Monday, July 28, 2008

Questions for Parliamentary 2008 (III)

Well, I wouldn't say I forgot about it, but the need to submit questions sort of fleeted in and out of my mind over the past 2 weeks. Hence, I didn't have the opportunity to solicit for possible questions for the coming parliamentary session starting August 18.

I did however, review the various posts and comments made here and my Education blog in the past few weeks to come up with the 15 questions which were submitted today. Which also reminds me that I haven't blogged on the replies provided in the last session for my previous set of questions. I'll do so over the next few days but, regardless, here are the questions for the upcoming session.

(Oh, and corrections to any glaring language errors are welcome)

Oral Questions:

  1. Tony Pua meminta Menteri Kewangan menyatakan langkah yang akan diambil oleh kerajaan untuk meningkatkan prestasi syarikat Proton sedangkan kerajaan negeri BN telahpun memberi “undi ketidak-percayaan” kepada kereta Proton, yang membuktikan kegagalan dasar automotif negara. Adakah Proton akan terus mengalami kerugian sehingga tahun 2010?

(18 Ogos 2008)

(What are steps taken by the Government to improve the fortunes of Proton given that the Barisan Nasional state governments have also condemned and given the vote of no confidence to Proton's most expensive models, marking the biggest set back for the national car industry? Will Proton continue to be loss-making untuk 2010?)

  1. Tony Pua meminta Menteri Kerjaraya menyatakan hasil kajian pakar perunding mengenai perjanjian kerajaan dengan pihak konsesi tol, terutamanya pihak yang telah mendapat peruntungan lumayan ataupun yang telah mendapat kembali kos pembinaan. Adakah pihak konsesi akan dikehendaki mengurangkan tol tanpa memerlukan tambahan wang gantirugi daripada kerajaan.

(19 Ogos 2008)

(What is the outcome of the consultant's study on the contracts of the toll operators, particularly those who made lucrative contracts or have even recovered their cost of construction? Will these toll operators to required to reduce their toll rates, without further compensation by the Government?)

  1. Tony Pua meminta Menteri Kewangan menyatakan adakah kerajaan bercadang untuk melaksanakan “windfall tax” untuk syarikat minyak dan syarikat konsesi tol lebuhraya kerana cukai tambahan telahpun dikenakan ke atas syarikat minyak sawit sebanyak 15% untuk keuntungan semasa harga minyak sawit melebihi RM2,000 satu ton. Jika tidak, kenapa?

(20 Ogos 2008)

(Given that the Government has chosen to impose a windfall tax of 15% on oil palm companies for making excessive profits when market-determined CPO prices are above RM2,000 per tonne, should the Government impose a similar tax on oil & gas companies, as well as toll concenssionaires?)

  1. Tony Pua meminta Menteri Kewangan menyatakan bila aliran rel RapidKL yang baru Kota Damansara dan aliran tambahan Puchong dan Subang Jaya yang dicadangkan akan bermula dibina, dan siap beroperasi? Apakah pecahan kos untuk pembinaan setiap aliran dan adalah perolehan ini akan dibuat secara tender terbuka?

(21 Ogos 2008)

(When are the proposed new LRT line to Kota Damansara and extended lines to Puchong and Subang Jaya scheduled to commence construction work and begin operations? What is the breakdown of costs estimated for the respective lines, and will there be open tenders called for its construction and procurement of equipment?)

  1. Tony Pua meminta Perdana Menteri menyatakan adakah Menteri Pengangkutan akan memimpin Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awan yang dicadangkan dan adakah suruhanjaya tersebut akan termasuk pihak pakar bidang pengangkutan. Apakah kuasa suruhanjaya ke atas 13 jabatan kerajaan yang berkenaan, ataupun mencadangkan gabungan jabatan-jabatan ini ke dalam satu kementerian?

(26 Ogos 2008)

(Will the Minister of Transport lead the proposed new Public Transport Commission and will its members comprise of interested parties and experts in the field. To what extent will the commission have powers to instruct the 13 government agencies involved, or even recommend a consolidation of the agencies in-charge of public transport under a single ministry.)

  1. Tony Pua meminta Menteri Kewangan menyatakan sebab kos pembinaan Jambatan Pulau Pinang Kedua adalah RM179 juta setiap kilometer, 20% lebih mahal berbanding dengan jambatan serupa di Shanghai yang bernilai RM149j setiap kilometer. Adakah ianya benar bahawa kos jambatan akan meningkat sehingga RM4.8bilion ataupun RM200j setiap kilometer?

(27 Ogos 2008)

(Why is the cost of constructing the 2nd Penang bridge at RM179 million per kilometre, 20% more expensive than a similar bridge in Shanghai, which cost RM149 million per kilometre? Is it true that the Government is considering increasing the cost of building the bridge to RM4.8 billion, which means RM200 million per kilometre?)

  1. Tony Pua meminta Perdana Menteri menyatakan tindakan yang akan diambil ke atas pihak pensyarah Biro Tatanegara yang menggalakkan fikiran “racist” apabila mendesak bahawa “kalau ular dengan India depan mata, ketuk India dulu” dan menayangan video menuduh pemimpin Teresa Kok dan Ezam Mohd Noor sebagai penyokong “Zionist”.

(Will the Prime Minister take appropriate action against lecturers in Biro Tatanegara who promotes racism in his lectures to Malaysian students with statements such as “Kalau ular dengan India depan mata, ketuk India dulu” and displays videos with Teresa Kok and Ezam Md Noor as “zionist” supporters?)

  1. Tony Pua meminta Perdana Menteri menyatakan sebab kerajaan telah menambahkan jumlah pekerja perkhidmatan awam sebanyak 23.5% ke 1.14juta sejak tahun 2000. Nisbah pekerja perkhidmatan awam per capita Malaysia adalah antara yang tertinggi di dunia. Bukankah hakikat ini mencerminkan ketidak berkesanan dan kegagalan pendekatan penswastaan kerajaan?

(Why has the Government increase the number of civil servants by 23.5% to 1.14 juta in 2007 since 2000, making Malaysia one of the civil servants per capita ratio in the entire world? Does this not reflect its inefficiency, as well as the complete failure of Malaysia's privatisation programme to reduce the dependence on civil servants?)

  1. Tony Pua meminta Menteri Koperasi dan Pembangunan Usahawan menyatakan sebab kegagalan kerajaan melaksanakan dan mengguatkuasa kegunaan sistem tambang bermeter untuk perkhidmatan teksi, terutamanya di bandar-bandar pelancongan seperti Pulau Pinang, Melaka dan Johor Bahru, dan juga tempat tertentu di Lembah Klang seperti perhentian bas Puduraya dan KL Sentral.

(What are the reasons for the complete failure of the Government to implement and enforce the use of meters for Malaysian taxi operators, particularly in cities which attract many tourists such as Penang, Melaka and Johor Bahru, as well as certain hotspots in the Klang Valley such as Pudu bus and KL Sentral bus terminal?)

  1. Tony Pua meminta Perdana Menteri menyatakan sebab kuasa perlesenan syarikat pinjaman wang berada dalam Kementerian Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan dan bukannya satu fungsi Kementerian Kewangan, yang lebih berpengaruh dan berkepakaran dalam bidang kewangan.

(Why is the licensing of money-lenders the responsibility of the Minister of Housing and Local Government and not the function of the Ministry of Finance when the latter has greater expertise and influence over the financial sector?)

Written Questions:

  1. Tony Pua meminta Perdana Menteri menyatakan apakah tindakan yang telah diambil oleh kerajaan terhadap 236 pemegang biasiswa bidang perdoktoran yang enggan pulang berkhidmat di tanahair. Apakah pencapaian tindakan yang telah diambil dan adakah ia berkesan? Berapakah pemegang biasiswa dalam bidang lain yang telah gagal pulang berkhidmat?

(What are the steps taken by the Government against the 236 medical scholarship holders to date and please detail what has been the result of the actions taken so far, and whether they have been effective. How many other scholars in other fields who have failed to return to serve?)

  1. Tony Pua meminta Perdana Menteri menyatakan secara terperinci, senarai universiti-universiti luar negeri di mana pemegang biasiswa undergraduate JPA dihantar mengikut pecahan ketiga-tiga tahun yang lalu, jumlah pelajar dan kursus ataupun bidang yang dikaji.

(Please list in detail the overseas universities which JPA undergraduate scholars have been sent to over the past 3 years, with breakdowns by year, number of students and courses undertaken.)

  1. Tony Pua meminta Perdana Menteri menyatakan berapa ramai pemegang biasiswa yang telah selesai pengajian pada 5 tahun yang lepas. Antara mereka, berapakah yang telah berkhidmat untuk kerajaan mengikut syarat perjanjian biasiswa, berapakah yang enggan menunaikan perjanjian dan berapakah yang telah dilepaskan daripada tanggungjawab mereka?

(Please provide the figures of overseas and local JPA scholars who have graduated over the past 5 years on how many have been employed by the Government in accordance to their scholarship bond, how many have refused to work in the Government, and how many have been released by the Government from their obligations?)

  1. Tony Pua meminta Menteri Pengajian Tinggi menyatakan sebab jumlah pelajar mengikut aliran STPM yang diterima dalam bidang perdoktoran di Universiti Malaya telah merosot dari 63 pada tahun 2000 sehingga 28 pada 2008, walaupun jumlah penuntut yang diterima telahpun meningkat daripada 173 ke 205. Adakah sistem STPM dipinggirkan?

(The total number of students accepted into the medical faculty of Universiti Malaya via the STPM route has declined from 63 students in 2000 to 28 students in 2008 despite an overall increase of intake from 173 to 205 students. Isn't this clear-cut result of the Government's marginalisation of STPM students?)

  1. Tony Pua meminta Menteri Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan menyatakan sama ada kerajaan akan membantah ataupun menghalang negeri-negeri yang dipimpin oleh DAP, PKR dan PAS melaksanakan pilihanraya kerajaan tempatan yang merupakan ruang lingkup kuasa kerajaan negeri? Jika ya, sila memberikan penjelasan yang terperinci.

(Will the Government object to or prevent the states led by DAP, PKR and PAS in implementing local council elections which is under the purview of the state government? If so, please explain in detail how and why?)

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Tony Pua meminta Menteri Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan menyatakan sama ada kerajaan akan membantah ataupun menghalang negeri-negeri yang dipimpin oleh DAP, PKR dan PAS melaksanakan pilihanraya kerajaan tempatan yang merupakan ruang lingkup kuasa kerajaan negeri? Jika ya, sila memberikan penjelasan yang terperinci."

ITS ABOUT TIME!!!!!!!!!!

Some of us were starting to lose faith :P

CSK said...

Dear Tony

i think no.7 (Biro Tatanegara yang menggalakkan fikiran “racist” ) must get a good explaination and actions. Among all issues raised by you, i felt that is the most critical . Constant poisoning of young malaysian's mind can ruin the country in the future.

Bentoh said...

I find the question regarding BTN could have been better engineered...

My gut feeling about the ministerial reply will be... "BTN doesn't offer such lectures/material"...

Maybe you could question the detailed syllabus of BTN... oh well but then the reply could also be some old and stupid chunk...~~

Feel weird also to use "Teresa Kok" directly... hmmm... not sure about the parliament protocol... but I thought it should have been "Yang Berhormat dari Seputeh" since she's also an MP?

Golf Afflicted said...

Hi Hotneb,

It was a very difficult question to phrase because there was so much to say on BTN. However, I'm limited to 40 words, hence I have to get the basic question out and hopefully I get to post a supplementary question or extract and answer which allows me to dig further. As for addressing Teresa Kok directly, well, it saved me 2 words. ;-)

And to Int,

Besides legal issues, local council elections require plenty of planning and they cost quite a bit of money, anything between RM30-50 million for a state like Penang.

(Without additional financial allocation from the federal government, that works out to 10% or more of the state's annual budget)

Penang CM has asserted the fact that we are committed to local council elections by or before the next general elections and the electorate certainly has the opportunity to judge us by then. In the meantime, a committee has been set up in Penang to look into the matter.

Tony

Justice said...

I wonder if it is possible to ask the Govt to explain the positioning of "consultants" or special advisers or special aides either to the respective minister or at the ministry. Their roles seem to duplicate what is done at EPU, MAMPU etc and the various bahagian dasar which are integral to the ministries.
Who decides that these super aides are needed and is there any oversight on as what they do.
More specifically could the Govt provide a breakdown of how many are employed, where, and at what renumeration.
My own view is these are moles for vested interests and constitute a security risk not to mention a waste and duplication of resources and drain on taxpayers money.

Anonymous said...

"Besides legal issues, local council elections require plenty of planning and they cost quite a bit of money"

Fair enough, and I do understand that there would be costs involved, but it's nice to see some effort being put into it. I'm a little startled that the costs can go up that high though!

"In the meantime, a committee has been set up in Penang to look into the matter."

Some 3 years ago, DAP set up a special national committee to tackle this local elections issue [1]. It's members included Teresa Kok, Fong Po Kuan, Fong Kui Lun, Anthony Loke, Kulasegaran, etc. These guys had three years supposedly to study this issue, and I do wonder what they accomplished in that time? Was there a proper roadmap conceived on how to reintroduce these elections? Or is it a case of "starting from scratch" now?

[1] http://dapmalaysia.org/all-archive/English/2005/jan05/lge/lge061.htm

As for BTN, I think the only way to really blow the lid on that whole dodgy enterprise is to sneak in a video camera... maybe put Kelana Jaya on it. Probably safer for him anyway.

Mel said...

Hi Mr Pua.

I am a resident of SS3 and I truly respect that you are a very, very busy man. I greatly admire the things you are doing and trying to do for our constituency and I know that time is a luxury of the past for you.

However, I simply HAVE to talk to you about the horrendous traffic situation at the area surrounding the Taman Bahagia LRT traffic lights. It is simply an issue of coordinating the traffic lights timing and perhaps assigning a traffic policeman temporarily. The congestion is immense almost every single day (and night) and it wastes precious time and money. The solution is simple and so I just truly hope that you can help all of us out.

Thank you so much for your time.

Sincerely, Melissa Loovi.

Bentoh said...

int,

the last paragraph of your reply is hilarious... ;)

As for local election, the most feasible way is to amend the local government act 1976... Although it is possible to main belakang (:P)...

Sometimes I'll have a dream to make this local election thingy a "caucus"... very much like how American do it... after all if the political party is going to appoint a certain number of councilors, make the party members (or maybe even the independents) to vote for who they want to...

But then it's all about the party's will and money matters... ;)

Victor said...

I don't understand why the local council election has to cost 30-50 million. the national election costed 200 million, for one local council election to cost so much is illogical.

thx!

Victor said...

question 3 is just weird, we can't impose tax on foreign companies, can we?

if any oil and gas company is to be taxed, it would be petronas, but that doesn't seem to be logical either. why tax the national company while it is contributing dividends?

and i feel that for no. 6, the bridge question will be stonewalled by replies that the labor cost/material costs here are higher compared to in china. why not drop the china comparison and instead ask why the costs keep rising and rising..

Anonymous said...

"As for local election, the most feasible way is to amend the local government act 1976"

In the past for the Federal Opposition to propose any laws/amendments is a waste of time, but these days who knows... might be worth a shot.

Bentoh said...

Hi Victor Tan,

I don't think it is illogical...

It's like you get things cheaper in larger scale purchase...

and consider the higher living cost in an urban state like Penang, you'll need to pay more for the workers and venues...

and consider how "kiasu" the state government is (towards the first ever local election after 40+ years), the government will dump a fair bit of money into moving the voters out of their sweet home to vote!

and if the government considers "cleaning" the electoral rolls before the election... that's pretty much the cost... ;)

==================================

The cost would be a good argument to hold the Local election during next GE... but certain issues will need to be solved, such as:
1) Does this automatically means the local election will be held every time a general election is called?
2) How do you like the idea of a 5-year-per-term local government?
3) Many local elections in the world served as a "mid-term" elections, Local cum General election may end up giving the same result i.e. DAP win most seats in Penang Island, DAP will also most probably control MPPP... The meaning of local elections will ultimately be overshadowed by the already heated general elections...

==================================

Ideally, a nationwide local elections (which is separated from general elections) should be held instead... but that's the decision of federal government... ;)

Victor said...

ok..good point :)