What's At The Heart of the Matter?

Firstly, we would like to thank Dr Sim for replying to our questionnaire blog post earlier on, and for being a responsible candidate that caters to the queries of the people.

As we promised, we will post your replies on our sites, so here it is.

We will come up with our side of the opinion pool later, but for now, we'll let our readers digest your post.

What's At The Heart of the Matter?

by Dr. Sim's Real Heart Movement on Tuesday, 12 April 2011 at 14:39

Hi all.

Last night a questionnaire developed by a few individuals was brought to my attention via Facebook & Twitter. It asks many important questions.

But first let me start with this.

If you were a patient in the ER, brought in fresh from a bad accident, the doctor's first responsibility is to save your life... then deal with the rest later. It doesn't matter yet if you've got a broken arm and leg. Although those are important too, the doctor first has to make sure blood is pumping through your heart. Once that's been fixed, then only he can attend to the other injuries.

Now, imagine Pending is my patient in the ER, and I'm its doctor. My first responsibility is not to fix its broken legs and arms, but to make sure blood is pumping through its veins and into its heart. The sad and true case is, right now, Pending is in desperate need of a revival.

In the past 5 years, many basic needs of Pending have not been provided. Residents still have bad roads that cause injuries, street lights are still not put up that makes the place unsafe, and clogged drains and water ponding bring diseases.

We all know that livability in Pending is low. But that's just the tip of the iceberg of problems that Pending residents face.

What about business and employment? Education? Healthcare? Security?

All this affects the people of Pending on a daily basis. Their immediate safety from accidents, criminals, and diseases, and their wellbeing is my immediate concern.

Because without these people, what is Pending?

Which is why improving the livability of the people in Pending is one of the 7 key areas I've highlighted in my Pending Transformation Plan. There are so many other things I can do for Pending as well. Some of them are...

• Stimulate commercial activity and entrepreneurship to create better paying jobs
• Ensuring high quality education and a broader recognition of Chinese-medium schools
• Reduce the crime rates in Pending and help the fishery workers

And so many more.

I'm aware of everything else that's been brought up -- corruption, lack of transparency, dissatisfaction with the way things have been run. As a fellow Kuchingite, Sarawakian and Malaysian, I share your frustrations. In fact, I have many more issues to add to that list and even more that I will encounter head on in my 5 year term. But as a doctor, I have to first focus on keeping my patient alive so I can fix everything else.

And the fact is, the people of Pending are not safe and not happy. If I cannot provide even these basic needs to them, how can I tackle the other bigger issues?

You may say that these problems are not the root of everything, and are just symptomatic. But I want share with you one thing. To the people of Pending, these are real problems that need immediate resolution. Their safety and ability to make a living is their prime concern. And therefore, this becomes MY immediate concern.

This is why I've decided to come up with the "Report Card" annually, I'll keep the people of Pending updated with what's going on behind the scenes and my targets. Judge my performance based on that. If I do not execute what I promise by the end of the term, then vote me out.

But I promise in 5 years, you will be able to see the difference in Pending. Not just in the way it looks, but how it is run.

You might think, "That's just Pending, what about Sarawak and Malaysia??".

True, it's just Pending and Kuching. But change has to start somewhere. And I believe in leading by example. If we can make a great example Pending, with proper processes and systems, what's to say that this same change and action won't reverberate across the whole of Kuching, and perhaps even Sarawak?

I will prove to you the amount of change and action I can bring in 5 years. After all, the incumbent Violet Yong has been given that same chance and yet, to date, very little has been done for Pending other shouting through loudspeakers. Highlighting issues is one thing. Resolving them, is another thing altogether. I'm not a man of many words.

So, what I want to do is not talk, but resolve.

You've given the incumbent a chance in the past 5 years. Now all I'm asking is to be given that same chance to prove to you that REAL change can happen in the form of REAL action.

Since I've been answering so many questions and I've shared my detailed plans, I'd like to put out a question as well to the incumbent, YB Violet Yong.

For the benefit of the voters, so they can make an informed decision, could you, Violet Yong, share with us exactly what you have achieved over the 5 years as our elected YB? Can you provide us with proof (whether images, documents or otherwise) about the promises you've managed to fulfill in the past 5 years? Or can you provide information on what you promised your voters you would deliver 5 years ago?

I, for one, have no clue what your voters were promised in 2006.

Voters want to make informed decisions on who they choose to elect. So, Violet, share with us the answers to these 4 questions for our voters:

1. What promises did you make to your voters in 2006?
2. Which of those promises have been fulfilled and can you provide proof of those accomplishments?
3. What have you managed to accomplish outside of those promises since 2006 and can you provide us with proof of those accomplishments?
4. Have you declared your renewed commitments for the 2011 term openly? If yes, what are they?

It would be good if you can share it with us before polling day.

Let’s move from inaction to one of action, thus I'm calling all voters to join me for REAL ACTION. Only you can ensure that REAL CHANGE and REAL ACTION happens in Kuching!

Thank you.

Dr. Sim Kui Hian