Inter-Research And Studies (IRAS)

In times of crisis, like today’s coronavirus widespread in our nation, the parliament as the highest institution in this country must ensure our people and the nation’s well-being are being prioritised by the government of the day. In this case, even if the coronavirus is yet to be under control and the movement control order (MCO) is being implemented, the period and time of the parliamentary sittings should not be reduced no matter what it takes in order to ensure the sitting government is properly checked and scrutinised in whatever it undertakes to ensure public interests are maintained, corruption, power abuse and mismanagement of funds can be prevented. It is the utmost responsibilities of the sitting government to ensure the smooth proceedings of the parliament by ensuring all member of parliament of their safety and security while the proceedings are ongoing while the crisis is being tackled. Today, based on our observation on the rebel government, they are obviously disappo...

We are gravely disappointed the way the rebel government handle and apply the movement control order (MCO) in this country. As of yesterday evening, there were reports both formal and informal indicating that some ministers, deputy ministers, a menteri besar, exco members, MPs or state assemblymen were seen in official functions with many attendees being invited to their events where food and drinks were also served to all invited guests. So, we would like to ask members of the rebel government. Just exactly how many sets of rules does your MCO applies to in this country? One for the normal people with harsh punishment onto offenders, while the other is an exemption for VVIPs like you all happily enjoying in your events and function there by showing of your “V” sign to the ordinary people? If that is so, the rebel government has not been fair towards our people, venting a heavy jail terms to offenders of ordinary background while those in higher caste or with high positions wer...

Prior to the 14th general elections last year, the then opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan (PH) laid out its manifesto for the people to decide which coalition of political parties did they want to run the federal and state governments. And the people had made their choice on 9 May 2018 to kick out the then corrupt Barisan Nasional (BN) government and installed PH in place to reform and govern our nation with new policies, institutional reforms, combat corruption and to correct the wrongs in the judiciary system as well as civil service which has been killing our nation’s reputation for years. In aftermath of PH’s takeover of the federal seat, what has been discovered were our nation’s coffers had lost billions of ringgit as the result of swindling, mismanagement and corruptions by the leaders of the previous ruling coalition. Much has gone missing, unrecoverable and as the result of the nation’s debts which is at the highest ever, trillions of ringgit, our nation’s currency deval...

Some parties to these area had started to put the blame on the government on oversupply of homes. Who should be blamed for the oversupply of homes and other kinds of unsold properties? The federal government, state government or the developers. To the general view of the public, the federal government outlines the housing policy, the state government enforce and ensure regulations on land and housing are adhered to while the developers acquire the land allocated, construct, built and sell the properties to the public. Developers wanted to sell for profit, the government wanted to collect revenues to increase their funds for the expenditures to facilitate the development of better infrastructures for the people in the country. Building houses, shoplots or even shopping complexes around selected areas, whose plans are they? Planning for affordable homes, determining the locations of these houses to be build, ensuring the prices are affordable to the public, building houses and p...

Last week, there has been a big publicity on the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda)’s success in "regaining the land" in Jalan Semarak which has been suspiciously transferred to a company in a 2015 deal. We would like to seek a clearer clarification from the Felda chairman Shahrir Abdul Samad, is the land in Jalan Semarak really back in Felda’s hand? What is the evidence of transactions which will prove that Felda has indeed regained the ownership of the land? Can he show the public that the developer/owner of the land Synergy Promenade Sdn Bhd (SPSB) had transacted all the transfer proceedings back to Felda with the various paperwork done? The announcement made by Felda recently that they had regained the land is indeed a surprise, as such transaction speed has never happened before in history. What has Felda got to offer in order to regain the land from SPSB? SPSB could not have just return the land to Felda empty handed since the developer has already star...

This article has earlier appeared in Beritadaily.com on 30/3/2017 When the Romanian government planned to enforce a decree to make power abuse a crime punishable by jail only when the sum involved exceeds 200,000 lei, which is equivalent to RM210,000, an estimated half a million Romanians took to the streets to protest their government’s plan to legitimise corruption below the said amount. The Romanian police did not try their best to prevent the demonstration from taking place in the city of Bucharest by arresting prominent leaders of opposition parties and civil rights organisations. This is part of the democratic process which the Romanian security has abided by. But in Malaysia, the Umno-dominated Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition government has very often viewed protests and demonstrations as acts detrimental to parliamentary democracy, thus enacting many kinds of restrictions under the Peaceful Assembly Act, Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma), Prevention of...

This article has earlier appeared in Beritadaily.com on 22/09/2016 Recently, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), under the leadership of the newly appointed chief commissioner Dzulkifli Ahmad, has made a string of arrests of high-ranking civil servants ranging from Datuks to Datuks Seri and Tan Sris. Well, whenever MACC is helmed by a new chief, such enthusiasm seems to be bubbling. It begs the question of whether the new broom can sweep as well till the end. Yes, Dzulkifli has adopted the right approach, according to many. But so did all the previous MACC chiefs, who had started well with a spate of arrests and prosecutions of corrupt public figures. But they ended up being frowned upon by many powerful politicians and leaders because MACC was trying its best to go deeper into these corrupt elements, their source and associates. And let us not forget what had happened to MACC last year when it was subjected to actions that demoralised its staff and made a mockery of it...

This article has earlier appeared in Beritadaily.com on 18/3/2016 The Pakatan Harapan government in Penang was recently embroiled in a controversy over the sacking of two PKR assemblymen from the boards of state government-linked-companies, InvestPenang and Penang Hill Corporation (PHC). The termination of the services of Ong Chin Wen (Bukit Tengah) and Cheah Kah Peng (Kebun Bunga) was announced by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, in retaliation for their decision not to vote against an Umno motion to halt land reclamation projects in Penang. PKR, however, defended its two state assemblymen, saying its elected representatives are allowed to vote according to their conscience and the people’s interests. To add salt to the wound, the DAP-led state government appointed Seremban MP Anthony Loke to the board of PHC to replace Cheah. The state government has reasoned that Loke’s appointment was based on his capacity as the party’s shadow minister for tourism and culture at the federal level whi...

This article has earlier appeared in Beritadaily.com on 26/2/2016 Barisan Nasional leaders, particularly those from Umno, should wake up and accept the fact that arresting and imprisoning people will not stop criticisms from being levelled against the ruling party and the government. Instead, it will certainly increase public suspicion over what these government leaders are actually up to. Apart from that, such actions will also give the impression that the BN government is trying to cover up weaknesses in its administration. In politics, public perception, whether negative or positive, exists in every form, be it criticism, commentaries, discussions, condemnations, debates, exchange of ideas or just simply a chat in a coffee shop. Whatever the BN government is doing or if any of its top leaders is linked to controversies or scandals, it will inevitably attract public attention and generate public perceptions based on the information obtained. Perception is prevalent and unless th...

This article has earlier appeared in Beritadaily.com on 6/1/2016 The negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, or better known by its acronym, TPPA, which includes Malaysia has taken place for about eight years. Prime Minister Najib Razak also announced in his Budget 2016 speech that Malaysia had agreed in principal to join the US-sponsored trade agreement because of its benefits to our people. The TPPA is expected to be tabled in parliament on Jan 26, following which a vote will take place in order to set the course for the government to officially endorse the trade agreement which is due to be officially sealed in February 2016. Much has been said by the government on the goodness of the TPPA but if there are so many goodies in this trade agreement, why hasn’t the government revealed details of them? Why weren't any of the details outlined to the general public if this pact could serve the interest of our people-at-large? Najib and his government has insisted ...

This article has earlier appeared in Beritadaily.com on 4/12/2015 WH Cheng When the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was in the midst of investigating the controversial and debt-ridden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), its efforts and hard work were suddenly halted when the then committee chairman Nur Jazlan Mohamed and some other members who are mostly BN parliamentarians were abruptly removed and 'promoted' to positions in the government administration in a reshuffle by the prime minister. During the transition, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia had also disallowed PAC deputy chairman Dr Tan Seng Giaw from taking over the inquiry and had the entire committee suspended indefinitely. The suspension of PAC by the Speaker was justified by the explanation that the committee has been rendered ineffective following the departure of Nur Jazlan as chair and almost half of its membership. The truth is, the move by the BN government has made the PAC a lame duck, thus delay...

This article has earlier appeared in Beritadaily.com on 9/11/2015 WH Cheng We all have seen and heard of the Budget 2016 tabled by Prime Minister and Umno president Najib Razak recently. On the surface, it looks so attractive that some people may get overly excited until they look deeper into the content. Our major concern here is, does this budget really serve its purpose? Our nation’s economy has been battered by the continuous depreciation of the ringgit. Inflation has been rising right to the top, and our people could no longer bear the rising cost of living these days. Economically, most of us are in quite a defensive mode because we need to fight for our survival, work even harder to earn more money just so we could put some food on the table for our family. Is this what the BN government has planned all this while? Making sure we are all tied up, frustrated and feeling helpless, so we have no more time to look at the way BN runs this nation of ours to ruins? Let u...

Decentralisation as an alternative Decentralisation is defined as the distribution and delegation of functions and powers from the federal government to state and local governments. In aftermath of the 12th general election in 2008, which saw the Barisan Nasional losing its two-thirds majority in the parliament and the opposition Pakatan Rakyat capturing five state governments, discussion arose about the need for decentralisation following some friction in federal-state relationship which are seen to be jeopardising the states’ administration, roles and development plans. In every kind of governing system, pros and cons are sure to exist. Much depends on on who, how and what kind of party or coalition of parties is elected. Other relevant factors including the ethnic groups or combination of ethnic groups involved; the ideology or combination of ideologies; the attitude of the governing parties and the governing policies at the federal, state or municipal levels. But in the highly c...