by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjong, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Tuesday, 22nd March 1994:
Privatisation of the postal service is no guarantee of more efficient and responsible service
I have only this afternoon received the Parliamentary notice to all MPs notifying that Dewan Rakyat would meet from April 11 to May 5 and that all MPs must sent in their questions latest by 24th March 1994.
This Parliamentary notice, sent out by the Clerk of Parliament, Abdul Rahman bin Haji Ali, was dated 4th March 1994.
Can Pos Malaysia explain why it has taken 18 days for a letter from Parliament in Kuala Lumpur to reach my address at No. 24, Jalan 20/9, Paramount Garden, 46000 Petaling Jaya?
Didn’t Pos Malaysia at one time claim that it was going to ensure delivery of mail within the Klang Valley within 24 hours?
I understand that there is a ton of mail held up in Pos Malaysia as a result of the Hari Raya holidays causing grave hardships, inconvenience and even financial losses to thousands of Malaysians.
Pos Malaysia has beaten Postal Services Department in terms of atrocious postal service, for there had never been such massive and prolonged postal delays before privatisation of the postal services.
Assurances by Ministers to Parliament and the country that they would protect the public interest by ensuring compe¬tence and efficiency of privatised services have proved to be empty promises one after another, whether the Telekoms, TNB or now the Pos Malaysia.
At the rate things are going, the privatised services would become national nightmares in another three to four years!
Ministers cannot be trusted to act as a public watchdog over privatised services. DAP calls for the formation of a Parliamentary Committee on Privatisation which should act as a public watchdog over the standard and quality of privatised services.