evidential everywhere from small to monumental projects. When uncovered, the state of denial will appear; followed by finger-pointing; and then condoning and resigning to the fact that it is normal that defects occurs. Afterwards more monies will be dished out for remedial works to be done. To me it’s just another blatant misguided actions that further drains the national coffers.
A Dr. Leak’s day…
http://malaysiancartoons.blogspot.com/2007/05/sam-doctor-leak.html