On the issue of 'support letters', it saddens me that it is also happening in the Pakatan Rakyat States. Should not an ADUN (State Legislative Assembly Person) and/or Member of Parliament(MP) be acting indiscriminately for all the people in their constituencies. And my concern is with regard to support letters for the purpose of getting tenders and contracts, big companies land conversion approvals, big development projects planning approval, ...
We really are not talking about letters from ADUNs/MPs asking a relevant department to give consideration for this or that person for the purposes of getting some welfare aid, low cost housing, etc. Helping to bring the plight of poor and oppressed to the attention of some Ministry, Department etc so that they are also considered is not the kind of 'support letters'. There are some that try to confuse the issue of 'support letters' to include this...We are essentially concerned with stopping of 'support letters' for the purposes mentioned in paragraph 1 above.
There must also be guidelines placed on all other 'support letters', i.e. that they must be of a nature of just drawing attention to particular cases for the purpose of getting the relevant Ministries, departments to take into consideration the names mentioned, i.e. the said names will be put on the list for consideration. The relevant Ministries/Departments must not take into consideration other irrelevant matters, i.e. who is the writer of the said 'support letter'. No additional weight should be given to a letter from Najib or Anwar or Ronnie Liu... And the failure to 'listen' to these 'support letters' should never be the basis for non-promotion, no re-appointment (for example as a Local Councillor, etc). The absence of any support letter should also not lead to discriminatory treatment by the relevant authorities.
Now, many believe that their application directly to the Welfare Department, Labour Department, for Land, etc will not be successful unless they use 'cables' - i.e. get the support of some strong UMNO-BN politician, not necessarily the duly elected ADUN or MP. In fact, many JKKK members also promote this culture, and take applicants to the local UMNO-BN office to get the relevant support letter. There really is no need for any such letters, because anyone should be able to go to the relevant Welfare Department, Labour Department, Land Office, Immigration Department, etc and make the relevant application and receive the proper service...If there is delay...or non-cooperation from these department, complaint to the Public Complainst body, relevant Minister/Menteri Besar and also to the Human Rights Commission(SUHAKAM)...and I believe all 'bad behaviour'" should cease and there will be 'bersih,cekap and amanah'(clean efficient and trustworthy) service rendered.
What these 'politicians' need to do is to empower people so that they can act on their own with confidence - only when own efforts are resulting in no action...or delay, then you go complaint - and then maybe, the politicians can question why the relevant department is not acting promptly in a clean, efficient and trustworthy manner...If you really want to help people, educate them about their rights ...and where they can access justice. Empower people --- do not continue the old UMNO-BN culture of dis-empowering people and making them dependent on their 'political masters'.
DAP’s Teng admits issuing letters of support
By Neville Spykerman
August 04, 2010
Teng: Officers don’t want to be blamed if something goes wrong and contractors are caught in a predicament if they don’t get the letters of support. - Picture by Choo Choy May
SHAH ALAM, Aug 4 — Selangor Speaker Teng Chang Khim has admitted that all Pakatan Rakyat (PR) assemblymen in the state, including himself, had issued letters of recommendations for government contracts to contractors and the public.
But he claimed the practice was slowly being done away with.
“The issuance of recommendation letters are a grey area and is “old culture” which PR inherited from the previous administration,” said the Sungai Pinang assemblyman yesterday.
Teng said PR was caught in a quandary over the issue because he claimed civil servants sometimes insisted on these letters.
“Officers don’t want to be blamed if something goes wrong and contractors are caught in a predicament if they don’t get the letters of support.”
He said this was especially true after PR took over the Selangor administration in March 2008, when work including garbage collection came to a standstill because contracts were not being awarded.
He pointed out this was prior to the appointment of PR local councillors and he had no choice but to issue these letters of recommendations for contracts.
“But my letters of recommendation letters are for work in my constituency and all carry the condition that it should be subject to government policy and regulations,” he said.
Teng also claimed that in some circumstances government forms required the endorsement of PR state assemblyman and MPs. These includes the State Economic Planning Unit (UPEN) forms for new contractors, who want to be listed in their panel of contractors.
In other cases, local governments require endorsements by assemblymen before licenses for cybercafes are renewed in their constituency.
The Selangor PR government is coming under fire after it emerge that DAP councillor Tee Boon Hock had given a support letter to a company in which his son was a partner.
Tee was sacked by DAP’s disciplinary committee.
Meanwhile other PR assemblymen also confirmed that the letters of recommendation were a standard practice but one that they hoped to do away with.
“There are no guidelines now on recommendation letters and I support abolishing it,” said DAP Subang Jaya assemblyman Hannah Yeoh.
She confirmed that the situation was a mess after PR took over Selangor and work on the ground come to a standstill.
“I am not sure if this was because contracts were not being awarded but garbage went uncollected for some time.”
Yeoh pointed out that many government forms also required endorsement from PR assemblyman and MPs.
“Civil servants should just follow procedures instead of relying on endorsements from lawmakers.”
PAS Hulu Klang Assemblyman Saari Sungib also said he was uncomfortable with the practice.
However he said civil servants themselves initially insisted on it.
“When I confronted them, they told me it was because they wanted to know who my people were.” he said.
He admitted that members of the public and contractors continued to come to his office for recommendation letters.
“But the numbers are slowly being reduced because I have informed everyone that my endorsement is not necessary.”
Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim today also told The Malaysian Insider that the practice was being discouraged.
“It gives a wrong expectation to both receiving the letters of support and those considering the application.” said the Selangor Mentri Besar.
However Khalid stopped short of issuing a total ban on the practice.
Why are the new Pakatan Rakyat MPs/ADUNs/Politicians doing this? Well, the main reason is the people who come and ask them for it, stating the BN politicians did it before... and if the MP/ADUN/politician does not want to do this, then they say that they are 'useless' and do not want to help, and the BN was better. Hence, many ADUNs/MPs/politicians end up giving in, and issuing these letters of support/recommendation - and in so doing propagate the culture of 'support letters', culture of 'using cables', .... Well, Pakatan Rakyat and the Opposition parties (and maybe also the BN parties) can stop all this, and change the culture...and also redefine the duty/obligations/relationship between a ADUN/MP/Politician and the people. All you need to do is to speak about this at the Ceramahs, your publications, etc - and educate the people about the proper way of doing things.
Pakatan two-faced over Selangor support letters, says Nazri
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
August 06, 2010
The apparent conflict between Selangor and Pakatan leaders over support letters drew Nazri’s scorn. — file pic
On Wednesday, Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said that state assemblymen and MPs may continue to issue letters of recommendations and support letters despite calls from within PR for it to be eradicated.
Nazri also took a swipe at DAP Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, claiming that the contradiction between Pua’s views on recommendation letters and the Selangor government made the DAP man look “stupid.”
“I want to ask Tony Pua a question... how now? PR leaders including yourself go around Parliament, claiming that Barisan Nasional (BN) is corrupt for wanting the practice of support letters to be kept and maintained.
You say you support Datuk Seri Idris Jala’s stand on what support letters are meant for.
“But now we find that the Selangor state government themselves don’t have the will to get rid of support letters, they want the practice to continue. How now, Tony Pua? How now?” the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department asked pointedly.
Nazri told The Malaysian Insider that recommendation letters needed to be maintained as they were a “basis” from which an elected representative could render assistance to constituents.
“The letters of support are a basis for any wakil rakyat (elected representative) to help their constituents. It is a normal practice.
“Let’s say someone wants help to get their child to enter university, as MPs or elected representatives we are in the position to help,” he added.
Pua has been made to look “stupid”, says Nazri.
However, Nazri stressed that recommendation letters did not mean that a lawmaker’s request had to be approved, and that civil servants still had the option to reject such appeals.
“Recommendation letters only mean consideration, it means ‘please consider’, it does not mean ‘you must approve the request or application,’” said the Umno leader.
When asked to comment on how the practice of recommendation letters could lead to forms of corruption, Nazri said that the laws of the country were enough to deter any crime or abuse of process.
“What is not open to abuse in this world? A lot of things are open to abuse. (If) it is open to abuse, we have laws in place to ensure that justice is served.
“If there is corruption in cases of recommendation letters, the law will take its course,” added the law minister.
On Tuesday, Selangor Speaker Teng Chang Khim admitted that all Selangor PR assemblymen, including himself, had issued letters of recommendations for government contracts to contractors and the public.
But he claimed the practice was slowly being done away with.
Teng said PR was caught in a quandary over the issue because he claimed civil servants sometimes insisted on these letters.
“Officers don’t want to be blamed if something goes wrong and contractors are caught in a predicament if they don’t get the letters of support.”
Teng also claimed that in some circumstances government forms required the endorsement of PR state assemblyman and MPs.
These include the State Economic Planning Unit (UPEN) forms for new contractors seeking to be listed in their panel of contractors.
In other cases, local governments require endorsements by assemblymen before licences for cybercafes are renewed in their constituency.
The Selangor PR government has been under fire after recent reports highlighted DAP councillor Tee Boon Hock had given a support letter to a company in which his son was a partner.
Tee was sacked by DAP’s disciplinary committee last Saturday for that letter to his son’s firm. - Malaysian Insider, 6/8/2010, Pakatan two-faced over Selangor support letters, says Nazri
Some have referred to the Pakatan Rakyat as 'BN Lite' - and one wonders whether we can really expect any changes under the Pakatan Rakyat, other than there being just a new group of people/political parties in power.
The same old UMNO-BN culture of support letters...recomendation letters...cables.. are still being used by the Pakatan Rakyat government. I am certain that, in Selangor when the Local Councils receive a recomendation or a support letter from Ronnie Liu or some other PR top leader, many will treat it as being an instruction and the supported person will get whatever contract, etc... Even Tee, allegedly using Ronnie Liu's letter head was able to get millions of ringgit worth of projects for his cronnies...that is how powerful Ronnie Liu's letters are. Remember, that he is also the one responsible for chosing and appointing Local Councillors - hence, Councillors who hope to be re-appointed every year will not risk offending the man. That is why we need Local Council elections, or people chosen Councillors, and then their loyalty will be for the good of the people in their constituencies - not the mighty political personalities who choose them. Openness and transparency is also needed - and the public must be aware of the existence of support letters. How many of the projects/contracts of the Local Council and State Government went to those who had these support letters? And whose support letters were these?
I say we need to put an end to these 'support letters'.... especially when it is support of getting some contracts/projects, application for development orders/planning permits, applications for land and/or land conversions coming from big companies/corporations/businesses, etc...and certainly, persons like Menteri Besar's and State Exco members and also leadership of political parties should stop issuing these 'support letters'.
Interesting also to note that Chief Secretary of the UMNO-led BN Government came out with a directive that support letters from politicians are to be disregarded, and that decisions are to be made based on merits. Civil servants were also asked to report to their superior if the received such 'support letters' - but then Khairy was not at all happy with this.
PETALING JAYA: Umno Youth has opposed a directive calling on civil servants to disregard support letters from politicians. The directive, issued by Chief Secretary to the Government Mohd Sidek Hassan, told civil servants to make merit-based decisions, and report to their superiors if they received recommendation letters from politicians.
However, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said the wing did not share the same view.
"We are against the perception that support letters are an abuse of one's political power," he stated in a blog posting.
Requesting an explanation from the chief secretary, Khairy challenged Sidek's directive, which described recommendation letters as an “abuse of political power”.
The Umno Youth chief also noted that the majority of recommendation letters from politicians were not based on political requests.
"These letters do not only involve contracts or government procurements, but concentrate primarily on applications for university scholarships, work-related transfers, welfare and housing,” he said.
The Rembau MP stated that recommendation letters were also needed when applicants failed to receive satisfactory service from respective government departments.
"Although most in the civil service work in a professional manner, a small number continue to act like little Napoleons," he said. - Free Malaysia Today, 30/7/2010, Umno Youth: Support letters not an abuse of power
See also earlier posts:-
"If there are more than a hundred tenders submitted, maybe only about ten will be brought to the committee. There are many problems with the tender process; it should be streamlined," said Cynthia, who is also the secretary of the Coalition of NGO and Professional Councillors (Conpac). - Malaysiakini, 8/8/2010, S'gor procurement: Ditch BN model and start fresh
In a statement today its minister Dr S Subramaniam said that the National Employment Returns Study in 2009 showed that there was a case for wages to be increased. 
Should the policy be adopted, new laws would have to be formulated and a national council to implement the policy would have to be established. 
The circular dated Feb 16, 2009 states that the education minister has appointed 57 leaders from Selangor Umno, MCA, MIC and Gerakan to represent him at these events in the state.
Yeoh had recently mentioned this in a tweet, in which she questioned the contents of the circular and said she had managed to obtain the list of 'approved' BN leaders.
“Some schools had requested donations from me, but I was not allowed to go in and give a speech," she said.
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