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Dr Tan Seng Giaw outlines what he has done within and outside Parliament to overcome news balckout

DR TAN SENG GIAW

VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
THEN, NOW AND BEYOND

Because of the media constraints, Dr Tan has to go online to tell the people what he has done within and outside Parliament.

Dr Tan has been serving as a Member of Parliament since 1982. He has worked tirelessly to make Malaysia a more democratic, liberal and just nation. With his experience and concern for the Malaysian society, he continues to speak without fear or favour.

LIFE AND EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

An avid reader who has a quest for knowledge and learning, Dr Tan's political vision sprang from a humble start in life and varied early education. Now a consultant dermatologist, he received his primary and secondary education in Chung Hwa Primary School, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, and Chung Ling High School, Penang, respectively. He graduated from Leeds University, England and served in the Malaysian Army as a physician before establishing his own clinic. Together with his wife, Dr Oon Hong Geok, a paediatrician, they successfully raised two children, both of whom are doctors, in paediatrics and geriatrics respectively.

Dr Tan was born in Kota Bharu in 1942. In 1976 he helped the late Dr Tan Chee Khoon in serving the people of Kepong. He was subsequently elected as their MP in 1982, and has been serving in this role ever since. He also became DAP's National Vice-Chairman in 1985. His proficiency in Mandarin, English, Bahasa Malaysia and Jawi means that he is able to serve effectively in this constituency and in the Parliament. In 1987-1988, he was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

PAST EFFORTS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Following careful scrutiny of government policies, allocation of public funds and performance of civil servants as the obligations of an MP, Dr Tan has exposed the occurrences of injustice and irregularities. His life-long mission has always been to challenge the government in becoming more transparent and accountable.

Dr Tan has provided a number of pragmatic solutions to meet the needs of the public. He has fought long and hard to make Kepong, Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia a safer and better place in which to live. In the past 30 years, there has been a phenomenal drop in the number of squatters in Kepong, and from the highest, Kepong is now eighth in KL.
There have been major housing projects, new economic opportunities and improved infrastructure and transportation network in the constituency. Now, major trunk roads and commuter train services link Kepong to other major cities. Dr Tan has also fought for the LRT and monorail stations to be built in Kepong. He has presented his vision for the systematic development of Jinjang and the other areas in the hearing on the 2003 KL Structural Plan that aims to make KL world-class.

AWARENESS

Dr Tan emphasizes strongly the need to educate the public about their rights. The Malaysian society must be aware of the issues regarding the legitimate use of the public funds by the Government. The total annual national and KL revenues are over RM80 billion and over RM800 million respectively. These are public funds that must be allocated fairly to improve the quality of life of the people, since they are the ones who contribute towards taxes and the other revenues.

At times some people claim credit for the improvement in infrastructure in the country. However, they do not spend their own money on these projects that cost millions or even billions. The decision-making process does not occur overnight. It involves numerous processes including suggestions from government officers and the Opposition. The ruling party therefore should not take all the credit for such decisions.

FIGHT FOR THE WELFARE OF THE PEOPLE OF KEPONG

The federal annual budget is over RM100 billion and that of the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (KLCH) is over RM2.0 billion. For several years, DBKL has allocated funds to upgrade different areas like the playing field and Club Road, Jinjang North, as well as the overhead bridge between Taman Bukit Maluri and Taman Kepong, the proposed road between Kepong Baru roundabout and Metro Prima and others. Prior to this, the people, various associations and the Member of Parliament have repeatedly asked for funding to implement these projects. It is thus a collective effort.

FIGHT FOR BETTER SECURITY

People are concerned about security. Besides making the public more aware of their part to bring about a more secure society, Dr Tan has been pressing the Government for more and better trained police with improved facilities, police stations, housing, salaries and allowance. We need to overcome the shortage of police personnel and replace the colonial stations in Jinjang and Sentul. The Government must fulfill the promise to recruit 21,000 personnel. The Royal Commission on police must aim at raising the standard of police to be comparable to the best in the world, truly clean, efficient and trustworthy.

FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION AND MISAPPROPRIATION OF FUNDS

The Eight Malaysia Plan (2001 to 2005) has allocations totaling RM110 billion. The Mid-Term Review of the plan shows that nearly all the allocations has been used. Is there any wanton waste? The Government has added RM50 billion, bringing it up to RM160 billion. We have to make sure that there are no irregularities in the implementation of myriad projects.

Dr Tan will continue to monitor various government projects, such as the flood mitigation projects: the SMART project on Sungai Klang which costs over RM2.1 billion and the Sungai Gombak, Sungai Keroh and Sungai Jinjang project that costs over RM200 million, in order to stop wanton waste of public funds, This is in keeping with DAP's fight for the basic human rights as well as the people's political, economic, educational and environmental rights.

FIGHT AGAINST ISLAMIC STATE

The Federal Constitution must be upheld. Dr Tan opposes an Islamic State that is based on the Quran and the Sunnah. Pas's Islamic state document (issued on 12 November, 2003) is against the spirit of the Federal Constitution. In defines vicegerency (khilafah) as the task and responsibility of leaders in establishing Islam as ad-Deen (the way of life) and in governing the state. The Federal Constitution states that Malaysia is a parliamentary democracy, in which there are independent legislature (parliament), judiciary (courts) and executive (government) . Similarly, when the former Prime Minister declared Malaysia an Islamic State on 29 September 2001 at the Gerakan Convention, he defied the Constitution that safeguards freedom of religion for all. There is no such thing as an extremist or a moderate Islamic State. Universal values such as righteousness, consultation, justice, equality and freedom should be instilled among the people of Malaysia but it is unacceptable to use any religion to rule the multi-religious country.

FIGHT FOR EDUCATION

Education should be based on merits and needs. The Government must abolish the quota system. Apart from Bahasa Malaysia, we believe in a multilingual policy. Naturally, it is important to learn more English. But, the Government should review the implementation of English Mathematics and Science from standard one, so that weaknesses can be corrected. The standard of Mandarin in Chinese school should not be affected. We require more schools and better-trained teachers. The Government must fulfill the promise in 1999 to build five new primary Chinese schools. If we follow the Government criteria, KL needs more schools including at least 16 new primary Chinese schools.

LEGAL IMMIGRANT WORKERS

Many sectors in the country such as plantation, construction and distributive trade require immigrant workers. Now, we do not know the number of illegal immigrant workers. It may be over two million, with over 500,000 Indonesians. In 1996 and 1999, Malaysia signed agreements with Indonesia like Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). These did not help. Over two decades, the flow of millions of illegal immigrants affects our socio-economy including schools, hospitals and clinics.

On 7 January, 2004, the Prime Minister Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi signed another MoU on workers with President Megawati in Jakarta. We hope that this and other measures will be effective in controlling illegal immigrants. The Government must eradicate irregularities and assist the people to get legal workers.

AGAINST ABSOLUTE POWER

Besides being concerned with local issues such as roads, drains and hygiene, an MP must perform parliamentary duties.

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Barisan Nasional controls the media. It has the money and the machinery. It can win. But if BN wins too many seats, it will continue to do what it likes, riding roughshod over the people. Irregularities such as corruption will be worse! So it is very important that the voters deny BN a two-third majority.

Dr Tan Seng Giaw