Our Local Councilor Cynthia Gabriel
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Friday, 08 August 08 - 03:54 PM (GMT +08:00) By Jasraj Sandhu in General |
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Giving voice to the people
By OH ING YEEN
FOR Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) councillor Cynthia Gabriel, public participation is important in the local government.
“As cliched as it may sound, it is power back to the people,” she said, adding that that people should have a say and give ideas for improvement.
“The MBPJ full board meeting is open to the public and people need to be encouraged to participate and observe how MBPJ conducts the meetings,” she said.
Since being sworn in on July 1, life has been hectic for Gabriel.
”We have been having meetings to sort out our responsibilities as local councillors.
”Someone just sent me a thick pile of complaints last weekend and I’ve got my hands full,” she said.
While this is her first time being a local councillor, she is no stranger to dealing with people given her experience in dealing with human rights issues. She is the regional director for Coordination of Action Research on AIDS & Mobility Asia (CARAM Asia) and a former Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) executive director.
It took some encouragement from her friends for her to become a local councillor.
“It’s an opportunity to make a difference within the local government and to actualise things that we’ve talked about as NGOs.”
Her challenge, and that of the other councillors as well, is to undo and reverse bad practices of the past.
“One year is certainly not enough but it is an important one year. Our challenge is to be more forward-looking and expansive.
“To ensure the effectiveness of the local government, terms should be revised and it should be more realistic.
“Legislation and policy issues can be discussed at the local council level,” she said.
Gabriel would also like to urge the state government to initiate elections to ensure democracy.
“It should be the people who elect the local councillors,” she added.
She also stressed the importance of transparency and openness.
“It’s the councillors who need to be accountable to the people they represent.
“The tender committee is not something we, especially for non-political appointees like me, can be part of due to the non-inclusion policy.
“It is part of my challenge to reverse it to ensure that there will be no cronyism or nepotism,” she said.
She added that contracts that were awarded needed to be clarified and the information should be shared with the public.
“It should be based on merit and there should be clear criteria,” she said.
Gabriel plans to raise the issue of public funds and wastage and suggested that the local government appoint an ombudsman to oversee complaints lodged by the people.
”The public should have access to information, to know how the council makes its decisions.
“There should be a mechanism to oversee the works of MBPJ, such as an external audit,” she said.
She pointed out that many were confused about the roles of MP, assemblyman and local councillors.
Gabriel is also concerned about environmental issues and the uneven development in MBPJ.
“When I moved to Petaling Jaya, it was undeveloped and there were more open green spaces.
“Now, residents are beginning to express concerns about density and new condos coming up,” she said.
On the issue of crime prevention, she believes that it is important to work with residents to form a Rukun Tetangga or residents association.
Gabriel also hopes that the job of a local councillor will be made a full-time one.
“Although it is a voluntary appointment, it’s almost like a full time job already,” she said.
She also hoped that councillors would be given the freedom to make appointments to meet with the people.
”In the long run, meetings can be a way to give residents an opportunity to provide suggestions and feedback,” she said.
- Full name: CYNTHIA GABRIEL
- Age: 38
- Marital status: Married
- Number of children: None
- Hometown: Petaling Jaya
- Education: Masters in Philosophy
- Profession: Former executive director of SUARAM and Regional Director of CARAM Asia Council: MBPJ
- Zone: SS4, SS25 and PJU1
- Contact: 012-379 2189
- Email: cynth@pd.jaring.my
MBPJ Full Board Meeting
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Tuesday, 05 August 08 - 02:32 PM (GMT +08:00) By Jasraj Sandhu in General |
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MBPJ to obtain TOL for billboards
By TAN KARR WEI at the MBPJ full board meeting
THE Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) will obtain temporary occupational licences (TOL) for billboards.
“We will then lease out these approved pieces of land to billboard operators to generate income for the council,” said councillor Derek Fernandez during the MBPJ full board meeting.
Fernandez said this would generate about RM4mil in additional income for the council.
PJ mayor Datuk Mohamad Roslan Sakiman said they would issue licences to current billboards owners who already had their planning and structure permits and did not have any arrears with the council.
However, the state government has issued a directive to freeze new billboard applications.
All Mesra Rakyat billboards will also be taken down.
Roslan also said all religious structures, including mosques and suraus, built without permits on government land would be issued compounds until they obtain permits.
Cabins put up by political parties have to be removed unless the parties agree to hand them over to the council for community use.
“If they refuse, we will tear the structures down,” said Roslan.
He added that the state government had agreed to put on hold the tearing down of boom gates in housing areas because residents had voiced safety concerns due to the increase in crime cases.
Several councillors requested for the sub-committee reports to be given to them before the full board meetings so they can review them before approving the minutes.
MBPJ secretary Puasa Md Taib suggested that sub-committee meetings be held at least three days before the full board meeting so that the reports could be sent in time.
Councillor Latheefa Beebi Koya questioned why councillors were not allowed to review and approve the decisions made by the tender board.
“None of us are allowed to sit on the board and even the decisions made by them are just for our knowledge and not for us to evaluate,” she said.
Roslan said this was a state policy and suggested that the councillors bring up the matter at state level.
Also present as observers at the meeting were PJ Selatan MP Hee Loy Sian, PJ Utara MP Tony Pua, Subang MP Sivarasa Rasiah, Kampung Tunku assemblyman Lau Weng San, Bukit Lanjan assemblyman Elizabeth Wong and Kota Damansara assemblyman Dr Nasir Hashim.
Free Water Debacle
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Tuesday, 10 June 08 - 02:26 PM (GMT +08:00) By Jasraj Sandhu in General |
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We have just added a new page under the "Press" section of this website. The new article added to this section is in regard to the Free Water Issue that is soon to be enjoyed by the citizens of Selangor.
The article features a quote from our President Ravinder in regars to the matter at hand. Do visit the article to find out more.
Happy Chinese New Year
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Thursday, 07 February 08 - 09:52 PM (GMT +08:00) By Jasraj Sandhu in General |
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The SS 4C & 4D Resident association wishes all residents
Happy Chinese New Year
May the Year of the Rat brings you
joy, prosperity and all-around happiness.
Happy Diwali
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Wednesday, 07 November 07 - 11:25 AM (GMT +08:00) By Jasraj Sandhu in General |
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![]("http://lh5.google.com/jasrajs/RzEyRsGRZpI/AAAAAAAAAH4/MTdfx89wK5U/s400/Diwali1.jpg)
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2007/08 RA AGM Agenda
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Wednesday, 07 November 07 - 11:12 AM (GMT +08:00) By Jasraj Sandhu in General |
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On this past week, 28th October 2007, the SS4C & 4D resident Association Annual General Meeting (AGM) was successful held. An estimate of 35 residents of our community had attended the AGM and made up the quorum that elected the new Committee for the 2007/08 session.
For a detailed summary of the AGM Agenda, residents can click on the this link here, to review the AGM Agenda. The Agenda includes the matters raised in the AGM and also the names of the newly elected RA Committee Members.
The Resident Association Committee would like to extend their thanks to those residents that attended the AGM.
Liver Damage
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Sunday, 30 September 07 - 08:22 PM (GMT +08:00) By Jasraj Sandhu in General |
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How to Avoid Liver Damage
Good rest and sound sleep is very important. If you don't sleep well, the toxic in your body will accumulate thus affecting your health and your mood.
The main causes of liver damage are:
- Sleeping too late and waking up too late are the main cause.
- Not urinating in the morning.
- Too much eating.
- Skipping breakfast.
- Consuming too much medication.
- Consuming too much preservatives, additives, food coloring, and artificial sweetener.
- Consuming unhealthy cooking oil. As much as possible reduce cooking oil use when frying, which includes even the best cooking oils like olive oil. Do not consume fried foods when you are tired, except if the body is very fit.
- Consuming overly done foods also add to the burden of liver. Veggies should be eaten raw or cooked 3-5 parts. Fried veggies should be finished in one sitting, do not store.
We just have to adopt a good daily lifestyle and eating habits. Maintaining good eating habits and eating time condition are very important for our body to absorb and get rid of unnecessary chemicals according to the following "schedule."
Morning 7 - 9am : Absorption of nutrients in the small intestine, you should be having breakfast at this time. Breakfast should be earlier, before 6:30am, for those who are sick. Breakfast before 7:30am is very beneficial to those wanting to stay fit. Those who always skip breakfast, they should change their habits, and it is still better to eat breakfast late until 9 -10am rather than no meal at all. Sleeping so late and waking up too late will disrupt the process of removing unnecessary chemicals. Aside from that, midnight to 4am is the time when the bone marrow produces blood.
Therefore, have a good sleep and don't sleep late.
Sharing Is Caring!
Live Well
The above health tip is brought to you courtesy of our fellow resident Michelle Ng.
Irresponsible Attitude!
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Saturday, 22 September 07 - 06:42 AM (GMT +08:00) By Jasraj Sandhu in General |
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A Case of Irresponsible Attitude
Although we would desperately like to hope that our residents are not the culprits in this case, however before pointing fingers it's better to take care of our own backyard first.
How to Dispose of your Throw-A-Ways
In order to dispose of throw-a-ways such as old furnitures, mattresses, etc residents are reminded to utilize the services of Alam Flora that can be reached via 03-7874 8433 / 8568 / 8579.A Reminder
It is the hope of the Resident Association, and by extension the rest of the residents, that the above information will help the resident to dispose their of rubbish properly and not act irresponsibly by disposing their rubbish in our own taman as this Taman is most certainly not our personal DUMP SITE!
Visit the Parliment
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Tuesday, 04 September 07 - 12:51 PM (GMT +08:00) By Jasraj Sandhu in General |
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YB Datin Chew has made arrangements for 40 lucky people from our very own Taman to visit the Malaysia's august house The Parliment on the 29th of October 2007 (Monday).
For those residents interested in participating in this trip, please register yourselves via the registration form located below.
Terms & Conditions
- Registration is open to all residents of SS4C/4D only.
- The first 40 people to register will be the lucky ones to go for the trip - i.e. First come, first served.
- Please ensure that you do intend to go, before registering.
* Indicates required fields
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