Councillors for KL: PAS Should Not Racialise Issue – Raja Ahmad Iskandar
Publicity Secretary of DAP Socialist Youth (DAPSY) For Federal Territory Kuala Lumpur FT KL), Raja Ahmad Iskandar Fareez, on Saturday, Oct 26, called for a stop to politicising a recent proposal by FT KL DAP Chairman, Tan Kok Wai, to amend the Federal Capital Act 1960 to allow for the appointment of council members in Kuala Lumpur, as practiced by other local authorities nationwide.
It is regrettable that Federal Territories (FT) PAS Youth had recently played up extreme racial sentiments on proposal, Raja Ahmad said. The city’s people should not be deprived of the right to their own local representation. DBKL only has an advisory board and does not have appointed councillors and the city also lacks “state-level” representation. This complicates service delivery and complaint management for constituencies in KL, as it relies solely on 11 Members of Parliament to serve the city’s close to two million population. Other states with significantly lower populations such as Perlis (284,000), Melaka (998,000), Negeri Sembilan (1.19 million), and Terengganu (1.14 million), have their own council members and state representatives.
Bangi MP Syahredzan Johan proposes Education Fund for Indian Community
Member of Parliament for Bangi Syahredzan Johan proposed the set up of a Malaysian Indian Education Fund at the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday, Oct 24. While there is already general help being offered to the community as well as through MITRA and Tekun Nasional, “I think we need to have a game changer to help the Indian community,” he said.
He suggested the fund should be used to aid Indian university students in the country. While there is a programme under MITRA for Indian students pursuing bachelor’s degree where qualified students receive RM2,000, this is a very small sum, he said. This would not be enough even to buy a laptop. Under the proposed fund, Indian students from the low income category will be given a one-off aid of RM20,000 to finance their education.
The MP proposed an allocation of RM100 million for the fund so that it can benefit 5,000 students every year. Many Indian students qualify for university education but their financial difficulties deter them from pursuing their studies, he said.
–WE