Wanita MCA Penang challenges DAP to insert local council elections into the Pakatan Manifesto – Lim Guan Eng should not play political tricks

By raising the topic of restoring local council elections, DAP Secretary General is just out to deceive Penang voters. This pledge was made five years ago, but yet, to date, the DAP-led state government once again raises this issue up to hoodwink voters.

As the state government does not have the funds and similarly cannot deliver on their promise, they now blame the federal government, saying that it is the federal government’s fault.

The question that has to be raised is that why did Pakatan not include “restoration of local council elections” in Pakatan’s Manifesto Rakyat? Is it because certain political parties disagree to holding such local polls? Or is because they never even thought about inserting this subject into their Manifesto?

DAP is adamant to that local council elections be restored. Yet, with local council polls being excluded from the Manifesto Rakyat, how can DAP talk about consensus among the three political parties?

Blackmailing the federal government proves DAP’s insincerity & political gimmick

Issuing an ultimatum to Putrajaya to restore local council polls for Penang is tantamount blackmail and a political gimmick. If Guan Eng and DAP were sincere in their demands that local council elections be held, then they should have insisted that local council polls be included in the Manifesto Rakyat. Otherwise, they should withdraw their threat of suing the federal government if the latter does not issue the order to the Election Commission to conduct local polls.

I believe that Guan Eng holds no sincerity at all to restore local government elections. At his press conference yesterday, his threat against the federal government was carried out merely to provoke an issue to win votes given that the general election is just around the corner.

“Manifesto is not a promise”

It should be pointed out that Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim had claimed that an election manifesto is not a promise, and hence, there is no necessarily to fulfill it. These being his words and deeds all go to prove that Pakatan’s general election manifesto i.e. Manifesto Rakyat released in various languages written and spoken in Malaysia may emit excitement but is left completely useless, because there is no need nor urgency to honour the pledges contained therein.

As political leaders, it is most crucial to keep to one’s promises. Politicians must perform and honour whatever has been pledge in the general election manifesto. Otherwise, contrary to being trustworthy, their pledges are best described as unconvincing.

Nik Aziz should focus on Pakatan’s unfulfilled promises instead of condescending needy people as animals

PAS spiritual adviser Dato’ Seri Nik Aziz whereby insulted the Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (BR1M) should be chastised for completely disdaining Barisan Nasional’s efforts to alleviate the burden of the lower income groups as “like scattering padi and coconut husks in front of chickens and cows to entice them to come close (The Star, 21 Feb 13).” Effectively, Nik Aziz has disparaged BR1M recipients by likening them as animals.

I wish to alert the Nik Aziz that the destitute, the underprivileged are also decent human beings who are our fellow citizens. The PAS spiritual adviser has no right humiliating them but on the contrary, should be able to empathise with their daily struggles.

BN delivers where Pakatan state governments fail

On the contrary, PAS should be appreciative of BN’s efforts to reach out to the needy irrespective of their political affiliation in states throughout Malaysia including Pakatan-helmed states like Kelantan which is reputed to have the highest rate of poverty on the peninsular, Kedah, Selangor and Penang.

The BR1M aid to households earning less than RM3,000 per month, or RM250 aid to singles above 21 years and earning below RM200 monthly will benefit 2.7million unmarried individuals and 4 million households. Meanwhile, a few other examples of BN’s efforts which benefit every Malaysians are:

·        RM100 schooling assistance for Year 1 to Form 5 students
·        Insurance coverage for children travelling by school bus
·        Reducing individual income tax by 1% for each grouped annual income tax exceeding RM2,500 to RM5,000 which will remove 170,000 from paying tax

This shows BN’s sincerity which is completely opposite to that of state governments helmed by Pakatan.

Penang

In Penang, the Penang state government introduced an Anak Emas Programme where each newborn would be given a one-off RM100 imbursement. Elements of discrimination already prevail where the condition stipulates at least one parent must be a registered voter in Penang. This similar prequalifier is also applied to other DAP-helmed Penang state government programmes like RM100 each paid annually to eligible recipients under the Senior Citizens Appreciation Programme; Single Mother and Disabled Person Programme and Golden Students Programe.

These eligibility sieves indicate the Penang DAP state government’s insincerity in its project while blackmailing parents into switching the constituency where they cast their vote.

Selangor

In Selangor, the Pakatan state government has failed to deliver on their 2008 manifesto to provide:

·        free medical benefits for senior citizens above the age of 65
·        RM75 financial assistance per month for every child sent to a nursery
·        RM50 monthly assistance for pre-school education
·        RM2,500 in Takaful (insurance) for senior citizeins, the disabled and orphans

The Pakatan Selangor state government goes down history as the first state administration to be sued for not fulfilling its promises e.g. special monthly allowances of RM600 for single mothers, while other suits are underway.

Guan Eng “green-eyed” over Psy’s invitation to perform at BN’s event

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng is jealous that Korean pop star Park Jae-Sang, better known as Psy, has been invited and sponsored by a private company to be a special guest to meet with the Prime Minister who will be in Penang to attend the state Barinsa Nasional’s Chinese New Year Open House and to perform his hit song while he is there.

By calling on people to wear red, green and yellow coloured clothes to attend the Penang BN’s Chinese New Year Open House, Guan Eng has proven himself to be psychologically unbalanced and practising double standards.

Most of the public feel that Guan Eng’s remarks are ridiculous, as he himself had promoted the event. In claiming that a performance by Psy will help to boost Penang’s economy proves that he is a man of many masks.

Besides not being a local of Penang, Guan Eng has also contributed nothing to Penang’s success in the past five years. Instead, he has arrogantly used Penang as his own personal asset or for his party’s own good.

Guan Eng is also not being fair to the non-Muslims as he does nothing to stop others from suffering. He should not simply criticize his political opponents and their policies when he himself practises double standards when it comes to irrational policies implemented by his fellow Pakatan allies, especially in Kedah and Kelantan where female performers are banned and hairstylists cannot attend to clients of the opposite sex.

Based on Penang’s achievements, I believe it is better if Guan Eng and his assistant Ng Wei Aik focus more on protecting the public’s interest instead of undermining BN’s favourable measures which are meant to help develop the state for Penangites.

And last but not least, I invite everyone to attend Penang BN’s Chinese New Year open house which is to be held in Penang’s Han Chiang High School in order to promote unity and harmony between all Malaysians regardless of race, religion and beliefs.