The guidelines issued by Subang Jaya Municipal Council well illustrate the insensitivities on the part of the local authority. It shows no respect for the fundamental right of local residents to raise pets. Why discriminate against those who keep dogs as pets?

True, dogs may be noisy at times, but that is a different issue.

As in the case of those developers building mosques in the vicinity of a non-Muslim community, while one recognises any community's right to perform its religious obligation by way of using a loudspeaker, for some it still causes some form of annoyance.

Following the argument of the local authority, prior consent ought to have been obtained from the local residents before permitting any developer to put up mosques in their neighbourhood. However, this has never been an issue so far, simply because the non-Muslim community recognises the Muslim community's right to freedom of religion.

One fails to understand why a local authority, which is duty-bound to look after the well-being of the local residents, is oblivious of the right of the local residents to keep pets of their liking? The residents are merely exercising their fundamental human rights to keep pets, whether they be cats, birds or dogs.

Perhaps a human rights course for the municipal council official concerned may be of help.

The short-term solution to the problem created by the municipal council is to demand for the withdrawal of the so-called guidelines, which require dog-owners to obtain prior consent from their neighbours when applying for dog licences.

To insist upon such consent is far from being reasonable. This may be interpreted by some to be a subtle way of implementing Islamisation process by the local authority, which is adversely affecting the right of the local residents' right to keep pets.

If the Islamic way of life ought not to apply to non-Muslims, as often advocated by the ruling elite, then it is incumbent upon the local authority to withdraw such guidelines since it is encroaching upon the fundamental right of local residents.

Unfettered powers breed arrogance. Today, members of the local authorities are appointed by the ruling party. They are not elected by the people. As a result, they can be complacent and arrogant. They wield unbridled powers in total disregard for the interests of the local residents. There are no checks and balances in the municipal council.

Therefore, the long-term solution to the problem is to advocate for the re-introduction of local council elections. If municipal council members are elected, they will be slow at acting according to their whims and fancies.

They would hesitate to turn a deaf ear to the grievances voiced by the residents. They will always be on alert and ever willing to attend to the complaints of the local residents, to rectify their errors and to make amends, lest they may be voted out of power in the next local election.

Originally, local council elections were scheduled to be held in 1965 and 1966. However, they were suspended in 1965 because of the Indonesian Confrontation in late 1964.

Four years after the suspension of the local elections, in 1968, a royal commission headed by Athi Nahappan published the 'Report of the Royal Commission of Enquiry to Investigate into the Workings of Local Authorities in West Malaysia', strongly recommended re-introduction of elected councils.

However, in 1971, such effort was thwarted by another report from the Development Administrative Unit of the Prime Minister's Department. The report set aside the recommendation of the royal commission contained in the Athi Nahappan report.

In actual fact, the Indonesian Confrontation in 1964 and the May 13 incident in 1969 were the reasons advanced by the ruling party merely as a pretext for the abolition of local elections.

The real cause was the undeniable fact that the then mass-based opposition party, namely the Socialist Front, was increasingly dominant in the local councils and town councils to the detriment of the then ruling party ie the Alliance Party.

If Malaysia genuinely subscribes to democracy and the rule of law, elected local councils must be re-introduced in place of the current local governments manned by members appointed from the ruling parties. Such appointed members owe allegiance to their ruling parties only, and not to the rakyat . That accounts for the insensitivities of the municipal council to the grievances of the local residents.