Posts Tagged ‘Selangor’

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Selangor MB ratings drop

January 28th, 2010
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Indeed a bitter pill to swallow for the MB. His ratings dropped 8 points in last 6 months, while the state government itself dropped 4 points. Blaming it on mainstream media may be considered as trivial. The state have nearly two years now, and people can’t be easily swayed by media. If the work is done properly, then support will be there. Selangor being one of the most advanced state surely has lots of people with access to Internet and alternative media. The state government may be running out of excuses soon.

According to a Merdeka Centre poll, the MB’s approval rating has dropped eight points in recent months – from a high of 62 percent in June 2009 to 54 percent in January this year.

The survey comes hot in the heels of recent claims of rampant dissatisfaction in the state with Khalid’s rule.

However, interestingly the approval rating for the state government has remained quite strong – it stands at 60 percent, only losing ground slightly from 64 percent in June 2009.

The survey was revealed today in a close-door discussion on the public perception towards the Pakatan Rakyat state government at a Pakatan Rakyat retreat in Subang Jaya.

Sources said Khalid strutted his usual corporate savvy by stressing the need to serve Selangor’s five million residents, or “customers” as he calls it, with the outmost efficiently.

He also appealed to the elected representatives to win over the state public service institution in order for state policies to be implemented smoothly.

Speaking to reporters during a break later, the main organisation of the retreat Yaakob Sapari said the surveys commissioned by the state had helped identify weaknesses in the Pakatan government.

An area of concern was the state government’s problems in communicating with the public.

“Currently, the public mostly subscribe to the mainstream media, as such information from the government does not get through. Only a few actually use the alternative media,” he said.

“This is something that we must address to make sure that our message gets through to the public”.

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PR stage to be removed at Batu Caves

January 28th, 2010
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Kesian! But I don’t think PM Najib was supposed to visit on Sunday afternoon, more than 24 hours after Thaipusam since there’s nothing much but rubbish to see after Thaipusam is over.

Police have ordered the Pakatan Rakyat state government to remove a stage set up at Batu Caves for celebrations on the eve of Thaipusam tomorrow despite prior approval from the authorities.

Selangor executive councillor Dr Xavier Jayakumar told The Malaysian Insider he had been informed that this was because Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was scheduled to visit Batu Caves at 9pm tomorrow.

“This is totally unfair, I had met the Gombak Police chief earlier this week at the Selayang Municipal Council and there was no problem.”

Xavier said tomorrow’s celebrations, which starts at 10.30pm, is part of the Selangor Tourism programme which is being hosted by the state government and sponsored by Digi.

“Nobody told us Najib was coming tomorrow and he was only initially supposed to visit on Saturday afternoon.”

The Malaysian Insider is still attempting to contact the Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar for an official comment.

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Selangor MIC Youth to help identify the needy

January 18th, 2010
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This is an useful information. Those in Selangor can get the MIC Youth help to register, or contact the Welfare Department or the ADUN service center.

THE Selangor MIC Youth is offering to help the state Welfare Department to identify the destitute and disabled so that aid could be given.

Its chief, R. Shanker, said many poor families and the disabled, especially the Indian community, were not getting aid from the government as they had yet to register with the department.

He said scores of people in Kota Raja division thronged the MIC service centre recently when they heard about the party’s programme to identify those in need of welfare assistance.

“It was shocking to see some 800 people, mostly Indians, ask for help. We believe there are many more out there in need of help,” he said after meeting state Welfare Department director Adnan Abu Bakar recently.

Shanker said its members in all divisions were ready to collect data in their respective divisions.

He said families with a household income of RM750 and below should be given help.

Shanker also said the MIC Youth had proposed to the Welfare Department to increase the allowance for the disabled from RM300 to RM500.

“For those living in Selangor and the Federal Territory, RM300 is too little as the living standard in the cities is higher,” he said.

Shanker said the MIC was also helping Indian youths by enrolling them at vocational training schools under the Human Resources Ministry.

For details, call Shanker at 012-3836905 or MIC national social bureau head S. Subramaniam at 019-3517474. Alternatively, call Selangor social bureau head A. Sivaraju at 012-3186631 or Selangor Youth secretary D. Kagendran at 019-3521129.

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Selangor MB worried about Tamil schools UPSR results

January 5th, 2010
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Worrying is good start, dear MB. Question now is, what’s next? How about yearly allocation of RM10 million and land allocation/conversion for 5 schools per year?

About 45% of Tamil School pupils in Selangor do not fare well in the Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) examination and this was something that had the state government worried, said Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

He said this could be due to a lack of support from parents who were mainly in the lower income group or the absence of an effective mechanism to help them achieve better performance.

He said this when handing over financial aid from the state government to Tamil schools at the Selangor state secretariat building here on Tuesday.

At the function, 31 Tamil schools received financial aid totalling RM704,000 while Parent-Teacher Associations of Tamil schools received a total of RM508,000 in aid.

Khalid said there were 97 Tamil schools with an enrolment of 34,000 pupils in Selangor and that 80% of the pupils came from families in the lower income group. — Bernama

The funds given (704k/31 schools) is about RM22,710 per school.  If same number of PTAs got the 508k allocation (508k/31 = RM16,387), then its RM39,097 per school. Not sure how that amount can help the schools.

Its clear that Tamil school problem needs a massive and immediate action from the Education Ministry and state governments in terms of financial allocation, land procurement, school relocation, and school status conversion, but it had not been happening as fast as it should be. Instead, its worse than snail’s pace.

In spite of all the shortcomings and problems faced by Tamil schools, 55% have done well in UPSR. That’s something to ponder about. And given the effort by the schools, parents, community and NGOs, hopefully the percentage increases year after year.

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Coalfield Estate problem

December 8th, 2009
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Another test for Selangor government. People not interested to listen to reasons and excuses, which was dished out in generous quantities by previous governments. Now, keyword is proactive and solve problems. If these people not eligible for loans from banks, then work some way out for them. The children can be transfered to schools in Tuan Mee area, for example. Look for solution, not excuse!

And who cares who sees you. I’m not interested in meeting MB or PM or Donald Duck. I just want my problems solved easily, not waste time chasing for appointment and listening to sweet words, but still end up in square one. The protesters also must think of solutions and suggest it.

The residents have to realise, when Tuan Mee estate closes down, the same thing will happen again.

A group of workers from the Coalfield oil palm plantation in Sungai Buloh are decrying the management’s tactics to ‘force’ them to vacate their houses.

Spokesperson Lobat Rajoo said water and electricity supply have been cut to the quarters occupied by 25 families even though negotiations are pending over the eviction order.

“We have had to resort to bathing in the river,” he told reporters, after he and other affected workers held a meeting with leaders of the National Union of Plantation Workers (NUPW) in Petaling Jaya.

He claimed that a further source of frustration was that utility supplies remain connected to some of the vacated houses.

The group had been told to move out by Dec 1, as the site has been earmarked for commercial development.

The families have been offered low-cost housing units near the estate, but are unable to purchase these for various reasons.

Following this, the management reassigned them to the Tuan Mee Estate, some 7km away, where they will be given houses.

Lobat said many in the group are third-generation estate workers and resisting relocation because of the costs that will be incurred. For example, their children will have to travel a longer distance to attend school.

Malaysiakini made several phone calls to the Coalfield estate manager’s office to seek comments, but these went unanswered.

‘State did try to help’

Selangor exco member Dr Xavier Jayakumar, who oversees estate workers’ affairs, said the state has tried to intervene, even though the matter involves an industrial dispute.

However, some of the workers, including Lobat’s group, do not qualify for bank loans to buy the low-cost houses.

He denied allegations that Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, the state representative for the area, has ignored the plight of the affected workers.

“Khalid has met them twice – once at his office and once on the ground,” said Jayakumar (right), when contacted.

Hindraf activists and Malaysia Consumer Advisory Association president Varatharajoo Murugan, who accompanied the workers to the NUPW office, had earlier alleged that the state government has not been helpful to the group.

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