When 6000 = 140000

It is the caring party at work again. You know, the Lassies? It is unsurprising that you will only hear their distant yapping once or twice every four to five years. Afterall, there are only so many people one can help and Lassie, being Lassie, she, or rather he, would need to be the main spotlight for the show.

Anyway, today, our beloved national paper, which goes with the slogan, "The People's Paper", published a heart wrenching story about the Klang MP riled up as the local district office delayed in using her MP's allocation to rebuild a community hall in Kampung BlackWater. Apparently, she asked for answers why they failed to disburse her special MP allocation for 2 years but this district office reply has been found unsatisfactory. The same story was repeated by our oldest newspaper where the version presented is slightly different. They highlighted that Dr Tan Yee Kew (the infamous lady suspended for a MCA fraca not too long ago for 6 long months) requested for allocation but the district office didn't think it is a priority for them. But both reported that this MP is fed up and she will be applying for emergency allocation from the Government to rebuild this dilapidating hall at an estimated cost of RM140,000. So why is this hall so special? Apparently, this hall was used as a site for a kindergarten for children of ex-estate workers. Later, she went and donated monies about RM200 to each family in that village. NST even reported the actual number of recipient (30 families) and to top it off she arranged for electricity to be supplied to two houses.

Source: http://www.wingtv.net/issue2/issue2.html

One must applaud them for trying. Afterall, I am quite sure these 30 families are very happy with the extra money. The same must be said for the families occupying the two houses receiving electricity. But I wonder did they ever ask why it took her 2 years to notice they didn't get a renovated hall (not like it has changed since then)? Or that have they ever wondered why coincidentally, 2 years later, she somehow finds her way to this village and start making a big fuss by pointing fingers at the lack of development this village sorely deserves? To be fair, if she has made a quarterly follow-up or assign one of her special task force personnel to look into this issue, I am quite sure the special allocation would have been made long ago. Afterall, why wait till 2 years later to take note especially when election is around the corner? Anyway, I wonder why she gave RM200 to each family in that village. Is this her way of indirectly atoning for the sins of forgetfulness and neglect for not able to deliver her promise to get the hall rebuilt two years ago? As it is, all the villagers got to show are extra RM200 in their pockets and perhaps, a bit of lighting, TV and radio for sound to drown the silence of the night, and the same old dilapidating hall around the corner. Has anything really changed for this community? I wonder where do these infants, as NST put in, are now housed for their preschool education since their kindergarten building has been declared unsafe.

I guess Lassie always do a good job on TV. Afterall, she somehow managed to rescue someone at the nick of time. I wonder the same can be said of this MP. Afterall, if she has a sense of urgency, why put up a fuss? Actions speak louder than words and 6K ain't 140K.