More reasons why political intervention is necessary

I HAVE SHARED my thoughts about the necessity to correct the misperception between Interference and Intervention, but there are still issues which need intervention ...

Interfering with the staff’s work process is wrong. 

        An established work process is in place for staff to perform efficiently. Assuming that the work process is just a simple formula, 3x + 2x = 5x. If they follow this mantra, they won’t go wrong; the senior manager, therefore, has no reason to interfere with the work process.

        This is the reason why you do not see traffic police stationed at road junctions where the traffic lights are functioning properly. 

When Intervention is Still Needed

        However, there are cases where INTERVENTION is necessary. For example, 3x - 2x = 5x. ‘Five X’ is wrong, no matter how we argue. When a staff insists that he or she is right, this needs intervention.

        This simply why political leaders still have to INTERVENE. It is different from political interference! While such interference is discouraged, intervention deters the Little Napoleons from becoming bolder and taking advantage of the weak.

        Take for example, when there was an issue brewing over the way Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) enforcement staff acted against a senior citizen, who was merely trying to protect some stray dogs from being dragged into their vans, the state exco Ng Sze Han did not respond immediately to intervene resulting with the police report was made and eventually the case went to court. It was a sheer waste of the court’s time, in my sincere opinion, as the matter could have been settled between MBPJ and Patrick Khoo himself.

        The city council officer was assigned to carry out a task following some complaints, but the way he handled the dogs was rather inhumane. Khoo, on the other hand, could not stand to see the dogs being dragged using a loop into the truck. 

        Ng could have learnt from former veteran state exco Ronnie Liu who did the right thing when some MBPJ enforcement officers tried to stir up a ruckus over an Oktoberfest event. 

        Realising that the City of Petaling Jaya does not only belong to a certain group of people, he promptly went to MBPJ and put a stop to it. The issue died down.

Some Urgent Issues

        Since writing this piece, a number of issues have cropped up and require intervention:

a) A widow with a disabled musician son applied for monthly subsistence from the Social Welfare Department (JKM). Instead of receiving RM100 per month as entitled, she was approved only RM50! Why? Because the JKM officer categorised her as bujang or unmarried single.

b) Christian Orang Asli living in an Orang Asli reserve in Kampung Orang Asli Sungai Yol in Raub wanted to build a church for their religious activities. Freedom of religion is a citizen’s right enshrined in the Federal Constitution.

The Department of Orang Asli (JAKOA) told them this does not fall under their jurisdiction. The community was advised to apply to the local municipal council.

Mind you, this is within Orang Asli reserve land and in a jungle area.

The OA community attemped to apply to the Raub Municipal Council but was told they could not erect a church building unless they could prove they had 1,000 members. If no intervention is made, it will inevitably lead to further litigation—once again casting the government of the day in a negative light.

        Some policies have inadvertently sidelined deserving cases; therefore, intervention is necessary. It’s not that I’m biased towards any group—I can only share what I’ve been informed.

c) For many decades, the non-Muslim communities have found it difficult to apply for religious land to build their places of worship. Hindus build their shrines or temples illegally on land that does not belong to them, often turned into major disputes when they have to demolished. That is because religious land is limited, and any one piece of land reserved for non-Muslim places of worship would have to be competed by different religious groups. 

In the recent saga over the relocation of a Hindu shrine near Masjid Jamek, it was heartening to see the two ladies - Federal Territories Datuk Seri Dr Zaliha Mustafar and Kuala Lumpur City Mayor, Datuk Seri Maimunah Shariff - resolving the matter amicably by providing another alternative piece of land and making sure that their approval process is expedited by the Kuala Lumpur City Council (DBKL).

d) Churches in the bigger cities are known to be better off, with some having turned old cinema buildings, factories and warehouses into church buildings. 

However, as most of these buildings—including rented shoplots— have not been officially designated as religious land, they do not automatically qualify for subsidised utility rates.

Given that these churches are not commercial entities, why are they still subject to commercial utility charges? I wish to refer to the Federal Constitution, clause 11 (2) within the context of Religious Freedom, which reads: "No person shall be compelled to pay any tax the proceeds of which are specially allocated in whole or in part for the purposes of a religion other than his own."  

Although this clause specifically addresses the payment of taxes, the spirit of the Federal Constitution is more inclusive—aimed at easing the burden on non-Muslim communities, whose right to religious freedom is constitutionally protected. This is why, for many years, the Christian community, for instance, has perceived the system as discriminatory towards non-Muslims. I believe other religious groups share similar sentiments. 

e) For nearly seven years, I have been trying to address the challenges surrounding international student visas for seminaries offering Bachelor's, Master's, and doctoral programmes. 

Only two seminaries nationwide have been granted the Pas Lawatan Ikhtisas Khas (PLIK), despite it being an unsuitable category for international students.

It has since become clear to me that the government—under Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s tenure as Home Minister—had to curb abuses by fly-by-night colleges offering dubious English proficiency courses to attract overseas students.

As a result, student visa regulations were tightened, restricting eligibility to institutions of higher learning registered with the Ministry of Higher Education and accredited by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA).

Unfortunately, seminaries have also been sidelined, despite being properly registered with the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) and accredited by at least one of several recognised Asian theological accreditation bodies. 

Given this context, it is clear that Christian seminaries—and potentially other religious institutions—have been inadvertently sidelined by a policy that failed to consider their unique circumstances. Even if they wish to, the Ministry of Higher Education would not register or treat them as a private higher education institution, nor would MQA be prepared to accredit these seminaries. 

If the Madani government is serious about addressing this oversight, intervention is necessary. Bureaucratic hurdles should not be allowed to create loopholes that give rise to further complications. After all, a dedicated category under the International Student Visa scheme would be far more appropriate than relying on PLIK, which is intended solely for short-term stays. 

Streamlining this would require the political will of all parties involved -- the Ministry of Higher Education and the Ministry of Home Affairs, but it would open up opportunities for young people from countries such as China and Indonesia to pursue their theological education in Malaysia.

The government should also recognise the value of alternative forms of higher education that Malaysia can offer to the world, especially when our climate and cost of living is more conducive than the United States.

f) Targeted diesel subsidies—and eventually gasoline subsidies—for charitable organisations are a welcome initiative. It is encouraging that, upon being informed of the oversight, Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Costs of Living, Dr Fuziah Salleh, promptly initiated steps to ensure that vehicles owned by charities are included in the subsidy scheme.

Datuk Dr Fuziah has also demonstrated commendable proactivity in resolving another case involving a Malay trader who was unfairly sidelined by individuals at a petrol station. Despite my written appeal to Petron on his behalf, the matter remained unresolved until Dr Fuziah personally intervened.

g) The case of a mother and her son stranded in China drew public attention after The Star highlighted the plight of Cheng Chau Yang and her then eight-year-old son—a situation I had the privilege of advising, albeit discreetly from the background. Following the publication of their letter to the editor, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, reached out to the family and arranged a meeting the very next day.

A month or two later, I followed up with a WhatsApp message to Anifah. He replied that he was en route to New York and intended to raise the matter with his Chinese counterpart. Although there was no immediate progress, I followed up again, and this time he informed me he was heading to China and would revisit the issue in discussions there. I was personally impressed by Anifah’s persistence.

Sure enough, two or three weeks later, close to midnight, I received a phone call from Chau Yang’s sister: “Chau Yang and her son have just arrived at KLIA!” Till today, although he is no longer a minister, Anifah has always been credited for what he did. It was because of his efforts that his counterpart, Wang Yi intervened with the lower court decision to ban Chau Yang's son from leaving the country despite having secured his custody after the divorce with her former husband.  

h) When the owner of a tyre workshop confided that his accounts clerk had embezzled RM120,000 from the company—and expressed frustration over the investigating officer’s unresponsiveness—the case was referred to former Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief, Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf. Upon his intervention, the investigating officer promptly contacted the workshop owner and requested an urgent meeting.

The matter was subsequently resolved amicably, with the accounts clerk agreeing to repay the full amount over an agreed period. 

i) Another gentleman approached me regarding a scam case in Sarawak involving a bogus investment scheme. Given his lack of confidence in the Deputy Public Prosecutor handling the matter, who had been assigned to handle the same case previously, I advised him to write to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) requesting a change of prosecutor.

A couple of weeks later, I received a WhatsApp message informing me that the AGC had intervened and reassigned the case to a different officer.