Speech by Penang Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and Assemblyman for Padang Kota, Lim Kit Siang, in the Penang State Assembly on the Members of the Administration and the Legislative Assembly (Remuneration) Amendment Enactment 1993 on Tuesday, July 6, 1993
Penang State Assembly should set the lead in Malaysia by introducing laws requiring the Chief Minister, State Exco Members and Assemblymen and top civil servants to publicly declare their family assests
The Penang State Government is the last State Government to introduce the bill to increase remuneration for the Chief Minister, the Speaker, State Executive Councillors and State Assemblymen.
With the increase of remuneration for the Chief Minister, the Speaker, State Exco Members and State Assemblymen, we should be fully conscious of the high expectations of the people and the need for the elected representatives and state government leaders to prove the dedication, commitment and competence.
One of the policies of the Barisan Nasional Government, both at Federal and State level, is the ‘Look East Policy’.
I invite the Penang State Assembly to follow this ‘Look East Policy’. What do we see in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
In Japan, we see the collapse of the Japanese Government and the prospect of the first real change in Tokyo’s leadership in 38 years because of public revulsion over money politics.
In South Korea, the first civilian president in three decades, Kim Young-sam is waging a clean-up of awesome proportions and some 3,000 Government officials, businessmen and politicians have been fired, reprimanded or jailed on bribery charges.
In Taiwan, a new so-called “sun-shine law” had just been enacted requiring some 23,000 civil servants, military officers and judges to report their family assests. Nearly 1,000 ranking officials must do so publicly, while 629 top political leaders, including the president, the premier and members of the cabinet and all legislators, must deposit their financial holdings in blind trusts.
While such a demand for political reform to clean up politics and public life of its corruption is sweeping Asia, demanding higher standards of public integrity and credibility of political leaders, the opposite seems to be happening in Penang and Malaysia.
In the Penang State Assembly last Thursday, for instance, we hear the shocking announcement by the Penang Chief Minister, Dr.Koh Tsu Koom that the Penang State Government did not mind of accusations were made against the State Government or even against him about abuses of power and corruption.
Dr.Koh Tsu Koon made this shocking stand to defend the Penang Deputy Chief Minister, Dr.Ibrahim Saad, who had seen accused of being a 10 per cent State Executive Councillor and conflict-of-interest “dalam berbagai syarikat di mana isteri dan adik serta iparnya menjadi pengrah” in the book “Anwar Ibrahim-antara Nawaitu dan Pesta Boria” bu Yahaya Ismail.
Is Dr.Ibrahim Saad prepared to announce that his wife dan “adik serta iparnya” have never been directors of companies, or that he has no interest and no conflict of interest in these companies?
I had said in the State Assembly that Dr.Ibrahim Saad had only two options to clear his name: one, to have a Committee of Inquiry to investigate into the allegations or second, to take legal action against Yahaya Ismail for defamation.
As Chief Minister, Dr.Koh Tsu Koon should also be concerned at these allegations for it concerns the credibility and integrity of the Penang State Government as well.
I have no doubt that if such allegations had been made in Japan, South Korea or Taiwan today, they would have been followed up with full-scale investigations.
Has the Barisan Nasional Government abandoned the ‘Look East Policy’ or is it only the Penang Barisan Nasional State Government which has abandoned the Look East Policy, as it is the only Barisan Nasional State Government which has come out with the policy pronouncement that it did not mind if allegations of abuses of power and corruption were made against it.
This lowering and loosening of standards of political morality and integrity of Barisan Nasional political leaders in government is completely unacceptable as it pits Penang and Malaysia against the trend in Asia for political reform to clean up the political system of all forms of abuses of power and corruption.
Is this the reasoning why 32 months after being Chief Minister, Penang State Government has already the scandal of the public sale of state awards.
In keeping with this bill to increase the remuneration of the members of the administration and state assemblymen, the State Government and Assembly should also show commensurate political will to clean up the political process of all forms of abuses of power and corruption.
The Penang State Assembly should take the lead in Malaysia to introduce political reforms to clean up corruption in our political system by amending the Penang State Constitution requiring the Penang Chief Minister, the Speaker, all State excos and all State Assemblymen to publicly declare their family assests.
Tsu Koon has failed to grow in stature as Penang Chief Minister in 32 months but getting stuck in the image of a Gerakan ‘cry-baby’ that he is being bullied every time State Assembly meets
We do not begrudge the new salary for Dr.Koh Tsu Koon as Penang Chief Minister, which is RM10,500 per month apart from his other allowances as Chief Minister as well as State Assembylman.
As Chief Minister, however, Dr.Koh Tsu Koon should show credibility, weight, authority and leadership.
Unfortunately, Dr.Koh Tsu Koon has failed to grow in stature as Penang Chief Minister in 32 months, but instead, is getting stuck in the image of a Gerakan ‘cry-baby’ that he is being bullied every time the State Assembly meets.
Dr.Koh Tsu Koon has a special propaganda platoon whose chief objective is to inundate the local press with his image as a young, dynamic and competent Chief Minister- which involved a lot of manipulation of the mass media, as getting the press to carry glowing reports of his performance in the State Assembly even though he might have been torn to shreds by the DAP Assemblymen in the State Assembly, whether during question time or debates.
I am not exaggerating if I say that the Penang Chief Minster beats all other heads of state governments- and Tun Dr.Lim Chong Eu-in being so obssessed with the press.
The Assembly will remember the occasion where the DAP exposed this press manipulation and management by the Chief Minister’s Office, where Tsu Koon’s speech in the Assembly was carried in the newspapers even before he had made it inside the House.
With such obsession, it is understandable why Tsu Koom nad his ‘image-makers’ in his special propaganda unit could get very angry when they suffered a set-back, and this was why some Penang Gerakan leaders went on a rampage against Guang Ming Daily on Saturday, setting fire to the newspaper allegedly for very biased reporting of the State Assembly preceedings against the Penang Chief Ministr.
What crime did Guang Ming Daily commit? The Jelutong Gerakan Division Vice Chairman, Chuah Tien Lai, explained that Guang Ming’s issue last Friday, 2nd July 1993, had given a very biased reporting of last Thursday’s State Assembly with its heading “Lim Kit Siang Bokmbards Koh Tsu Koon” and that in another item, it reported that Tsu Koon’s respone to my attacks were “Neither here nor there” or in a literal translation:”Appears to be true but really untrue.”
So much for Koh Tsu Koon belief in the freedom of the press-the freedom to present him in glowing terms even though untrue but not the freedom to tell the truth about him if it presented him in unfavourable light.
Why burn Guang Ming Daily only when Kwong Wah made even more unfavourable comments about Tsu Koon’s State Assembly performance last Thursday?
But what Koh Tsu Koon and his ;image makers’ missed was the even more unfavourable reporting in the Kwang Wah Yit Pih last Friday, which carried the heading “Lim Kit Siang Rampage in State Assembly and massive bombardment of Penang Chief Minister based on arguments”, and in the report, Dr.Koh Tsu Koon was described as “attacked until his ‘body has no complete pieces of skin left’”?
Why didn’t Koh Tsu Koon’s ‘propaganda boys’ and ‘image makers’ also put the Kwang Wah Yit Poh to the flames for an even more unfavourable reference to Tsu Koon’s performance in the State Assembly?
Can Tsu Koon explain why his Gerakan strong-armed boys burn Guang Ming Daily only when Kwong Wah made even more unfavourable comments about Tsu Koon’s State Assembly performance last Thursday?
Was it because Tsu Koon and his ‘image-makers’ were so angry with Guang Ming Daily since Thursday night, because the adverse reference to Tsu Koon on his reply in the State Assembly which “appears to be true but really untrue” came out in the Guan Ming Daily street edition, that they completely overlooked the Kwang Wah report, which did not appear in the street edition on Thursday night but only in the Friday morning edition?
Or was it because Gerakan felt Guang Ming Daily an easier and more vulnerable target than Kwang Wah Yit Poh?
Penang Gerakan has launched a campaign to use the influence of the Penang State Government and MPPP to force a public boycott of Guang Ming Daily and its advertisements
I understand that instructions have been given to make use of the influence of the Penang State Government and the MPPP to force a public boycott of Guang Ming Daily and its advertisements-just because the Chief Minister has developed a skin as thick as durian skin and could not stand criticism!
It is very sad that Dr.Koh Tsu Koon, who entered the Barisan Nasional Government with the special mission to ‘attack into the Barisan Nasional to rectify the Barisan Nasional’ had become so ‘rectified’ by the Barisan Nasional that he is prepared to countenance a Gerakan campaign to ‘kill’ a Chinese newspaper, Guang Ming Daily, just because of critical comments against him in the newspaper.
Dr.Koh Tsu Koon should declare his stand publicly on this campaign to abuse the powers of the Penang State Government and the MPPP to force a public boycott of Guang Ming Daily and its advertisements.
Tsu Koon, his propaganda boys and ‘image-makers’ had worked very hard to manipulate the media to portray the image that in his winding-up speech last Thursday, Tsu Koon had achieved something he had never done in the Penang State Assembly-forcing the DAP into the defensive or as Sri Tanjong in the New Straits Times headlines a commentary-‘Kit Siang put on the mat by the Penang CM”.
It is understandable that reason fled when all these hard work went to nought when Kwong Wah Yit Poh gave the heading ‘Lim Kit Siang Rampage in State Assembly and Massive Bombardment of Chief Minister based on arguments’ in Kwong Wah together with the comment that Ysu Koon was attacked until he had ‘no complete pieces of skin left’ and Guang Ming Daily carried headings of ‘Lim Kit Siang Bombards Koh Tsu Koon’ and ‘Appears to be true but really not true’ as comment for Tsu Koon’s reply to my speech on the Governor’s Address.
In fact, if we in the DAP are to follow the example of Tsu Koon and his propaganda boys and ‘image-makers’, taking umbrage when there are critical pieces in the newspapers against the DAP, we would be regularly burning newspapers.
Kwong Wah’s Friday edition, for instance, carried a report under the heading “Kit Siang ‘loses all credibility’” when this is merely a baseless allegation by Tsu Koon in the State Assembly. Earlier, Guang Ming Daily had carried a commentary passing disparaging remarks about the DAP’s argument and the controversy over the violation of the six-month rule in the Penang State Constitution and the Penang State Assembly Standing Orders because the commentator did not understand the democratic principle of accountability behind the six-month rule.
But the DAP took all these critical and unfair comments and headings in the stride and did not resort to the burning of Guang Ming Daily or Kwong Wah Yit Poh.
The latest line that I am civil to Ibrahim Saad but attack Tsu Koon is the new variation of the Gerakan propaganda theme that DAP ‘fears UMNO but bullies Gerakan’
Tsu Koon’s image makers had been hard at work to create the image that he is being bullied by the DAP Assemblymen everytime the Penang State Assembly meets.
This line is put out to the media so that reporters could write about it. Thus, Sri Tanjong in his column on 3rd July 1993 which I mentioned just now, wrote:
“Sri Tanjong noticed another thing about Lim: His attitude toward Koh and Deputy Chief Minister Ibrahim Saad is different. He debates with one and attacks the other.
“When Ibrahim was winding up, Lim was all civil, addressing the Speaker and requesting permission from Ibrahim before speaking. His voice was well modulated too.
“However, with Koh, Lim was more active. Often he interrupted without getting the permission of the Speaker and Koh. He also made some remarks while seated as Koh spoke.”
This is the latest variation of the earlier Gerakan line that the DAP ‘fears UMNO, bullies Gerakan’. However, after I had shamed the Gerakan leaders for betraying a very serious ‘inferiority complex’ moaning about being ‘bullied’ but the DAP inside and outside the State Assembly, Gerakan propagandists dare not be so blatant.
What they have done is to repackage this line that DAP ‘fears UMNO, bullies Gerakan’ in a very much more subtle fashion-like the line that in the Penang State Assembly, I am very civil and debate with Dr.Ibrahim Saad while I attack Dr.Koh Tsu Koon’. But even much ‘subtlety’ is so crude that it merely highlights the phenomenal ‘inferiority complex’ of Dr.Koh Tsu Koon as Penang Chief Minister.
I would advise Dr.Koh Tsu Koon to grow up as Penang Chief Minister and stop being a ‘cry-baby’, whether directly or indirectly, telling everyone that he is being bullied every time the State Assembly meets.
Throughout my years as Member of Parliament and State Assemblymen, I always been civil in Parliament and the State Assembly to those who are civil to me, and aggressive and very cutting to those who provoke and warrant such a response.
Why I called Tsu Koon ‘Kelakar Muda’ for K.M.
During the winding-up of the debate on the Yang di Pertua Negeri’s speech, many Excos were assigned the task by the Penang Chief Minister to complain that I had made very cutting remarks against the Chief Minister which should not have been done, like calling Dr.Koh Tsu Koon as Kelakar Muda for K.M.
Did anyone of them stop to think why I called Dr.Koh Tsu Koon ‘Kelakar Muda’-first time he became Chief Minister in 32 months during question time on June 23?
Let us recollect the background of the question session of the June 23 Assembly which led to the use of the term ‘Kelakar Muda’ for the Chief Minister. I have here the Hansard of the State Assembly for the question session on June 23 to help us make this recollection.
In answering the first question which was by the DAP Assemblyman for Berapit, Sdr.Chian Heng Kai, on the Penang State Government’s stand on the redelineation of Parliamentary and State Assembly constituencies for Penang state, Tsu Koon chose terms to hurt and insult DAP leaders.
Thus, in his reply, he accused the DA{ leades “sebenarnya tidak jujur apa yang dilakukan ialah untuk bersandiwara dalam Dewan Negeri ini mencari publisiti murah dalam surat khabar sahaja dan mempergunakan dalam isu ini sebagai modal politik mereka.” (p.5/6)
In reply to my first supplementary question which was very ‘civil’, Tsu Koon continued to be very ‘uncivil’ and ‘offensive’. He repeated his allegation that the DAP was ‘tidak jujur’ six times/ (p.8)
In reply to a supplementary question from DAP Assemblyman for Paya Terubong, Sdr.Teoh Teik Huat, Tsu Koon accused the DAP Assemblymen of ‘hypocrisy’, ‘trick’, of ‘untuk show-chor siew’ and ‘lebih baik Ahli Padang Kota ini jadi seorang pelakon’. (p.15)
He repeated to use terms of ‘sandiwara pelakon’, ‘untuk mencari publisiti’, ‘tidak jujur’ in page 16, and accused the DAP Assemblyman for Datuk Keramat, K.Balasundram as a ‘loyer buruk’ in p.18 which he refused to withdraw despite my request.
It was only then, after the strongest and repeated provocations from the shocking language of the Chief Minister, that I called him ‘K.M . Kelakar Muda’-which is in page 20.
Ten things Tsu Koon must do to earn respect as Chief Minister in the State Assembly
Let me advuse Dr.Koh Tsu Koon that respect inside the State Assembly must be earned, and he cannot get such respect just because he is going to get an increase of salary as Chief Minister to RM10,500 a year.
He can only gain respect inside the State Assembly if he shows the qualities of credibility, weight, authority and leadership, which he has failed so far. If Dr.Koh Tsu Koon is to earn respect in the State Assembly, then there are at least ten things he must do, and they are:
1. He must show the highest respect to State Assembly and not subordinate it to his personal or Gerakan party interests, as in his violation of the six-month rule in the Penang State Constitution and the Penang State Assembly Standing Orders requiring the State Assembly to meet at least once in six months to subject the Government to regular check and accountability;
2. He must not turn and twist in the State Assembly and resort to abuses when he could not answer the DAP in the Assembly. Anyone who had followed the performance of Dr.Koh Tsu Koon in the State Assembly in the past 32 months would have realised that Dr.Koh Tsu Koon would take refuse in accusing me of being a ‘dictator’ whenever he finds that he could not answer DAP my criticisms and comments.
In fact, Dr.Koh Tsu Koon’s resurrection of baseless personal attacks and accusations against me as being ‘dictatorial’ is the best barometer of the Chief Minister’s lack of confidence in himself in the State Assembly-that he has lost the argument and must resort to abuses. This is another facet of his ;inferiority complex’. This is why whenever Dr.Koh Tsu Koon resorted to such personal attacks and accusations against me for being ‘dictatorial’ and that the other DAP leaders and assemblymen have no freedom to speak, I never became angry but only felt sorry and pity for Dr.Koh Tsu Koon that he had so little confidence in himself.
We saw a variation of this ‘inferiority complex’ last Thursday when Dr.Koh Tsu Koon was cornered as to why the State Government was not taking seriously the allegations against the Deputy Chief Minister, Dr.Ibrahim Saad as 10 per cent Executive Councillor and conflict-of-interest by Yahaya Ismail in his book ‘Anwar Ibrahim-antara Nawaitu dan Pesta Boria’.
Seeking to distract the attention to the issue of integrity of Dr.Ibrahim Saad, Tsu Koon tried to create the impression that the biggest question was why I had not read Yahaya Ismail’s entire book. Tsu Koon should know that the issue in the Penang State Assembly is not whether I had read the entire book by Yahaya Ismail, but the two pages containing the allegations against Dr.Ibrahim Saad. It was at this stage that Dr.Koh refused to give way when I stood up for clarification, for he knew that I would have exposed his trick to deflect the attention from the issue of integrity of Dr.Ibrahim Saad and the Penang State Government by making a ‘mountain out of a molehill’ about my not having read the entire book by Yahaya Ismail.
3. Dr.Koh Tsu Koon must show greater confidence in himself in the State Assembly. In the case I just mentioned, Dr.Koh refused to give way to me because he lost confidence that he could maintain control of the State Assembly proceeding, as I would have exposed his trickery in diverting attention from the issue of integrity of Dr.Ibrahim Saad and Penang State Government by making a ‘mountain out of molehill’ about my not having read the entire book by Yahaya Ismail.
During my speech on the Yang di-Pertua Negeri’s speech as well as during my speech on the Supplementary Supply Estimates, I gave Tsu Koon every opportunity to seek clarification, even asking whether he wanted to seek clarification until he himself gave up.
Dr.Koh Tsu Koon however dared not extent this courtesy to me-especially when he knew he had some trickery to hide. It would be a mark that he is gaining some confidence in the State Assembly if he is prepared to reciprocate the courtesy I extended to him in giving way to clarifications, and stop flying the ‘white flag of surrender’ by refusing to give way.
4. Dr.Koh Tsu Koon must show that he is capable of greater originality instead of being a second-class copy-cat. In this Assembly meeting, he is particularly guilty of this signal lack of originality in his arguments, copying what the DAP said in the Assembly, like psychosis, neurosis, etc.
5. He must be honest in the State Assembly. Yesterday, when winding up the debate on the Supplementary Estimates, Tsu Koon did not answer my query as to why he had concealed the latest figures for the low-cost housing rental arrears which must have exceeded RM10 million by the end of last year, and whether this was because he had to take responsibility for the housing rental arrears breaking the RM10 million mark which he could no longer blame on former Chief Minister, Tun Dr.Lim Chong Eu.
6. He must show greater command of State Assembly proceedings, as highlighted by the irregular presentation of the Supplementary Estimates as well as the failure on the part of the State Government to present a memoradum on the Auditor-General’ Report on the 1991 Penang State Government Accounts. Tsu Koon was MP for Tanjong and should know this requirement, especially as he said he was so interested in the Audit Amendment Bill that he was prepared to be the Barisan Nasional ‘ninja assasin’ to kill the DAP private member’s bill to repeal Section 21(2) of the 1961 Education Act-betraying his mission on behalf of the cause of Chinese education to ‘Attack into the Barisan Nasional to rectify the Barisan Nasional’!
7. He should show greater respect to the office of Chief Minister and should not come to the Penang State Assembly to spread rumours. For instance, last Thursday, Tsu Koon claimed that I was paving the way for the MP for Kota Melaka and DAPSY National Chairman, Lim Guan Eng to contest in the Bukit Bendera parliamentary seat in Penang in the next general elections, just because he saw Guan Eng with the DAP Assemblyman for Air Itam, Ong Hock Aun a few months ago. This is a complete figment of Tsu Koon’s hysterical imagination.
This of course is part of the larger problem of the panic that I am going to contest in Tanjong Bungah in the next general election.
Up to now, I have not considered the question of contesting in Tanjong Bungah in the next general elections
It has reached a stage where it seems to have become not only a crisis in Gerakan leadership but in the Penang State Government whenever I pass Tanjong Bungah, and this is why I had said that if Tsu Koon wants it, I could give him prior notice every time I am going to pass through Tanjong Bungah so that he would have greater peace of mind.
In fact, two Gerakan Exco members were specifically assigned to speak on this subject during the winding-up of the debate on the Yang di Pertua Negeri’s speech-because they claim that during the question-and-answer session for the first question on June 23, I had let slip the remark directed to Koh Tsu Koon:”Jangan larikan kawasan”.
The entire Gerakan Nationsal and state leadership panicked over these three words, to the extent that it was taken up all the way to the Gerakan Central Executive Committee meeting and the subsequent announcement that the Gerakan national leadership was preparing a plan to rescue Dr.Koh Tsu Koon.
In actual fact, what I really meant was very clear in the extent of the exchange during question time at the issue of constituency redelineated and went off tangent into his accusations against the DAP, as “…Ketuanya cakap satum juncu-kuncunya diam…(ganggu). Itu perkara lama sudah 20 tahun, ya saya akui, itu cerita lama sebab itu sudah berlaku dalam DAP 20 tahun dictator 20 tahun lama, memang lama bukan 2 hari, 20 tahun.”
It was at this stage that I interjected, and because of the slight pandemonium, what was recorded in the Hansard was “… jangan larikan kawasan”. It is clear from the context that what I meant was that in his answer, Tsu Koon should not run away from the constituency issue.
Insteadm to the panic-stricken leaders in Penang Gerakan and Penang State Government, this was taken was another concrete proof that I would be contesting in Tanjong Bungah in the next general elections.
Let me state categorically that up to this stage, I had never considered the question of contesting in Tanjong Bungah in the next general elections-and all the heat generated about this issue had come from Gerakan quarters.
8. He must show that he is serious in his undertakings and commitments. After declaring in March 1991 that the Penang State Government would make Penang state ‘the cleanest in the country within a year’, he should not turn and twist and claim that this is only an ‘appeal’. He should have the humility to simply admit that the Penang State Government had failed-that is all. After all, there is nothing wrong in trying to backtrack on one’s commitment by claiming that a promise is merely an appeal! Credibility, weight and authority are the first casualties of such back-tracking by a leader.
9. He must not be too obssessed with the press as to develop a press mania which led him to try to manipulate editorial treatment in the newspapers down to the smallest detail of news headings and leads, and when he suffers setback, going on a rampage to burn newspapers.
10. He has demonstrate that he is in full control of the Penang State Government, that he exercises the real powers of a Chief Minister, as in the last 32 months, the real seat of power does not lie with him but in the hands of the Deputy Chief Minister, Dr.Ibrahim Saad, and the DAP Assemblymen had given many instances of this, as for instance, his ignorance about the difference between IPP and APP to help generate power to resolve the national energy crisis in Penang and Dr.Ibrahim Saad in charge of the development of Pulau Jerajak while he is in charge of the development of Pulau Tikus!
DAP is prepared to give credit where credit is due and this is why we publicly praised Dr.Koh Tsu Koon for actively pursuing the establishment of a Chinese consulate in Penang in exchange for a Malaysian consulate in Xiamen.
We are also prepared to give our co-operation to the State Government where it is in the interest of the people of the state. I had announced in the State Assembly on June 24 that the DAP is prepared to give our support for the nomination of Senators to represent Penang State if we are consulted before hand and we agree that the nominee deserves support, regardless of party affiliation. However, if we are not consulted beforehand, then it is clearly impossible for the DAP to give our support to any nominee from the Government.
The RM250,000 constituency development allocation given to UMNO Assemblymen annually should be extended to Gerakan and DAP Assemblymen as well
With the increase of remuneration for the Chief Minister, the Speaker, State Excos and Assemblymen, the people have a right to demand that all forms of political discrimination should cease.
We know for instance that Barisan Nasional Assemblymen had been given annual development grants for their constituencies which are denied to DAP Assemblymen but when challenged, are explained as development projects which had to be announced by the district office.
In actual fact, these constituency development allocations are solely to be expended by the Barisan Nasional Assemblymen and are clearly a blatant form of political discrimination against the voters in the DAP-held constituencies.
In the United Nations would conference on Human Rights in Vienna recently, Malaysia highlighted the right to development as an important human right, but in Malaysia, the Barisan Nasional government is blatantly discriminating against the voters in Opposition-held areas by denying them the right to development by refusing to give DAP Assemblymen the same annual constituency development allocation although all people pay taxes-and in fact, the voters in the Barisan Nasion-held constituencies.
However, there seems to be a double discrimination in such constituency development allocations. I understand that the annual allocation for Gerakan State Assemblymen for constituency development is in the region between RM30,000 to RM50,000. However, for UMNO Assemblymen, they can many times this amount.
This secret was let slip by the UMNO Assemblyman for Penang, Ahmad bin Saad, in the PAC meeting of 27th September 1991, (p.60 of the Verbatim Proceedings of the PAC Report on the Auditor-General’s Report for the 1988 Accounts), where he said:
“Saya hendak beri contoh saya sebagai ADUN Penanti. SAya diluluskan peruntukan Yang Berhormat Dato’s Anwar Ibrahim $100,000, State bagi $150,000. Jadi saya dapat $250,000 semua sekali.”
As far as I know, Gerakan Assemblyman do not get RM250,000 or even RM150,000 a year. It is clear therefore that apart from the discrimination against voters in DAP-held constituencies, there are also discrimination among Barisan Nasional Assemblymen themselves-where UMNO Assemblymen are first-class Assemblymen with constituency allocations amounting to RM250,000 a year while Gerakan Assemblymen get only RM30,000 to 50,000 a year.
All this political discrimination must end, and all Assemblymen, whether UMNO, Gerakan or DAP in Penang should be allocated RM250,000 annually for constituency development, as the monies belong to the people and in line with the human right to development as enuciated by Malaysia in the Vienna World Human Rights Conference last month.