MoCS proposes new Borneo Airways for Sarawak, Sabah

Posted on June 22, 2012 

A MoCS statement

KUALA LUMPUR – The Movement for Change, Sarawak (MoCS) has supported the proposal by an Umno MP to the government to award another low-cost carrier licence.

It also suggested that the new licence be given to the Sarawak and Sabah governments to jointly establish an airline to serve the interests of East Malaysians.

“Since Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is beyond salvation and AirAsia has become a ‘bully airline’, East Malaysia should start thinking seriously of the increasing demands of their travelling citizens,” MoCS leader Francis Paul Siah said today.

“The new airline can also cater for the greater Borneo and the Asean region and it can be called Borneo Airways. An airline owned by Sabah and Sarawak is long overdue,” Siah added in a statement.

In Parliament yesterday, Pasir Salak MP Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman has proposed that the Government award another low-cost carrier licence to give some competition to AirAsia.

The Star quoted Tajuddin as saying that he used to support AirAsia chief Tan Sri Tony Fernandes but was now saddened by his attitude.

“He represented a successful Malaysian and an entrepreneur who came from nowhere to become successful in the airline industry.

“But lately, I am saddened by the change in his attitude. I am not going to support him any more,” he said during debate on the Supplementary Supply Bill.

Siah concurred with Tajuddin’s negative statement about AirAsia, saying the airline has continued to come up with ‘ingenious’ plans to impose unfair charges on passengers.

He cited the new RM10 counter check-in fee and the exorbitant baggage charges as examples of passengers’ grouses against AirAsia. There are numerous other complaints.

“AirAsia insists that passengers deal with the airline online. Those who want help from an AirAsia staff will have to pay a fee. This tantamounts to daylight robbery.

“AirAsia should know that there are still many Sabahans and Sarawakians who are not tech-savvy and are not used to dealing with a ‘faceless’ airline. This is what AirAsia has turned into – a ‘faceless, selfish monster’.

“I join Datuk Tajuddin, MP Wee Choo Keong and others in withdrawing my support for AirAsia,” Siah stated.

Idris Jala can helm Borneo Airways

The MoCS leader said that there is a ready airline boss in Sarawakian Datuk Seri Idris Jala, the current Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, who could helm a new airline.

“Idris has done well in MAS and he would also have a ready pool of airline staff if MAS was to trim its personnel as part of its current restructuring exercise,” Siah said.

“What’s left now is the political will of the Sabah and Sarawak governments to venture into the airline industry which should not be considered ‘unchartered territory’ now”, he said.

Also in Parliament yesterday, Wee Choo Keong (Ind-Wangsa Maju), agreed with Tajuddin’s remarks saying AsiaAsia’s success was due to government help.

“The time has come for the Government to stop bowing to them (AirAsia). If they want to move to Jakarta, let them go. Let us see if they will get the same treatment there,” said Wee, adding that Malaysia Airport Holdings Bhd should not be afraid to get the company to pay what it owed in airport tax.

“If they do not pay up, stop providing facilities to them.”

Director of Forest abusing power? - Deputy Minister of Tourism

 Ali Yusop, Director of Forestry

YB Datuk James Dawos Mamit, Deputy Tourism Minister of Malaysia and Mambong Member of Parliament.

Translation (See Hua Daily  17^th June, 2012)

WATER CATCHMEN

ISSUE TIMBER LICENSE

MINISTER BLAMING FOREST DEPARTMENT

 Tourism Deputy Minister, Datuk James Dawos blaming Forest Department because they don’t know anything, don’t understand the timber harvesting will pollute the water and simply issuing the license in the water catchment area Bengoh.

                He even suspicious the Director of Forest, whether he abusing his power? Or he doesn’t know that the water catchment already gazette and totally cannot issue the timber license.

               

How come the water catchment area can become the harvesting ground?

                Why water catchment area still can be issuing a timber license? You should go and ask Director of Forest, this is abuse power, or he doesn’t know the new gazette already mentioned that this water catchment area cannot be issue a timber license?

                He even requested reporters based on this problem to go and ask Director of Forest, why this thing can happen and why water catchment area can be issuing a timber license?

                James Dawos was present in the new Te Chiao Association village when the reporters came and visit him and asked him about this matter.

               

For environment management, they know nothing.

He said, for this issue, there is no need to talk about environment and how to save the water from being polluted. This is because you can do anything and even throw your rubbish in the river, even the government officer do it.

In timber harvesting, they using heavy machineries with thick oil and grease, and when leakage happen, the oil and grease will drop on the soil and flow to the river, or they really don’t know anything or they really don’t know how to manage the environment.

He straightforward says, this is really a big problem and timber harvesting will create a lot problem to the water source, it will give a big problem to the water port, where they have to increase more on filter processing. According to James Dawos, Bengoh water catchment area during the year 90’s, together with Datuk JC Fong, State Former Attorney General made report and State Government agreed to put Bengoh water catchment area and Jo So Kang under Forest Reserved area.

State Government need to solve this problem.

                He admits, the problem came from the Forestry Department, so State Government need to solve this problem. Because the area has been gazette as water catchment area, by right should not be issue a timber license and reporter asked him whether he wants to take action against Forest Department, and he said have to give to the State Government to make the decision.

                James Dawos never denies the issue will become big in parliament election, even which will affect Barisan Nasional.

                Forest Department create problem.

                ‟This is already become an issue and this will be a side effect to Barisan Nasional. Once this problem delay until the next parliament election, what will happen?” he says.

                ‟I don’t mind about election, who cares about election? This case already happens because  Forest Department create problem.”

               . 

'Brainchild' Kesilapan SBPA akan dilantik Pengerusi Syarikat Terbesar Asia Tenggara Petronas?

UMNO Cheras mahu Najib timbang semula lantik Sidek Hassan pengerusi baru Petronas

Hanya beri pandangan berhubung
perlantikan pengerusi baru Petronas

Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Mohd. Najib Tun Razak diminta mengkaji semula perlantikan bekas Ketua Setiausaha Negara (KSN), Tan Sri Mohd. Sidek Hassan sebagai Pengerusi Petronas.

Menurut Ketua UMNO Bahagian Cheras,Datuk Wira Syed Ali Alhabshee, jawatan pengerusi baru Petronas sepatutnya dipegang  oleh golongan profesional dan tidak semestinya daripada bekas pegawai tinggi kerajaan yang sudah bersara.

"Saya bimbang perlantikan tersebut akan menimbulkan rasa kecewa sesetengah pihak termasuk bekas pemimpin-pemimpin politik," ujarnya.

Langkah itu juga katanya, bagi mengelak timbul anggapan umum bahawa mana-mana pegawai tinggi kerajaan yang sudah bersara telah disediakan jawatan baru dengan pendapatan yang lebih lumayan.

"Semasa berkhidmat dengan kerajaan, mereka menerima gaji yang tinggi dan pencen yang sudah mencukupi, sepatutnya jawatan tersebut diagihkan pula kepada golongan profesional atau pun bekas-bekas pemimpin politik," tegasnya.

Beliau bimbang perlantikan Mohd. Sidek yang dilihat sesetengah akan menimbulkan pelbagai pelbagai persespsi negatif.

"saya hanya mahu Perdana Menteri menimbang semula perlantikan tersebut, bukan bermaksud menentang atau pun mempertikaikan kewibawaan Mohd. Sidek," tegasnya.

Perdana Menteri pada satu majlis makan malam penghargaan sempena persaraan Mohd. Sidek di Kuala Lumpur malam tadi mengumumkan bekas KSN itu sebagai pengerusi baru Petronas.

Najib berkata perlantikan itu akan berkuatkuasa sebaik selesai beberapa urusan dalaman.

Bercakap kepada media selepas merasmikan Juara Rakyat Parlimen Cheras Karnival NGO dan Swasta dan pelancaran Gerakan Memertabatkan Pejuang Negara (GMPN) Wilayah Persekutuan di Chears pagi ini, Syed Ali menambah, saranan beliau itu bukan bermaksud menentang keputusan  Perdana Menteri.

Menurut beliau lagi, umum akan melemaprkan tuduhan  kononnya kerajaan hanya menjaga kepentingan bekas-bekas pegawai tinggui kerjaaan yang sudsah bersara.

PM umum Sidek Hassan
sebagai pengerusi baru
Petronas

Sedangkan kata Syed Ali, banyak golongan profesional dan bekas-bekas pemimpin politik apabila bersara tidak mendapat kedudukan istmewa atau ditawarkan jawatan penting dalam mana-mana syraikat milik kerajaan.

"Saya hanya memberikan pandangan berdasarkan suara di bawah, kerana khuatir perlantikan tersebut boleh menimbulkan rasa kecewa dan marah rakyat kepada kerajaan," ujarnya.

Katanya, rakyat tidak akan melakukan protes secara terbuka tetapi apabila mereka 'marah dalam diam' sedikit-sebanyak akan memberi kesan kepada kredibiliti kerajaan menjelang Pilihan Raya Umum (PRU) ke-13.

"Sudah tentu rakyat akan bertanya, mengapa pegawai tinggi kerajaan yang sudah bersara diberikan jawatan penting itu, ini memungkinkan timbuil pelbagai andaian," ujarnya.

Bagaimanapuin kata beliau, terserah kepada Perdana Menteri untuk membuat keputusan muktamad  berhubung perkara tersebut.

SBPA Flip-flop a Blow to Transformation

ARCHIVES 2012

Sunday, 11 March 2012 admin-s

  

Suddenly, Najib says, “this decision would be the best solution for the benefit of the entire civil service”. For the civil service, perhaps. But what about for the nation? What happened to his “transformation” plan to make the civil service more efficient, productive, competitive and high-performing – to meet the challenges of a dreamed-of high-income nation? 

Kee Thuan Chye   

Najib Razak has just committed another major flip-flop, showing once again that he is the most indecisive prime minister we have had so far.

 

He has cancelled the proposed revamp of the civil servants’ remuneration scheme and reverted to the old one, the Malaysian Remuneration System (SSM). So much for all his talk about reform.

 

The now-scrapped Public Service New Remuneration Scheme (SBPA) was mooted to reward civil servants with a pay rise but, more importantly, to keep them on their toes. Its key aim was to transform the civil service into an efficient, productive, competitive and high-performing entity. It was part of Najib’s transformation plans aimed at making Malaysia a high-income nation.

 

There was to be evaluation of the work of civil servants, and those who did not perform were to have faced the possibility of dismissal – under the SBPA’s Exit Policy. It would have helped to weed the chaff from the grain, to get rid of deadwood. And aptly too, since the civil service is bloated – with 1.4 million employees.

 

But the civil servants balked at this. They feared that their security of tenure, which they had become so pampered with, might be threatened.

 

Much more significant than that, those in the lower grades (up to Grade 54) were appalled to learn that under the new scheme, there would be a huge disparity between their salaries and those of the 2,600 officers in the higher grades – a disparity of more than 1,000%. In this case, their umbrage was justified.

 

Those in Grade 54 and below would receive increments of between 7% and 13%, while those in the upper levels, from Superscale C and above, would reportedly get increments of at least RM5,000.

 

It was also reported that some employees in the lower levels would be getting a pay rise of as little as RM1.70, whereas the Chief Secretary to the Government would have his salary upgraded to RM60,000 a month, and Staff Grade officers would end up getting about RM36,000 a month.

 

Naturally, a crisis arose from this. What was meant to be a boon for the civil servants turned out to be a bane for the Government.

 

The implementation of the SBPA, which was originally scheduled for Jan 1, had to be postponed. A task force was set up to resolve the matter. Representatives from the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) were invited to thrash it out with the Public Service Department.

 

Najib gave the task force three months to do what was needed. Towards the end of January, Cuepacs President Omar Osman threatened to pull out if three other Cuepacs officers were not appointed to the task force. On Feb 5, the Government acceded to his demand.

 

Then suddenly, on March 8, way before the three months was up, Najib announced that the SBPA would be scrapped.

 

Suddenly, Najib says, “this decision would be the best solution for the benefit of the entire civil service”. For the civil service, perhaps. But what about for the nation? What happened to his “transformation” plan to make the civil service more efficient, productive, competitive and high-performing – to meet the challenges of a dreamed-of high-income nation?

 

What he now says stinks of politicalspeak. And what he’s done appears to be a politically expedient move. The obvious indication is, he wants to call for the general election soon and he needs to ensure that the civil servants are happy, because they form a big and important segment of the voters. He wants the issue resolved earlier than the allotted time so that the civil servants can get their new salaries and arrears just before they go to the polling stations. Otherwise, why would he be in such a hurry to scrap the SBPA?

 

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin may deny that the decision was not made in connection with the general election, and he may deny that the scrapping of the SBPA amounted to a failure in policy implementation, but would we have expected him to say otherwise?

 

How can it not be a failure in policy implementation when the time allotted for the issue to be ironed out was not honoured? In other words, the policy was not given a chance.

 

Muhyiddin acknowledges that it was gradually discovered that the SBPA did not meet the pay rise and perks demands of the civil servants and therefore it had to be scrapped. Is he therefore admitting that the policy was faulty to begin with? If so, who is to be held responsible for not foreseeing the policy’s shortcomings if not the Government? Why did the Government issue a new scheme without thinking it through?

 

Another interesting question – is the new scheme meant to merely meet the demands of the civil servants, or is it to meet the needs of the nation?

 

And what is it ultimately – a faulty policy or a failure in implementation?

 

Whatever it is, this has to be the umpteenth flip-flop since Najib became Prime Minister. And it clearly shows that the Government is not steadfast on its policy decisions.

 

Any attempt to make the Government look good as a result of this cannot be convincing. Deputy Higher Education Minister Saifuddin Abdullah says the SBPA turnabout showed that the Government listened to the people. It somehow sounds like a joke – or, worse, a lie.

 

How could the Government be listening to the people when in the first place, it caused so much disgruntlement by issuing the SBPA?

 

One would like to think that Saifuddin had more integrity than to spin something like that, but when the general election is near, politicalspeak rules the day.

 

Perhaps the whole shebang was engineered such that Najib could come riding in like a knight and call the whole thing off – so it would look like he saved the day. That he was the saviour of the civil servants. So that his ratings would go higher. And the votes would pour in for Barisan Nasional.

 

But the people who would perceive him as the saviour of the situation would have to be people who are not well-informed or those who cannot think for themselves. To put it bluntly, they would have to be simple minds. And perhaps there are more simple minds in Malaysia than thinking ones – and the Government knows this to be a fact – so this strategy could work very well to Najib’s advantage.

 

But to those who can see through it, he is just another wishy-washy leader. So much for all his talk about “transformation”. So much for “People First, Performance Now”. The Prime Minster himself cannot even perform what he set out to do. He had neither the guts nor the political will.

 

At this rate, how will Malaysia ever move forward?

Barbara Mawan calon di Saratok?

Will Mawan field his daughter?

Ucuk Tugau

 | June 22, 2012

The Saratok parliamentary seat is one of the 'grey' areas and rumours are that SPDP may field its Puteri chief Barbara Mawan.

KUCHING: Is Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) president William Mawan grooming his daughter to eventually succeed him?

Speculations are rife that businesswoman Barbara Mawan will be fielded in the next parliamentary election. Barbara is SPDP Puteri chief.

Since last month, the talk on the grapevine is all about candidates likely to be dropped and possible successors.

Barbara is rumoured to be replacing Jelaing Mersat in Saratok. But also rumoured for this seat are Enturan Lupa, an engineer and Dr James Chela.

The Saratok seat is one of the “grey” areas for the Barisan Nasional.

In the 2008 general election, Mersat defeated his rival Mohd Yahaya Abdullah of PKR by a majority of 8,706 votes.

The Saratok constituency which comprises Krian and Kalaka seats has 25,173 voters. About 60% of the voters are Ibans.

Krian is under Ali Biju from PKR while the Kalaka assemblyman is Abdul Wahab Aziz of Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB).

SPDP is facing a uphill battle in all four of its parliamentary seats – Mas Gading, Saratok, Baram and Bintulu.

Its chances of retaining its four seats have been further minimised since its former leaders who are simply known as “G5” are putting up their own candidates in the seats allocated to the party.

The “G5” comprises Mas Gading MP Tiki Lafe, and four state assemblymen – Peter Nansian (Tasik Biru), Sylvester Entri (Marudi), Paulus Gumbang (Batu Danau) and Rosey Yunus (Bekenu).

All the five were sacked from SPDP in November last year.

Although the “G5” elected representatives claim to be BN-friendly, their efforts are certain to split the BN support.

Barbara meanwhile has denied rumours of her contesting in Saratok.

"Now because of the Forestry Department, the government is going to waste time and money" - Timbalan Menteri Pelancongan

Forestry Dept brought to task

Monday June 18, 2012

By RINTOS MAIL 

RINTOS@THESTAR.COM.MY

KUCHING: The state Forestry Department has been blamed “for creating issues” in Mambong parliamentary constituency.


Tourism Deputy Minister Datuk Dr James Dawos said the department’s decision to issue a timber licence in a gazetted water catchment and agricultural lot allocated to families affected by the Bengoh Dam had got the people all riled up.


Besides, he said, as the MP of the area, he felt by allowing the areas to be logged out, the department was pitting him and the Barisan Nasional against the people.


“Logging is a very sensitive issue among the natives and it is already a major issue in my area that can turn the people against Barisan Nasional in the coming parliamentary election,” he said.


Dawos was commenting on reports of villagers who have voiced their opposition to logging in the said areas which are the forests in the upper Sarawak Kiri River and the agricultural lot set aside to provide for the resettlment of said villagers.


Timber licences are said to have been issued to some individuals and companies to extract timber from the secondary forest of the native customary right (NCR) land of Kampung Giam, Kampung Semadang and the agricultural lots of the four villagers.


Dawos, who is Mambong MP, said in the first place timber licence should not have been issued in the area because it was a gazetted water catchment area.


Asked how he would tackle this issue in the coming elections, Dawos replied: “The state government should tackle the issue, not me.


“Of course, the people will blame me for not doing anything, but I know for a fact that it was me and the former state attorney general Datuk J C Fong who prepared the gazettement notice and (spell out) the prohibited activities in the area last time and not the director of forest.”


According to him, logging is totally prohibited in the area because it will pollute the water. He said if all the prohibited activities were being done in the water catchment areas then there was no point protecting the quality of our water any more.


“If you allow logging in the area then we can do anything, we can go and throw poisons into the water as you like because government officers themselves are allowing this sort of things,” he said.


He said logging would cause sedimentation because loggers would also use oil and lubricants and when they threw these to the ground they ended up in the rivers.


He said it was “all stupidity not knowing how to manage the environment”.


“I am fed up with all this and I don’t care about election if this problem is not resolved. This thing has given me pain in the neck because the state government agency (Forestry Department) is creating the problem in the area,” he said.


~ The Star

Ali Yusop Pengarah Perhutanan Sarawak

Said Mambong MP James Dawos Mamit, who is also the Bengoh resettlement scheme committee chairman: “All our efforts [since 1997] are wasted… it was not easy to convince them [natives] to leave their homes.

“Now because of the Forestry Department, the government is going to waste time and money if the people refuse to move out… the government will lose millions of ringgit.”

Unparliamentary conduct after 2004 polls - Deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker YB Datuk Wan Junaidi

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s parliamentary culture has evolved, though not necessarily for the better.

Deputy Speaker Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar believes that the unbecoming conduct seen in MPs today stemmed from the massive influx of Barisan Nasional lawmakers into Parliament.

The lack of opposition MPs in the Dewan Rakyat, he said, led BN lawmakers to emulate their opponents in the House.

“What happened is that the culture changed during that time. BN MPs said, ‘We must speak like the opposition. We want to check the ministers’.”

“And that is the era where people like [Kinabatangan MP] Bung Mokhtar [Radin] were asking four or five ministers to resign.”

“[There were] people who made use of the language to persuade the Speaker to allow them to continue talking [in the Dewan Rakyat]. So this culture evolved into something we see today,” he told FMT in an interview in his office.

(BN won 198 seats in the 2004 election, leaving the opposition with a mere 20 seats. It was their largest vote grab to date, commanding 63.9% of the electorate.)

Wan Junaidi said this practice could be seen during Question Time, where MPs query ministers over national issues.

Wasting time

Prior to 2004 Dewan Rakyat sittings, he said that as many as 14 questions could be answered during this session.

He added that this period was increased by another 30 minutes so that Parliament could see more questions being answered.

“Every morning, we see up to 60 to 70 questions [in the Order Paper]… following what we had before, if we can reach 15 in one hour, then we can have 20-plus [with the change].”

“But in 2004, MPs started talking [but they weren't] asking questions. [They were] showing off how good they were and how well they knew [a subject],” he said.

With MPs showing off and interrupting a session, Wan Junaidi said that a lot of time was wasted.

For example, he pointed to June 13 Order Paper, which had a total of 111 questions to be answered.

However, only six questions were discussed over 90 minutes.

This culture of wasting time, Wan Junaidi said, was missing in Western Parliaments.

“If you look at England’s Parliament, their Prime Minister Tony Blair managed to answer 10 questions in half an hour,” he said.

Don’t play political card

Another problem with local MPs was their tendency to agree with their colleagues over every issue.

“You don’t agree with every MP in the Dewan Rakyat. Including the [BN] backbenchers, they’re not supposed to say yes all the time!”

“They are supposed to tell the government what is not right and correct,” he said.

At the same time, he said that an MP should not always go against a government’s view.

“You have to listen to the government’s explanation as well, and not just continue to say your [view] is right and the other’s is wrong.”

“…The whole idea of MPs who are not holding portfolios [in the government] is to put the government to account on whatever they do.”

“That is their responsibility as an MP,” he said, adding that an MP needed to refrain from playing the emotional or political card.

But most important of all, Wan Junaidi said that Malaysian MPs needed to respect each others’ opinions, even if they did not agree with them.

Every MP, he added, had the right to be heard.

“While you dare to say something, you must also dare to listen to what others say. It may be contrary to your belief.”

“…[An MP might say] I don’t like to listen, [but] that’s why they say, ‘I hate to hear what you [have to] say [but I'd] die to preserve the right [for you] to do it.’”

“That is democracy,” he said.

Freemalaysiatoday interview

Rimbunan Hijau menyokong DAP dalam pilihanraya lepas?

Cerita-cerita mula timbul mengenai Rimbunan Hijau Group of Companies menyokong dan memberi wang kepada calon DAP Wong Ho Leng dalam pilihanraya kecil Sibu 2010.

Adalah dikhabarkan bahawa anak-anak syarikat Rimbunan Hijau telah membayar beberapa juta kepada guaman Wong Ho Leng sebagai 'upahan guaman'.

Jika begitu kenapa kerajaan negeri dan pusat masih memberi banyak projek-projek dan perladangan kepada Rimbunan Hijau?  Kerajaan menyokong Rimbunan Hijau Group of Companies untuk membuka Malaysia China Business Park di China.  Kerajaan menyokong dan recommend Rimbunan Hijau kepada kerajaan Cina untuk business park di provinsi Guangxi Zhuang.

Banyak lagi pertolongan kerajaan Barisan Nasional kepada Rimbunan Hijau Group of Companies.  Adakah kerana kerajaan takut dengan pengaruh suratkhabar-suratkhabar milik Rimbunan Hijau seperti Sin Chew Jit Poh dan lain-lain?

Sudah kuasai ekonomi sekarang tumpuan untuk manipulasi politik dan kerajaan

Take more interest in politics — SCCCI chief

Borneo Post March 12, 2012, Monday

BE MORE RESPONSIVE POLITICALLY: Hii (third right) and other committee members during the meeting.

SIBU: Chinese businessmen should show more concern about political matters rather than merely standing on the sidelines and grabbing whatever businesses that arise.
“Be active and be more concern about politics in the coming general election instead of only focusing on your businesses.
“This is because politics will affect the financial development of the country,” said Sibu Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) president Hii Yu Siong at its 22nd annual              general meeting here yesterday.
Hii added that whatever happened politically could also affect the benefits that the people were enjoying today.
On another matter, Hii urged small and medium enterprise (SME) operators to always sharpen their competitive edge in order to survive.
“This is different for large-scale company as they are linked to companies overseas.
“They are doing business globally.”
Hii said SCCCI had organised several seminars last year to help SMEs better manage their business and learn how to go about doing business globally.

Kerusi parlimen santubong mempunyai 5 kemungkinan?

Semakin lama semakin ramai menunjukkan minat untuk menjadi calon BN untuk kerusi Parlimen Santubong.       Penyandang adalah timbalan speaker Dewan Rakyat iaitu Yang Berhormat Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.  Beliau di khabarkan akan naik pangkat ke Speaker Dewan Rakyat iaitu antara jawatan terpenting politik negara.  Jawatan Speaker Dewan Rakyat tidak perlu memegang kerusi parlimen.  Speaker sekarang Tan Sri Datuk Seri Utama Panglima Pandikar Amin Haji Mulia melepaskan semua jawatan politiknya (seperti ketua UMNO Bahagian Kota Marudu) selepas menaiki kerusi Speaker Dewan Rakyat.

Jika bertukar wajah maka 'front runner' sekarang adalah Wan Hamzah Wan Paie.  Wan Hamzah bukan sahaja mendapat sokongan YB Datuk Wan Junaidi (jika tidak dicalonkan) tetapi juga Ketua Pemuda PBB iaitu YB Datuk Fadillah Yusuf.  Sokongan Wan Hamzah bukan sahaja ada dari cawangan Demak Laut tetapi juga Zon Samarahan (diketuai kawan rapatnya Hamzah Ibrahim), cawangan Batu Lintang (kawan rapatnya Dato Safri bin Dato Abdillah yang juga dikhabarkan menggantikan YB Datuk Ahmad Lai di parlimen Sibuti).

Juga seorang 'contender' adalah Drahman Jaladin iaitu bekas pegawai kanan bank RHB yang merupakan timbalan ketua cawangan pantai damai (DUN dalam kerusi parlimen Santubong).  Beliau adalah lebih 'senior' dalam parti jika dibandingkan dengan Wan Hamzah Wan Paie namun terpulang kepada 'selera' politik sekarang samada mahu memilih darah muda atau pengalaman.

Seorang lagi 'contender' adalah aktivis media sosial iaitu Wan Abdillah Edruce.  Beliau telah menyatakan kepada kawan-kawannya bahawa beliau telah banyak berjalan di kawasan parlimen Santubong sejak beberapa bulan ini.  Beliau juga mendapat banyak perhatian apabila menganjurkan media sosial event di Kuching Hilton 2 bulan lepas.  Event itu di hadiri oleh kedua-kedua Pengerusi Barisan Nasional iaitu Pengerusi Barisan Nasional Kebangsaaan YAB Perdana Menteri dan Pengerusi Barisan Nasional Sarawak iaitu YAB Pehin Sri Ketua Menteri.  Dalam event itu juga beliau mendapat pujian dari kedua pemimpin tertinggi BN.  Dalam memorandum kepada YAB Perdana Menteri Wan Abdillah telah menulis bahawa bakal calon BN wajib fasih media sosial untuk dipertimbangkan menjadi calon.


3 hari lepas mantan YB DUN Demak Laut (dalam kerusi parlimen Santubong) telah menyatakan dalam akhbar kesediaannya untuk bertanding kerusi parlimen Santubong.  Dengan itu 5 bakal calon untuk kerusi parlimen Santubong.  Kerusi parlimen Santubong merupaka kubu kuat PBB dan BN.  Oleh itu ia di gredkan sebagai 'very safe seat'.  Mana-mana 5 calon ini boleh menang.

Village chiefs not pushed to send memorandum – Wan Junaidi

Borneo Post June 5, 2012, Tuesday

KUCHING: Santubong MP Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar yesterday lashed out at some quarters who accused him of urging village chiefs and community leaders to hand in a memorandum to Barisan Nasional (BN) top leaders requesting him to be renominated for the Santubong seat.

“These claims are baseless. If there is any such thing then it is on their own initiative. I have never directed anybody to do it (hand in a memorandum) as my role is just to serve the people of Santubong,” Wan Junaidi told reporters after attending a function at Bako yesterday.

When asked by reporters, the deputy parliament speaker said candidacy is the responsibility of BN top leaders, as only they knew the capabilities of the proposed candidates.

“Party top leaders who make the decision know what they are doing as they will study all the facts and records of each constituency,” he said, adding that he will continue to perform his role as the matter was not within his jurisdiction.

Wan Junaidi however expressed his confidence that he would be renominated for Santubong, proven by the support from the people from Tanjung Datu to Demak Laut.

Kata-kata YAB PM hanya untuk penerimaan khalayak ramai - Presiden SWP Larry Sng

PM’s words only for public consumption’

by Johnson K Saai, reporters@theborneopost.com. Borneo Post on June 5, 2012, Tuesday

“I am not surprised by PM’s comments. That is for public consumption,” he said through short messaging system (SMS) when asked to comment on the statement by Najib during his visit to Julau on first Gawai.KUCHING: Sarawak Workers’ Party (SWP) president Larry Sng described the recent comments by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on the party as just “for the public consumption”.

At the function Najib had said if SWP were truly BN friendly they should not stand against Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates in the coming 13th general election (GE13).

“So, if the SWP is BN friendly, they should support BN candidates and not contest against them,” he was quoted as saying.

Asked for his reaction on that, Larry, who is former Pelagus assemblyman, said that SWP maintained its decision to contest only in seats held by Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS).

PRS, one the four state BN components holds the Sri Aman, Lubok Antu, Selangau, Julau, Kanowit and Hulu Rajang parliamentary seats.

“We maintain our decision to contest only in PRS seats and after we win we will vote with BN in parliament,” he said.

This was the second time he paid no heed to calls by BN top leaders not contest against BN if SWP were truly BN friendly.

Recently Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud as state BN chairman also told reporters that he had tried to dissuade Larry against heading SWP.