I wish to thank the Menteri Besar, YAB Azmin Ali, for entrusting the portfolio of local government to me. I am humbled by this new responsibility and I am cognisant of the public expectation concerning the performance of our local councils.
The Selangor government is aware of the following:
- That Selangor is a highly urbanised state with most parts of the state being covered within the jurisdictions of local councils hence the performance of our local councils affect most residents of the state;
- That Selangor is being watched by all nationally, therefore whatever that is being experimented at the Selangor local councils will be emulated by others nationwide, and, on the flip side, if we fail to perform it would be talked about nationally;
- That not only it is watched nationally, the performance of the Selangor councils are literally “experienced” by Malaysians from all over the country as many may vote in other states but reside in Selangor for work or education or family.
But suffice for the moment to say that I am guided by the following values:
1. Public participation and democratisation
Despite not having much financial resources at our disposal, Pakatan Rakyat won elections through massive public participation as well as volunteerism of Selangoreans from all walks of life. Therefore, when in government, we must encourage public participation, consultation and volunteerism in policy formulation and day-to-day governing.
To this end, our councils must be more open to public participation in budgeting, policy formulation and implementation.
In the long run, it remains our political commitment to democratise the local councils.
2. Back to the basics
As the menteri besar suggested, all political leaders and civil servants must “roll up their sleeves”. We will get back to the basics of what the public expect us to deliver. The core mission of the local councils is to deliver cleaner, greener and safer cities. We must not lose sight of these basic responsibilities of local governments before we talk about big ticket item projects that often do not benefit local communities if not harming them.
In governing, it is all about prioritisation.
3. Sustainable cities for human development
Cities are where people live, work, study and play. We will focus our local councils on human development that is sustainable in the long run.
We aspire to develop cities in which
- The seniors and other marginal groups do not feel left out by the communities;
- The kids are happily growing up;
- The women enjoy the public spaces without fear;
- The youth feel empowered to pursue their ideas in work, public arts
- The small business people, the hawkers, the small traders feel that the local councils are here to help and not to jeopardise their livelihood;
- All other working people enjoy a better commuting experience in the years to come.
EAN YONG HIAN WAH is the DAP assemblyperson for Seri Kembangan and exco member for local government, new village development and legalising of unregistered factories.
