RM67 mil - spending too much for RELA, a voluntary force..

The problem in Malaysia is that it is so difficult to get information - in fact, information that were easily available at official government/Ministry/Department websites are slowly being made unavailable. As an example, crime statistics in Malaysia - before we could find information of the number of serious crimes (reported) and even information about status of investigation, etc - we had info on murder, armed robbery, and various other crimes... but today, I cannot find these information ...

Sadly, many of the 'government' websites seem to be having more information about tender applications, ect... but less information about what matters..

So, much so, the only way we can get answers is through questions in Parliament - but the space for oral questions is too limited, and when it comes to written questions ... sadly many MPs just do not share the answers they get with the people.... (Pakatan Rakyat and the Opposition parties really should compile a list of questions that have been asked and the answers given...) Even our Parliament website do not have these 'written questions and answers' - it should be easily made available to members of the public - so, we do not have to ask questions already asked and answeres..

Gwo-Burne Loh(PKR Kelana Jaya) stands out as an exception as he circulates the answers he receive to civil society and  others... Below the question and the answer about RELA...(and my rough translation to English is in italic bold...)

JAWAPAN BAGI PERTANYAAN BUKAN  LISAN PADA JUN 2011

Answer to the Non-Verbal Question on June 2011

SOALAN:

Question:

TUAN GWO-BURNE LOH [Kelana Jaya] meminta MENTERI DALAM NEGERI menyatakan jumlah anggota RELA setakat April 2011 dan berapakah peruntukan kewangan dari Kementerian Dalam Negeri bagi RELA dari tahun 2006 hingga 2010.

TUAN GWO-BURNE LOH [Kelana Jaya] asked the Home Minister to state the number of RELA members as of April 2011 and how much was the financial allocation from the Home Ministry for RELA from year 2006 until 2010.

JAWAPAN:

Answer:

Saya mengucapkan ribuan terima kasih kepada Ahli Yang Berhormat Kelana Jaya yang mengemukakan pertanyaan tersebut.

I thank you for raising that question

Untuk makluman Yang Berhormat dan Dewan Yang Mulia ini bahawa sehingga 30 April 2011 sejumlah 2,629,117 orang telah mendaftar menjadi ahli RELA.

For your information, as of 30 April 2011 a sum of 2,629,117 persons have registered as RELA members

Manakala peruntukan kewangan daripada Kementerian bagi RELA dari tahun 2006 sehingga tahun 2010 adalah seperti berikut:

In terms oof allocation from the Ministry for RELA from 2006 until 2010, it is as follows:-

2006 – RM8,966,325.00

2007 – RM47,101,406.90

2008 – RM 67,757,042.00

2009 – RM 59,147,968.97

2010 – RM 67,071,253.10