‘Give Teh his funds’
> State reps from both sides come to assemblyman’s defence
GEORGE TOWN: State assemblymen from both sides of the political divide have come to the defense of Tanjung Bungah elected representative Teh Yee Cheu after he was stripped of his annual allocation of RM200,000 by the state for going against his own party DAP.
Teh, who has been openly critical of Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s administration, found himself without the required funds to serve his constituents this year after he had announced plans to leave DAP once the next general election is called.
Allocations from the state government should be fairly distributed to a state assemblyman to help the people they represent in their constituency, said PKR’s Penanti assemblyman Dr Norlela Ariffin.
Norlela, however, said it is the right of the state administration if it decides not to disburse the funds to state assemblymen who were not in sync with the state administration policy and aspirations.
“In a proper democratic process, a government, regardless if it is state or federal, should help everyone under its rule, but it has been a practice by Malaysia under its own democratic process to punish people and not disburse funds to them, if they are not in agreement with state policies,” she told theSun when contacted.
Teh was reportedly upset after he was told that the decision came from the state government. It was learned that the allocation was being handled instead by Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari, of which Tanjung Bungah is a state seat under the parliamentary constituency.
Norlela added that in Malaysia it is natural for allocation to only be given to politicians in the same party.
But in Teh’s case, the DAP state assemblyman had declared that he was quitting the party hence the possibility of him being barred from utilising the fund.
“As long as the people are not affected it shouldn’t be a problem,” she said, adding that Teh should not have publicly declared his intention to quit.
Last year, Teh was also barred from handling the flood aid of the RM700 oneoff payment to flood victims in his area.
When contacted, Penang Opposition leader Datuk Jahara Hamid blasted the state government for not practising what they preach, saying the freedom of speech in their administration was not upheld by punishing Teh.
She said the DAP-led state government was disrespecting the people’s mandate when they decided not to allocate the funds to Teh.
“They always say freedom of speech is allowed in their party but what they have done to Teh is unacceptable.”
She claimed this also showed that DAP under Lim was practising an iron fist rule.