"FIXED DEPOSIT" might turn into "DEFICIT"

SPEECH BY YB DATUK SERI PANGLIMA WILFRED M. BUMBURING
DEBATING ON THE ROYAL ADDRESS
MARCH 25, 2010

The 1Malaysia concept mooted by the Prime Minister have given a new breath of life to the people of Malaysia in general as this concept is not taking into consideration any particular race, religion and background. The main thrust of the 1Malaysia concept is justice for all. I hereby quote a statement from the book "Program Tranfomasi Kerajaan" that says “Perpaduan aspirasi di kalangan rakyat Malaysia adalah pra-syarat bagi mencapai WAWASAN 2020.”

This is indeed true in its truest sense and I believe no Malaysian would question the fact that was stated therein. In regards to unity, all quarters must envision and practice the reality of this ideal. We must accept the fact that the people of Malaysia are made up of various ethnic groups. The diverse racial composition of Malaysia can be the strength as well as the weakness in our efforts to develop this nation. This all depends on our methods of management and application approach towards this diversity. In short, the people of Malaysia are equal. There are no MASTERS and there are no NON-MASTERS. There should not be a situation where “ALL ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS”. This is in line with the core idea of the Hala Tuju PROGRAM TRANSFORMASI KERAJAAN plan which should clearly outline the concept that “A nation where, it is hoped, every Malaysian perceives himself as Malaysian first, and by race,religion, geographical region or socio-economic background second). But there must exist a two way traffic where the government should first consider each individual as Malaysian.

Maybe there will arise question as to why the need for another form of administrative and development concept whenever a new Prime Minister is appointed. The late Tun Abdul Razak with the Dasar Economi Baru; Tun Dr Mahathir, Wawasan 2020; YB Tun Abdullah Badawi with the slogan of Cemerlang, Gemilang dan Terbilang and now this 1Malaysia. Is this 1Malaysia concept a continuation of the previous concept or is it a new one which is needed to deal with the new situation which arises out of the previous policy? In the document Program Trasformasi Kerajaan, the government admitted that, and I quote: “PERLAKSANAAN DEB JUGA MEMBAWA KEPADA KEADAAN YANG TIDAK DIDUGA, TERMASUK KEMUNCULAN ‘EKONOMI DWI-KELAJUAN’, MELUASKAN KETIDAK-SAMARATAN, PENINGKATAN PERASAAN TIDAK BERPUAS HATI DAN BILANGAN RAKYAT BERBAKAT MENINGGALKAN NEGARA KIAN MENINGKAT”

I held in high esteem the government’s admission over this matter as this really reflect the true situation. Indeed, the pre-condition to the success of any policy must be based on factual problematic situation and mjust be designed and targeted to address the actual situation. In light of this, Malaysian must act together in openness and sincerity based on the true meaning of the 1Malaysia concept.

I would like to touch specifically on a few points which I believe is very important to be given serious attention and affirmative action if we want the 1Malaysia concept to succeed.

ECONOMIC JUSTICE AND EQUALITY

The people’s and Nation’s economic development must be based on unity among all the people without looking into their political and religious leanings and racial background. Unity can only be achieved when every citizen are treated with fairness and given the same opportunity in all fields under the government system of administration. The struggle to unite a diverse group of people in any country is a daunting and challenging task. Since independence, the government had mobilized resources and expenditures towards a unity program. But until today, unity is yet to be achieved. In fact racial polarization continues to exist here and there including inside this respected House.

TUAN SPEAKER
We can not deny that the New Economic Policy have helped many bumiputra in many ways even though there are still those who think that it had only helped a few bumiputra individual only. At the same time, the non-bumiputra felt they have been sidelined although their rights have not been neglected. In the Sabah context, I can not deny that the NEP have helped only a portion of the bumiputra minority there. Nevertheless, many among this bumiputra minority felt that they have not enjoyed the level of development as enjoyed by the bumiputra in Peninsular Malaysia. The indigenous people (Orang-orang Asli) are also still lagging behind in many development aspect. In a dialog with former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir several years ago, the issue of the Native Minority in Sabah and Sarawak was put to him and his response then was “IT WAS OVERLOOK” (TERLIMPAS PANDANG), and he had promised then that he would introduce as specific program to address this “oversight.” The question here is, Why did this has to happened? Is it that this minority groups had ceased to exist and was drown in the big bumiputra group like a drop of rain that fell into the ocean. The 18% achievement by the bumiputra under the NEP, theer are no statistic to show the achievement of the bumiputra minority in Sabah or in Sarawak.

The Prime Minister has said that Sabah and also Sarawak are the “FIXED DEPOSIT” of the government and both regions have been made the example for this 1Malaysia concept. The Native Minoriti (in these two States) are also part of this “fixed deposit.” And if the interest given to this “fixed deposit” are low, as what current banks are giving to depositors, the I am afraid that we might loose this “fixed deposit.”

As I have mentioned earlier, I am confident that the prime Minister is sincere in his transformation programs. The implementation of this program also require sincerity in all level of implementation, be it at Minsiterial level or departmental level. There should no longer exist the discriminatory practice by certain departmental administrators in the recruitment and promotion of civil servants and promotion exercise which are based on ethnic or religious background. I am sincere in expressing hereto that it has been the talk among the Kadazandusun that they felt they are second class bumiputra in this nation called Malaysia.

It would be not fair for me if I don’t mention here that there are many government programs which are good and are considered racially blind. This is to say that these programs were well and fairly implemented which are not racially discriminating in nature. As an example among these programs are the PROGRAM CARI, SUBUR DAN IKTIAR. The only form of discrimination in the implementation of this program is the gap between the poor and the “not poor.” I congratulate the Ministry concerned. I hope the other Ministry must be brave in giving instruction to their implementing officers to completely eradicate this form of discrimination. Only when economic and social justice exist can we truly be confident that unity can be achieved and enhance the development of this Nation. The spirit of comradeship will exist and at the same time the spirit of patriotism will be enhanced and the nation will no longer be faced with a “brain-drain” situation.

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
The Malaysian Federation was formed based on the Constitution that guarantees the freedom of religions with Islam as the respected official religion of the country. We have nurtured this freedom for many years and the people have lived alongside each other in harmony and in peace. Malaysia is known in the international community as among the best harmonious sovereign nation having the highest level of religious tolerance. However, we are sad over the incident on the controversial use of the word Allah by the Catholic Church in its newspaper. As this case is pending in the courts I will therefore not delve too much on this topic. However, I hope the government can find the best solution on this issue. I fully support the initiative to find a solution to this issue outside the courts. In the event that the court would be the final avenue to solve this problem then the Malaysian public must therefore respect the decision of the court, and uphold the federal constitution. I am sadden to see that there certain people who are refused to accept the court’s ruling when the decision is not in their favor and have resorted to attacking church buildings and mosques. Indeed, this incident has become a black history in Malaysia’s chapters. The people as whole are hoping that the government will take a firm action against those responsible for this despicable acts.

I am also happy to note that one of the core aspect of this PROGRAM REFOMASI KERAJAAN is to find a solution to the problem of racial and religious polarity. This includes initiatives to foster deeper understanding through the formation of a consultative panel. Along this lines, I propose that the INTER-RELIGIOUS COUNCIL which was formed earlier be reactivated to deal with this issue. I understand that there are certain group of people who are against the formation of this body. However, I seincerely believed that consultation and discussion made throught this council will e beneficial to us. As part of the effort by the government in transforming this nation, and because religious issues are very important for multiracial Malaysia, I therefore would like to propose to the Prime Minister that a Ministry be formed, or at least a special department be formed which would be tasked to look into the religious matters so that any issues that might arise would solved and avoid any controversy.

In relation to this religious issues, I also would like to appeal to the government to immediately solve the problem relating to the seizure of religious material by the Royal Custom Department. I have been made to understand that this books are produced in Indonesia. Why was this book permitted by the Indonesian Government to be printed there and why are they banned in Malaysia? In the spirit of 1Malaysia, I sincerely hope that this issue can be solved at the earliest possible. Aside from that, I also hope that the spying incident by two journalist from the Al-Islam magazine when they attended a religious activity in a Catholic Church will not happen again because the action by these two reporters has offended the Catholics.

I also would to briefly state here the problem in the issuance of identity card by Children of mix parentage between a Malaysian and a foreigner, specifically in the context of Sabah many of whom involved marriages between a Sabahan and either a Filipino or and Indonesian. Many of their children now are faced with the problem of applying for identity card. This problem become more serious when they enter secondary schools due to not having an identity card.

Those who are involved have tried in vain for many years but that their effort have been fruitless. The National Registration Department advised them to go to Putrajawa to be interviewed and for other requirements. Many among these people who are involved came from poor families and they have no money to travel to Putrajaya. Why not the Minsitry of Home Affairs authorized their officers in Kota Kinabalu to solve this problem? I urge the ministry concern to include this issue in their KPI. The people should be made the priority and to not make this a burden to them.

I have for countless times raised the issue of illegal immigrants and illegal issuance of identity cards in Sabah. To date, there are no action taken. If we take into account the enormity of this problem, indeed it should be made part of the government’s KPI. As I am becoming fed up with rasing this issue in this House, I will not go further in talking about it. I would just like to remind the government that if this problem is not dealt with positively in the soonest time possible, maybe that Fixed Deposit will soon turned into a deficit.

One final issue I would like to touch on here is the problem of illegal foregn workers in Sabah. We now have come to a situation where we have serious employment problem especially in the plantation sectors. This is because many foreign workers, especially Indonesian, have returned to their country because the development of Oil Palm plantation in Indonesia offered them comparatively the same salary scale as what they would receive in Sabah. There was at one time when the government offered amnesty to undocumented foreign workers. This program was able to solve the problem for many of these foreign workers. However, there are still many of those who were not able to legalize their stay in time. In order to solve the problem of inadequate manpower in this sector, I recommend that the government carry out another amnesty program. The Indonesian workers are also faced with the problems of legalizing their stay as the cost charged by their government in getting a legal document is very high. Through thisr amnesty program, many of those who are already in Sabah would be able to legalize their stay and be able to work in the plantation sector.

Lastly, I would like to state here that many people are anxiously waiting for the New Economic Model to be tabled by the Prime Minister. Surely there will be new hope and new aspirations to be expected. Whatever it would be, it my sincere hope that this new order will be able to offer an economic system that would be fair to all which at the same time would not sideline the need for affirmative action to solve the problem of the poor and those who are still backward.

Bumburing Disappointed over Minister's Written Reply

Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred M Bumburing expressed his disappointment over the written reply given to him by the Minister of Health, Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai when answering his oral question at the Dewan Rakyat on March 16, 2010 asking the Minister if he is aware that the Tuaran Hospital in Sabah is the only Hospital that has no ward or bed and when will the work on the Phase II of the hospital commence.

In his written reply, the Minister has said that, quote “Hospital Tuaran yang ada sekarang adalah pelaksanaan projek di bawah Fasa 1 pada tahun 1993 di mana perkhidmatan yang disediakan adalah untuk menyalurkan perkhidmatan kesihatan bagi rawatan pesakit luar sahaja. Oleh yang demikian, pembinaan Hospital Tuaran Fasa 1 dibina dengan tidak disediakan kemudahan katil. Bagi perancangan pembinaan Hospital Tuaran Fasa 2, perkhidmatan yang akan disediakan melibatkan perkhidmatan rawatan pesakit dalam di mana ianya melibatkan keperluan katil dan wad. Buat masa ini rekabentuk Fasa 2 yang dihasilkan menyediakan sebanyak 56 katil. Pihak JKR juga diminta untuk menyediakan kos bagi 76 katil supaya Kementerian Kesihatan mempunyai pilihan untuk perlaksanaan projek ini. Memandangkan RMK-9 akan berkahir pada tahun ini maka projek ini akan diteruskan dalam projek sambungan di bawah RMK-10.” Unquote.

Bumburing Said: “I am very disappointed with the written reply given as it still does not indicate whether the Phase II of the project will ever start. Furthermore, the project started and was completed in the 1990s, why should the Ministry wait for more than a decade to commence the second phase of the project? The nearest hospital with beds are almost 50 kilometers away in Kota Kinabalu and in Kota Belud, and it is only appropriate that a full fledged hospital should have been built in Tuaran immediately after the completion of the first phase. Before the ministry start building a new hospital in areas where it is near or in the vicinity of Kota Kinabalu, they must first consider upgrading the current Tuaran Hospital in line with the 1Malaysia concept.”

Meanwhile, Bumburing also urge the authorities to speed up the investigation over the recent attack on churches and mosques. He also expressed his disappointment over the written reply provided by the Home Ministry when it says, quote “ingin saya nyatakan tiada serangan ke atas masjid dan gereja, tetapi kejadian yang berlaku adalah perbuatan khianat menggunakan api. …Setakat ini sebanyak 2 kes perbuatan membakar surau dan 4 kes perbuatan membakar gereja telah berjaya diselesaikan oleh pihak Polis.” Unquote.

Bumburing said: “I urged the relevant authorities to fully investaigate, and if possible to investigate under the appropriate section of the laws so that whoever is involved, including perhaps those who are behind such attack will be brought to justices, and not just the ‘doer’ of the criminal acts.”

Bumburing made this statement after launching the first Annual General Meeting of the Tuaran Tagal Association at the Tamparuli Youth Hall which was held over the week end. Meanwhile, Bumburing praised the Fisheries Department for adopting the Tagal system as part of the department’s initiative in river conservation effort. RM500,000.00 allocation from the Federal Ministry of Environment have been approved to be disbursed to the respective Tagal groups along Tuaran and Kimaulau rivers and other villagers in the district who are are members of the Tuaran Tagal Association. Bumburing further said that the said allocation will be disbursed by his Administrative Office according to the respective needs for conservation by the various members.

TUARAN HOSPITAL SHOULD BE UPGRADED FIRST

Tuaran, Friday March 5, 2010: Datuk Wilfred M Bumburing said that the current Hospital in Tuaran should be upgraded first by the Health Ministry and Health Department the current state of affairs of the Tuaran Hospital is in dire need for upgrading work. He also denied Lim Kit Siang allegation that the BN government has not done anything to develop Tuaran. Bumburing is responding to statement by Deputy Health Minister Datuk Rosnah on the proposed Kinarut Hospital as well as Lim Kit Siang’s statement alleging non-perpformance by BN in Tuaran. Extract of Bumburing’s statement are as follows:
“I can fully understand the major concern by Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin, the deputy minster, when she expounded the need for a hospital in Kinarut. I have brought to the attention of the ministry the condition of the so-called hospital in Tuaran since 2008. I tabled question last year about the same matter. In the 2010 budget I also draw the attention of the ministry to the state of the hospital in Tuaran. During a recent meeting between the Prime Minister and Sabah member of parliaments I have personally asked him why the announced budget of $120 million was reviewed by the ministry. The ministry had assured me in their answer that the second phase construction of the hospital will start this year.
I will be tabling a question on the same matter during the parliamentary sitting this month.
It is most sad that a hospital for large district like Tuaran, with a population of 120,000 has no bed at all. I was also told that the hospital had been down graded to a clinic in the past. In my speech last year to debate the 2010 budget I have outlined all the reason and rational as to why the construction of the hospital is most urgently needed.
DAP national adviser YB En. Lim Kit Siang, during a gathering in Tuaran recently had mentioned the hospital among other things. While appreciating his concern I have to mention that we in the Barisan Nasional have carried our duty and responsibility in bringing up to the relevant authorities matters that are of urgent public interest.
As to the Sungai Damit bridge I have already submitted an application and have discussed with the Minister of Rural Development, who had assured me that this will be looked into positively this year. I will also be seeking the minister on the progress of the project.
In regards to the communal hall in Tuaran, though there is a delay, Datuk Hajiji had assured that it can be used during the harvest festival this year.”