Friday, 29 July 2022
Wong Hon Hai Asked On The Readiness and Costs of Operating The LMS
Malaysian Defence / July 29, 2022
RM40 Million A Year To Operate The Keris Class
SHAH ALAM: The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) needs some RM40 million a year to operate the four Keris class ships, the so called Littoral Mission Ship (LMS). The figure is derived from an answer given by Senior Defence Minister DS Hishammuddin Hussein on July 27 in response to a question from Bukit Bendera MP Wong Hon Hai on the readiness and costs of operating the LMS and whether the newly delivered ships have major issues.
Sailors from a Keris class LMS conducting a fire drill during an exercise held in July 2022. RMN
According to Hishammuddin, the daily cost of the ship which include maintenance, spare parts, fuel and food, based from July 2021 to June, 2022, amounted to RM1,200 per hour or RM28,800 per day. I got the RM40 million figure by counting the daily cost for 365 days for the four ships. (each ship costs some RM10 million a year).
The third LMS, KD Sundang during an exercise held off Kota Kinabalu in late July 2022. RMN
Of course, no ship will be operational the full calendar year but its easier to illustrate the operational cost on annual basis instead of the day one (that is the reason I round up the figure to RM40 million instead of RM42.058 million which is the total amount). The operating cost will be higher if we include the cost of manpower but I guess the Defence Ministry would like to keep it to themselves,
The crew of a Keris class LMS in the CMS. RMN
Anyhow, on the readiness issue, Hishammuddin said so far, the four ships were able to sail whenever they are needed and there were no major issues affecting them. Any technical issues which had arisen had been solved by the ship’s crew while at sea or when they returned to port.
A sailor during an exercise off Kota Kinabalu waters in late July 2022. RMN
Apart from the LMS, a number of MPs also posed questions on the LCS especially the start date of the project and whether the revived project would be successful. Hishammuddin did not answer the questions directly, instead pointed out that the government had approved of the revival of the project.
The most recent picture of LCS PCU Maharaja Lela taken in November 2021. BNS via LinkedIn.
He said currently the project was under the remobilisation phase in which Boustead Naval Ship (BNS) were in negotiations with its vendors and OEM. The project itself was being monitored by a monitoring committee. Hishammuddin did not say when the project will be restarted though.
Wednesday, 27 July 2022
Wong Hon Wai Qestioned Why Several Punitive Actions Against Errant Police Were Removed From The Present Bill
The Star / 27 Jul 2022
IPCC Bill gets green light
KUALA LUMPUR: The long-awaited Independent Police Conduct Commission (IPCC) Bill has been passed by the Dewan Rakyat.
The Bill, which had been in Parliament’s Order Paper over the past two years, was finally tabled for a second reading by Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin.
“The IPCC Bill was drafted after comparisons were made between the UK’s Independent Office for Police Conduct and Hong Kong’s Independent Police Complaints Council. These countries have monitoring bodies that act as an oversight body.
“These independent bodies only investigate misconduct, and their findings will be given to the relevant authorities for further action,” said Hamzah when responding to issues raised during debates on the IPCC in Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
He noted the IPCC has a mandatory provision that covers cases involving detainees with serious injuries, death and sexual crimes under police detention.
“This mandatory referral provision can ensure the police conduct transparent criminal investigations and, at the same time, quash negative public perception towards them,” he said, adding that this would prevent police from covering up misconduct involving detainees.
Earlier, during debates, Wong Hon Wai (PH-Bukit Bendera) questioned why several punitive actions against errant police, which were in the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), were removed from the present Bill. He said that the present proposed Bill was watered down.
RSN Rayer (PH-Jelutong) questioned why so many deaths occurred while detainees were in police custody.
Hamzah noted that there had been 93 deaths in police custody between 2015 and 2021.
He said most cases were due to illnesses, besides infighting among inmates and suicide.
He assured that death in custody cases are investigated to determine their cause.
The Bill replaced IPCMC, which the Pakatan Harapan administration tabled in July 2019.
However, the then-opposition bloc, consisting of Barisan Nasional, PAS and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), indicated they would not support the IPCMC Bill.
There was some resistance over the words “police misconduct” in the Bill, which gave a negative connotation to the police.
Following this, the IPCMC Bill was referred to a special select committee to allow for improvements to the proposed law.
The Bill was withdrawn and replaced by the IPCC Bill in August 2020.
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun informed the House that a majority voice vote passed the IPCC.
The IPCC paves the way for the setting-up of an independent commission to monitor the integrity of the police force and probe complaints of misconduct involving police personnel.
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2022/07/27/ipcc-bill-gets-green-light
Sunday, 24 July 2022
Wong Hon Wai Request Defence Ministry to State The Number of Members of the ATM by Race, Rank and Latest Service
Focus Malaysia / 24.07.2022
Parliament: Malays the most in armed forces, East M’sians below 12%
THE Malays consists of 86.26% of the total number of personnel serving the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM), said the Defence Ministry (Mindef).
In a written reply to Bukit Bendera MP Wong Hon Wai, Mindef also mentioned that the Sarawak bumiputera community consists of 6.92%, Sabah bumiputera (4.86%), Indians (1.37%) and Chinese (0.13%).
“And Orang Asal and others constitute 0.08% of the rest.”
The ministry added that a whopping 73.73% of them serve the military (TDM), Royal Malaysian Navy (13.52%) and Royal Malaysian Air Force (12.75%).
As for breakdown in terms on ranking, Mindef said that 10.45% of them are officers while the balance 89.55% are of other ranks (LLP).
However, the ministry did not provide a racial breakdown on who sits higher up and otherwise. – July 24, 2022
https://focusmalaysia.my/parliament-malays-the-most-in-armed-forces-east-msians-below-12/
Thursday, 21 July 2022
Wong Hon Wai Proposal to Defense Minister on TCA Government Plan to Postpone or Cancel Parliamentary Focus
The Star / 21 Jul 2022
Govt's plans on postponing, cancelling new projects among focus of Parliament on July 21
KUALA LUMPUR: The government's plans on postponing or cancelling new projects are expected to be the focus of Thursday (July 21)'s Dewan Rakyat sitting.
According to the Order Paper uploaded on the Parliament's official website, the topic will be raised by Ahmad Fahmi Mohamed Fadzil (PH-Lembah Pantai), asking the Prime Minister to name the projects with cost savings involved during the Ministerial Question Time.
Also listed is a question posed by Wong Hon Wai (PH-Bukit Bendera) to the Defence Minister on the form of the trilateral cooperative arrangement (TCA) among the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia and whether military cooperation will be extended to other Asean countries.
During the question and answer session, Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (PAS-Pasir Mas) will ask the Prime Minister to state the total allocation for flood relief that has been channeled to the affected states for the victims of the 2021/2022 Northeast Monsoon floods.
Apart from that, Datuk Dr Mohd Hatta Md Ramli (PH-Lumut) will ask the Works Minister to state the measures taken to address the issue of 50,000 bumiputera contractors who will soon go bankrupt due to the increase in the price of construction materials.
After the session, the Health Ministry is expected to table the Poisons (Amendment) Bill 2022 for the second reading and to be debated by Members of Parliament (MPs).
Also of interest is the Constitution (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2022 and the Provision on Prohibition of MPs Switching Parties listed as item number six on the Order Paper.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had earlier said the Bill was proposed to be debated on July 27 and 28, subject to the discretion of the Parliament Speaker.
Apart from that, he said the meeting had proposed a timeline for the engagement of the Legal Affairs Division and the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) with the government MPs to be held on July 25 and with the Opposition MPs on July 26.
Wan Junaidi said after obtaining the approval of the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara, the Bill would be presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong between Aug 11 and 26 for approval and was expected to be gazetted between Aug 29 and Sept 2.
The current Dewan Rakyat sitting has been scheduled for 12 days until Aug 4.- Bernama
Wednesday, 20 July 2022
Wong Hon Wai Urge The Government To Expedite The Processing of the Covid-19 Death Management Special Assistance Payment
Malay Mail / 20 July 2022
DAP MP urges Putrajaya to expedite disaster aid for families of Malaysians felled by Covid-19
KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 — The government needs to speed up disbursement of the special aid under the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) to the kin of Malaysians who succumbed to Covid-19, Bukit Bendera MP Wong Hon Wai said today.
The federal Opposition lawmaker noted that only 59.5 per cent of the claims have been paid out to date, based on a written parliamentary reply given by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Special tasks) Datuk Abd Latiff Ahmad.
Another 17 per cent are still being processed while 20.7 per cent of applicants are being queried while 2.8 per cent have been rejected, Wong said.
"I urge the government to expedite the processing of the Covid-19 Death Management Special Assistance payment which is much in arrears and frankly whether there is a lack of funds in the Covid-19 Nadma Fund.
"If there is a lack of funds in the Nadma Covid-19 Fund, then the minister needs to be honest and explain the account of the money,” the DAP man said in a statement.
Wong also proposed that the government allocate an additional RM100 million to the Nadma Covid-19 Fund in an effort to expedite the payment.
Two years ago, the government announced that a Covid-19 deceased’s kin will receive special aid under Nadma up to RM5,000.
According to Nadma, the Covid-19 deceased person has to be a Malaysian, in order for the next of kin to qualify to apply.
This aid is only to be given directly to one single next-of-kin, if the application is successful.
黄汉伟促政府加速处理冠病死亡援助金
东方online / 2022年07月20日
家属苦等一年未获冠病亡例援金 黄汉伟促政府加速处理
（吉隆坡20日讯）民主行动党升旗山国会议员黄汉伟揭露，国家天灾管理机构（NADMA）发放冠病死亡病例管理特别援助金程序缓慢，以致家属苦等数个月至一年，仍未获得应有的援助金。
黄汉伟今日在国会召开记者会表示，根据NADMA海报，自收到完整申请文件之日起30个工作日内，将通过电子资金转账方式，向符合条件的援助金申请人发放款项。
“但是，我与其他几名国会议员都接获民众投诉，表示在提交援助金申请后，苦等了几个月仍未收到该笔一次性5000令吉的援助金。 ”
他指出，他曾多次在个国会中提及此事，要求掌管特别事务首相署部长拿督阿都拉迪就此事作出解释。
“根据政府截至7月5日的资讯，当局共接获4万2930份申请，但目前只有2万5526人（59.5%）获得5000令吉援助金，共发放金额为1亿2763万令吉。 ”
“另外，共有1205人（2.8%）申请被拒；7300人（17%）申请仍在处理；8899人（20.7%）因资料不齐全或不清楚而被当局谘询中。 ”
因此，他促请政府加快处理特别援助金，因这笔款项已经拖欠良久；若新冠肺炎缺乏基金而拖慢援助金发发放，那部长需要解释资金动向。
他也建议政府向NADMA新冠肺炎基金额外拨款1亿令吉，以加速援助金发放。
https://www.orientaldaily.com.my/news/nation/2022/07/20/500095
Tuesday, 19 July 2022
Sunday, 10 July 2022
Saturday, 9 July 2022
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