YOURSAY | ‘Information must be shared with the people for vetting.’

FOI appeals board orders disclosure in S'gor parking case, rebuffs OSA exemption claim

GP2025: To the board members who used their heads by allowing a resident’s request to access documents related to the Selangor Intelligent Parking System (SIP) - congrats!

There are some good people in public office. Interpreting the law correctly in context without attaching their own interpretation to it is what is expected of those entrusted with responsibility.

It’s entirely the Selangor government’s fault for giving contracts to certain quarters that can make it without the government’s help.

The government’s job is to help the poor with such small contracts, not the already rich. Public resources should be directed where they are most needed, not where they reinforce existing privilege.

Steven Ong: A long rumbling on a short issue. It’s all about enriching oneself and cronies. Voters are poorly educated and still not aware that the government is chosen to serve the people and not to rule over them.

Hence, all information must be given to the people for vetting, so that they may replace those who are incompetent and dishonest. Without transparency and awareness, the cycle of poor governance will simply continue.

Koel: State governments are voted in to represent the people of that state and to ensure that ratepayers are not cheated. This requirement for accountability appears to be largely ignored by state governments.

It is this ignorance that has led to the downfall of many in the past, and yet such leaders continue to operate on the same playbook of the past, repeating the same patterns without reflection or reform.

Coupled with failures to address the urgent issues of the day, this means that people are paying the price in very real and immediate ways.

We need transparency in town planning and the climate crisis. The recent massive thunderstorm led to flooding in many parts of the Klang Valley, disrupting lives and damaging property.

Cameron Highlands, too, has experienced massive mudslides. The highlands should be treasured as a major climate moderating influence for this country’s weather patterns. Instead, it is now a miserable spectacle of unchecked development and environmental degradation.

The link between freedom of information, transparency, policy failure, and environmental disaster is becoming impossible to ignore.

Corruption, another grave issue affecting the country, can be addressed by more transparency. Hiding decisions and issues from taxpayers and ratepayers under the pathetic excuse of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) is the playbook of colonial governments and dictators.

It undermines trust and weakens democratic accountability. Taxpayers deserve transparency and accountability from responsible representatives, not selective disclosure and convenient secrecy when it suits those in power.

BlueCougar1744: Does Selangor deserve such an opaque government? Always excuses but never addresses the issues head-on. Why are DAP, Amanah, and those sensible PKR MPs quiet on this?

If the Madani government has no qualms about losing the next state and general elections, it can continue to hide these matters at its own peril.

Soon enough, these parties will come asking us to vote for them again. Selangor, you know what we must do then. Kick them out.

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