Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen Kelana Jaya, Gwo-Burne Loh pada 7 April 2009 di Kelana Jaya.

Wanita ialah aset kepada pembangunan negara dan sumbangan mereka tidak dapat dinafikan penting. Wanita berada di setiap tahap pengurusan dan terlibat dalam hampir semua industri. Namun, bagi pekerja ladang wanita, mereka berada dalam tekanan dan berada dalam persekitaran yang mengancam nyawa mereka. Mereka terdedah dengan ancaman pelbagai penyakit akibat daripada kerja yang mereka dipertanggungjawabkan.

Sempena Hari Wanita Sedunia yang jatuh ada 8 Mac ini, saya ingin menggesa agar Kerajaan Pusat mengambil pendirian tegas untuk terus mengharamkan penggunaan parakuat (racun serangga atau racun rumpai) di ladang-ladang terutama sekali di ladang kelapa sawit kerana penggunaan ini telah mengancam pekerja-pekerja ladang yang juga terdiri daripada kaum wanita.

Melalui kajian yang dibuat pada Januari 2009 oleh sebuah NGO antarabangsa, tugasan penyemburan racun serangga melibatkan 80 peratus kaum wanita dan mereka ini terdedah kepada pelbagai ancaman. Pekerja ladang yang ditugaskan untuk menyembur parakuat, akan memberi kesan kepada organ kehamilan mereka. Pekerja juga akan terdedah kepada penyakit kulit dan cacat kekal.

Mereka juga terdedah kepada penyakit barah dan sekiranya mereka hamil, sebarang penyakit yang mereka alami berpunca daripada parakuat akan dibawa oleh bayi mereka. Jangkitan tesebut berlaku daripada penyusuan badan.

Penggunaan parakuat telah pun diharamkan oleh majoriti negara di dunia. Lembaga Racun Malaysia pernah mengharamkan penggunaan racun serangga ini suatu ketika dahulu dan kemudian ditarik balik. Mereka sekarang dalam membuat penilaian semula mengenai perkara ini atas banyak kajian kes berlaku di serata dunia dan mengancam pekerja-pekerja kaum wanita.

Sime Darby yang merupakan syarikat peladang minyak kelapa sawit yang terbesar di dunia mengiktiraf hak wanita dalam mendapat perlindungan daripada ancaman sedemikian. Dasar gender yang diluluskan pada 11 Ogos 2008 telah menyatakan dengan jelas hak-hak tersebut dan syarikat tersebut telah melaksanakannya sejak aswal 2008 sehingga kini. Ini merupakan tanggungjawab korporat sosial (CSR) yang perlu dicontohi oleh syarikat-syarikat perladangan yang lain.

Justeru, saya menyeru agar pihak berwajib menimbang semula dan mengambil tindakan tegas terhadap penggunaan parakuat yang mengancam golongan wanita. Ia selaras dengan piawai industry yang dinyataka oleh Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil’s Principles & Criteria yang mana keanggotaannya terdiri daripada pengeluar minyak kelapa sawit utama di dunia.

Selamat Hari Wanita 2009.

Pada 8 Mac 2009, Anwar Ibrahim akan menyampaikan Pidato Kebangsaan sempena meraikan sambutan setahun kejayaan Pakatan Rakyat dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-12 tahun lalu.

Pidato beliau akan menumpu pada isu-isu ke arah membina penyatuan rakyat Malaysia. Beliau juga dijangka akan mengumumkan pendekatan yang perlu diambil oleh pimpinan Pakatan Rakyat dalam menghadapi cabaran kemelesetan ekonomi serta perancangan mewujudkan lebih banyak peluang pekerjaan dan usaha meningkatkan mutu pendidikan negara.

___________________

On March 8th 2009 Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim will deliver a National Address on the one year anniversary of the 12th General Elections in which the Pakatan Rakyat achieved unprecedented gains.

His speech will call for unity among the Malaysian people and declare a firm resolve on the part of the Pakatan Rakyat to work hard to face the challenges of the economic recession, create new jobs for Malaysians and improve access to quality education. He will also highlight the many successes achieved by Pakatan Rakyat governments in the five states to reduce corruption, increase investment and create jobs during a period when thousands of Malaysians have been left unemployed.

The speech, which will take place at the Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam Auditorium, will be broadcast live on TV Antara. It is the first National Address since the March 2008 elections.

Sunday March 8th, 2009
4:30 PM (GMT +
Wisma MBSA, Shah Alam, Selangor

The Coalition for Good Governance calls upon all Malaysians to push for real institutional reforms as we celebrate the 1st anniversary of the March 8 Elections.

The Perak crisis is evidence of another attack on democracy whereby an elected legislature and government were dissolved by unelected institutions.

If this trend is not reversed, Malaysia may see military intervention, come next elections.

To defend democracy, we need to have local council elections as a check and balance against abuse of powers.

Freedom of Information and Ombudsman offices need to be implemented immediately.

While the March 8 Elections open up the imagination of Malaysian people to demand for positive changes in all aspects, we believe the utmost urgent task is to ensure democratic institutional reforms that facilitate a healthy political process.

Competitive multiparty democracy is possible only when the citizens can both fully exercise their civil and political rights all the time and be able to elect governments at all levels in free and fair elections.

Until March 8 Elections, our country was an electoral one-party state where opposition could contest elections but hardly stood a chance to win power, while the mass were silenced with draconian laws like the Internal Security Act (ISA) and controlled with propaganda fed by the mainstream media.

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi’s huge landslide in 2004 was a testimony of how much Malaysians wanted a change from the previous government which saw the erosion of our democratic institutions from the Parliament, Judiciary, the Chamber of the Attorney-General, Police, Bureaucracy, Media to
Universities.

However, it was the Prime Minister’s failure to fulfill his reform promises that built up the public’s anger and frustration. Three major protests – against inaction on judicial fixing, electoral corruption, and the
marginalization of the Indian community – eventually led to the political tsunami, which saw BN losing its customary two-third majority and the control of five states to opposition, both unprecedented.

Achievements and Disappointments after March 8 The emboldened opposition in the Federal Parliament and the opposition state governments had undeniably brought sea-changes to Malaysian politics by
introducing many people-friendly policies on a host of matters including water supply, land title, hillside development, and poverty eradication. Redtapes, corruption and incompetence in state dministrations were also successfully cut down.

Unfortunately, little institutional reforms have taken place. At the federal level, BN seems recalcitrant to reforms. Abdullah Badawi’s last three flagship “reforms” – the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the Judicial Appointment Commission (JAC), the Special Complaint Commission (SCC) which is a pathetic substitute for the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) – now have turned out to be great disappointments.

Also, the BN government not only refused to repeal or review the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA), it has persecuted its critics with the ISA together with the Sedition Act, Police Act and other repressive laws.

On the other hand, the Pakatan Rakyat must be credited for attempting to table a private member’s bill on Freedom of Information in Selangor, which was unfortunately buried in the legislative order and never had a chance to be debated let alone voted upon.

At the state level, the new competitiveness has not brought about a competition on institutional reform. Disappointingly, the Pakatan Rakyat State Governments were quick to abandon their commitment to have local government elections, which falls within the state’s jurisdiction, citing
legal obstacles posed by federal laws.

The consideration was apparently more political than legal, as there have been suggestions to create multiparty councils, such as the appointment of local councilors based on results of “mock elections” or allocation of the seats based on parties’ vote share in the general elections. Instead, the
Pakatan Rakyat State Governments have preferred to distribute the local councilors amongst the parties with about one third left to civil society or members of public. Only in Perak, the state government had boldly introduced elections for village heads, but limited only for Malay kampongs.

While one year may be too short, CGG hopes that other Pakatan Rakyat state governments will warm up to the idea of having state legislation on Freedom of Information despite their electoral promises of transparency and accountability. PR has also continued the BN practice of denying opposition
members constituency development fund.

Democracy under Threat

What is most disturbing after March 8 is the eagerness on both sides to overturn the March 8 election results through non-election means such as the on-going crisis in Perak.

In Perak, not only was the legitimate state government threatened by a loss of majority through defections, its request to dissolve the assembly was refused. A new state government was hastily appointed by the palace before any motion of no-confidence was passed. This has resulted in the stalemate today with two governments, one recognised by the Sultan of Perak, state bureaucracy and federal government, and the other by the democratically elected state assembly.

In the latest development, the state bureaucracy and the police have openly obstructed the legitimate state assembly from convening its meeting in the house, resulting in the first under-the-tree assembly in modern history. By obstructing the state assembly from functioning – which is the very basis of an elected government in a parliamentary system - the unelected institutions of bureaucracy and police have actually committed a mutiny against a democratic government.

The constitutional crisis is now deepened in the third front with the Judiciary and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission trying to restrain the speaker of the house and intervene in the internal business of the legislature. Under the Malaysian parliamentary system, the legislature has its own privileges which no other institutions can have jurisdiction. An errant speaker can therefore be penalized only by the legislature or the electorate.

What happened in Perak is therefore a joint attack of the elected assembly and government by a host of unelected institutions – the bureaucracy, the police, the judiciary, the MACC. This is a dangerous trend for if a deadlock happens at the federal level after the next general elections, would some
parties turn to the military to intervene?

In Selangor, the invasion of the private life of an executive councilor, Elizabeth Wong, has been utilised ruthlessly as a way to destabilise the state government, forcing her to offer her resignation from the executive and legislature.

Attack on the private life of a Kedah executive councilor has led to his resignation from both executive and legislature. A number of his colleagues have alleged that they were bribed to cross the floor and bring down the government which would collapse by losing five lawmakers.

Defend Democracy through Institutional Reforms

Coup and mutiny by unelected institutions, gutter politics targeting at politicians’ private lives and bribery allegations have shown that our democracy is far from consolidated after March 8. As a matter of fact, if the zeal to employ unconstitutional and undemocratic means in power struggle continues, we may land in worse political crises with the possibility of emergency rule, military coup and dictatorship.

The 1st anniversary of March 8 is therefore a call for us to defend the fruit of democratisation thus far with democracy and through institutional reforms so that the power will rest with the citizens and never in the hands of any unelected institutions.

CGG strongly urges Malaysians to affirm constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy in Perak, insisting a fresh election to solve the current impasse. We must not have precedence where unelected institutions can install the government of the day.

We also call for more institutional reforms – not merely policy reforms – in states now run by Pakatan Rakyat.

Local elections should be the top on the list.

CGG has estimated that each local council election can be easily supported by the state government. We estimate that it will cost approximately RM80,000 if all 24 council posts are elected and RM60,000 if 12 council posts are elected. Election of councils can be staggered and there is no reason why it cannot take place given the resources available at state levels.

It is now a matter of political will. The Pakatan Rakyat state governments must pursue the cause exhausting every legal possibility as the Perak government and legislature are doing. In the worst scenario of a federal roadblock, mock elections can be held to identify the electorate’s preference that the winners will be automatically appointed by the state government.

The state governments should also expedite its moves in enacting state laws on Freedom of Information and establishing Ombudsman Offices. More than ever, the citizenry need to be empowered to check any excesses of state bureaucracy.

Written by Coalition for Good Governance

Ahli Parlimen Kelana Jaya, Loh Gwo-Burne akan mengadakan sidang media berhubung dengan kes along yang bertindak di luar bidang kuasa mereka dan menular di Petaling Jaya.

Butir-butir sidang media seperti berikut:
Tarikh : 7 Mac 2009 (Sabtu)
Tempat : Pejabat Ahli Parlimen Kelana Jaya, 16-3, Jalan PJS 8/2,
Subang Mentari Business Park, Bandar Sunway,
46150 Petaling Jaya
Masa : 10.30 pagi

Mangsa jenayah along akan turut bersama YB Gwo-Burne Loh bagi membentangkan kes yang dialami dan menjadi mangsa. Mangsa tidak pernah terlibat dalam sebarang urusan along tetapi menjadi serangan along.

Sebarang pertanyaan boleh menghubungi Ting 013-8381223.

Tuan Gwo-Burne Loh [Kelana Jaya] minta MENTERI KESIHATAN menyatakan jumlah doctor Negara asing yang berkhidmat di sini yang tidak mempunyai pengiktirafan MMC atau PSD.

JAWAPAN:

Tuan Yang di-Pertua,
Semua doctor yang ingin mengamal di Malaysia diwajibkan mendaftar dengan majlis Perubatan Malaysia (MMC) selaras dengan perutukan di bawah Akta Perubatan 1971. Adalah menjadi kesalahan bagi seseorang doktor mengamal tanpa pendaftaran. Kementerian tiada maklumat mengenai jumlah dotor asing yang berkhidmat di Negara ini yang tidak emmpunyai pengiktirafan MMC.

Penguatkuasaan bagi mengekang gejala ini sentiasa dilaksanakan di bawah bidang kuasa Healthcare Facilities and Service Act 1998. Tindakan akan diambil terhadap mereka yang mengamal tanpa pendaftaran dan juga majikan yang menggaji mereka.

Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 — Police will apply to the court for an inquest to be conducted into the incident where six men where shot dead by police in Kampung Kemunting, Kulim, last month.

Federal CID chief Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Mohd Zinin said his department would be moving for the inquest to be conducted soon.

“The probe into the case is 90 per cent completed and we will submit the results to the court to resolve it,” he told reporters after officiating a course for police officers at the Police College here today.

On Feb 17, police shot dead the wanted men, aged between 20m and 50, during a raid at their hideout in Kampung Kemunting.

They were high on the police wanted list for armed robberies committed in Perak, Penang, Kedah and Selangor.

The deaths drew flak with questions raised on police procedures in apprehending suspected criminals.

Mohd Bakri also said police would begin videotaping interrogation of crime suspects in rooms specially fitted with the necessary equipment.

“The Inspector-General of Police has ordered this to be done. The allocation to do this is being sourced and it will be implemented in stages with the bigger police districts given first priority,” he said, adding that police contingent headquarters and Bukit Aman (the federal police headquarters) already had the facility.

The move comes in the wake of the death of a youth, A Kugan, 22, a suspected car thief, who died while in custody of the Subang Taipan police station on Jan 20.

On another matter, Mohd Bakri said police planned to upgrade its Forensics Division to a full-fledged department for more effective policing. — Bernama