The 9th. Hainan Association Malaysia Youth Badminton Championship on 18th - 20th December 2009 was held at Semambu Badminton Hall, Kuantan. Altogether 15 men teams and 7 ladies teams participated in this badminton tournament. It was encouraging to observe that the majority of the team members were relatively young except for the team leaders. The badminton teams were from Ulu Tiram, Kemasek, Klang, Port Dickson, Perak, Kemaman, Telok Anson, Kuching, Selangor, Malacca, Kulai and Kuantan, participated this tournament.

Kuantan Hainanese Association was the Organising Committee after 9 long years in the wilderness. I must commend Mr. Pang Ching Chay and the Organising Committee for taking this challenge to organise this badminton tournament after more than 2 months of preparation. There were initial hiccups in organising such a big national event given by the fact that we had organised this tournament 9 years ago. Eventually, all the plans were put into place and the tournament was well organised given by the fact that they had only 2 over months to plan.

We would like to congratulate the winning teams and thank all the participating teams for their support. We must also remember that there are winners and losers in any tournament but the most important thing was that it brought fond memories and friendship (kinship) in participating this tournament.

See you all in Ipoh, Perak, in 2 years time!

Suukee Boleh!

PARADIGN SHIFT OF AN OLD ASSOCIATION

As the Assistant Welfare Bureau Chief of Persatuan Hainan Kuantan, I usually received the SMSes concerning the dismiss of our elderly members. I would usually attend the funeral wake either at the decease family's house or funeral palour. Lately, I noticed that very few of the Committee Members attended the funeral wake in order to show respect to the decease and to grief together with the family members.
I would suggest that the Committee Members make an effort to attend the funeral wake as the decease's family members would be very appreciated that the representatives of the Association show concern and kindness in their time of bereavement. This is one of the public relations in order to connect them to the Association.
In the old days, the Association was very influencial amongst the hainanese community as the Committee Members then, could settled most of the problems such as helping to remit monies back to their counties, attending to their welfare and to act as the mediators to settle disputes.
We have slowly but surely lost the influence accorded to us in the old days dued to the evolution of a progressive society.
I would suggest that we must have the paradign shift in order to cater for the changing needs of the members so as to remain relevent. Needs ideas have to be created in order to cater for the needs of the members or else we may become irrelevent!

As the Assistant Welfare Bureau Chief of Persatuan Hainan Kuantan, I usually received SMSes late in the afternoon, to inform me of the dismiss of our beloved members who had passed away. I would usually attend the decease at their family's home or at the funeral palour. Recently,I noticed that the attendence amongst our Committee Members was reduced to about the usual 4 to 5 Committee Members. It is disheartening to observe that our Committee Members were lukewarm in attending the funeral wake in order to pay respect to the deceases and to grief together with their family's members in their time of their berearement

RECONNECT WITH THE GRASSROOTS

I was heartened that the local leadership organised numerous social activities in order to reconnect with the grassroots in order to be relevent with the grassroots. Recently, on 6th. December 2009, the 155 veterans who are above 60 years old, were invited to have lunch organized by JKKK Kg. Tengah / Kg. Jawa, Kuantan. They were given angpows and a small token of appreciation prior to the lunch. I am sure that the veterans were pleasantly surprise to receive angpows worth RM 50.00. Even though the amount was nothing to shout about but at least, they were appreciated by the authority for remaining loyal in their support of the ruling government.
I would like to see more activities of this nature to be organised in future for the benefit of the people. When the ruling party appreciate and thank their loyal supporters by orgainising these activities of this nature, they will continue supporting the ruling party when they perceive that the ruling party cares and appreciate them for their contributions.

MCA's GREATER UNITY PLAN

The high turnout for the 'coming home dinner' at Wisma MCA on the night before the special briefing organised on 15th. November, 2009 by MCA gave a clear indication of the good response from the MCA grassroots leaders that the majority of the leaders welcome and agreed to the Greater Unity Plan proposed by MCA Central Committee members. I am sure both the President and the Deputy President were obviously happy and smiling when they saw the thunderous applause from the grassroots leaders when they made their entry to the dining hall at Dewan San Choon. There were much hand shaking by both the top leaders as they moved from one table to another table to welcome the grassroots leaders. There was much camaraderie and goodwill amongst them by the body language and back slabbing amongst the Party comrades. At long last,they could see the light after the tunnel after one year of bitter infighting between two dynamite personalities with opposing views and strong personalities. The was unceasing applause when the President and the Deputy President went to the stage to give the brief welcoming speeches to the grassroots leaders. This shows the grassroots leaders gave their approval to the Greater Unity Plan a chance to work for the betterment of the Party.
A total of 155 out of the 191 Divisions, accounting more than 70 % or 620 grassroots leaders attended this Special Briefing organised by the Deputy President Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek on 15th. November, 2009. The delegates consisted of the Division Chairmen, their Deputies and Secretaries as well as the Divisional Youth and Wanita Chairmen.
Datuk Seri Dr. Chua chaired the Briefing and the the meeting was opened to the floor to further deliberate the agendas of the briefing. First and foremost, is the special allocations to be given out at the beginning of next year to all the Division so that they could organise various activities for the benefit of the communities and others in order to win back support from the people after the worst electoral election on 8th. March, 2008. An allocation of RM 50,000.00 to be given to the large Division with ADUN's or MP's but without State Exco / Minister /Deputy Minister inclusive of RM 8,000.00 to the Youth Wing and RM 8,000.00 to the Wanita Wing. The medium size Division will get an allocation of RM 30,000.00 inclusive of RM 5,000.00 to Youth Wing and RM 5,000.00 to Wanita Wing. The smaller Division will get an allocation of RM 10,000. inclusive of RM 1,000.00 for Youth Wing and RM 1,000.00 for Wanita Wing.
Dr. Chua told the grassroots leaders that the fresh elections might be held six months to a year after the unity plan had been fully implemented and the Party more stable. The majority of the Party grassroots leaders gave the assurance that they would not attend the illegal EGM on the 28th. November, 2009. This is in line with the stand adopted by the Party's top leadership. The briefing also discussed direct presidential elections, CC, the State and Deputy Chairmen and the preparation of the coming General Election. A task force will be set up to further look into the details and further deliberations will be discussed at the CC on 18th. November, 2009.
Most of the grassroots leaders came out of the meeting with a positive assurance that the tragic Party infighting will become a thing in the past and they could look forward with greater assurances that the Party will come out stronger and resilient to face the electoral during the next coming General Election.

HAPPY DEEPAVALI

17th. October 2009
Today, it's the Festival of Lights, that is, Deepavali ;- "The light over darkness" or shall I say, "The Good over Evil" I always remember this joyous and happy occasion which my hindu friends celebrated "this Festival of Lights". My indian friends and their family would go to the nearby temples to offer prayers and blessing for their families for the whole year. As always, we would visit their homes at around 9.30 a.m. onwards to wish them "Happy Deepavali". We were ushered into the house where plenty of food were served such as kutup mayam, moruku, dosai, nasi dagang, nasi lemak, roti canai, dhal, etc. etc. As youngster, we were having a wonderful time together with our indian classmates and friends. Then, we would cycled together to visit another indian classmate to wish him "Happy Deepavali". We would ended up visiting four to five homes after which we were reluctant to visit another family due to too much good food and we were full to the brim.
It brought back nostalgia where classmates and friends could easily mixed with one another, visiting their homes whenever there was festivals such as Deepavali, Hari Raya, Chinese New Year and Christmas. The reason was because of the English medium school educational system where we could communicate with each other easily and there was no real racial polarisation among the races at that time. It was a laid back environment to nulture tolerance and respect for each other. We could easily visit each other houses without any taboo or misgivings.
I pray that my children has this tolerance and respect for other races where they could easily mix with each other whilst they are young so that they will grow up to be a well adjusted person later in life where they will have close friends, classmates or colleagues at work from other races.

NEW PARTY ELECTION FOR CC?

The much anticipated MCA Central Committee meeting on the 15th. October 2009, Thursday, commenced at 2.00 p.m. and ended four hours later. But this time, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Kiat called for another EGM under Article 30.1 of the MCA Party Constitution, to be put before to the Central Delegates whether to have another party election for the Central Committee. The Central Committee meeting ended at the death lock where more than 2o of the Central Committee did not agreed to have another fresh election dued to reasons only known by themselves. In the end, the President invoked Article 30.1 that stated that an EGM may be held at any time if directed by the President. The meeting also elected MCA vice-president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai as the new Deputy President.
Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat was using the presidential power to call for an EGM as he believed it was the best solution to resolve this leadership crisis. He wrote in his blog www.ongteekiat.net. that he had proposed another EGM to seek a new mandate from the Central Delegates as the outcome of the recent EGM was inconclusive and divided. He proposed that a fresh election to be conducted as the disciplinary action was a collective decision of the Central Delegates and Presidential Council. "Hence, the onus and responsibility is not on me alone, but collectively." he said. He wrote in his blog that he still had unfinished business involving party and public interests. He was heartened by calls urging him to stay on as President and thank the people and the chinese community for giving undivided support and encouragement to him. Datuk Seri Ong wrote, "To my aspiring MCA colleagues, I must apologise if I stand in the way of your ascendency. That has never been my intention."
To those that Datuk Seri Ong described as genuine party members and workers, he urged them to continue to strengthen the Party and not to play into the hands of manipulators and opportunists.

SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD OF MCA

The Spring and Autumn period of MCA has begun with various contenders or should I say, Warlords of each respective camps, jostling for the ultimate positions in the rarified world of party politics after the inconclusive results of the EGM on 10-10-2009. Each group, old and new, was trying to outmanoeured or out flanked the other party just two days after the EGM by giving various suggestions and proposals as to how to overcome this problem. Some of the leaders called for fresh Party elections while others want the current leadership to take over the leadership should Datuk Seri Ong Tee Kiat vacated the Presidency. Some of them even suggested that the MCA President to stay on until the next Party election. The world of MCA plunged into deeper crisis following the shocked decisions of the Central Delegates which saw no clear-cut winner. It has thrown MCA into total confusion while the top leadership might denied it to the press.
I am of the opinion that MCA is in the Spring and Autumn period of her political life where many schools of thought to contend for power under this uncertained circumstances and that the various contenders are stalking the winners crowns in this transitional period and it might be the demise and dead knell of her political life after 60 years of upholding and safe guarding the legitimate rights and interests of Malaysian Chinese and also the legitimate rights and interests of all other communities as provided under the Malaysian Constitution under Article 6 of the Party Constitution. I would suggest that the MCA President, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Kiat, helm the Presidency under Article 35 of the Party Constitution until the worsening situation or crisis returns to normal. Then, he can call a fresh Party Election when he and the Central Delegates believe that the situation is right for fresh Party election. The Party must emerge intact and stronger after this crisis in order to have the support of the Chinese community again.

THE MCA PARTY CONSTITUTION IS SUPREME

I was confused and dumbfounded that RESOLUTION NO. 1 & 2 was adopted and RESOLUTION NO. 3 was rejected by the MCA Central Delegates at the EGM on 10-10-2009. I immediatedly turned the pages of the MCA Contitution in search f0r answers whether the MCA President need to resign. ARTICLE 35 states that "The General Assembly may dismiss any Party Official (Whether the said Party Official is elected at the General Assembly or Otherwise appointed) If approved by at least two-third of the delegates to the General Assembly present and voting at the meeting of the General Assembly." It's specifically stated that the General Assembly needed at least 2/3 of the delegates votes in order to oust the President. Therefore, the President need not resign based on ARTICLE 35 as he received 1141 votes (49.69 % ) out of a total of 2296 votes for RESOLUTION NO. 1. In this case, it was way below 2/3 of the votes to oust the President. ( 66.66% ).
What would happen should the President resigned? Should we call for another Party election which some commentators put forward to the public. Let's look at ARTICLE 23 - "Subject to Article 40 hereof, in the event of any elected Party Officials ceasing to hold office due to any reason whatsoever the Central Committee shall have the power to fill the vacancy until the next election of Party Officials by the General Assembly." and ARTICLE 40 - " If the President shall cease to hold office for any reason whatsoever, the Deputy President shall hold that office as President until the next General Assembly in which general elections of Party Officials are to be held. The vacant office of Deputy President shall forthwith be filled by the remaining members of the Central Committee electing one of themselves to be Deputy President who shall hold that office as Deputy President until the next General Assembly in which general elections of Party Officials are to be held." ( NOTE ; The Deputy President does not applied here because he was rejected under RESOLUTION NO. 3 during the EGM on 10-10-2009 ).
Therefore, ARTICLE 23 & ARTICLE 40, conclusively stated that we need not have another Party election to resolve the succession problem. The Central Committee have the power to fill up the vacancy until the next Party election.
In conclusion, I agreed with Datuk Ti Lian Ker' blog ( http://tilianker.blogspot.com/ ) that the MCA Party Constitution is SUPREME and that all members must abide to the Constitution or otherwise, we will be made a laughing stock among the public. We shall resolve to settle this internal problem among ourselves without any interference or pressure from any party or outsiders so that MCA will emerge intact, stronger and united in order to serve the community under ARTICLE 6.

THERE IS LIGHT AFTER THE TUNNEL.

Mohd Ridhuan Wong Bin Abdullah @ Wong Ah Fatt and his family might be waiting anxiously for day break 0n 30th. April 2009, in order to bring his 18 months son, Chan Kok Weng, who was born with a hole in the heart, to National Heart Institute (IJN) in order to check whether he could get full subsidy for his son's impending heart operation on August 2009. I had promised him that I would fetch his whole family to Kuala Lumpur on 30th. April 2009 in order to make inquiries concerning about the subsidies for the operation which he couldn't even afford to spare a single cent.
The family arrived early in the morning outside my workplace and we proceeded our journey at about 10.00 a.m. and arrived at the National Heart Institute at about 2.00 p.m. We made enquiries concerning about the Unit Taksiran Khas's office and waited patiently outside the office for there were many patients that day.
When our number were announced over the intercom, we were ushered in the cubicle and started to hand all the relevent documents to the counter personal in order to verify all the documents that he had brought along. Mohd Ridhuan had applied earlier at Pejabat Sosial Perubatan, Hospital Tengku Afzan, Kuantan.
The counter personal was rather rude and asked what was our business in coming to IJN. I replied on behalf of Mohd. Ridhuan that we were requesting a comfirmation letter for the subsidies for his son's operation. She replied that IJN had already gave Mohd. Ridhuan the official letter which he replied in the negative that he was not aware because he couldn't read and write in Bahasa Malaysia.
We were referred to the admission counter in order to get the comfirmation letter from the officer. This officer was rather helpful and proceeded to call the officer-in -charge of the Unit Tindakan Khas by phone and then requested us to go to this counter again. This officer was very helpful after I explained to him about our coming to IJN in order to make inquiries about the subsidies for Mohd Ridhuan's son operation on August 2009.
He proceeded to print the original copy of the subsidy letter and gave it to Mohd Ridhuan. He and his wife were delighted that the MOH agreed to bear the full costs of the son's heart operation which amounted not more than RM 28,000.00.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that Mohd. Ridhuan's son will have a successful heart operation and it was made possible by the generosity of IJN with the recommendation of Pejabat Sosial Perubatan, Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Kuantan.

EXTREME POVERTY AMONGST RICHES

Mohd Ridhuan Wong Abdullah @ Wong Ah Fatt, was wondering why life was very harsh to him and his family and that he had to eke out a living just to earn enough to take care of his family's daily necessities such as two meals a day costing less than RM 10.00 a day. He was born poor and known poverty all his 54 years of his life. He had never known luxuries and eke out a living by collecting and selling discarded old newspapers, cardboards, any recyclable items, etc, etc. He could managed to earn RM 500.00 a month before the global economic downturn where the price of old newspapers could fetch RM0.30 sen per kg. but now the price is hovelling around RM 0.10 sen per kg. This 54 years old Muslim convert had tried his best to provide the basics necessities for his family, that is, his wife, Nurul Ain Lam Abdullah and his 17 months old son who barely walks because he was born with a hole in the heart. It was double misfortune, extreme poverty and a son who was born with a hole in the heart. I had great sympathy for his family, especially his son who had a hole in the heart. As a Visitor Board for Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Kuantan, It was my duty to assist him in whatever ways in order to lighten his burden by fetching him to HTAA in order to see the relevent officer for exemption for his son's operation in IJNSB and helping him to apply for "Borang Permohonan Bantuan Zakat" given out by Majlis Ugama Islam Dan Adat Resam Melayu Pahang. We also went to Majlis Perbandaran Kuantan, to apply for the "Program Pembasmian Kemiskinan MPK but unfortunatedly it was freezed in the month of April, 2009, but the Director told us to come back by June 2009 that it may be opened by then. We also went to Pusat Khidmat DUN Teruntum to apply for welfare assistance from Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat. This application form had been endorsed by YB DUN Teruntum and Encik Abdul Rahman Haji Ismail, Ketua Kampung for JKKK Kg.Tengah/Kg. Jawa, Kuantan. The completed application forms were returned back dued to some technical problems and it is in the possession of our Ketua Kampung who will personally hand out to the relevent authorities.
When I visited Mohd. Ridhuan one day outside his shack, he greeted me sweating profusely all around his upper body dued to very hot weather that day. I was shocked when I saw such abject poverty amidst the so called well-to do residential area of Taman Zurina, Lorong Seri Teruntum 96, 25100 Kuantan.
His wooden shack measuring 10 feet x 10 feet which is covered with zinc roof with one simple airless window and a big wooden door with no electricity and water supplies. He had to make do with oil lamp to brighten the interior wooden planks at night and for water supplies, he had to fetch water from the nearby unmetered water pipe which had been abandoned by the previous owner. The family had to cook outside the dirt compound of the wooden shack. He had to buy takeaway food when it rains and the family had to incur extra expenses just to have two meals a day. I personally see with my eyes how poor that he is that he only bought a loaf of large sized bread to take home to feed his family of three during lunch time.
During this hot spell, Mohd Ridhuan had to take out his shirt or tee shirt wearing only long pants when he is in his so called little lovely home for there is no electricity supplies to power the electric fan, (if any), to cool the air in the zinc covered shack.
I reported to the Committee Members of the JKKK Kg. Tengah/ Kg. Jawa during the last meeting and we agreed to pay the family a visit on the 18th. April, 2009, with adequate food supplies and monetery gifts in order for them to survive these difficult months.
Our Ketua Kampung, Encik Abdul Rahman said that he needs help both physically and spiritually after presenting cash and daily neccesities on behalf of the JKKK Kg. Tengah /Kg. Jawa, Pemuda UMNO Kg. Jawa and MCA Cawangan Kg. Jawa.
You can help Mohd Ridhuan's family by contacting Encik Rahman at 016-9349033 or Mr. T.M.Ngoh at 019-9875393. May God bless you all for helping our poor neighbour!

TANJUNG AGAS OIL AND MARITIME INDUSTRIAL PARK,PEKAN, PAHANG.

Our Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced a multi-billion ringgit industrial park by the name of Tanjung Agas oil and gas and maritime industrial park project in Pekan, Pahang. This industrial park covers an area of 1,639 hatares and will begin in the second quarter of this year and to be expected to be completed in 3 to 4 years. This will provide vast opportunities for locals, especially, the population in the east coast states of Pahang, Trengganu and Kelantan to be employed in industries such as maintenance and services in the petrochemical and logistic industry, supplies and services for the oil and gas industry and all other related trades. From the report, an estimated 5,000 new j0bs will be created during the initial phase of this project which is scheduled to commence this year. Overall , this project will create 30,000 new jobs over a period of 10 years.
This oil and gas and maritime industrial park will definitedly benefit the people who reside around this industrial park, especially the folks in Pekan, Rompin and Kuantan Districts. The people around these area must be mentally prepared and to seize this once in the lifetime opportunities for the boom time that will definitedly come in future. This will create a vibrant and modern complexes in these area which will definitedly enrich the people. The economic multiplier effect for this project would be enormous at this moment of global economic crisis in order to stimulate the eastern corridor economic activities which of late, had slowed down with fewer vehicles on the roads and lesser crowds in the shops and malls.
We have to thank the Federal government for speraheading this multi-billion ringgit industrial project to bring more economic benefits and development to the people in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.