The Dewan Rakyat will reconvene on Oct. 18 for the 2,000 Budget meeting, and whether my private member’s bill will be debated on the very first day of Parliament will depend on the Cabinet - i.e. on the support of MCA and Gerakan Ministers.
In 1997, DAP MPs were the only voice in Parliament opposing the Rent Control (Repeal) Bill for the hasty and irresponsible manner of the repeal, as the national and state governments had not made any effective plans whatsoever to resolve the socio-economic hardships caused to low-income Malaysians as a result of such a repeal by the end of this year.
At that time, DAP MPs were criticised by Gerakan and MCA MPs for opposing the repeal of the Rent Control Act by the end of the year, but now Gerakan and MCA MPs and State Assemblymen have now jumped onto the bandwagon to express concern at the impending repeal of rent control legislation.
This is one good example as to why the landslide victory won by the Barisan Nasional in the 1995 general election had brought more ill than good to the people, as Gerakan and MCA MPs had failed to put the interests of the people of Penang above their party interests.
Having won such a landslide victory in the last general election, the people of Penang do not want the Penang Chief Minister, Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon to merely submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad to extend the repeal of the rent control legislation, but to get the Federal Government to take immediate measures to extend the transitional period for the decontrol of pre-war premises.
(29/9/99)