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...

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 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 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...

In our previous  topic , we had discussed and greatly emphasized on the importance of separation of powers between the party and the government. The main purpose of such measure is to curb any possible abuse of powers, corruption, favouritism and conflict of interest between the one party leader who is also a member of the government's executive body i.e. be it the state or the federal cabinet. And here you are today, the Selangor state government under the leadership of its Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim had did it. He has set a very good example and reference for everyone of us to see and proven that a government without any party leaders or chairmen at helm could be well managed or governed effectively. Tan Sri Khalid who is from PKR is not the state PKR chairman was appointed Menteri Besar of the state in 2008 after the party won the state jointly with its coalition partners in the Pakatan Rakyat and has been put to continue the state stewardship following the repe...