SPORT BETTING LICENSE AFFECTS ALL MALAYSIANS, DISREGARDING RACE & RELIGION

Yesterday, I attended a dialogue with Kedah's PAS Youth, DAPSY, AMK and other 22 NGOs to request the government to retract the license for sports betting.

In there, I stressed that it is important to look beyond our political differences and religion, as the matter affects the interest of all Malaysians.

If the government considers cancelling the license, it should be on the grounds of social illness to Malaysians, and not solely based on the principles of Islam.

In conclusion, I made a joint press statement along with Kedah PAS Youth, DAPSY, AMK and the other 22 NGOs to request the government to retract the license for sports betting, looking at the implications on Malaysians disregarding race & religion.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS - Time's Up For Pakatan Rakyat!

About 3 months ago, the Pakatan Rakyat state government in Penang announced their commitment to fulfill their pledge in the last general election to hold local government elections. This was subsequently echoed by the Pakatan Rakyat administration in Selangor.

To date, even after the end of 2 by elections in Selangor and in Sarawak, there is no indication of whether the pledge by Pakatan Rakyat to hold local government elections would be fulfilled in ALL Pakatan Rakyat states.

Pakatan Rakyat should be reminded that their pledge in the last general election should be fulfilled by holding local government elections in ALL Pakatan Rakyat states.

If Pakatan Rakyat is sincere in fulfilling their pledge, it is time for Pakatan Rakyat to announce a definite timeframe to hold local government elections in ALL their Pakatan Rakyat states, being Kedah, Penang, Selangor and Kelantan.

Pakatan Rakyat should not give any more excuses or remain in silence to avoid the implementation of local government elections in ALL Pakatan Rakyat states.

Reply by TNB on the Billing System Problem

Article from the STAR (21 May 2010)

MANY people in the northern region are upset over having to pay ‘unusually high electricity bills’ lately since Tenaga Nasional Bhd started billing them on alternate months instead of monthly.

Alor Setar-based lawyer Tan Keng Liang said the estimated readings started in March and since then, the bills were higher than usual.

“The reading of the meter on an alternate month basis has caused the electricity bill to rise substantially by 30% due to higher tariffs applied to accumulated units,” he said.

Tan claimed such as practice would defeat the lower tariff rate approved by the government to assist Malaysians.

“It is time that TNB explained this to the people,” said Tan who is also Kedah Gerakan Youth chief.

Tan said he had written to TNB seeking an explanation and their reply was that the estimated reading practice was used because of manpower shortage.

When contacted, TNB chief executive officer Datuk Seri Che Khalid Mohd Noh confirmed that they had received such complaints but explained that the problem was confined to only certain areas and “not even state-wide.”

“We are investigating the matter,” he said, adding there were many cases of misunderstanding, which could be due to the way the bills were presented.

“We will improve the presentation to make it clearer to consumers. Under no circumstances is TNB trying to charge our customers more,” he said in an SMS reply to a query from The Star.

Khalid said consumers were billed on a monthly basis and an estimated consumption method was used to guide the practice of reading the meter on an alternate month.

“The practice of estimated meter reading has been done for a long time. The estimated reading is based on a six-month average consumption, which is the usual usage,” he said.

In PERAK, the issue was highlighted early this month when TNB admitted that its billing system was flawed and it would use a new system for calculation.

Teja assemblyman Chang Lih Kang said TNB had agreed to improve its billing system and gave assurance that there would be no more hiccups.

In PENANG, Consumers’ Association of Penang president S.M. Idris said Penangites had complained to CAP about high electricity bills late last year.

“We asked TNB to explain and they informed us that the estimated reading practice was the cause for the higher amount billed to the consumers.

“They assured the consumers that their billing for the following month would be re-adjusted to reflect a lower amount,” he said.

BATALKAN SLOGAN "PAS UNTUK SEMUA" UNTUK ELAK KEKELIRUAN

Saya merujuk kepada kenyataan media Naib Presiden PAS, Salahudin Ayub semalam.

Di dalam suatu laporan media (http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/132009), Salahudin Ayub telah dilaporkan berkata:-

1. ahli Dewan Himpunan Penyokong PAS hanya menjadi ahli kepada dewan tersebut dan bukannya ahli PAS kerana antara syarat utama sebelum seseorang boleh menjadi ahli PAS ialah mereka harus beragama Islam; dan

2. “Ketua Pemuda Gerakan Kedah perlu sabarlah. Kalau dia nak pun, dia perlu masuk Dewan Himpunan dulu bersama kita, barulah dia boleh bercakap apa yang akan berlaku pada masa depan.”

Sebelum ini, saya telah menyatakan bahawa PAS masih mengamalkan dasar diskriminasi terhadap golongan bukan Islam di dalam partinya.

Kenyataan Salahudin Ayub jelas menunjukkan bahawa PAS masih belum bersedia memberi keahlian penuh kepada golongan bukan Islam.

Pelancaran Dewan Himpunan Penyokong PAS tidak akan memberi keahlian penuh PAS kepada orang bukan Islam.

Oleh yang demikian, sebagai suatu parti politik yang bertanggungjawab, PAS harus dengan serta merta membatalkan penggunaan slogan “PAS Untuk Semua” (“PAS FOR ALL”) bagi mengelakkan sebarang kekeliruan oleh rakyat Malaysia terhadap idealogi yang diamalkan oleh PAS.

Akhir sekali, saya berasa tiada keperluan untuk saya, selaku seorang bukan Islam, memasuki Dewan Himpunan Penyokong PAS memandangkan PAS belum bersedia menerima keahlian tanpa mengira agama rakyat Malaysia. Perkembangan terkini jua jelas menunjukkan ahli-ahli Kelab Penyokong PAS, yang terdiri dari golongan bukan Islam, akan terus terpinggir dengan keahlian “kelas kedua”.

AHLI BUKAN ISLAM HARUS LAYAK JADI PRESIDEN PAS, SEKIRANYA PAS IKHLAS JADI PARTI BERBILANG KAUM

Saya merujuk kepada pengumuman PAS untuk menaik taraf Kelab Penyokong PAS dan melancarkannya sebagai Dewan Himpunan Penyokong PAS bagi menggambarkan PAS sebagai parti berbilang kaum.

Menurut laporan media hari ini (Berita Harian: http://www.bharian.com.my/bharian/articles/PastubuhsayapbarudianggotaibukanIslam/Article), Pengerusi Lujnah Perpaduan Nasional Pas Pusat, Dr Mujahid Yusuf Rawa, berkata pelancaran itu pada 23 Mei ini akan menjadi peralihan besar kepada Pas kerana membenarkan Dewan Himpunan Penyokong PAS (yang dianggotai bukan Islam) bergerak bebas sebagai sayap parti seperti mana Dewan Pemuda, Ulama dan Muslimat.

Ahli-ahli DHPP juga boleh hadir semua mesyuarat parti pada semua peringkat serta boleh mengemukakan nama calon bukan Islam bertanding pilihan raya atas lambang Pas.

Tetapi, pada hakikatnya, penukaran Kelab Penyokong PAS kepada Dewan Himpunan Penyokong PAS masih memberi keahlian “Kelas Kedua” di dalam PAS bagi kaum bukan Islam.

Sekiranya PAS ikhlas menjadi parti berbilang kaum, maka PAS harus memberi “keahlian penuh” PAS kepada kaum bukan Islam.

Ini bermakna tidak boleh wujud apa-apa diskriminasi terhadap hak-hak ahli bukan Islam di dalam PAS.

Ahli-ahli bukan Islam juga harus layak memegang mana-mana ahli jawatankuasa PAS, termasuk Presiden PAS.

Sekiranya tidak, pelancaran Dewan Himpunan Penyokong PAS hanyalah suatu proses penukaran nama Kelab Penyokong PAS dan ahli-ahlinya masih dipinggirkan melalui diskriminasi agama.

Slogan “PAS Untuk Semua” hanya akan terus berbentuk rhetorik.

DAP & PKR TERUS DIBULI OLEH PAS KEDAH

Saya merujuk kepada suatu laporan media di mana PAS Kedah akan memanggil Adun PKR dan DAP Kedah untuk memberi penjelasan dalam satu majlis ceramah anjuran PAS di Kompleks PAS Kedah di Kota Sarang Semut, pada 22 Mei depan berhubung dakwaan yang tersebar luar kononnya mereka akan melompat meninggalkan Pakatan Rakyat Kedah.

Saya amat terperanjat dengan tindakan PAS Kedah secara terbuka memanggil Adun PKR dan DAP Kedah memberi penjelasan tersebut di ceramah PAS di Kompleks PAS Kedah di hadapan ahli-ahli PAS.

Ia adalah berbeza sekiranya penjelasan tersebut dibuat di ceramah anjuran Pakatan Rakyat ataupun suatu mesyuarat tertutup.

Tindakan mengarah Adun PKR dan DAP memberi penjelasan terbuka di ceramah anjuran PAS adalah suatu tindakan menunjukkan dominasi PAS dalam politiks Pakatan Rakyat di negeri Kedah.

Ini juga merupakan satu lagi contoh DAP dan PKR dibuli oleh PAS di negeri Kedah.

Sekiranya wakil rakyat DAP dan PKR di Kedah ingin meninggalkan pentadbiran PAS negeri Kedah, PAS seharusnyat bertanya, kenapa wakil rakyat DAP dan PKR ingin berbuat demikian.

Pada bulan Julai 2009, wakil rakyat DAP telahpun menyatakan hasrat untuk meninggalkan pentadbiran PAS negeri Kedah apabila pusat penyembelihan babi dirobohkan di Alor Star, Kedah. Sehingga kini, pusat penyembelihan babi ganti yang dijanji oleh pentadbiran PAS negeri Kedah masih belum didirikan.

KETTHA Confirms Receipt of My Complain Against TNB

I just received a suprising SMS from KETTHA (Ministry of Energy, Green Technology & Water). They acknowledge receipt of my complain about the unfair Bi-Monthly Electricity Billing (refer my posting on 5th May 2010) and gave me a File Reference Number 0019/05/10.

My check of the status of the complain (by SMS to KETTHA) is "Status terkini bagi aduan 0019/05/10-EDARAN PELAKSANA".

I think there is certainly a good system in KETTHA in accepting complains from the member of public.

Anyway, I am still awaiting the actions to be taken by KETTHA against TNB and the steps taken to rectify the unfair billing.

TIME FOR MINISTRY TO INVESTIGATE THE BILLING SYSTEM OF TNB

1. Recently, there have been a lot of complains from the member of public regarding the billing of electricity supply by Tenaga Nasional Berhad. Electricity charges more than doubled in some instances for the billing in the month of April, 2010.

2. From the news report, the incident occurs not only in the state of Kedah. There have been numerous complains even in other states.

3. The reasons that were given by Tenaga Nasional Berhad were that alternate month billing was applied due to lack of manpower.

4. With due respect to Tenaga Nasional Berhad, the alternate month billing had actually shortchanged the consumers.

5. For example, under the residential consumer, the first 500 units of electricity consumed are at the rate of RM0.286 per unit. The next 100 units would be charged at RM0.378 unit. There would also be a gradual increase of the rates for the following 100 units:-

Unit (KWH) ------ Rate (RM)


500 ------ 0.286

100 ------ 0.378

100 ------ 0.387

100 ------ 0.397

100 ------ 0.417

Next ------ 0.446

6. Based on the gradual increase of tariff, the alternate month billing method would definitely burden the people. Any person who used more than 250 units of electricity in a month (being more than 500 units in 2 months) would see that the rate for the consumption of electricity for the next 100 units increased to RM0.378 (i.e. more than 32% increase).

7. After more than a month, there have not been any concrete steps taken by Tenaga Nasional Berhad to address this issue and the billing system.

8. The current alternate month billing system by Tenaga Nasional Berhad defeats the lower tariff rate approved by the government to assist Malaysians.

9. It is time for the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water to investigate the billing system of Tenaga Nasional Berhad and issue a directive to TNB to rectify all bills under their alternate month billing system.