Paya Rumput rep’s 4 aspirations focus on flood mitigation, local economy, housing, youth opportunities

 

FOUR priorities outlined in the Aspirasi Paya Rumput initiative by Datuk Azman Abidin a.k.a. Tok Man focus on issues affecting residents’ everyday lives, including infrastructure and road safety, local economic development, housing and community well-being as well as education and career opportunities for young people.

Anchored in the broader Aspirasi Melaka Rumah Kita framework, the approach seeks to translate the state’s development agenda into constituency-level priorities with an emphasis on coordination, cooperation with relevant agencies and consistent follow-up.

The first priority by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate addresses flooding, traffic congestion and road safety in Paya Rumput.

The proposed efforts include identifying frequently affected locations, coordinating follow-up with relevant agencies and assessing infrastructure improvement needs.

Road safety – particularly around schools and routes commonly used by residents – is also a key consideration. The approach places emphasis on understanding issues on the ground and ensuring that concerns raised by the community receive appropriate attention and follow-up.

Editor’s Note: Azman who has served as the political secretary to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim since December 2022 is engaged in a three-corner fight in today’s (Nov 14) Melaka state election against Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Rafie Ahmad from PAS and BERSAMA’s Abdul Rashid Abu Bakar.

The state constituency was previously held by UMNO’s Rais Yasin who is not defending the seat this time around.

Stronger wider economic opportunities

The second aspiration focuses on strengthening the local economy by supporting small traders and local entrepreneurs.

Areas of focus include access to business facilities, financing information, training, marketing and digitalisation support. Coordination involving business premises and licensing is also part of the effort to help local traders access relevant information and appropriate support channels.

The aim is to strengthen the capacity of local businesses and create greater opportunities for economic activity within the community.

Housing and neighbourhood well-being form the third priority. This aspiration covers neighbourhood cleanliness, the maintenance of local facilities and home repair needs among eligible households.

Residents’ concerns and needs will be channelled and followed up with the relevant authorities and agencies, taking into account eligibility criteria, priorities and available allocations.

The emphasis is on identifying local needs and addressing them through the appropriate channels.

Skilled youth, a more secure future

The fourth aspiration focuses on youth development through education, technical and vocational education and training (TVET), industry skills and employment opportunities.

The proposed efforts include improving access to information on education assistance, career guidance and connections with training institutions and industry players. The objective is to help young people in Paya Rumput better prepare for employment and build their future.

PH Paya Rumput candidate Datuk Datuk Azman Abidin a.k.a. Tok Man accompanying Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to visit the Krubong Jaya Business Centre as part of the latter’s campaign spree for the Melaka state polls

The four aspirations are intended to be pursued through cooperation with the Melaka state government, the Federal Government, local authorities and relevant agencies in accordance with their respective mandates and established processes.

The implementation approach also emphasises identifying local issues and coordinating action, thus providing community updates and clearly reporting project status.

The distinction between proposals, applications, approvals, implementation and completed projects will be maintained to ensure residents receive accurate information.

Through these four priorities, Aspirasi Paya Rumput places its focus on strengthening the everyday lives of the local community in line with the vision of Makmur, Sejahtera, Terhubung and the broader aspiration of Melaka as a shared home for every Melaka folk. –  Focus Malaysia

Langgak Duta prison must feature all the harsh conditions of a real penal centre to suit Bossku

 

CONVICT Datuk Seri Najib Razak is now spending his days in his posh residence in Jalan Langgak Duta, Kuala Lumpur. But nobody knows what kind of lifestyle the disgraced former premier is enjoying while serving the remaining six years of his sentence under house arrest.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has declared his residence a prison which according to a government gazette, the declared area covers all buildings and a land area of 4,558.975 sq metres.

This prison is definitely not a replica of Kajang Prison which is much larger at 1.6 mil sq metres. However, a prison is a prison which means that it must have all the grim features associated with it.

By all accounts, its appearance is foreboding: tall concrete walls topped with razor wire or barbed wire, watchtowers and a network of security cameras.

Perhaps, high-tech security features such as drones are used to monitor the surroundings to repel any attempts at a breakout.

Although tight security cordon has been thrown around the ground of Najib’s residence, the Prisons Department should consider erecting a wall around the house which can be built in no time considering that the prisoner has six long years to complete his sentence.

There should also be watchtowers set up at the four corners of his house to ensure no “UMNO invaders” can enter the premises.

Forfeiting luxurious features

To ensure the prisoner is deprived of the luxury of a private life, a battery of CCTVs should be installed inside and outside the house to check very movement of Bossku.

The inside of his “mansion” must also assume the look of a real prison. Hence, his room must be altered to look like a barren cell, measuring maybe 6 by 12 feet, furnished with a concrete bed (no Dunlop pillows or posters), an open toilet and a small sink.

The door must also be made of heavy metal with tiny openings at the top and bottom: the former to check what he is doing (whether he is sleeping or weeping or meditating) and the latter for family members to shove in his meagre meals.

For bathing purposes, a small open-air space be created with just one overhead shower for the once-most powerful man to take his baths with no soaps provided.

But nobody really knows what the inside of his “new posh villa” looks like. To ensure that the former premier is experiencing as harsh a condition as the one he experienced at the Kajang Prison, a proposal by Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng is worth considering.

Lim suggested that the Home Ministry should organise a visit for members of the Dewan Rakyat special select committee on security to inspect what kind of security arrangement had been made for Najib’s residence.

Since the residence has been declared a prison, such a parliamentary inspection should be given the greenlight because the MPs are not mere ordinary visitors. They are all members of the special select committee charged with looking into security matters.

Besides, such a visit would ensure transparency in the sense that the public will get to know what a house arrest should look like.

But will the ministry take up the suggestion? Or will it turn down the proposal for fear it will expose a lenient treatment had been put in place?

Whatever type of security protocols had been implemented, the overriding concern is Bossku must never be made to feel that his punishment for the crime he had committed in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case is no longer of paramount importance.

A house arrest does not mean that it is just a place to unwind and relax. The country wants to see that the former UMNO president must pay for his crime in as harsh a manner as possible.

The Langgak Duta prison must be turned into a real prison where the incarcerated inmate must be made to bear the full force of the law. Let Bossku spend the next six years in “imprisoned air, imprisoned light, imprisoned damps”. 

Phlip Rodrigues is a retired journalist.

The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT

- Focus Malaysia.

Is sacking DPM Zahid enough for PMX to regain, restore slipping trust of PH backers in Madani?

 

Letter to Editor

PLEASE shoot me down if you think my suggestion is stupid.

I’m suggesting to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that after the Melaka state elections, he sack UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as Deputy Prime Minister and resume prosecution of the latter’s Yayasan Akalbudi corruption case.

This would most likely win a lot of public support for Anwar and possibly redeem his loss of credibility over fighting corruption in light of incarcerated former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s house arrest.

Zahid should deserve such a sacking because UMNO has already hooked up openly with PAS and he himself has seemingly exhibited a lack of confidence in the Madani government by repeatedly urging Anwar to call for early elections.

There is therefore no better time for Anwar to cut Zahid loose. After all, Zahid is proving to be more of a liability than an asset to Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) position in the government given he’s also looking more and more like a musuh dalam selimut (an equivalent of “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” or “a snake in the grass”).

Jettison Zahid and confidence could well return to PH and Madani. Supporters who uphold justice and condemn corruption could come flocking back.

Is my suggestion easier said than done? Is it too simplistic? If it is, please tell me.

(Of course, the current stance between Zahid and Anwar could well be part of a deceptive sandiwara (theatrics) and they might actually have some secret mutual plan that we don’t know of, in which case my suggestion would be nothing but academic.) 

Veteran journalist Kee Thuan Chye is the author of Ask for No Bullshit, Get Some More! (sequel to No More Bullshit, Please, We’re All Malaysians).

The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT

- Focus Malaysia.

Voters beat the rain as Melaka state polls kick off smoothly

 

VOTERS across Melaka turned out steadily on Saturday (Nov 14) morning under clear skies, racing against forecast afternoon thunderstorms to decide control of all 28 seats in the 16th Melaka State Legislative Assembly.

All 240 ordinary polling centres – comprising 1,213 polling streams – opened on schedule at 8.00am, backed by 299 traffic police personnel deployed to keep surrounding roads clear.

According to the Election Commission (EC), voter turnout rose from 9.24% at 9.00am to 17.96% – or 120,162 ballots cast – by 10.00am, building on Tuesday’s strong 94.96% early-voting turnout.

Scenes of community spirit marked the opening hours, highlighted by 88-year-old social media favourite Vong Fook Hoi, affectionately known as Uncle Vong, arriving to cast his ballot at SK Seri Duyong.

At SJK(C) Yu Hwa in Pengkalan Batu, first-time Barisan Nasional candidate Siti Aisyah Mahmood, 46, arrived accompanied by her 79-year-old mother, while EC personnel escorted senior citizens directly to their polling streams across the state.

Key political figures were among the early birds. Deputy Higher Education Minister and acting Melaka PKR chief Adam Adli Abdul Halim queued up at 7.45am at SK Dato’ Demang Hussin in Bukit Katil.

Caretaker Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ab Rauf Yusoh – who is defending Tanjung Bidara in a straight fight against Pakatan Harapan (PH) debutant Mohd Yunazri Mustamiri – arrived at SK Jeram around 8.30am in a batik shirt, greeting voters before urging Melakans to fulfil their civic responsibilities.

Elsewhere, PH’s Ayer Keroh incumbent Kerk Chee Yee voted at SJK(C) Notre Dame at 8.20am, reminding electors to verify their designated polling stations beforehand.

In Machap Jaya, PH challenger Datuk Ginie Lim Siew Lin and BN incumbent Datuk Ngwe Hee Sem cast their ballots an hour apart.

In total, 79 candidates are competing for the 28 seats before an electorate of 687,697 registered voters, comprising 675,166 ordinary voters and 12,531 military and police personnel.

Ahead of polling day, independent think tank Ilham Centre projected the BN–Perikatan Nasional alliance to lead in 24 seats – surpassing the 19-seat two-thirds majority mark – on the back of Malay vote consolidation and approval of the state administration.

PH is projected to comfortably retain urban strongholds Kota Laksamana and Bandar Hilir while facing tight contests in Ayer Keroh and Kesidang.

Polling closes at 6.00pm, with the EC targeting a 70% overall turnout and expecting full results before midnight. —  Focus Malaysia