IMPIAN SARAWAK & IMPIAN SABAH THANKSGIVING DINNER, AND DAP FUNDRAISING DINNER.

I spend last night at dinner in PJ Civic center in support of Impian Sarawak and Impian Sabah. YB Tony Pua and DAP had organised for a group of youth volunteers to go and help in rural Sarawak and Sabah.  It was to help fulfill YB Lim Kit Siang's Malaysian Dream. He knows that winning Sarawak and Sabah is crucial to winning Putrajaya.
We were told that about 400 youths had volunteered to take part in 15 projects in rural Sarawak and Sabah, to bring them  water supply, electricity and also build homes and bridges. One project started by the DAP youths was completed by the BN Sarawak government as if they were just tryng to compete for attention.

                                               The youths representative, on stage, to share.

                                             The youths receiving their certificates from YB LGE
The youths who came were invited on stage to share their experience and also receive their "Certificates of Thanks" from the DAP secretary General, YB Lim Guan Eng.
Of course the food for the evening was from the Sekinchiang caterer. Tasty, and warm and good standard. Looks like the cooks from Sekinchiang has the right formula for good ,warm / hot chinese cuisine, and on time.
There were about 1,000 people there, I thought. Although Malaysian Insider said about 650. But the donated amount was disappointing, only about RM 14K.

However the evening's best part came after YB Lim Guan Eng's talk. He decided to open the floor for Q n A. He was very brave and confident. YB LGE spoke to address the question that despite all that we see hppening around us, DAP has not changed. Their priorities remained the same.

Amongst the 5 or so questions from the floor, ranging from the Educational system in Malaysia and the "Return of Mahathir" wish by some, I posed him two questions which I thought he fielded very well.

The first question was on the "seizure of the Bibles and other materials from BSM" and the Selangor State Enactment 1988. This is the report from the Malaysian-Chronicle.
 "Another member from the floor asked Lim whether DAP could suggest in the Selangor legislative that the Selangor Non-Muslim Religions (Control of Propagation among Muslims) Enactment 1988 be amended. "There are many non-Muslims in Selangor feeling very insecure and vulnerable," he said.  Lim said he would convey the concerns to the Selangor government.

I also asked YB LGE about the state purchase of the Mercedes 300 for his use. 

A member of the floor asked about the money that had been spent to purchase a Mercedes-Benz S300L, saying Lim had travelled economy class every time he flew.

"During your first term as the Penang chief minister, you travelled economy class every time you flew. So what has changed with the purchase of the Mercedes-Benz, is it a different image or branding?”

He suggested that Lim pawn off the Mercedes-Benz and revert to a Toyota Camry that the Penang government had purchased.

Lim said he travelled economy class to set an example for civil servants on the island state, to drive home his point that he meant business about saving money.

"When we purchased the 15 Toyota Camrys for the state councillors, we discovered that we had forgotten to buy one for the deputy speaker," Lim saiq.

At this time, Mercedes-Benz approached the Penang government and offered a single S300L with a discount of 55%, including tax exemption.

"The lifespan of a Toyota Camry is seven years, a Mercedes-Benz S300L can last for up to 20 years," Lim said.

It made financial sense to purchase a single Mercedes-Benz instead of three Toyota Camrys over the 20 years, he said.

He shrugged off the fact that detractors howled when the Penang government purchased the Mercedes-Benz S300L for RM298,263.75, a far cry from its original price of RM657,218.

"My detractors were saying there was some form of hanky-panky, considering the massive discount which Mercedes-Benz had given the Penang government.

"If you buy it below the market price, people call for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to step in and investigate.

"But when the Auditor General's Report reveals that items have been purchased for way above market price, nobody is bothered to probe," Lim said, drawing laughter from the gallery.

"Barisan Nasional always buys above market price that is why the Auditor General's Report makes for interesting reading."

Full article: http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=219112:the-return-of-dr-m-be-very-careful-what-you-wish-for-guan-eng-warns-msians&Itemid=2#ixzz2rTy6U772
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We finished at about 10.30pm.

After the dinner, I went to assure YB LGE that my questions were not meant to embarrass him, but to allow him to tell his side of the story ( especially the Mercedes issue ) to DAP supporters, as some of us were quite upset that he did.
He assured me that he was not offended, and understood my intention and welcomed the question. That was good.The evening went well. I wish there will be more of such town hall type meeting so that we can interact with our leaders.