‘Are Noh’s politics a bane to BN?’

I grew up in Kepong with a very strong dislike of Barisan Nasional (BN) politics.

Under such conditions, it is no wonder that after 2008, my allegiance to BN under former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi easily swung towards the new coalition. For me, enough was enough.

As a young man, I was angry with the attitude of Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL). To me, they represent the BN government and its failure to provide good service to the people.

Except for certain individuals with the city council, DBKL was a big disappointment to me. Complaints lodged to its various departments failed to receive the appropriate attention, unless I hit the keys of my word processor and clicked my camera button to capture the ugly sight of an unattended complaint.

For example, a section of Jalan Kepong has been dug up time and again, and because it is badly resurfaced, the patch becomes very uncomfortable to drive on (see picture).

Only after the complaint was highlighted in the newspapers, would DBKL (therefore, the government) do something about the problems.

We are taxpayers, too

Because Kepong is traditionally a DAP stronghold where the majority of the residents are middle class Chinese, this constituency has been apparently neglected by the DBKL.

BN supporters, including my friends in the media circles, would often ridicule me, saying that Kepong was an opposition area, therefore, it was not surprising that it was badly neglected by the government.

I kept quiet back then because I wanted to remain apolitical, but these days, to these people, I would say, “We are taxpayers, too! In fact, we are paying higher taxes compared to most of you!”

I thought it was just the media people who were making fun in a teasing manner until one day, when face to face with a former DBKL director who was also a friend back then, she told me that DBKL had allegedly been trying to topple the Kepong MP Dr Tan Seng Giaw. She admitted: “But, we failed!” Of course, DBKL had failed to topple Dr Tan, because of its extremely poor service to the people.

The failure by the DBKL staff was a failure by the government of the day and since Barisan Nasional was the ruling coalition, most people in Kepong would give it the thumbs-down.

Now, a minister like Noh Omar comes out in the open to instruct all local councils and city halls to “cancel all BP 1 projects for the year 2017 approved in local governments in parliamentary constituencies held by non-BN parties”.

If we cannot live with the cancellation of all the BP1 projects, then it is time for us to vote people like Noh Omar out. They have no business to run the country if they continue to operate with what I call the ‘Umno mindset’.

Frequently in the news, Jamal Mohd Yunos has seemingly become the object of derision, and now, Noh is no different. Both of them think that they can win votes using threats against the rakyat.

So, to Noh, I would like to say this: “Thank you for scrapping approvals for local government projects in parliamentary constituencies where BN lost. Soon, we will have to kick you and others out of Putrajaya.”

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STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.- Mkini