Parliamentarian wants to prove his critics wrong
SERIAN: Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem wants to prove his critics wrong for accusing him of spending most of his time in Putrajaya instead of taking care of his parliamentary constituency of Serian.
The Serian MP said his critics were either not aware of what he had been doing or they were just out to discredit him.
“Whatever their reason for saying I did not ‘ turun padang’ (go to the ground), I will prove to them that they are badly wrong,” he said at a ‘ Leader Meets the People’ programme at Kampung Hilir here Saturday night.
Riot said despite his busy schedule as a member of the federal cabinet, he hardly failed to visit villages in the constituency on weekends. Besides these weekly visits, he said he also had officers running his minister’s office and party office, both of which are located right at the town centre, from Mondays to Fridays.
“My detractors think I have failed to do what I should do as an MP, well, one thing for sure is I am not like them.
“They only go to the ground when they feel elections are around the corner, and that’s not my style. I go to the ground no matter it’s an election year or not. I have been with the people all 26 years of being their MP,” said Riot, who is on his sixth term as Serian MP.
He reiterated his readiness to defend Serian in the 14th general election ( GE14), saying that he needed more time to realise his vision for Serian Division – which is to turn it into a technical vocational hub.
He said the federal government
Whatever their reason for saying I did not ‘turun padang’ (go to the ground), I will prove to them that they are badly wrong.
had approved the setup in Serian of a technical college, an industrial training centre and a hospital slated for the workers of industries. Riot thanked the Malay community for their undivided support for him at the polls, adding that the opposition was heavily trounced in all Malay areas in past elections. He expressed confidence that he would still have their support come GE14.
Later he announced a grant of RM30,000 for the village development and security
Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem, Human Resources Minister and Serian MP
committee (JKKK), including the village’s women bureau and surau committee. Among those present at the event were the political secretary to the Human Resources Minister Major ( Rtd) Datuk Peter Runin and several representatives of government department heads.