DAP Secretary-General’s Desk by Mr. Lim Kit Siang on 18th October 1971.
Dear Comrade,
Parliament will meet for its budget session beginning on Wednesday, 8th December. It is scheduled to meet for 29 days, adjourning on 4th February 1972.
Members of Parliament have to submit their oral or written question by Tuesday, November 16, 1971.
Branches, members or supporters who wish any matter, problem whether local or national, brought up in Parliament in the form of question, should contact any DAP MP for the issue to be take up. To give our MPs time to frame the question and have it translated into Bahasa
Malaysia, I suggest that all such proposed questions should reach our MPs by 10th November.
This will be an opportunity for our branches to get their local issues aired in Parliament. I will like, therefore, all branches to meet and study what issues they would like our DAP MPs raised in Parliament.
Constituency performance of DAP MPs and SAs
The Central Executive Committee has launched a campaign to tighten discipline and upgrade the constituency service and performance of all our MPs and SAs.
As part of this objective, the Party will be holding third DAP National Seminar for MPs and State Assemblymen in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 13 and 14, on the theme: “How we can raise the standard of our constituency service and performance”. Attendance of this seminar is compulsory for all DAP MPs and SAs.
We will like our branches, members and supporters to help us in this campaign. You are therefore invited to write in to me by November 5, 1971 any criticism.
Your criticisms will be studied, categorised and catalogued and presented at the seminar for discussion.
The CEC is very serious in its campaign to upgrade our parliamentary and state assembly performance. We need your help.
Another prong at this objective is my tour of all DAP Parliamentary and State constituencies, which I started with Serdang two days ago.
This has been most successful, and members freely criticized the performance of our MP and SA for the area, with the aim to eliminate shortcomings and mistakes.
DAP National Branches Table-Tennis Competition
The Party has formed a Sports Sub-Committee to organise sporting activities to strengthen comradeship among members, and between branches and states.
The DAP Sports Sub-Committee is headed by Sdr. Walter Loh, CEC Member and MP for Setapak.
Other members are: Vice Chairman: Jamaluddin bin Mohamed; Secretary: Sdr. Patrick Jaswan; Asst. Secretary: Sdr. Tan Heng Swee; Treasurer: Sdr. Wong See Oy; Members: Sdr. Samuel Raj, Sdr. Yoong Wee Yook, Sdr. Lee Jih Kiong, Sdr. Oh Keng Seng, Sdr. Hor Cheok Foon, Sdr. Lam Cher Wee, Sdr. Muluk bin Daud.
I have suggested t the Sports Sub-Committee that it should not be over-ambitious for a start. I should as its first item, organise a national DAP ping-pong competition. The national chairman, Dr. Chen Man Hin, has kindly offered to present a trophy.
Loans form Party
Members had asked whether they could apply for loans from the Party. For the information of all members, the Central Executive Committee decided in July this year that no loan from any party member will be entertained.
Members will remember that some-time last year, the CEC gave loans to the Deputy Secretary-General and to me to purchase cars, which are used to travel extensively for the Party.
However, there were disagreements over the desirability of making loans. Although the Party Congress at its Seremban session in February this year endorsed the CEC loans, I decided that to avoid fraternal misunderstandings and disagreements, that both Sdr. Fan and I will repay the entire loan back to the Party. This was in July, and when the CEC also decided to reject all individual applications for loans from members, whether ordinary of official.
Although I had to borrow from outside to repay the loan to the Party, I feel this is best in the interests of the Party.
International trips
Again, for the information of all members, the Central Executive Committee does not finance any overseas trip by any of our leaders attending conferences abroad.
Whether it was my attending the Socialist International Conference in Helsinki, or Sdr. Goh Hock Guan’s similar visit to Helsinki, or Sdr. Dr. Soorian’s visit to New Delhi for the Bangladesh Conference, or Sdr. Fan Yew Teng’s visit to Europe, or Sdr. Dr. Soorian and Sdr. Lee Lam Thye’s visit to New Zealand for the Asia-Pacific Socialist Conference, the expenses were me outside party funds. The same applies of course also to Sdr. Daing Ibrahim’s visit to Tokyo in 1970 for an Friederich-Ebert Asian Conference.
Branch Committee Members
For an up-to-date record of office-bearers of all our branches, I am enclosing separately with this bulletin, a pro forma form to be filled by every branch secretary showing their present committee members.
All branch secretaries are requested to fill and return them to Headquarters within a week of receipts.