Shadow Policy Committee

We are now seeing the army doing their part to only assist the police force to maintain order and to enforce the movement control order nationwide in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus. What we had observed till today is the movement control order had since been successful despite some hiccups in certain areas which ought to be strictly enforced. However, asides being only involved in security related enforcement and patrolling activities, the army ought to do more in order to ease the burden of the relevant government agencies in getting their activities or efforts mobilised effectively. First, how about involving the Army’s Medical Corps? The medical corps of the not only the army but the navy and the air force as well ought to be mobilised to assist their civilian counterparts who are now experiencing shortage of medical staffs. Asides, it has been reported that many hospital and medical staffs are also infected with the virus while providing their service in hospitals, ...

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has said that a Pakatan Rakyat (PR) federal government would be satisfied with a simple majority in Parliament, citing concerns that a two-thirds majority victory will make the coalition complacent. The PKR advisor and Opposition Leader said that a simple majority would ensure a strong federal government as well as opposition, as well as allow a proper-check-and balance system so that PR does not end up mirroring the current Barisan Nasional government. “Why do you need to win and have two-thirds majority, for what? Simple majority cukup (is enough). Two-thirds will make (us) complacent... two-thirds if you are too strong, you don’t and won’t have a strong, formidable opposition,” Anwar (picture) told an interview session yesterday. The opposition leader said he was confident of PR’s chances of taking over Putrajaya and forming a new federal government, and that he wanted “Umno to perform well as an opposition party.” Election 2008 saw PKR become the largest o...

By: Jeffrey Chew, Special Assistant to the Chief Minister of Penang WITH reference to “Judge CM Lim on his record” (April 13), I wish to reiterate that the writer is continuing his barrage of critical comments based on baseless observations. Although he is entitled to his comments, I believe he should focus on what is best for Penang. After all, asking the present government to give credit to the past government clearly shows that he has a short-term memory that it was the rakyat that was instrumental in bringing progress to the state and not solely residual efforts from the past government. Therefore, I hope the writer will take this important note to heart and allow the present government to govern and create a good environment for progress to happen. The writer’s comments are fast portraying himself as an apologist for BN. After all, he seems to know so much but yet he continues to shy away from giving constructive comments to further improve. Hence, his choice of writing to the pre...