(Petaling Jaya, Thursday): Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has saved the day when he announced that his Cabinet has decided to withdraw the guidebook for Ethnic Relations published by the University Putra Malaysia(UPM) under tremendous pressure not only from the opposition parties and NGOs but also some of the politicians within the Barisan Nasional Government.

DAP has earlier demanded for the withdrawal through a series of actions, including issuance of public statement, questioned the Minister of Higher Education Minister as well as tabling an emergency motion in the parliament and making a police report in Petaling Jaya. The Opposition Leader has also planned to organize a roundtable on the subject in the Parliament and the idea has been dropped following the withdrawal of the controversial guidebook.

We hope Abdullah and its Cabinet could take a leaf from this episode that defending the indefensible is not right attitude of Government leaders.

Abdullah’s decision yesterday has given some hopes to those who were campaigning actively on some burning issues such as those listed below. Abdullah’s personal intervention on these issues is very much needed and urgent:

• Open the access road from Bandar Mahkota Cheras to Kuala Lumpur immediately and stop building tolls on the access road. A written reply by the Minister of Works in the Parliament has stated clearly that the said access road was approved in 1994, long before the privatization of the Cheras Kajang Highway. If that’s the case, the concessionaire has not rights whatsoever to build a barricade to block the access road and the MPKj must immediately remove the barricade without any delay. And the government has no reason to entertain the idea of building new tolls on the access road or pay RM 442 million (note: taxpayers’ money) to Grand Saga.
• Stop logging at the Malua and Ulu Segama Forest Reserves in Sabah. It is very unlikely that the State Government will withdraw its plan to allow logging in the Malua and Ulu Segama forest reserves, home to various endangered species, including orang-utans, sun bears, gibbons and wild buffalos. WWF-Malaysia also said that the forests are one of the two places in the world where endangered orang-utans, Bornean Pygmy elephants and the critically endangered Sumatran rhino co-exist.
• Abort the plan to build the world’s largest incinerator in Broga, Selangor. The Ministry of Housing and Local Government is still pushing ahead for the project despite of strong protest by the DAP and the Broga/ Semenyih residents. We have demonstrated the risks and devastating effects on health and environment of such a project in the valuable Semenyih water catchment area (supplying clean water to more than 2 million people in the Klang Valley) but to no avail. The residents have even brought the case to the Shah Alam high courts.
• Reopen the original SRJKC Damansara (Baixiao).The school was shut down by the education ministry thanks to the misguidance and wrong advice given by MCA leaders. It has been more than 2,000 days now and the students (about 80) are still studying in the containers parked in the compound of a Chinese temple. Every community deserves it own school and the reopening of Baixiao will go a long way to restore the image of the government.
• Use Petronas earnings to help needy families.  Petronas has just announced a record-breaking pre-tax profit of RM 70.2 billion and a net profit of RM43.59 billion in its year ended 31 March 2006. The money belongs to the citizens of this country and the Abdullah Administration should make use of Petronas’ earnings to help all needy families, which will certainly help in reducing the pressure of high prices of petrol, diesel, cooking gas and inflation.
• Stop demolition of Indian temples. The Indian community has been depriving of temples with good amenities for a long time. But they are now facing an even bigger problem, i.e., losing their temples in demolition almost every other day. Something must be done to stop the systematic demolition of temples before any untoward incidents take place.
• Set up IPCMC immediately. How long more do Malaysians need to wait for the setting up of this monitoring apparatus?  Even the top guns of PDRM have changed their stand and they too now wanted the monitory body to be set up as soon as possible.

Mr. Prime Minister, tackle these issues and problems quickly would go a long way in restoring confidence of Malaysians in you. You can then focus your energy on the 9MP.

And also not to forget about answering some of those questions raised by your former boss, Tun Dr.Mahathir. You cannot rely on ‘elegant silence’ anymore when the ministers and deputies under you cannot answer those questions properly.

(19/07/2006)