Jumaat, 3 Februari 2012

The Spirit of Lubok Kawah/Semangat Lubok Kawah

The Spirit of Lubok Kawah/Semangat Lubok Kawah


Orang UMNO lagi kalut nak jadi calon...!

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 06:12 PM PST

Hujan lebat ngat semalam, koi tak dapat nak gi kampong-kampong, so koi minumlah di kedai kopi.  Elok ngat minum di situ kerana rupa-rupanya ada pulok dua tiga orang kenalan lama, orang UMNO yang dulunya kawan-kawan koi belaka, seorang bekas Ketua Kampong.  Mereka tu dulu sokong koi masa koi bertanding sebagai Naib Ketua UMNO Bahagian Temerloh.  Kami masih mesra hanya taklah semesra dulu kerana kini dah lain-lain boat.

Mat (bukan nama sebenar) tanya koi, "Haji bertanding tak dalam pilihanraya ni?" Koi jawab mudah, kalau ikutkan hati, tak ndak tanding, tapi manakan tau kalau parti suruh koi tanding lagi.

"Tanding kat mana?" Abu (bukan nama sebenar) bertanya, "kalau-kalau bertanding kat Temerloh bolehlah kami tolong!  Ramai ahli-ahli UMNO yang masih menyokong Haji."

Koi jawab bahawa koi tak ndak bertanding dah, tapi kalau parti suruh juga, koi akan bertanding di tempat koi buat kerja iaitu di DUN Jenderak, dan koi bayangkan bahawa parti sudah pun menetapkan calon selain dari aku disana.

Kemudian semakin rancaklah cerita jadi calon di Parlimen Temerloh dikalangan pimpinan mereka dan koi rakamkan perbualan kami seperti yang terpapar disini.

Dengar-dengar ceritanya, Mohd Sarkar pun berminat bertanding Parlimen kerana dia nampaknya tak dapat menggantikan Tok Nan menjadi Menteri Besar; dah berbalah pandangan antara Sarkar dengan Sarifuddin.  Dan mereka menyatakan bahawa Sharifuddin dah tak se jalan dengan Dato Najib, selalu sangat mengambil pendirian yang berbeza dengan parti.  Isu AUKU, isu demo, isu Anwar, semuanya Sharifudin ni mencanggahi parti.  Nampaknya dia akan digugurkan oleh UMNO, dan rasanya Sharifudin ni lebih sesuai dengan PKR.

Sarkar pun tak disenangi oleh orang Lanchang kerana dia ni kuat sangat gunakan kroni-kroni, dan kalau dia tak bertanding Parlimen, orang UMNO Lanchang dah tak berminat kepadanya untuk DUN Lanchang; tapi kalau Sarkar bertanding di Parlimen Temerloh, rasanya dia kalah.

Sharifudin tu disukai oleh pengundi-pengundi tapi dia dah tak disenangi oleh pemimpin-pemimpin UMNO.  DUN Kuala Semantan menjadi rebutan sangat.  Kawasan ni milik pembangkang PAS.  Anuar Yunus adalah calon popular, tapi dia ni menghadapi kes di Mahkamah, dan lagipun, dia tidak ada ijazah, ada SPM jer, tak sesuai nak jadi wakil rakyat zaman ni.

Ketua Pemuda sekarang ni memang target kawasan tu.  Tapi ada seorang lagi pemimpin Dr Siti Hawa yang minat giler bertanding.

Hanya mereka berdua ni kurang pendedahan.  Kalau Siti Hawa tu, usahkan di seluruh kawasan Kuala Semantan, kawasan kampongnya di Batu 4 pun tak kenal orang dan orang tak kenal dia.  Begkitu juga dengan Ketua Pemuda tu.  Mana pernah melawat kampong.  Yang selalu melawat kampong ialah Anuar, tapi dengan dia berhadapan dengan kes Mahkamah, tak mungkin dia jadi calon!

Tapi apa lebihnya pemimpin-pemimpin Pembangkang di Temerloh ni?  Dua kali lima jer dengan pemimpin-pemimpin UMNO.  Jadi sapa-sapa pun jadi calon, tak ada yang popular pun, ah, ini baru sedap berlawan, sama-sama tak dikenali rakyat.

Saya sempat bertanya kepada Mat, Abu dan Din (bukan nama sebenar), kamu nak undi sapa?  "Saya akan undi calon yang aku nampak boleh beri khidmat kepada masyarakat," kata Abu, "Aku tak kira parti, walaupun aku UMNO, tak semestinya calon UMNO boleh berkhidmat kepada rakyat."

"Aku pun serupa," kata Din yang juga seorang Ketua Kampong, "Syed Hamid tu selalu datang kampong aku, dan sentiasa tegur aku, tak semacam wakil rakyat UMNO tu, tak kenal orang tapi kalau orang lain jadi calon pembangkang, aku belum tau lagi nak undi sapa, sebab belum tau lagi kemampuan mana-mana calon. Parlimen, kalau Sharifudin bertanding lagi, aku akan undi dia, tapi kalau Sarkar, susah sikitlah.  Calon Parlimen Pembangkang aku tak kenal, tapi kalau Dato Tuan Ibrahim mungkin aku undi dia!"

"Sayanglah Abang Mi lari ke Kuala Krau, ni kawasan ni, Parlimen Temerloh atau DUN Kuala Semantan, memang kawasan Abang Mi dari dulu lagi, Abang Mi dah bergerak lama di kawasan ni, tapi kalau di DUN Jenderak tu tak dapatlah saya menolong, saya pengundi kawasan ni." kata Mat.

Kembali kepada DUN Lanchang, ramai anak Lanchang nak jadi calon.  "Elok juga Lanchang ni ditandingi oleh anak Lanchang.  Dari zaman Dato Malik, VV Aboo, Dato Bahari sampai ke Sarkar, semuanya orang luar, eloklah Lanchang diberikan kali ini kepada anak Lanchang, tapi biarlah yang senonoh," kata Mat.

"Calon Pembangkang, entahlah kalau bukan anak Lanchang, susahlah nak menang.  Ada cerita kononnya Cikgu Jalaludin akan diletakkan oleh PKR, tapi dia juga menghadapi kes Mahkamah, tapi kalu dia ni bertanding, ada harapan PKR boleh rampas DUN Lanchang ni.  Pilihan kedua ialah Man Kadir, dia ni memang popular di Lanchang, kena pulak dia ni, menjadi buah mulut setiap isi keluarga dengan drama-drama yang dia berlakon dan dia terkenal dengan nama Pak Jabit.  Kalau calon lain, rasanya Pembangkang tak ada peluang di Lanchang, sangat sukar." tegas Mat.

Kami habiskan minuman kami dan roti canai dan kemudian koi beredar, balik kerumah kejap dan lepas itu meneruskan perjalanan ke Kuala Krau.  Tapi hujan lebat turun di Kuala Krau.  Koi habiskan masa dengan Khalid, Penolong Setiausaha PKR Cbg Kuala Krau dan selepas itu Azmi, Naib Ketua datang.  Selepas Maghrib kami pergi makan kat Restoran dekat ngan stesyen keretapi Kuala Krau.  Jam lebih kurang 9.00 malam, saya dan Kak Hendon bertolak ke Temerloh.

Suara Sri Andalas

Suara Sri Andalas


1Care is Crony-inspired, Says PSM

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 02:00 AM PST

KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) today urged Malaysians to go beyond rejecting the government's "crony-inspired" proposals by kicking Barisan Nasional out of power.

Commenting on the recently proposed 1Care healthcare scheme, Dr Michael D Jeyakumar, a member of the PSM central committee, said he agreed that it was not the right way to go about reforming the healthcare system. "But I say, change the government," he said in an interview with FMT.
 
Jeyakumar, who is the MP for Sungai Siput, is a physician well known for his social work.
 
He said Malaysians could not rely on the BN government to be objective in its reform proposals. "We can't have any meaningful reform of public institutions. It usually leads to cronyism."

He criticised the rationale behind making 1Care a privatised and market-driven entity, saying it was flawed. "It's a mistake. In PSM , we think it is based on the wrong premise, modelled on financial incentives. That is the wrong way to go about healthcare."
 
The government is yet to release the complete details of its proposal, but opponents have claimed that every household will be required to contribute nearly 10% of its gross household income for the insurance, which will cover only basic healthcare expenses.
 
All clinics and hospitals will be placed under the 1Care umbrella and access to specialist healthcare will to be through primary healthcare providers, who will act as gate-keepers.
 
Last November, Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai said 1Care was aimed at ensuring that healthcare costs would be effectively managed and their affordability would be sustainable.
 
However, the proposal has provoked widespread anger, including from consumer activists and healthcare professionals, with some describing it as a scheme that seeks to profit from the sick.
Plenty of weaknesses

According to doctors and activists, the scheme has plenty of weaknesses. Among other things, they say, it imposes unfair conditions on patients, such as the following:
  • You cannot pick your own doctor. The government will choose a doctor for you. If you choose your own doctor, you have to pay.
  • You cannot consult your assigned doctor more than six times a year.
  • You can only see the doctor for only one problem at a time.
  • You get only cheap generic medicine.

"I think details are still too sketchy; we are not really sure what they are going to do," said Jeyakumar.
 
He said privatisation would be detrimental to the quality of healthcare and would give rise to "all kinds of quirky behaviour".
 
For example, he said, a general practitioner might choose not to refer a patient to a specialist so that he would benefit from incentives offered under the scheme.
 
"If a general practitioner is given a 5,000 patient quota, he may try his best to keep the majority of those patients even though it would be in the patients' interests to be referred to other specialists," he added.

"This is what will happen if you use money to regulate clinical behaviour."

He said public hospitals would be corporatised and would essentially manage themselves as private hospitals.

"This would cause more and more cases of over-diagnosis, over-investigation, and over-treatment."

Citizens' Healthcare Coalition, a group opposed to 1Care, has started a campaign against it that is fast gaining attention on the Internet.


Source: Free Malaysia Today

PKR DUN 19 Kepayan P174 Penampang, Sabah.

PKR DUN 19 Kepayan P174 Penampang, Sabah.


Funding of EPF for Purchase Public Housing Projects is abuse of retirees safety nett.- PKR Sabah

Posted: 02 Feb 2012 10:04 PM PST

DR ROLAND CHIA,

PKR Supreme Council Member cum PKR Sabah Secretary Dr Roland Chia Ming Shen is saddened that the Government has resorted to using Employees Provident Fund (EPF) savings to fund loans for the purchase of public housing projects.

To even consider such a move is wrong and to add salt into injury, PKR Sabah questioned why only the Federal Territories were given special status to have EPF to channel RM1.5bil to the Federal Territories Foundation as part of a special funding scheme. Are not we suppose to be 1-Malaysia? What about Sabah who contributes the most especially in terms of Oil & Gas revenue and is also the largest Palm oil producer in the whole country Malaysia.

The loans will definitely would not make money for EPF and the risk of payment default would be high because most of the purchasers are lower income group who has already have difficulty to make ends meet. Dr Roland Chia said the Government must consider EPF contributors' interest and not abuse the fund as it served as a safety net for retirees.

Instead the funds for public housing project must come directly from the Government and those who qualify should pay rental for their units and subsequently, have this converted to ownership," he said.

The government should first address the many delayed Federal housing projects like the SPNB and PPRT housing projects in Sabah and throughout Malaysia before even getting EPF to fund purchase of new public housing projects. So the question arises, what has happened to our federal coffers?