We need local councillors who can do the job

I REFER to the article “Local govt polls may cause racial polarisation” ( Sunday Star, Jan 25) and would like to share my views on matters.

The core functions of local government is to look at matters that are closest to the people.

Both the state and federal governments are too far from the people for them to have good understanding of the needs of the people at the micro level. Today the local authority has become a government agency and the councillors have been a rubber stamp of the decisions made by the local authority. Many who were appointed to the post lacks quality and knowledge in functions and power of a councillor.

Appointed councillors are political party nominees. The council seats are shared according to an agreed ratio among the component parties. They are not independent. Appointments are given as part of political rewards to grassroot party leaders.

At times decisions made by the council are not in the best interest of the people as for the councillors, party interest comes first. There are clear professional conflicts of interest between political parties nominees and between those meeting the needs the people.

In my area, the appointed councillors do not understand their role as councillors. They have been turned into “complaint centre” for people to bring their issues to the local authority.

These councillors have been assigned certain zones and have been tasked to look after drainage, rubbish collection and grass cutting.

They have very poor knowledge of the local authority by-laws. They fail to function as a “Board of Directors” of the local authority and provide the much needed check and balance between addressing the needs of the people and the local authorities.

While we can accept the point of maintaining the current system but we cannot accept the fact that the powers-that-be failed to nominate “independent people with strong knowledge on the governance of local authority” as specified under Section 10(2) in Act 171.

The law says that the state authority must appoint councillors who have wide experience in local government affairs or have achieved distinction in any profession, commerce or industry, or are otherwise capable of representing the interests of their communities in the local authority area.

Unfortunately the state government appoints party members who are grassroot leaders who in most cases do not meet the requirement of the law.

In Petaling Jaya, the capable ones were removed as councillors and replaced with mediocre group of people. In Ampang, we have unemployed party members and people with poor education background serving as councillors. They do not meet the requirement of the Local Council Act.

The question remains which political parties in power will be the first to push forward the agenda that focuses on the people and not their respective parties.

By Dr Mohamed Fafick Khan Ampang The Star/Asia News Network

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Evil in the name of God; Beware deadly con men!

In a country with several religions, there are many who claim to be holy. But how do we tell the saints and devils apart?

IT’S one of the most heinous crimes the country has seen in decades.

A heartless charlatan, claiming to be a holy man, gains the trust of a family and in the pretence of helping them settle a family feud, feeds them with poisoned milk which he claims has been blessed.

Then, as they fall unconscious, he steals their jewellery and tries to cover up his crime by setting their house on fire.

The nation should be in shock. The outrage should be palpable. The hunt for this murderer should be a priority.

The Mona Fandey case shocked the nation years ago. So did the case where three men beat a couple to death in a bizarre ritual to “heal” the latter.

But we seem to be slow on the uptake this time – probably distracted by the politics of the day. Or maybe we are inured by all the con men out there, most of whom claim to be doing God’s work.

And there are many such incidents in recent times.

There was a man who razed his house on the advice of a “holy man” and rebuilt it from scratch according to the latter’s specifications. It cost him a fortune but his luck did not change. Instead, his business went south.

The “geomancer”, when confronted, suggested further renovation.

And, the victim later died in an accident. The suffering the family went through is something I would not wish on anyone – except maybe the mass murderer of Kajang.

Another renovated his house because “some guy said so”. The living room became the bedroom and vice-versa.

His luck, too, did not change. But since he did no re-wiring works, he had to fumble in the dark after entering his house – or the bedroom - to get to the light switches. These are all at the other end.

Why do people even believe in these con men, you may ask?

Probably because there are some genuine ones who have been given the “gift” of being able to help others.

Which is what makes the killings in Kajang very outrageous. It hurts. It makes me seethe. It makes my blood boil.

You see, I was a medium once – the type who would go into a trance and sort things out for people.

The trance is an experience that’s difficult to describe. It could be like you are in deep sleep and when you wake up, there are no memories of what transpired at that time. Or, one might call it, a dream state. Or even an “out-of-body experience”, where you watch yourself do or say things but without control over your ac­­tions.

I did not like not being in control of myself. So, I sought another (more famous) medium to put a stop to it. He did some rituals and told me that I would never lose control again – not unless I or someone close to me was in danger – or if something important was happening.

Sounds like mumbo-jumbo, doesn’t it? Well, I never lost control since then - except once!

I was driving to Ampang one day and all my senses suddenly began to act up. So, I turned the car around and headed back home to Petaling Jaya. However, when I tried to open the door, I could not. The door was latched from the inside. And, there were noises coming from within.

I raced to the back lane and to the back door. It was ajar where some thieves had just fled. Coincidence? Was I being warned? I don’t know.

A happier example occurred to me later. A holy man, matted hair and all, came by asking for alms. I gave him about RM10. He thanked me and walked away. All of a sudden, he stopped and came back to me.

“Young man, do you dabble in numbers (the 4D kind, not numerology)?” he asked. And, I was young only by his standards. I nodded. “Add the number nine to your address and you will get lucky,” he said.

Three days later, I was richer by RM18,000. Coincidence? Random luck? Maybe. It’s something I’ll never know. I have never seen the man since, so I have not been able to thank him.

So, they are not all bad out there. There are some saints among the sinners.

But the guy responsible for the Kajang tragedy wrought evil in the name of God. He must face the full wrath of society.

Meanwhile, I am still grappling with trying to understand how anyone who calls himself a human being - much less a holy man - could plan to wipe out an entire family for a handful of jewellery.

It’s just so senseless.

 Why Not? By D. RAJ  Beware deadly con men  > There are things out there that defy explanation. One of them is: Why is it in our search for material wealth, we have lost our human values.

Beware deadly con men

PETALING JAYA: Before, there was only the risk of losing money or ending up with a broken heart to glib-tongued swindlers.

Now, Malaysians have to be on the lookout for deadly con men pretending to be mediums to gain the trust of unsuspecting victims before robbing and even killing them.

A recent triple murder in Taman Sri Ramal, Kajang, has highlighted the existence of such vile fraudsters.

A medium who claimed he could mend family disputes through a ritual, poisoned them with milk laced with weedkiller in the wee hours of April 1.

The deceased: (From left) Rajeswary, Manivaran and Sakunthala.

He fled the house after stealing their jewellery and valuables and setting a gas cylinder on fire in the kitchen.

K. Rajeswary, 28, died in hospital on April 4 while her brother Manivaran, 33, died four days later. Their mother M. Sakunthala, 63, died on Saturday.

Selangor police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah said although deaths were rare in cases involving con men, many other cases, however, go unreported.

“People should be wary and be extra cautious when seeking alternate solutions to problems, including family disputes and medical ailments,” he said.

He said in most cases, the public seek these people out of desperation.

As con men look for ways to manipulate strengths and weaknesses, they would first work on gaining trust.

“The eventual victims are easily duped because they are usually in a state of distress. The con men prey on their desperation to get what they want,” he said.

Devastated: M. Karuppanan, 65, and his eldest son Sargunan (left) at the Serdang Hospital mortuary.

 

Meanwhile, the Bukit Aman Commercial Crimes Investigations Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Syed Ismail Syed Azizan said Malaysians have been swindled of more than RM32mil through scams between January and June last year.

Besides Internet fraud, the con tricks also include parcel scams (victims are told that he or she had received parcels with expensive gifts, jewellery or cash, but the packages are detained by Customs and payment is sought for the release), Macau scams (con men claiming to be police or bank officers duping the victim is being investigated and that he or she has to surrender money into an account to verify that it was not gained illegally).

“A total of 454 Macau scam cases were reported amounting to losses of over RM10.6mil while 472 parcel scam cases were also reported with losses of over RM10mil as well within the same period,” Comm Syed Ismail said.

 By AUSTIN CAMOENS and SHAUN HO austin@thestar.com.my