Datuk Seri KK Chai, President of the Kuala Lumpur Chinese Assembly Hall (KLCAH), said that with Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim securing a strong majority support of MPs to become the tenth Prime Minister of Malaysia, he hopes Malaysia will move forward with political stability in the next five years.
He said that the dominance of one political party that had existed for decades was gone. Instead, we have now seen progress in the people’s awareness of democracy, and restored the power of the people, which could bring positive developments for the future of Malaysia.
“This is a warning to politicians not to take the support of the people for granted. The restoration of political stability with Anwar as Prime Minister has shown that the people of Malaysia have shown great maturity with no unrest or turmoil during the change of government. These experiences are a very important milestone in the development of our democratic system.”
He pointed out that the political turmoil we have experienced in the past four years has made the people cherish the hard-won harmony and stability even more; and that the global economic situation will only become even uncertain in the coming year because of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, and also the epidemic.
As such, the new government needs to be more effective in dealing with these external situations, assisting businesses and helping the people, and most importantly, to listen to the voice of the people by consulting the industry players and other stakeholders before making any decisions.
He made the remarks during his speech at the 2022 fundraising dinner in conjunction with the 19th Anniversary of the Kuala Lumpur Chinese Assembly Hall.
“In any case, it is the people who elect the government and the people can also change it after five years, as this country does not belong to any political party, but to the Rakyat. I also hope that people will give time to the new government and have confidence in it.”
He said that as the economy recovers after the epidemic, businesses face a serious shortage of staff. Many companies are facing the dilemma of having orders but lacking manpower. In this regard, the new government should be more practical in understanding and taking more effective measures to solve the worker shortage problem.
“The KLCAH calls on the new Human Resource Minister to take immediate and positive action to dialogue with the industry players to find practical solutions. The government has raised the minimum wage to RM1,500 this year, but there has been no relative effort to increase productivity, resulting in a 30% increase in manpower costs for businesses, but no increase in productivity, adding to the woes of all industries.”
Moreover, he urged the new Tourism Minister should introduce various policies to attract foreign tourists to Malaysia, as tourism plays a very important, catalytic role in boosting our economy and can be the third locomotive of growth of Malaysia’s economy.
Regarding KLCAH’s new office, Chai pointed out that, the 8th KLCAH committee meeting in 2021, unanimously resolved to set up an acquisition committee to raise funds for acquiring a new premise. The acquisition committee was approved at the 2nd committee meeting on 24 January 2022, with Chai himself, Secretary General, and Treasurer being put in charge of the acquisition of the premise at Maju Link as the permanent office of the KLCAH.
He said the price of the premise was RM1.09 million after discount and the advantages included its strategic central location within Kuala Lumpur and the TBS transport hub, its space enough to hold major events and also the possibility of renting out the space and displaying a large billboard of the KLCAH.
“The purchase price of the new premise plus the renovation costs will come up to about RM1.5 million. We have already started the renovation and expect to complete it by the end of the year. We still have a shortfall of RM1.2 million, and we are aiming to raise RM1 million in this fundraising dinner.”
He pointed out that the new premise might be open for renting by members of KLCAH to hold events at subsidised rates so that it could generate income for the KLCAH.
“The KLCAH will also be more active in hosting various types of events to showcase our distinctive features. We will be more active in reaching out to people at different levels. For example, expanding the recognition and application of Chinese medicine in government hospitals, exchanges to maintain racial harmony, interacting with different business organisations, meeting with government agencies, overseas study trips to expand perspectives, and caring more about the under-privileged groups.”