Malaysiakini
Humayun Kabir
Jul 3, 10

The DAP has slammed the additional project allocations to parliamentary constituencies totalling RM111 million, saying the money would be better spent on more scholarships to deserving students, our future assets.

Party supremo Lim Kit Siang lashed out at the BN government for squandering precious public funds for their personal political agenda instead of helping needy students.

He said more non-Malay students who deserve scholarships are not getting the opportunities, describing Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s 1Malaysia policy as hypocritical.

Lim praised party national vice chief M Kula Segaran – who is helping Indians secure Public Services Department (PSD) scholarships – for championing the rights of his community.

Economy flip-flop

Lim (below) also picked on the BN leadership’s flip flopping statements on the state of the national economy.

He referred to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz had claimed that the government lacked sufficient funds to increase PSD scholarships.

And then in the same breath Nazri announced that because the government has extra funds all BN parliamentarians would enjoy an increase project allocations from the annual RM1 million to RM1.5 million, said Lim.

Another contradiction, he said, was Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Idris Jala’s claim that the nation might become bankrupt by 2019 if the government continues with its subsidies policy.

Lim said this was in stark contrast to Mahathir’s vision of a developed Malaysia by 2020. Najib had also claimed this week that the target was achievable.

“On the one hand we have the possibility of the nation going bankrupt by 2019, and a year later (we achieve) developed status. Which is correct?,” asked Kit Siang.

Lim was speaking at the DAP Barat Tamil Dinner at Dewan Han Kang, SJKC Yuh Hua in Buntong, Ipoh on Friday night.

1,000 Buntong residents attended the function, where six top DAP leaders, including Penang chief minister and party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng spoke on the country’s current political situation.

East Malaysia ‘fleeced’

Kit Siang said that both Sabah and Sarawak are now more receptive to the political change that hit the peninsula on March 8, 2008.

Likewise, he called on the Indian community to also support Pakatan to take control of Putrajaya.

Guan Eng (right) touched on reducing the high level of corruption in the country, with measures such as open tenders and enforcing anti-corruption laws.

He said politicians should also lead by example by taking steps to cut costs and boost revenue.

“Many `frogs’ (party defectors) have mocked me for flying economy class in Air Asia, and said that I have no class. But at the end of the day I have cut costs and saved public funds by economising,” he added.

He said Sabah and Sarawak are both lands of plenty, but massive depletion of public funds through wastage and corruption has left the natives in poverty while the “two-legged crocodiles” continue to fleece the natural resources.