Open Invitation to Second Finance Minister, Dato’ Seri Johari Abdul Ghani on Monday, 27 March 2017

A week ago, Second Finance Minister, Dato’ Seri Johari Abdul Ghani wrote an open letter to me asking me to give the 1MDB issue “a rest”.  I had responded the next day with an open letter outlining some of the many reasons why I won’t “give it a rest”.  This includes the fact that the Minister has not only failed to answer the questions which have been posed, and the multiple attempts to obfuscate the truth for the Malaysian public.

However, a week later, the Minister has unfortunately chosen to maintain an elegant silence.  Perhaps Dato’ Seri Johari is just hoping that I would have no choice but to then “give it a rest”.

If so, the Minister must be daydreaming.  Instead, I would like to offer Dato’ Seri Johari Abdul Ghani the perfect opportunity to not only give the 1MDB issue a rest, but to give me “a rest”.

I would like to extend an open invitation to the Second Finance Minister to come to my fund-raising dinner on Saturday, 6 May 2017 to be held in the heart of the Petaling Jaya Utara (PJU) constitueny, at the SS2 open air carpark.

Dato’ Seri Johari Abdul Ghani will be given a full hour to speak uninterrupted to my voters to tell them about why they should not only give the 1MDB issue arest, but why they give me a rest by voting me out of office.  There would be no better opportunity for the Minister to do so than in front of an expected sell-out crowd of 300 tables.

Dato’ Seri Johari can explain to the 3,000 best-behaved audience why my “behaviour in respect of the entire affair does not fit that of a lawmaker”.

The Minister is free to put forth his argument, per his open letter, that “the spectacle of name-calling, not only towards me but towards other members of the administration as well, is nothing less than embarrassing and demeaning to your standing as a Member of Parliament.”

Then the Minister can ask the voters of PJU directly, whether “the folks of Petaling Jaya Utara elected you as their MP to do better things than just being obsessed with 1MDB”.

In fact, the other speakers who are attending the dinner are DAP Parliamentary Leader, Lim Kit Siang; former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad; Amanah President Mat Sabu and PKR Vice-President, Rafizi Ramli.  The Minister has a chance to put all of us ‘out of business’.

No BN Ministers would offer me such an opportunity to attend their official events and get even 15 minutes to explain how the Najib administration has stolen and misappropriated some RM25 billion of funds raised by 1MDB.

However, perhaps in my foolishness, I am giving UMNO-BN an excellent chance to sign my political death warrant.  The question is, will Dato’ Seri Johari have the courage and conviction in his defense of 1MDB to pick up the gauntlet?

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DAP PJ Election Fund-Raising Dinner 2013

We would like to invite you to join us in our 2013 DAP Petaling Jaya Utara Election Fund Raising Dinner. You may check out the Facebook event page here.

Theme: "Ini Kali-lah... the Final Countdown to Putrajaya"Venue: Petaling Jaya Hockey Stadium, Jalan Selangor, Seksyen 3, Petaling Jaya
Date: 19 January 2013 (Saturday)
Time: 7.30pm

The speakers will include:

• Lim Guan Eng, Penang Chief Minister 
• Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Parliamentary Opposition Leader
• Mohd Sabu, PAS Deputy President
• Tony Pua, MP Petaling Jaya Utara
• Lau Weng San, ADUN Kg Tunku
• Kasthuri Patto, DUN Bukit Gasing Co-ordinator
• Yeo Bee Yin, DAP Social Media Strategist

The primary language for this dinner will be English and Bahasa Malaysia. Halal food is available upon request.

The cost of the dinner will be RM60 per pax or RM600 per table. Gold and Platinum sponsorship tables are available for RM1,500 and RM3,000 per table respectively.

For reservations, please email to dapdinner@gmail.com or to me directly with your name, contact number, which dinner(s) and number of seats or tables (Platinum, Gold or Silver) required.

If you have any more questions, you can call Chew 016 8782472.

For those who are not able to make the dinner, donations are also very much welcome ;-). Cheques should be written to "DAP Damansara Branch" or cash can be deposited at DAP Damansara Maybank account: 5141 9634 2008.

The funds raised from the dinner will be used for the upcoming election campaign for Petaling Jaya Utara parliamentary seat; and Bukit Gasing, Kg Tunku and Damansara Utama state seats. Any excess from the fund will be contributed to contested seats which require additional support.

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DAP Petaling Jaya Fund-Raising Dinner 2012

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An Internship Experience: Sara Lau

Sara Lau is a lawyer who has recently graduated from Reading and will be completing her bar in London. She interned with me in August and below are her thoughts.

“You are young, talented, hardworking and determined – where do you want to go after you graduate?”

I have always thought myself optimistic about my country. When people asked me whether I wanted to stay or leave after my studies, I always answered that I wanted to be a lawyer in Malaysia – to work for my community and my country. When my peers told me that their parents told them to run, I was judgmental of them. To me, they were quitters. Maybe Malaysia was not in a good economic place at the moment, but I was so sure in my heart that this will come to pass. On closer inspection, I realised it was not just because of the returns and low wages in Malaysia that was making them run...

I called myself an optimist, but maybe I was just ignorant. Like so many of us, maybe I wanted to close my eyes to the bigotry and pretend that everything was as it should be. But there came a point when I could not answer my friends’ retort on why there was a withholding and vandalism of bibles; why the Government was so pressed against a campaign calling for free and fair elections; why Valentine’s Day cannot be a joyous ocassion back home! I was cornered when they asked – Why should we put up with this partiality? They were hurt. They were discontented and they were just tired of fighting back. I called myself an optimist, but maybe I was just in denial.

I was jaded by the time I came back because suddenly I didn't know the answer. I knew of all these political instabilities, racial insecurities, economic urgencies.... Yet the government remained idle at the height of needing to prove itself. I never called myself a Party supporter because what was logic in my mind was that it did not matter what the government did, and why it did. What mattered was that the people were well taken care of, not taken advantage of, had its civil liberties and were happy. But second chances prove futile when the Government kept letting me down. I remember asking my friend Jian Wei, why didn't they take a stand and do something? He jolted me when he said... "Don't you see? They have already taken their stand."

And then, I needed to find the alternative. Were there people as perplexed as I was? Most want to save themselves before they can't, but this land is mine to inherit! I needed to find people who were geared up as I, who could remind me why I wanted to fight when I am giving up. I needed to find out if I was alone, wanting to return and work because I was needed, because I know I still counted as a number at the very least. I still wanted to be that number for Malaysia.

We hear of our counterparts and peers, tired, wearied, disheartened saying that hope is lost. That while they were young and had alternatives, had to find a place to build themselves, their homes, their families away from injustice, unfairness and discrimination. This was logical - why return to a lover who doesn't love you back? But Malaysia wasn't just a lover, this wasn't just a two person relationship - it was a cause bigger than myself and while I have one life to give, I wanted to make it count. So, likewise disheartened, but contrariwise eager, I wanted to see if the Opposition proved any better than the Government.

My stint with DAP was only a month long. The reason I came into it was because I thought it was not enough to know alternative policies. I wanted to see if their actions corresponded with the news. I wanted to be a judge in my own right and to find out if the Opposition was a risk worth taking. I have always been one to play safe, but these were desperate times to me.

One mistake I had made coming into it was my expectation: unwittingly I had thought my internship would be likened to a classroom where information I wanted came almost automatically. I was wrong. Tony was not the kind to spoon feed - when I wanted information on something, he only provided it if I had done my homework. He wasn't the kind who sat you down, event after event, asking you "Did you understand?", "Do you know what's happening?", "What conclusions can we draw from this?" like a teacher would; instead he allowed you in on the face of conflict there and then, expected you to draw your own inferences and naturally allowed you to draw personal stands and opinions. Looking back, I realise that when I was frustrated about not satisfying my deep hunger for knowledge, I had gotten it all wrong. This stint was about instigating mature observations, not manipulating naivete. And in that sense, he gave me what I asked for in the beginning - a platform to ponder.

Only a 4 week internship, my tasks were varied. Needless to say the high points of the internship revolved around press conferences because it was exciting and in the face of current political happenings, but also because it satisfied a curiosity. Coming from these events to reading mainstream media and then comparing it to online media revealed me to disparities, and unwittingly, the truth (or lies) of Government action. Perhaps the most memorable press conference was at Jalan Sultan where the Opposition pledged support to protecting the area from the MRT land grab fiasco. As a layperson exposed to interactions between politician and politician, public and politician, I saw how the once untouchable arena of politics became unbelievably humanised before my eyes.

Another event that had been incredibly eye-opening was the various voter registration campaigns held almost every week and weekend. Together with Ee May, who is Tony's new assistant, I went to as many drives as I could to volunteer my service. Again, being revealed to the process of voter registration and some conflicts that are embedded in it (such as people being registered as other voters, citizens being denied voting rights because of a lack of religion, disparities in the system regarding voters' information) showed me that there were fundamental flaws within the system that needed to be addressed. More frustrating was also the fact that many young people did not bother to get registered as voters at all, even with our team cajoling and persuading them to! However, seeing Ee May who was relentless in her quest to recruit new voters, I realised that I was not alone: that there were many Malaysians, young and old, fighting for a better Malaysia while they could and before they tired.

This was again proven to me in the focal point of my internship - organising the DAP Selangor English Speaking Fundraising Dinner. The dinner saw an 1000 strong audience, but behind the scenes, I knew that there had been a long waiting list of Malaysians who were very keen to support the dinner and to donate as much funds as they could afford. As I personally managed the bookings, I had multiple conversations with multiple people of all backgrounds, echoing the same sentiments: that they all wanted a better Malaysia. That they had not given up. That they were willing to run the race. That they all loved their home and want to be counted in the numbers. But most importantly – they all spoke with a sense of belonging for Malaysia. As a young Malaysian, jaded by unimpressive returns in her home country, this was enough to remind me, my country was worth my investment, my time, my effort.

I do not know what I had expected to gain from this DAP internship, but what I got was incredibly personal. It was not about politicking or support. It was about self-discovery about my Malaysian identity, about what I can do for my country and about how this will always, always be where my heart belongs. Everyone is looking for a better Malaysia in their lifetime, but now I know it is equally important to run the relay race and pass the baton until that better Malaysia comes to pass.

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An Internship Experience: Jason Chow

Jason Chow a 2nd year Psychology student in London interned with me in July/August this year. Below are his thoughts.

Sometimes I wonder if ‘home’ is really worth coming back to.

I’m one of the few lucky enough to be studying abroad. I’m one of the few unlucky enough to have an interest in politics. I’m also part of the growing community realizing that there is something seriously wrong with our country.

Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t one of those pieces that goes on and on about how good being abroad is. This is a piece that deals with how bad the current situation is, and whether or not we have something to move forward to.

Bear with me while I wade through the more depressing bits.

Our local landscape can hardly be described as positive. Anaemic growth is touted as an economic success, while the core problems of corruption and overdependence on government funding remain unaddressed. Note how well the rest of the region is doing. It’s like cheering at a bag of peanuts while everyone else is getting ready to play for real money.

Crucial issues like education and race are both politicized and sidelined – institutions play up the hype but never sustain any meaningful reform. Our leaders aren’t much help. They deliver crude, patronizing statements that condescend the intelligence of our citizens and play up the public’s ignorance.

Most members of the public aren’t even ignorant by choice. Force-fed extracts from biased media sources, they are led to know what they know from misrepresentative facts.
Don’t even get me started on the state of our civil liberties.

But far from being an authoritarian dystopia, Malaysia is a country with incredible potential. And it is changing. More precisely, it is teetering on the edge of change, waiting for something to tip it over. And this possibility is exactly why I haven’t given up yet.

I’ve always been a skeptic. This doesn’t mean I have no ideals; I just find it very difficult to believe in the ones I have. So even though I found some hope in the notion that our country was changing, I had to justify that.

Was change a realistic assumption? Were we headed for a better time and place? Did we have good alternatives, not just in terms of leadership, but also in terms of policy?

I took my questions with me to the Opposition, via the DAP’s internship programme.

I applied under YB Tony Pua.

The decision had been an easy one. He was one of the more vocal Opposition MPs. His forte was economics, my extra-curricular interest. He had a penchant for explaining complicated things in a relatively simple way, so he seemed like a good sort of mentor.

My one-month stint worked out pretty well. Attending a wide range of events gave me a powerful sense of political exposure – I encountered people as far up the ladder as Pakatan Rakyat’s own leadership, all the way down to some of Tony’s own grassroots communities.

The pieces came together quite easily. I was able to see how individual politicians handle their daily routine, and how political organizations attempt to function from the inside out – all on a first hand basis. Everything about the whole process was quite enlightening.
While my time with them was short, I managed to learn a few key things, particularly about the attitudes of our potential leaders.

There is a refreshing, genuine quality to their actions, particularly amongst the younger MPs, that has been absent from our political system for a long time. To put it bluntly, they seem to genuinely care about the needs of the people. Whether out of political necessity, or for more heartfelt reasons, their purpose, at the moment, seems strong: Undo unfairness and prevent future injustice to the electorate.

Maybe I’m being too charitable. We still see hiccups – the issue in Kedah, for example, a strong example of how worryingly new this alliance is. Decisions made were reconsidered, and the media plays it up as evidence of over-compromise and factionalism.

But the willingness of leaders to make necessary changes isn’t a sign of weak governance; on the contrary, it demonstrates the requisite humility needed to admit mistakes and make tough choices, something that we haven’t seen in a while. If anything, it highlights the strength of the between-party relationship, built on mutual respect and some level of consideration for the people.

I know I’m slightly biased. They say the youth tend to support the Opposition, and I think we have a good reason for that – we’re more invested in the country’s future.

There’s a principle in private portfolio management. Young people can afford to take more risk, because they have the rest of their lives to make up for whatever loss incurred. Older people aren’t so lucky. So the young are advised to go for broke on high profit, high-risk assets (I am not liable for any losses you make on this investment advice).

The parallel is simple – we stand to lose more if things turn out terrible. The current situation is pretty bad, and most of us don’t see it getting worse. So we place our bets on change. We want it to change for the better, and the only way to do that is by getting the future to change at all.

Move from race-based politics to a system based on more meaningful policies and philosophies. Become a more mature democracy. Free up the media channels, giving everyone access to the same facts. Fairly represent the electorate. Properly unite the people under a single banner – sloganeering and logo-mongering don’t help when the spirit of a message is consistently violated.

Then we can start tackling the bigger problem of economic reform. Kudos to Penang for getting a headstart on this one.

It isn’t impossible; all we need to do is start making the right decisions. While it may be a lot tougher than it sounds, I think we’re already on the right track.

Change isn’t far off. We just need to make it happen.

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DAP Damansara Golf Fund-Raising Tournament 2011

This will be the 4th year which we are running our golf tournament, for the purpose of raising funds to help run my Petaling Jaya Utara constituency's service centre.

I have 3-4 staff in the office at the moment to help with constituency, research and parliamentary work, plus operational expenses - rental, utilities etc., it costs our office approximately RM12,000 per month to maintain.

The Selangor state government subsidises RM50,000 per annum of an MP's office expenses, but that'll still leave us with about RM100,000 short, which are funded by public donations, as well as from my own allowance.

We hope to raise approximately RM30,000 from this event, and we look forward to your generous support!

The details are as follows:

Date: 25 Aug 2011 (Thu)

Time: 7.30 am (shot gun)

Venue: Kelab Golf Negara Subang (KGNS)

Entry fee: RM350 per pax.

Closing date: 20th Aug or up to 120 participants (1st come 1st served).

There will be plenty of prizes for golfing and lucky draw winners, as well as items for auction. While the list of prizes have not been finalised, the top prizes will include air tickets to destinations overseas ;-)

Plus, if you are lucky (or unlucky) enough, we could be on the same flight ;-)

Please contact Billy Wong at our service centre hotline: 016-2208867 if you are interested to play or to sponsor the event. Or you can email wss_billy(at)yahoo(dot)com.

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DAP PJ Annual Fund Raising Dinner 2010

We would like to invite you to join us in our 2010 DAP Petaling Jaya Utara Annual Fund Raising Dinner.

Theme: “We Are Malaysian First”
Venue: MBPJ Dewan Sivik
Date: 8 December 2010 (Wednesday)
Time: 7.00pm

The speakers will include:

• DAP Parliamentary Leader, Lim Kit Siang,
• MP for Shah Alam Khalid Samad,
• MP for PJ Utara, Tony Pua,
• MP for Lembah Pantai, Nurul Izzah Anwar,
• ADUN for Damansara, Dr Cheah Wing Yin
• ADUN for Kg Tunku, Lau Weng San.

Halal Chinese food will be served, and the primary language for this dinner will be English and Bahasa Malaysia.

The cost of the dinner will be RM60 per pax or RM600 per table. VIP tables are also available for RM1,500 a table. The funds raised from the dinner will be used for running our service center.

For reservations, please email to dapdamansara (at) gmail.com or to me directly with your name, contact number, which dinner(s) and number of seats or tables (VIP or normal) required.

For those who are not able to make the dinner, donations are also very much welcome ;-). Cheques should be written to "DAP Damansara Branch" or cash can be deposited at DAP Damansara Maybank account: 5141 9634 2008.

I'd like to thank you in advance for your much needed support!

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Bullets

Much have been said, but here are the photos which speak for themselves.

M16 5.56mm live bullet

Threats from a coward

Posted in a brown envelope to my office

Postmarked from Tangkak, Johor

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DAP Damansara Golf Tournament 2010

This will be the 3rd year which we are running our golf tournament, for the purpose of raising funds to help run my Petaling Jaya Utara constituency's service centre.

I have 3-4 staff in the office at the moment to help with constituency, research and parliamentary work, plus operational expenses - rental, utilities etc., it costs our office approximately RM12,000 per month to maintain.

The Selangor state government subsidises RM50,000 per annum of an MP's office expenses, but that'll still leave us with about RM100,000 short, which are funded by public donations, as well as from my own allowance.

We hope to raise approximately RM25,000 from this event, and we look forward to your generous support!

The details are as follows:

Date: 2 Sep 2010 (Thu)
Time: 7.30 am (shot gun)
Venue: Kelab Golf Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah (KGSAAS)
Entry fee: RM350 per pax.

Closing date: 25th Aug or up to 120 participants (1st come 1st served).

There will be plenty of prizes for golfing and lucky draw winners, as well as items for auction. While the list of prizes have not been finalised, the top prizes will include air tickets to destinations overseas ;-)

Plus, if you are lucky (or unlucky) enough, we could be on the same flight ;-)

Please contact Billy Wong at our service centre hotline: 016-2208867 if you are interested to play or to sponsor the event. Or you can email billywss(at)gmail(dot)com.

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"Rock The Vote" @1Utama

“Rock the Vote” Voter Registration Campaign at 1Utama Shopping Centre, Bandar Utama

The offices of Tony Pua, Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya Utara and Lau Weng San, state assemblyman for Kampung Tunku are jointly organising a large scale voter registration campaign to encourage more eligible Malaysians to register as a new voter. The details are as follows:

Event: “Rock The Vote” Campaign
Date: 29 – 30 May 2010
Time: 10.30 am to 10.00 pm
Venue: 1Utama Shopping Centre (Old Wing), Promenade Ground Floor (opp Sakae Sushi)

Assistant registrars approved by the Election Commission will be present to conduct the voter registration exercise.

All unregistered voters above the age of 21, regardless address will be able to register on the day. The voting address will however be based on the address on the Identification Card.

There are more than 780,000 eligible voters who have not registered in Selangor, and more than 4 million nationwide. Through this weekend's “Rock The Vote Campaign”, we hope to register at least 1,200 new voters.

For any inquiries or if you'd like to volunteer for this or other future events, please email daprocket@rocketmail.com.

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LAST CALL: DAP PJ Annual Fund Raising Dinner 2009

Come join us in our annual fund-raising dinner (halal) to support the DAP Petaling Jaya Utara Service Centre operations organised by the DAP Damansara Branch.

The speakers for the evening will include:

• Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, Menteri Besar Selangor
• Tony Pua, MP Petaling Jaya Utara & DAP National Publicity Secretary
• Lau Weng San, ADUN Kg Tunku & DAP Selangor State Secretary
• Hannah Yeoh, ADUN Subang Jaya & DAP Selangor State Treasurer
• Dr Cheah Wing Yin, ADUN Damansara Utama*
• Khalid Samad, PAS MP Shah Alam

* to be confirmed

The price of the dinner tickets are as follows:

• RM600 per table or RM60 pax
• VIP tables are also available for RM1,500 per table

Please contact Ms Carmen Leong @ leongooikuan@gmail.com or 016-2208867 to book your tickets!

For those who are not able to make the dinner, donations are also very much welcome ;-). Cheques should be written to "DAP Damansara Branch" or cash can be deposited at DAP Damansara Maybank account: 5141 9634 2008. Credit card payment is also available upon request.

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DAP PJ Annual Fund Raising Dinner 2009

Come join us in our annual fund-raising dinner (halal) to support the DAP Petaling Jaya Utara Service Centre operations organised by the DAP Damansara Branch.

The speakers for the evening will include:

• Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, Menteri Besar Selangor
• Tony Pua, MP Petaling Jaya Utara & DAP National Publicity Secretary
• Lau Weng San, ADUN Kg Tunku & DAP Selangor State Secretary
• Hannah Yeoh, ADUN Subang Jaya & DAP Selangor State Treasurer
• Dr Cheah Wing Yin, ADUN Damansara Utama*
• Khalid Samad, PAS MP Shah Alam

(* to be confirmed)

The price of the dinner tickets are as follows:

• RM600 per table or RM60 pax
• VIP tables are also available for RM1,500 per table

Please contact Ms Carmen Leong @ leongooikuan@gmail.com or 016-2208867 to book your tickets!

For those who are not able to make the dinner, donations are also very much welcome ;-). Cheques should be written to "DAP Damansara Branch" or cash can be deposited at DAP Damansara Maybank account: 5141 9634 2008. Credit card payment is also available upon request.

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Halal Chinese Food Caterer Wanted

Hi guys,

I need help. I'm looking for a reliable halal caterer to cater food for our DAP Damansara Dinner function in December @ Dewan Banquet MBPJ. The one we used for last year served terrible food and hence our search for a new one.

However, we are finding it very difficult to find a halal caterer who can serve a 8 course Chinese-style dinner... so if any of you out there knows anyone at all, please don't hesitate to contact my assistant, Carmen Leong @ leongooikuan (at) gmail (dot) com.

Thanks so much in advance! ;-)

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DAP Damansara Golf Tournament 2009

This will be the second year which we are running our golf tournament, for the purpose of raising funds to help run my Petaling Jaya Utara constituency's service centre.

I have 4 staff in the office at the moment to help with constituency, research and parliamentary work, plus operational expenses - rental, utilities etc., it costs our office approximately RM12,000 per month to maintain. The Selangor state government starting this year, subsidises RM50,000 per annum of an MP's office expenses, but that'll still leave us with about RM100,000 short, which are funded by public donations, as well as from my own allowance.

We hope to raise approximately RM25,000 from this event, and we look forward to your generous support!

The details are as follows:

Date: 19 Aug 2009 (Wed)
Time: 7.30 am (shot gun)
Venue: Tropicana Golf & Country Club
Entry fee: RM350 per pax.
Closing date: 15th Aug or up to 120 participants (1st come 1st served).

There will be plenty of prizes for golfing and lucky draw winners, as well as items for auction. While the list of prizes have not been finalised, the top prizes will include air tickets to destinations overseas ;-)

Plus, if you are lucky (or unlucky) enough, we could be on the same flight ;-)

Please contact Carmen Leong or Billy Wong at our service centre hotline: 016-2208867 if you are interested to play or to sponsor the event. Or you can email leongooikuan(at)gmail(dot)com.

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DAP Young Professional's Networking Session

The DAP Damansara branch is holding a networking session over dinner with some of our young DAP national leaders. We are delighted to invite you to join this dinner, where you will get the opportunity to interact personally with our leaders, exchange humour, views and information about each other.

Date : 17 August 2009 (Mon)
Time  : 7.30pm
Venue : The Rocket United Café, Jalan SS2/63, Petaling Jaya.
Dress code: Smart casual

DAP leaders present will include Tony Pua, Anthony Loke, Teo Nie Ching, Liew Chin-Tong, Hannah Yeoh, Jenice Lee and others

We have a limited seats of 35 guests only and reservations will be taken on a first come first served basis. Dinner tickets are priced at RM45pp. Please RSVP by 10th of August 2009 to Joo Shin jshin48 (at) gmail (dot) com, and include a simple description of yourself (work, age, education, politics) so that we could better introduce you during the networking session.

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Voter Registration - Volunteers Needed

Many have asked me, besides actively joining politics, what they can do to help us help the country. One of the simplest and least political of activities which can be carried out is to help conduct voter registration exercises.

Currently, my DAP Damansara branch and service centre carries out voter registration exercises every Monday night from about 7.30pm at the SS2 pasar malam, just outside Medan Selera, same row as McDonalds. We register anything between 40-100 new voters each evening.

But even in Petaling Jaya itself, there are quite a few more pasar malams which we can hold weekly sessions, such as the key ones in Taman Megah (Sun), Taman Paramount (Sun), SS2 Chow Yang (Thu). But we don't have enough volunteers to carry out these sessions regularly at these venues. And we've not even included pasar pagi in SS2, Taman Megah and Section 17.

With more volunteers, we could also hold one-off voter registration sessions at condominiums, shopping centres and other heavily populated venues. One exercise held at a local church recently spanning a few days yielded more than 200 new voters.

So we call upon all who are keen and committed to help to contact us. You can email jshin48 (at) gmail (dot) com with the following details:

Name:
Contact No:
Where you stay:
Frequency: Adhoc only | weekly | fortnightly | Monthly (pls specify which day)
Other indicators that will help us co-ordinate volunteers

For those who wants to help in other constituencies, feel free to email in as well, and we'll try to direct you to the right persons in charge in those areas.

For those who are not aware, political parties have approved assistant registrars by the Election Commission to conduct these voter registration exercises. You can of course, visit your nearest post office as well to get yourself registered. ;-)

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"2008 Celebrating Hope & Change" Dinner

As blogged earlier, and a gentle reminder, we look forward to your support to make this fund-raising dinner a success. The Chief Minister of Penang, Lim Guan Eng has also confirmed his attendance to speak at the function.

"2008 - Celebrating The Year of Hope & Change"

Venue: MBPJ Dewan Banquet
Date: 17 December 2008 (Wednesday)
Time: 7.30pm
Speakers: Lim Guan Eng, Gobind Singh, Tony Pua, Lau Weng San,
Dr Cheah Wing Yin, Hannah Yeoh

Halal Chinese food will be served, and the primary language for this dinner will be English.

The cost of the dinner will be RM60 per pax or RM600 per table. VIP tables are also available for RM1,500 a table. The funds raised from the dinner, anticipated to be approximately RM30,000 each will be used for running our respective service centres, and a portion donated to DAP Selangor and DAP Malaysia. Even for my office alone, it costs at least RM10,000 to operate monthly with 3-4 staff and any shortfall essentially comes from my own allowance as a Member of Parliament.

Hence we look forward to your generous support to help us provide our services to the public. For reservations, please email to allypua@yahoo.com or to me directly with your name, contact number, which dinner(s) and number of seats or tables (VIP or normal) required. We will then get back to you with further information.

For those who are not able to make the dinner, donations are also very much welcome ;-). Cheques should be written to "DAP Damansara Branch" or cash can be deposited at DAP Damansara Maybank account: 5141 9634 2008. Credit card payment is also available upon request.

Thank you once again for your continued support!

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Asia 21 Society Conference in Tokyo

I'm now in Tokyo for a 3 day conference - Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative Summit - and should be back in Parliament on Monday morning. For those who are trying to reach me - my Malaysian number is incapacitated as I do not own a 3G phone (other systems don't work here, unfortunately).

For any urgent matters, please email me (I still get to check periodically) or call/sms the Damansara Service Centre Hotline 016-2208867.

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DAP Petaling Jaya Dinners 2008/9

To all readers and supporters, DAP Damansara and Paramount branches will be jointly organising 2 fund-raising dinners over the next two months. We would also take the opportunity to celebrate the year end and new year's festive seasons. The details are as follows:

1. Dinner: "2008 - Celebrating The Year of Hope & Change"

Venue: MBPJ Dewan Banquet
Date: 17 December 2008 (Wednesday)
Time: 7.30pm
Speakers: Lim Guan Eng, Gobind Singh, Hannah Yeoh, Tony Pua, Lau Weng San,
Dr Cheah Wing Yin

Halal Chinese food will be served, and the primary language for this dinner will be English.

2. Dinner: "2009 - Anticipating What's In Store For Malaysia?"

Venue: Damansara Palace Restaurant, Kota Damansara
Date: 15 January 2009 (Thursday)
Time: 7.30pm
Speakers: Lim Kit Siang, Nga Kor Ming, Ean Yong Hian Wah, Tony Pua,
Lau Weng San, Cheah Wing Yin, Tiew Way Keng

Chinese food will be served, and the primary language for this dinner will be Chinese.

The cost of the dinner will be RM60 per pax or RM600 per table. VIP tables are also available for RM1,500 a table. The funds raised from the dinner, anticipated to be approximately RM30,000 each will be used for running our respective service centres, and a portion donated to DAP Selangor and DAP Malaysia. Even for my office alone, it costs at least RM10,000 to operate monthly with 3-4 staff and any shortfall essentially comes from my own allowance as a Member of Parliament.

Hence we look forward to your generous support to help us provide our services to the public. For reservations, please email to allypua@yahoo.com or to me directly with your name, contact number, which dinner(s) and number of seats or tables (VIP or normal) required. We will then get back to you with further information.

For those who are not able to make the dinner, donations are also very much welcome ;-). Cheques should be written to "DAP Damansara Branch" or cash can be deposited at DAP Damansara Maybank account: 5141 9634 2008. Credit card payment is also available upon request.

Thank you once again for your continued support!

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DAP Inaugural Golf Tournament

Well, DAP Damansara and Subang Jaya are holding the first ever golf tournament to be held by the party! It's being organised by Hannah Yeoh, ADUN for Subang Jaya and myself.

I personally used to golf a fair bit, until I joined DAP some 2 years ago and I've only had chance to hit the ball probably twice since. But I've always wanted to try holding such a tournament (since I joined the party) and we are finally seeing it happening.

The details are as follows:

Date: 28 Sep 2008 (Sun)
Time: 1.00 pm (shot gun)
Venue: Kinrara Golf Club

Entry fee is RM300 per pax. Closing date 25th Sept or up to 120 participants (1st come 1st served). There will be plenty of prizes for golfing and lucky draw winners, as well as items for auction. While the list of prizes have not been finalised, the top prizes will include air tickets to destinations overseas ;-)

Plus, if you are lucky (or unlucky) enough, we could be on the same flight ;-) Fees collected net of the cost of organisation, prizes and gifts will be used to fund the community service centres in Damansara Utama and Subang Jaya.

Please download the entry forms here.

Rules & regulations:

• Payment can be via cash, cheque or credit card
• Scoring for the tournament will be done on System 36 / Stableford format. All tallied results will be final and complaints will not be entertained.
• Buffet dinner, prize presentation and auctions will be held at the clubhouse at 7.30pm hosted by MP for Petaling Jaya Utara, Tony Pua and ADUN for Subang Jaya, Hannah Yeoh.

Submission & Enquiries:

• Please fax your entry forms to: (03) 7726 0443
• For any further enquiries, please do not hesitate to call Ally Pua @ 016-2208867, Edward Yap @ 012-2088967 , Wilson Leong @ 012-6351313 or email : dappju@yahoo.com

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