The last time councillors stood their ground and defied an unpalatable ruling, several ended up in the doghouse - wrongly accused of “lawan towkay” (fighting the boss).
In March 2023, 19 of 24 Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) councillors walked out of a full board meeting after clashing with then-mayor Azhan Amir over a development project.
The mayor wrongly insisted that councillors had no decision-making role in One-Stop Centre (OSC) matters.
The councillors staged the walkout to protect the council’s interests and uphold due process, particularly regarding plot-ratio guidelines and a developer’s pending appeal.
They saw the mayor’s haste as an attempt to sideline their oversight responsibilities.
Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari later reduced the whole episode to a “misunderstanding”. However, when the councillors’ terms expired that December, some were quietly dropped and replaced with supposedly “friendly” individuals unlikely to resist directives forced onto them.
It did not work out, and the state was made to look embarrassed and foolish. The newbies, with the seniors, stood up for accountability. And history looks set to repeat itself next month as new appointments are finalised. Those who have been vocal may once again find themselves “released”.
In June, another confrontation erupted with the state government. MBPJ councillors refused to endorse the Selangor Smart Integrated Parking (SIP) project - a move that would see the council surrender more than half its RM18 million parking revenue to a private operator.
Three councils - Shah Alam, Subang Jaya and Selayang - rolled over, willingly forgoing millions in public funds. Petaling Jaya did not. It held the line as the last bulwark against an enforced “privatisation”.
Voices ignored
The state government remained unmoved.
Even a simple Freedom of Information request from residents - merely seeking the names of companies that submitted proposals, not contract terms or negotiations - was allegedly summarily rejected under the cloak of the Official Secrets Act (OSA), according to PSM.
What is so sensitive in the SIP proposals that public-interest information must be shielded under the OSA? Is this not the public’s money?
Back to the privatisation proposals. It appears that they had already been signed, sealed, and delivered.
In Subang Jaya, the private company involved had held a briefing for council staff on June 24 - before the deal was even signed.
I wrote then that the presentation covered proposed enforcement operations, SOPs, ad hoc duties for state-level events, and the standardisation of parking enforcement - all under a concessionaire yet officially “not appointed”.
At a press conference, state exco member Ng Suee Lim dismissed all talk of a concessionaire, repeatedly insisting “nothing has been finalised”.
If nothing was finalised, why was a full briefing held? Who authorised the staff of a private company to “trespass” in the MBSJ office and summon council staff for a meeting?
Even the voices of PKR backbench lawmakers - William Leong (Selayang), Wong Chen (Subang), and Lee Chean Chung (Petaling Selatan) - were ignored.
Leong noted that the reason given for the privatisation exercise was the poor parking revenue of about 30 percent and lax enforcement, resulting in double parking.
“One would think that the obvious solution to poor performance in collection and enforcement is to improve the competence, skills, and capabilities of the personnel involved and if necessary, to change them for more competent staff.
“By pursuing a privatisation scheme, the effect is to acknowledge the incompetence of the present staff as being beyond redemption.
Losing revenue or profit?
This writer too made an impassioned plea - the privatisation scheme be deferred pending a formal inquiry by the Selangor Special Select Committee on Competence, Accountability, and Transparency (Selcat).
I asked: “Does MBI Selangor, a state-owned company, have the power to appoint contractors or concessionaires? Does the private company have the power to enforce parking regulations, even if it is under the supervision of council staff? Can they legally issue a summons for non-payment of parking fees?”
But at the height of the issues, a person close to a shareholder in the proposed deal told me in a telephone message to consider whether councils were losing “revenue or profit”. He then waxed lyrical about China’s technology and ticketless trains.
My reply was simple: “In Selangor, the issue is not technology. It is about enriching a chosen few through piratisation - unethical privatisation without transparency or open tenders.”
I spared him my final thought: “In China, you are lined up before a firing squad or get a bullet in the forehead if you are corrupt or mess around with people’s money!”
Ng later claimed the company would “invest” RM200 million to install 1,600 CCTVs to enhance revenue collection. Four months on, the public remains none the wiser. Only recently did the company’s shareholding become public, triggering even more scrutiny.
Unable to “persuade” the crop of councillors, someone in the state may now be tempted to replace them with compliant “yes men” who will raise their hands and say setuju (agree) on cue.
When councillors stand their ground, they risk exile. When they bend, they are rewarded. That is the grim arithmetic of governance in Selangor.
To the councillors whose terms are ending: thank you. You have held the line, defended accountability, and paid the familiar price for principle. When you step down, you can walk away with your head held high. You did what was right - and are now paying the familiar price for it.
History will remember you not as those who sold their souls, but as those who refused to. - Mkini
R NADESWARAN is a veteran journalist who strives to uphold the ethos of civil rights leader John Lewis: “When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something.” Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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