My Miscellaneous Page

MCA’s moral duty to raise school issue, says Chua

The Star, Sunday October 15, 2006

JOHOR BARU: The MCA does not view the Chinese primary school issue as racially sensitive but its moral obligation to the community, party vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said.  

The party would continue to work to build new Chinese schools and relocate those from rural to urban areas to meet the community’s present and future needs, he said.  

Dr Chua , who is also Health Minister, said this during a ceremony to present a RM100,000 cheque to the SJK (C) Johor Jaya for its four-storey building here on Friday night. 

The RM1.9mil school, with 22 classrooms, was completed last year. 

Dr Chua also said the recent remarks in Parliament by Deputy Education Minister Datuk Noh Omar on the building of new Chinese and Tamil schools were wrong and did not reflect the government stand. 

He said when a minister was not present in the House, his deputy would reply to questions raised in Parliament. 

“The deputy minister would refer to ministry officials for details and the reply need not necessarily reflect the government stand on an issue,” said Dr Chua. 

Last week, Noh told the House that the Government would not build any vernacular schools under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. 

Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein had since pointed out that his deputy could not be blamed for what he (Noh) said because the matter was not under him. – Bernama  

Hisham: Tee Keat has got his facts wrong

At the Dewan Rakyat
Reports by ZULKIFLI ABD RAHMAN, ELIZABETH LOOI AND FLORENCE A. SAMY

The Star, Wednesday September 13, 2006

EDUCATION Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein has accused Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat of getting his facts wrong over claims that money meant to renovate Chinese schools in Johor had been misappropriated. 

He said Ong had made wild claims of corruption against government officers and wanted to be a “hero among the Chinese”.  

Hishammuddin said his deputy Datuk Hon Choon Kim and Public Works Department officers had visited the schools to investigate the claims made by Ong and found one school had cost estimation problems while the other school’s condition was not as bad as claimed.  

“I don’t agree with the way Ong hurled sweeping statements against government officers to the people at the gathering,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby yesterday.  

Ong said he was informed by school authorities of SRJK Bukit Kepong at its gathering that RM30,000 was approved for the school renovations but only RM5,000 worth of work had been carried out. 

“I told the gathering if that is the case, then it is imperative that they bring it up to the local education department. Never did I touch on the Education Ministry at federal level,'’ he said. 

Ong said the criticism against him by Hishammuddin was uncalled for, adding that any misuse of funds involving any school should be investigated. 

Mustapa apologises for Tee Keat’s statement

The Star, Thursday September 14, 2006

PETALING JAYA: Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed has apologised to the Education Ministry over a statement made by his deputy Datuk Ong Tee Keat alleging that funds meant for Chinese school renovations had been misappropriated. 

“The Cabinet decided that it is not appropriate for a government officer to openly criticise fellow officers in other ministries,” Mustapa said, adding that the situation would not recur. 

He said if there were any issues, they should be raised directly with the Minister. 

“Ever since I became minister, I have tried to establish a good working relationship between the two ministries,” he said.  

“I hope that the Deputy Higher Education Minister’s statement will not jeopardise the close cooperation that has been forged.”  

In a separate statement, Education Ministry deputy secretary-general Fatimah Md Deni said investigations revealed that there was no basis to Ong’s claim. 

She said in September last year, the Government approved an additional allocation for renovations to unsafe partially-aided government schools and state education departments were asked to identify schools in need of urgent repair. 

Among the schools earmarked were SJKC Ai Hwa and SJKC Kung Yu in Muar with repairs costing RM20,000 and RM30,000 respectively. The repairs were completed and payment was made. 

“As such, there is no issue of misappropriation of funds. The Education Ministry is firm that any allegation of its officers misusing the funds meant for Chinese primary schools in Johor is a lie,” she said. 

Meanwhile, Deputy Education Minister Datuk Hon Choon Kim said at the Parliament lobby here that there was only one complaint from the 140 Chinese schools which received allocations from the Education Ministry for refurbishment. 

Hon said he visited two schools in Johor on Monday together with Public Works Department (JKR) officers and found that the renovation in one school did not justify the RM30,000 allocation received. 

He said the project was supervised by JKR and they are fully aware of the case. He added that he would leave it to JKR to investigate.

Criticism – a matter of politics and Government

The Star, Saturday September 16, 2006

KUALA LUMPUR: The decision to reprimand Deputy Higher Education Datuk Ong Tee Keat for his statement directed at the Education Ministry was made based on government principle. 

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the decision was made at the Cabinet level in the presence of all Barisan Nasional component party heads. 

SOLEMN PRAYERS: Najib reciting the Surah Yasin in conjunction with the 73rd Armed Forces Day before Friday prayers at Masjid Khalid Al Walid in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. With him are Armed Forces chief Tan Sri Mohd Anwar Mohd Nor (second from right) and army chief Datuk Seri Abdul Aziz Zainal (second from left). — Bernamapic

He was asked to comment on some Barisan leaders questioning the Cabinet’s move to reprimand Ong for alleging misuse of funds meant for Chinese schools’ refurbishment, when Umno Youth leaders were allowed to hurl criticism at Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon alleging him to have neglected issues concerning the Malays in the state. 

“That’s all, that’s enough. It is a matter of principle. One is politics; the other is the Government,” he said when pressed further by reporters. 

The reprimand was issued through Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed on Wednesday. 

Mustapa, in his apology to the Education Ministry over Ong’s remarks, said the Cabinet decided that it was not appropriate for a government officer to openly criticise fellow officers in other ministries. 

The apology came after Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein brought up the matter to the Cabinet. 

On another matter, Najib said that Malaysian soldiers have been trained to be part of the peacekeeping force to be deployed to Lebanon. 

However, Najib, who is also Defence Minister, said Malaysia had yet to receive the green light from the United Nations. 

“We have not heard anything but we’ve done the training.” 

On former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s remarks questioning the need to send the peacekeeping force to Lebanon when the intention of the UN was to protect Israel from being attacked by Hezbollah rather the civilians in Lebanon, Najib said: “ We will implement the mandate by the UN to ensure a ceasefire in that area and to stabilise Lebanon. That’s all.”  

Ong: No need to make problems public

The Star, Saturday September 16, 2006

KUALA LUMPUR: There are proper and effective ways to resolve problems without needing to make them public, said MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting. 

He said it was the responsibility of MCA leaders to expose any case of corruption, the abuse of power and malpractice but there were proper channels to do so. 

“This is about the coordination and cooperation between government officers in solving problems and implementing national policies,” he said yesterday after attending the Chang Ming Thien Foundation’s study loan presentation ceremony. 

He said this when responding to questions on the spat between Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat and Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein. 

The Cabinet decided on Thursday to reprimand Tee Keat for his statement directed at the Education Ministry, alleging that funds meant for renovations in two Chinese schools had been misused. 

Ong said that in this particular case, it must be understood that society at large was concerned over whether there were problems in the implementation of government policies.

Criticism – a matter of politics and Government

The Star, Saturday September 16, 2006

KUALA LUMPUR: The decision to reprimand Deputy Higher Education Datuk Ong Tee Keat for his statement directed at the Education Ministry was made based on government principle. 

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the decision was made at the Cabinet level in the presence of all Barisan Nasional component party heads. 

SOLEMN PRAYERS: Najib reciting the Surah Yasin in conjunction with the 73rd Armed Forces Day before Friday prayers at Masjid Khalid Al Walid in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. With him are Armed Forces chief Tan Sri Mohd Anwar Mohd Nor (second from right) and army chief Datuk Seri Abdul Aziz Zainal (second from left). — Bernamapic

He was asked to comment on some Barisan leaders questioning the Cabinet’s move to reprimand Ong for alleging misuse of funds meant for Chinese schools’ refurbishment, when Umno Youth leaders were allowed to hurl criticism at Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon alleging him to have neglected issues concerning the Malays in the state. 

“That’s all, that’s enough. It is a matter of principle. One is politics; the other is the Government,” he said when pressed further by reporters. 

The reprimand was issued through Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed on Wednesday. 

Mustapa, in his apology to the Education Ministry over Ong’s remarks, said the Cabinet decided that it was not appropriate for a government officer to openly criticise fellow officers in other ministries. 

The apology came after Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein brought up the matter to the Cabinet. 

On another matter, Najib said that Malaysian soldiers have been trained to be part of the peacekeeping force to be deployed to Lebanon. 

However, Najib, who is also Defence Minister, said Malaysia had yet to receive the green light from the United Nations. 

“We have not heard anything but we’ve done the training.” 

On former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s remarks questioning the need to send the peacekeeping force to Lebanon when the intention of the UN was to protect Israel from being attacked by Hezbollah rather the civilians in Lebanon, Najib said: “ We will implement the mandate by the UN to ensure a ceasefire in that area and to stabilise Lebanon. That’s all.”  

Ong: No need to make problems public

The Star, Saturday September 16, 2006

KUALA LUMPUR: There are proper and effective ways to resolve problems without needing to make them public, said MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting. 

He said it was the responsibility of MCA leaders to expose any case of corruption, the abuse of power and malpractice but there were proper channels to do so. 

“This is about the coordination and cooperation between government officers in solving problems and implementing national policies,” he said yesterday after attending the Chang Ming Thien Foundation’s study loan presentation ceremony. 

He said this when responding to questions on the spat between Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat and Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein. 

The Cabinet decided on Thursday to reprimand Tee Keat for his statement directed at the Education Ministry, alleging that funds meant for renovations in two Chinese schools had been misused. 

Ong said that in this particular case, it must be understood that society at large was concerned over whether there were problems in the implementation of government policies.  

PWD officers may face action

The Star, Monday October 2, 2006

KUALA LUMPUR: Officers of the Public Works Department and contractors involved in the controversial repair works in SRJK (C) Kung Yu in Muar will likely face action, Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said. 

He said this was based on the preliminary report by PWD deputy director-general (II) Dr Judin Abd Karim, which revealed “many matters” including “wrong payment” and “unsatisfactory work.” 

“The final report will be completed in two weeks’ time,” he said after opening the Malaysian Indian Youth Council’s 13th assembly yesterday. 

Samy Vellu said he was satisfied with the initial report as it was reflective of the situation in the school unlike the first report submitted by Muar PWD, which concluded that “everything had gone by the book.” 

“When I visited the school myself, I found that many works were not completed and they had spent RM3,000 to RM4,000 on the works but had paid out RM29,5000 to the contractors,” he said. 

Samy Vellu said he then had directed the PWD deputy director-general to conduct a probe on the matter. 

“I will ask for action to be taken on the officers responsible and the contractors who did the works in the school,” he added. 

The controversy over the repair works at the school first surfaced when Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat alleged that funds meant for renovations in two Chinese schools had been misused. 

On another matter, Samy Vellu, who is MIC president, announced that Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein had agreed in principle to rebuild 38 Tamil schools throughout the country under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. 

He said this involved a sum of RM32.12mil for 20 fully-aided government schools and RM16.25mil for 18 partially-aided schools. 

Samy Vellu said 37 Tamil schools were rebuilt under the Eighth Malaysia Plan, of which 16 were partially-aided government schools.  

Najib: Government wants end to repairs issue

The Star, Wednesday October 4, 2006

PUTRAJAYA: The Government wants to put an end to the controversy involving Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat and funds spent on repairs on a Chinese school in Johor. 

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had this to say yesterday:  

“We do not want to prolong the matter any more.” 

He was asked whether the reprimand against Ong would be retracted by the Cabinet now that the misuse of funds for the school was found to be true. 

The Cabinet reprimanded Ong when he made the allegations as it ruled that one minister could not comment on another ministry’s responsibility. 

Ong put himself on the spot with Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein when he was reported to have said that while repairs to SJK (C) Kung Yu amounted to only RM3,000, about RM30,000 was paid out. 

Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, who visited the school recently, had said that work carried out amounted to only RM3,000 to RM4,000 but RM29,500 was paid to the contractors. 

Najib was speaking to reporters after accepting a giant board with 150,000 signatures and wishes by members of the public and foreigners. The board had been placed at the Kuala Lumpur Sentral monorail station by a local newspaper. 

On the plan to have the Tun Abdul Razak Rubber Research Centre in Brickendonbury, Herfordshire, used for sporting activities, the Deputy Prime Minister said a lot of fine-tuning was needed, such as a study on “needs and demands” and getting feedback and suggestions from various sports associations, before a final decision was made. 

“We need to look at the physical layout and the changes (that have to be made) and then make a final decision,” he said.