Consider the amount of money wasted to print or emboss on each of the items.
Everywhere you turn looks like seeing his name. Silap-silap, end up get cursed instead of praise. Cannot be like this la YB.
SELANGOR Speaker Teng Chang Khim’s name is found written all over the place at public parks in the Sungai Pinang constituency.
The Sungai Pinang assemblyman seems to have adopted a bold strategy by displaying his name on benches, gazebos and playground equipment provided by him to the constituents.
However, Teng’s action has not gone well with some of the residents in the constituency which covers a large part of North Klang town, Taman Eng Ann and a section of Jalan Meru.
Nothing spared: A slide in the playground bearing the Speaker’s name.
These residents felt that the move to display the assemblyman’s name as a contributor of the facilities was misleading especially when public funds were used to provide them.
A check by StarMetro following tip-off from a Klang resident, revealed that there were some 110 parks and playing fields in the constituency with Teng’s name displayed on the benches, gazebos and playground equipment.
Each venue has between three and seven benches. A few of them have facilities like playground equipment and three parks has gazebos.
Based on the information provided on the equipment, it was learnt that the assemblyman had started displaying his name on the facilities since 2008 after Pakatan Rakyat took over Selangor.
All the benches, gazebos and playground equipment displayed his name — as the contributor of the facilities.
For all to see: A signage in Malay and Mandarin on a gazebo stating it was a contribution from the Sungai Pinang assemblyman (why no English and Tamil?)
Checks also revealed that the names on the benches were very bold as they occupied almost the entire space of the back rest of the concrete structures.
The white coloured concrete benches had black prints which stated (Sumbangan dari Teng Chang Khim Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri 2008) Contributed by Teng Chang Khim, state assemblyman 2008 and the third line written in Mandarin.
Some of the benches have the year 2010 printed to indicate the year the benches were provided.
The check also revealed that a white rectangle signboard was placed on the entrance of the each of gazebos with similar information provided in red characters.
All the playground equipment had a square black plastic signage with golden square lining and characters. They stood majestic on the colourful PVC board.
These black pieces had Bahasa Malaysia wordings stating that they were contributed by “Speaker, Teng Chang Khim”.
Some residents claimed the number of public facilities bearing Teng’s name have increased over the last two years and the situation had caused confusion among the public.
They said most people have been misled into believing that the facillities were provided by Teng through his personal contribution.
And the situation has attracted strong criticism from voters in the constituency who felt there was no need for Teng to advertise himself in this manner since he was duty bound to serve the constituents.
A resident who alerted the StarMetro on the existence of what she viewed as a strange practice by the Speaker questioned Teng’s sincerity.
In a strong tone of voice, the caller who declined to be identified said, this is clear misuse of authority by the assemblyman.
“How can he take credit for facilities that have been provided to the people from the public funds especially when his action gives an impression that he had used his own money to do so.
“It does not go well when some of the labels also stated that it was contributed by the Speaker,’’ she said,
While the majority of the residents were appreciative of Teng’s contribution in his official capacity as the elected representative, some of them felt that the presence of his name on the facilities at the public parks and fields in the constituency does not reflect well on the Speaker.
They described Teng’s action as uncalled for and felt that the assemblyman had gone overboard by displaying his name on these objects.
Social worker Peter Tan said it was clear that the assemblyman cum Speaker had became power crazy by seeking cheap advertisement for himself.
Teng, he said, had adopted an “ungentlemanly” approach to seek political mileage for carrying out his responsibility as a state assemblyman.
“You can see his name scattered all over the parks from the benches to gazebos and I wonder from where he got such an idea.
“I think he is getting too obsessed over his position especially after becoming the Selangor State Assembly Speaker from an opposition assemblyman in the past,” said Tan who is Taman Eng Ann resident and a voter in the Sungai Pinang constituency.
Law Chee Keen, 45, of Taman Gembira said he was taken aback when he first spotted the name of the assemblyman on the benches at a park in his housing estate about two years ago.
He said most residents from the housing estate were of the impression that the facilities were contributed personally by Teng.
“Initially, there were only benches with his name on the park but now we even have playground equipment and gazebos.
“We are happy that the assemblyman has provided us with these facilites but putting his name on them sounds strange,’’ he said
K. W. Tan, 56, from Jalan Serendit 9 of Taman Eng Ann said the park in front of his house had benches, a playground equipment and a gazebo with Teng’s name displayed on them.
He said he was unsure if the facilities were provided thorugh Teng’s personal money or allocation from the state but acknowledged that there was a need for the facilities in the area.
Tan said he was more concerned about the frequent flash flood problem in the area than the facilities at the park.
“We have been having sleepless nights for more than 10 years due to flash floods and we hope Teng can help us solve the problem,” he said.
SUNGAI PINANG assemblyman Teng Chang Khim sees nothing wrong in putting his name on the benches, gazebos and playground equipment that had been provided to his constituents from state allocation.
Teng said he had been doing so since the Pakatan Rakyat won the Selangor state in the 2008 General Election in a move to show the voters the new administration was doing more things for the people now.
He said he had turned around the image of more than 10 open areas in the constituency into public parks.
“Most of these venues used to be just plain fields but now they have benches, gazebos and mini playground facilities.
“The facilities will encourage the residents including children to come out of their homes and get involved in outdoor actitivies as a community,” he said.
Teng said he had spent 30% from his RM500,000 annual allocation for providing park facilities in his constituency.
He said he was very focussed in his efforts to turn the plain grounds in the constituency into a recreational area for the community.
“At the same time, I want the public to be aware that I am doing my part to make their life better than what it was in the past.
“Just in three years since PR took over, I have been able to bring about so much changes that I was unable to do in the past,” he confessed.
Furthermore, Teng said, the Klang Municipal Council was in the red and had ran out of money to offer the residents with this sort of facilities.
However, he said, things had changed for the better for the people now as he was in the position to offer them such facilities.
“In fact, I was in a way assisting the council so that it can be relieved of some of the financial burden,” he said.
On displaying his name, Teng said, it was aimed at sending a clear message to the people on his contribution as a Pakatan assemblyman.
When asked why some of the singanges had addressed him as Speaker, he said, it was merely for easy identification.
“The wordings are printed according to the availability of the space and it does not matter if it says speaker or assemblyman, both refers to me,” he added.
Me thinks, best if you edit the signages to say “peruntukan Kerajaan Negeri Selangor melalui YB Sungai Pinang tahun [xxxx]”. The word “peruntukan” means “allocation” which is more accurate than “contribution”.
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