Thinkleft – a podcast series by BFM

Thinkleft – a podcast series by BFM

Activists from Parti Sosialis Malaysia and Pemuda Sosialis sat with BFM 89.9 for a podcast series looking at issues from a socialist perspective. This is part of BFM’s Beyond The Ballot Box programme. The series aired on BFM radio from May 2022 through October 2022.

Does Budget 2022 address the needs of the B40?

(from BFM 89.9)

Last Friday at Parliament, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul unveiled Budget 2022. With RM 332.1 billion allocated, it is the highest budget in Malaysian history. But is Budget 2022 inspiring? And does it do enough to address the issues faced by the underprivileged and marginalized, particularly those who are considered B40. Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj of Parti Sosialis Malaysia, joins us to discuss. 

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The Past, Present and Future of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) – BFM

(from BFM 89.9)

Dr. Kumar, Chairperson of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), speaks to BFM on the past, present and future of the party.

The interview was done on the 6th of May, 2021.

Krisis Air Selangor: Kerajaan Negeri Alpa, Rakyat Yang Merana
In

Krisis Air Selangor: Kerajaan Negeri Alpa, Rakyat Yang Merana

Krisis air di Selangor berulang kembali hanya selepas hampir sebulan ianya berlaku. Kali ini pencemaran di Sungai Semenyih berlaku dan dilaporkan hampir 309, 687 pengguna dijangka menghadapi masalah bekalan air di 274 kawasan termasuk kawasan di Kuala Langat, Hulu Langat, Sepang dan Petaling.
Parti Sosialis Malaysia Negeri Selangor (PSM Selangor) melihat masalah ini sebagai kegagalan Kerajaan Negeri Selangor menangani masalah ini dengan berkesan. Pada masa rakyat digesa mengamalkan cara hidup yang bersih semasa berhadapan dengan penularan wabak Covid-19, bekalan air bersih pula sering terganggu.
PSM Selangor ingin mengutarakan isu-isu berikut:
1. Penubuhan Pengurusan Air Selangor nampak tidak berkesan dalam memberikan perkhidmatan yang baik kepada rakyat. Syarikat demi syarikat pengurusan air berubah di Selangor namun, keperluan rakyat tidak diberi kepentingan. Kerajaan Negeri Selangor seharusnya sedar bahawa gangguan bekalan air akibat pencemaran menjejaskan ramai pengguna dan mengambil tindakan untuk menangani masalah pencemaran dengan tegas.
2. Bekalan air berpusat tidak dapat menampung keperluan berbanding dengan tahap pembangunan yang pesat berlaku di Selangor. Oleh itu, adalah dicadangkan agar sumber air tempatan (localised) seperti tadahan air hujan di kawasan perumahan yang dibiayai oleh Kerajaan Negeri diwujudkan. Ini dapat menyelesaikan masalah keperluan air tempatan dan gangguan bekalan air dapat diminimakan dan tidak akan menjejaskan ramai pengguna.
3. Kerajaan Negeri Selangor perlu melihat masalah ini sebagai isu pencemaran yang serius dan bukannya masalah gangguan bekalan air yang biasa. Tindakan tegas terhadap pihak yang bertanggungjawab melakukan pencemaran perlu diambil, Walaupun dilaporkan Kerajaan Negeri akan meminda Enakmen Lembaga Urus Air Selangor 1999 untuk meningkat kadar penalti untuk pencemaran air, PSM Selangor menggesa tindakan yang lebih tegas seperti pengharaman syarikat yang terbabit harus diambil demi kepentingan rakyat.
4. Selain itu, memandangkan masalah ini sering berlaku, persoalannya di sini, siapakah yang menguatkuasa kawalan dan pemantauan terhadap pihak yang mencemarkan sumber air dan sungai-sungai ini? Tanpa ada pihak menjaga, mengawal atau memantau, sumber air dan sungai tetap terdedah kepada pencemaran seperti yang telah dan sedang berlaku ini. PSM Selangor juga berharap isu menuding jari kepada Kerajaan Persekutuan atau Jabatan Alam Sekitar tidak berlaku kerana ianya hanya membazir masa dan tidak menyelesaikan masalah pokok.
5. Tambahan pula, memantau pencemaran tidak cukup jika ianya hanya dilakukan oleh Jabatan Alam sekitar dan Lembaga Urus Air Selangor (LUAS). Pihak PBT yang memberikan kelulusan pembangunan berhampiran sungai harus dipertanggungjawabkan. Jangan gunakan alasan pemutihan kilang-kilang haram atau tanah geran hakmilik kilang untuk membiarkan kilang operasi berhampiran sungai. PSM Selangor menggesa agar kawasan berhampiran sungai seharusnya direzabkan dan sebarang aktiviti pembangunan tidak dibenarkan.
6. PSM Selangor juga menggesa Kerajaan Negeri Selangor untuk mengambil tindakan mengurangkan pembaziran air – ‘air tidak terhasil’ (non revenue water) dengan penyelenggaraan sistem perpaipan di Selangor secara lebih terurus. Jumlah air tidak terhasil di Selangor dilaporkan lebih kurang 30% pada masa ini.
Selvam V
Pengerusi
PSM Selangor
7 Oktober 2020
Abolishing the Vernacular School System is not the Solution.
In

Abolishing the Vernacular School System is not the Solution.

The statement released by Head Armada Nasional Bersatu, Wan Ahmad Fayhsal reflects an elitist individual wishing to maintain a privileged position in the constitution by language policing. It does not reflect an individual that wishes to unite the citizens of Malaysia as what Wan Fayhsal wishes to be portrayed as. Even worse, his argument is detrimental to the discourse on plural society unity as he argued that the fluency in the national language reflects individual nationalism. This gives Wan Fayhsal the impression of being in the know while in reality just nonsense spewed biasedly referencing researches to fit a narrative that will be proven futile in actualising any effort towards unity.

While it is agreed upon that any effort in forming a united plural society starts from the most primary level of education, vernacular school system is collateral to the plural society itself rather than a plague to the system. Vernacular school system has been embedded deeply within the tapestry of Malaysian Education System. It has been a mean of cultural identity preservation just as how Islamic religious school is a mean to preserve and strengthen the Islamic religious identity of the students enrolled. Thus, to abolish the vernacular school system on the basis of the lack of national language fluency in reflection to individual nationalism will be counterproductive to the initial effort. To take away a mean of cultural preservation is to take away what Malaysia has been portrayed as; multiracial plural society tolerant of each other’s identity. A conformity of national language fluency is not a magical solve all for the problems of unity in Malaysia. Even if all the students within the education system are put under a roof with the jigsaw classroom model, unity will still be out of reach as long as the Head Armada does not reflect inward on the causes of a disruptive discourse on unity.

Wan Fayhsal may give out a narrative of language as the basis of unity and vernacular school system embraces differences in language usage which will consequently disregard a prioritisation of the national language. He is speaking from a viewpoint of a politician that is playing on the sentiment of the people and not from the viewpoint of an individual that values the education system itself. S. Gudschinsky posited that student’s fluency in their mother tongue can be transferred to a second language thus allowing a beneficial exposure to second language. For C. Eastman, native language usage will foster a good-home working relationship. Learning difficulties were also documented among minority children with an inadequate grasp of medium of instruction by multiple linguists from C. Bowen to J. Macnamara to name a few. Does Wan Fayhsal even have the best for the citizens at heart or simply revisiting sentiments that had existed since the release of Barnes Report to fulfil the requirement as a folly politician? If the fluency of national language is reflective of one’s nationalism, can this statement by Pemuda PSM written in English be reflective of a collective that is going against the best of the Malaysian people?

Pemuda PSM wishes for a united Malaysia as well but unity should not be built on the basis of erasing the cultural identity of the minorities. Vernacular school wasn’t built to be divisive for the people but any narrative that painted it as such is. If education is the main concern in the development of a united plural society, Wan Fayhsal should have been aware on establishment of Islamic religious school in Malaysia as the breeding ground for religious fundamentalism resulting in the decline of Malays’ cultural identities while being the major race itself. In relation to the education system itself, why should the vernacular school system be the target of the narrative of a disruptive system when tertiary education system allows for universities to prioritise only the majority race on the basis of affirmative action? Why should education be the target when individuals like Wan Fayhsal freely stoke the flame of racial issues through racial politics?

It should have been obvious that Wan Fayhsal’s statement was built on an unsubstantial ground. The referencing of 1996 Education Act and the work of Prof. Dr. Teo Kok Seong is only to build a narrative on vernacular school system that does not have a correlation to the issue of unity in Malaysia. He is another player in the political arena seeking to subject blame onto a system that is not within his capability to understand yet could not help but to cling on to in order to gain pity points for his pathetic climb towards securing a position in an already turbulent racially driven politics.

AHMAD YASIN
PEMUDA PSM EDUCATION COMMITTEE

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In

 

In

KiniFocus Looking Left With PSM

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Dear Reader,
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Listen to the full podcast here!

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New Fees Structure for Foreign Workers

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21 March 2016

On 29th December 2014 the Ministry of Health released Circular (17)dlm.KKM-58/300/1-5 directing all State Health Directors, Hospital Directors and District Health Officers to implement a new fee schedule for foreigners effective 1st January 2015. Read More

The Special Constituency Allocation

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27 July 2016
For 3 decades the BN leadership had been allocating between RM 300,000 and RM 2 million per year as Constituency Allocations.

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Eviction of Farmers in Padang Tembak

Eviction of Farmers in Padang Tembak

20 October 2015

Padang Tembak is located some 5 kilometers north of Sg Siput town. There are approximately 70 acres of vacant government land adjacent to this police shooting range. Read More