thesun 2009-01-23 page14 death threats raise stakes

speak up!14 theSun | FRIDAY JANUARY 23 2009

Death threats raise stakesON TUESDAY, PetalingJaya councillor DerekFernandez received a call.According to a police report lodged by Fernandez, thecaller said: “You and yourfamily are going to die!”

Fernandez believes that the call is in relation toMBPJ’s blitz against illegalbillboards. Last week whenMBPJ was taking downone in SS2, they were ap-proached by 20 men to get them to stop.

All-Petaling Jaya Residents As-sociation Coalition chairman LiewWei Beng also joined Fernandez onTuesday to lodge the report as he was verbally abused by a man at the scene.In fact MBPJ had to get another craneoperator to help dismantle the giant unipole as the one the council hiredhad refused to continue working – ap-parently intimidated by several men.

To top that off, MBPJ’s council-lors and officers had to put up with abogus Datuk who used to run a flyingschool. This character, who has acheating conviction over his head, hadpassed himself off as financial officerfor Parti Keadilan Rakyat and eventold the councillors that the owner of the billboard had a “reprieve” fromnone other than Datuk Seri AnwarIbrahim.

Fernandez, Richard Teoh, LateefahKoya and the other councillors gavehim an earful and he ran off with histail between his legs.

With all these characters making

an already tough job evenharder, one understandswhy no one is taking anumber to join the queueto be a councillor – no onewho is interested to servethat is! When public serv-ants such as Fernandezand his fellow councillorsare faced with such threatsto life and limb, it is in-cumbent upon us to ensurethat our public officers areaccorded all the protectionthey need to carry out 

their responsibilities without fear orfavour.

So one hopes that by now thepolice would have traced the caller,and hauled him up for questioning.However, at press time, there has beenno word from the men in blue.

Now that all numbers, includingpre-paid ones have to be registered,there should be no trouble in solvingthis case, lest the police are accused of being selective in their investigationsand handling of cases. Thuggery andpolitical bullying have no place in thedischarging of one’s public duties andthe sooner this message gets across,the better it will be for the people andthose who serve them.

And as with Anwar and PKR, theywould be wise to look into this char-acter who claims to be their “pegawai kewangan” and seems to be represent-ing them. If it is proven that this is afraud, action must be taken and thefull might of the law brought to bearon him.

Finally, one salutes MBPJ andits councillors’ and officers for theirsteadfastness in discharging their du-ties despite the intimidation. The bill-board issue has been a long festeringone, fuelled by greased palms of thoseassigned with the public trust andrent-seekers who want to profit fromtainted officials, flaws in the law andthe lax enforcement. To back downnow would mark the end of MBPJ asan authority, awarding victory to thecrooks.

Speaking of which, state executivecouncillor for local government RonnieLiu should stop interfering in the run-ning of councils in Selangor. The port-folio only allows him to give generaldirections, not specific orders such asoverruling MBPJ’s order to shut downan illegal parlour or presiding over theawarding of a maintenance contract for Kelab Syabas swimming pool oreven the relocation of hawkers.

Such activities are among the rea-sons the previous administration wasthrown out. Thus, Liu should allowthe local councils to carry out theirfunctions.

Terence feels betrayed by some Pakatan Rakyat leaders who seem to be repeat- ing the mistakes of their predecessors.He is reminded of George Orwell’s 

 Animal Farm where the pigs who led the rebellion against human oppressors ended up being oppressors themselves.He is deputy editor (special reports & investigations). Comments: terence@thesundaily.com.

Down2Earthby Terence Fernandez

t h e s u n s a y s

Tough choicesfor UmnoFOR far too long many in-cumbents in the federal rulingcoalition have been lulled intocomplacency which has evolvedinto arrogance. The BarisanNasional’s victories in everygeneral election and most by-elections since independencecaused some leaders to losesight of their responsibilities asleaders to serve the people. It isnot uncommon for the people– not just the Opposition – to ac-cuse leaders in the ruling partyof looking into the interests of aselect few instead of the peoplewho put them in power.

Defeats in two recentby-elections and the loss ofBN’s two-thirds majority inthe Dewan Rakyat last yearunderscore the voters’ seeth-ing dissatisfaction with theirgovernment.

This is why the warningfrom Deputy Prime MinisterDatuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak,who is BN and Umno deputychief, that Umno must changeor perish, following the KualaTerengganu by-election defeat,is timely. Najib did right by call-ing a spade a spade as only areality check can awaken someleaders from their slumber.

By his words “Umno mustrepent … we must change ourculture and our attitude”, theprime minister-in-waiting hasdemonstrated that he is not one

to mince words for the sake ofpopularity and will initiate thenecessary changes to returnthe BN and especially Umno tothe fold of the people.

The fact that Najib wants tochange the image of h is party,which is losing its appeal amongvoters, especially the youngercrowd, augurs well for all Ma-laysians as we have a leaderwho is willing to tackle thehard issues – even if it meanshe may lose popularity amongsome of those in his party. Butone thing is certain – Najib isnot alone. There are many oth-ers like him who want to returnUmno and BN to its glory dayswhen it commanded the trustand respect of the people.

As in every recovery proc-ess, it all starts with acceptance– acceptance of the cold hardfacts, as painful as they maybe for some to hear. But onlyby taking stock of the situationcan one truly appreciate thegravity of the position the BN isin and administer the requiredtreatment.

Thus, Najib has taken thefirst step in this do-or-die mis-sion to rehabilitate his bruisedparty and regain the voters’trust. What is needed now isfor others to join him by settingaside their selfishness, petty dif-ferences and stepping up to theplate for the hard work ahead.