I got up bright and early on that Sunday morning. Met up with YB's Legal Asisstant to show him the way. As early as 9.30 am, a crowd of supporters consisting of men and women were waiting with anticipation.
A few were sporting attire to show their support mainly caps and shirts with PKR logos. Flag carriers were waving their flags enthusiastically. You could see these everyday people beaming with pride. I would call it patriotic; reminds me of school days when we used to carry the flags of our various sports-houses proudly wearing the colours and parading. But the government of the day probably would not see it that way.To them patriotism is carrying dark blue flags with the "dacing", nothing else; and God forbid we wear yellow shirts and congregate, that would be reason enough to throw people into jail for "national security" issues but again I am digressing.
YB arrived at 10.00 am sharp and proceeded to have a short press conference with news reporters. The group then proceeded to the wet market allowing YB to meet the people and hear their grievances. YB shook hands with everyone, making sure no one was left out and made small talk with a few of the stall owners.
Many people took the opportunity to voice their concerns over certain matters which had been bogging them down. It seems this area has been severely neglected by the previous administration from an outsiders point of view. Heaps of rubbish are piled up in corners, traffic congestion and lack of parking space causes cars to be parked on both sides of the narrow main road. Even drains flood every time it rains due to clogging and the shallow drainage system.
YB took notice of these problems and highlighted it to the press. He also pointed out that the rubbish problem is the cause of mice and must be eliminated before mice can be eradicated, drawing appreciative laughter from the crowd.
As I was passing by, a lady from the coffee stall called me over and asked for the number of the service center. As I was giving it to her, she remarked to a friend that "since YB is in charge now let him settle all our problems".
This remark disturbed me greatly mainly because people seem to take it for granted that MP's are there to solve ALL their problems and have superhuman powers to get everything done. Another example of this was a lady who came up to YB asking him to give financial support to her every month as she had a handicapped child!
Now I see that being an MP is a big headache. How do you expect to meet such unrealistic expectations? And how do you explain to these people the correct method to go about asking for help? They expect a Superman to come and rescue the day. Hey I don't know if you noticed, but MPs are humans too!
But overall, I applaud YB Wee Choo Keong for the effort to meet his constituents and setting his mind to solving their problems, from personal to community to national level. Now I see that being an MP is not a bed of roses, and it takes great strength, determination and patience to be in that position and yet still stay concerned over the people's needs and wants.
We must get rid of the mentality that MP's are here only to resolve our 'longkang issues'.
Having said that, I hope YB does not give up in affecting change at a national level by being bogged down by his constituency problems. People must realize that being an MP is a two-fold job; One is to take care of community issues, and the other is to represent the people's voice in parliament. Both are equally as important, and never should one take precedent over the other.
A few were sporting attire to show their support mainly caps and shirts with PKR logos. Flag carriers were waving their flags enthusiastically. You could see these everyday people beaming with pride. I would call it patriotic; reminds me of school days when we used to carry the flags of our various sports-houses proudly wearing the colours and parading. But the government of the day probably would not see it that way.To them patriotism is carrying dark blue flags with the "dacing", nothing else; and God forbid we wear yellow shirts and congregate, that would be reason enough to throw people into jail for "national security" issues but again I am digressing.
YB arrived at 10.00 am sharp and proceeded to have a short press conference with news reporters. The group then proceeded to the wet market allowing YB to meet the people and hear their grievances. YB shook hands with everyone, making sure no one was left out and made small talk with a few of the stall owners.
Many people took the opportunity to voice their concerns over certain matters which had been bogging them down. It seems this area has been severely neglected by the previous administration from an outsiders point of view. Heaps of rubbish are piled up in corners, traffic congestion and lack of parking space causes cars to be parked on both sides of the narrow main road. Even drains flood every time it rains due to clogging and the shallow drainage system.
YB took notice of these problems and highlighted it to the press. He also pointed out that the rubbish problem is the cause of mice and must be eliminated before mice can be eradicated, drawing appreciative laughter from the crowd.
As I was passing by, a lady from the coffee stall called me over and asked for the number of the service center. As I was giving it to her, she remarked to a friend that "since YB is in charge now let him settle all our problems".
This remark disturbed me greatly mainly because people seem to take it for granted that MP's are there to solve ALL their problems and have superhuman powers to get everything done. Another example of this was a lady who came up to YB asking him to give financial support to her every month as she had a handicapped child!
Now I see that being an MP is a big headache. How do you expect to meet such unrealistic expectations? And how do you explain to these people the correct method to go about asking for help? They expect a Superman to come and rescue the day. Hey I don't know if you noticed, but MPs are humans too!
But overall, I applaud YB Wee Choo Keong for the effort to meet his constituents and setting his mind to solving their problems, from personal to community to national level. Now I see that being an MP is not a bed of roses, and it takes great strength, determination and patience to be in that position and yet still stay concerned over the people's needs and wants.
We must get rid of the mentality that MP's are here only to resolve our 'longkang issues'.
Having said that, I hope YB does not give up in affecting change at a national level by being bogged down by his constituency problems. People must realize that being an MP is a two-fold job; One is to take care of community issues, and the other is to represent the people's voice in parliament. Both are equally as important, and never should one take precedent over the other.
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