Barking Up The Wrong Tree

I find dogs are very peculiar animal. Many years ago when I was much younger, our family has a crocker spaniel. It is dog very fearful of people so it often put a brave front by barking out loud to scare them off when strangers come near our compound. It would have worked if he didn't retreat back a step each time a stranger walks closer to the gate.

I once took him out for a walk and he saw a stranger walking down the road. On normal occasion he will run away but noticing that I stopped and took a look at the stranger's general direction, he too, looked ahead and started growling, again putting up a brave alas false front, every ready to attack anyone who might harm me. Well, I know this dog was a great pretender because I once too a peek from the corner of the ajar door and noticed he was staring at a bird happily eating his food while he just sat there with his head resting on the floor. Hmmm... so much for being the first line of defense.

Well, I find it very funny too when I read about the recent pursuits of some Lassie wannabes in attempting to help poor and weak villagers facing eviction notice. As described by the Star Online,

IT is going to be a bleak Chinese New Year for 200 squatter families living in Kampung Hock Ann in Jalan Kelang Lama, Kuala Lumpur...

...Over 150 residents crowded the small Kampung Hock Ann MCA branch office in Jalan Kelang Lama, holding copies of the court order. During the dialogue, it was a heart-breaking sight to see the mostly elderly residents plead and cry...

It is sad when the poor are forced to leave their homes. More so when they have stayed there for 60 years. Yet, the contentious reading is not this, rather, it is the way MSM played out the story that makes one suspect if this story truly holds water.

Their story started in 2003 when the families were issued eviction notices to vacate their homes or face legal action.

They sought help from Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, who sent a lawyer to help them.

Noticed how it is written? Firstly, it is the poor and helpless who faces bleak future. They have no one to turn to but to MCA. It is a sad sight indeed. And what lead them to this predicament? They sought the help of Seputeh MP, Teresa Kok (who so happen to belong to DAP, the arch nemesis of all Lassies) which didn't manage to help them at all.

As you read on, you feel that a certain Madam Tan, being a resident of this village, like many other villagers, placed much hope on the Seputeh MP to help them with the eviction notice. She dutifully sought the help of a lawyer which promised to fight the case for a fee of RM100. Why just RM100? MSM didn't say. Anyway, to cut the long story short, we then read this:

According to the residents, they had not heard from Kok or the lawyer until Dec 28 last year when she called for a meeting to inform them that they had lost the case and gave each of the families a copy of the court order.

For those unaware about subliminal, this is indirectly saying Ms Kok here did nothing for the past 4 years. Later we read:

“The lawyer asked us if we wanted to file an appeal. If we do, we must each pay RM300. She told us that the appeal was only for the extension of time from being evicted, not to fight for compensation,'' Tan said.

Isn't it shocking? The way this MSM put it like as though somehow it is daylight robbery. RM300 now? And of all things, it is only extension of time from being evicted, not to fight for compensation. To further support their case they wrote:

She said the lawyer came the following day and asked for more money.

“The lawyer said the RM300 was not enough and that there were other expenses, administrative, transportation and other miscellaneous fees that needed to be paid. She quoted a fee of RM2,300 for each family,” Tan said.

According to Tan, some families paid but many refused to do so. They wanted to know why they were not informed about the progress of the case and were kept in the dark all the while.

The red line is an important point we will revisit later but suffice to say that Mr Chin of MCA went on to say much but accomplished little. In summary,

...it would be too late to file an appeal as the appeal must be submitted by Jan 7 (yesterday) and also because many were not keen on it...

“They are facing a Catch 22 situation here. By appealing they are only buying time to stay and most don't have that kind of money,'' Chin said.

“The next best thing is to help them get alternative housing at a government housing scheme. Another avenue is to negotiate with the landowner for an extension of time to move out or even some compensation on humanitarian ground,'' he said.

I would be damned. Is Mr Chin sent from heaven to Kampung Hock Ann? Well, that is how I would see it according to this MSM. Of course, to appear to be fair to Ms Theresa, they quoted a few things she said such as:

1) Why it costs RM300 per person and later RM2,300 (Of the 200 families, only 20 took up the offer and since it is a collective effort, the costs are merely divided over a smaller pool).

2) Why did the case took so long to come to a conclusion (It is an everyday event that court judgement take years to reach a conclusion).

3) Ms Kok tried approaching the landowner (private land by the way) many times but each time proved to be futile.

4) Ms Kok is also willing to help them to obtain government housing scheme.

But after reading the whole article, I felt a sense of anger. Why didn't Ms Theresa Kok do anything during those 4 years? One must wonder whether whatever she explained have any value to people rendered homeless.

I then decided to check her website. Surprisingly, one will find a long article posted by her as she submitted her own defense. Unlike MSM, who obviously can't afford to write much and what more to insert details of relevance which might shed more light on what has transpired because afterall, they are in the business of selling advertising space (but of course, in that short article, the Star manage to find space to add every name and rank of the MCA attendees such as Seputeh Barisan Nasional information head Banie Chin, Seputeh Wanita MCA head Chai Yat Chiew, secretary Choong Swee Choy, Kampung Hock Ann MCA branch chairman Choong Fook and division legal adviser Mak Foo Wei), Ms Theresa Kok wrote the sequence of event in detail complete with a Q&A list. But the most crucial aspect we can never know nor verify which she highlighted but tells us something consistent with opportunistic behaviours that strangely canines (such as Murphy, my family's crocker spaniel) also exhibits is this:

While we were busy trying to get enough numbers to meet the deadline for filing the case, MCA people then went around to tell people that MCA can fight the case for them free, and asked them to meet their leaders last Friday night. This gave residents a false sense of hope.

The meeting of MCA attended by the former MCA candidate in Seputeh Bennie Chin received coverage in two Chinese papers. Bennie, who was so blurred with the whole issue, whacked me with all the wrong and twisted facts. He told the people that he could help them to apply for low cost houses, and he could not help them to appeal to court as it was too late for him to do so. This means MCA has misled the residents and conned them to attend the meeting.

Source: http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/b/barking_up_the_wrong_tree_gifts.asp

Her article was dated 7 January 2008 which I believe she was referring the meeting to 4 January 2008. In her article, she mentioned she need to get the monies ready by 2 January 2008. Isn't it strangely convenient to claim there is no more hope by organising a meeting past the deadline? I guess that is one way to get genuine tears for a disingenuous media coverage.

But her main point of contention she wants everyone to know is this:

I was quite upset over the whole incident:

i) The court has ruled against the residents. So, legally speaking, they have no right over the land and they have to move out of the area. As many of them love that area so much, I was just trying to help them to try one more time to appeal in court and to buy some time for them to continue to stay there while they were waiting for their case to be heard. However, many residents are not united on cases that involved spending their money. My intention has been twisted by those irresponsible MCA guys;

ii) The residents there mostly are ignorant of laws and they are naive about legal proceedings, that’s why they can be misled by irresponsible folks easily. I have been trying my best to help them to stay there longer and to fight for their case, but they don’t appreciate my efforts to help them. It is very disheartening to deal with grassroots people like this;

Anyway, if you would like to read more, you can read it from her website.

But what I find it most disturbing is this. Why politicise an issue which obviously is a civil suit between two parties where one just insist on not moving, who wants compensation to move out despite enjoying 4 years of free rent (they previously paid the landowner for land rental) while the other adamant on getting back the land to be developed to something else while offering no compensation? Is this fair to the private landowner? Imagine if you have a house and you rent it to someone who refuses to move, it is a pain just to get back your possession. Is it fair for the house owner to pay the tenant to move out?

One must credit Ms Kok for trying to get the landowner to meet and discuss. But if he/she refuses, what can Ms Kok do to compel him/her to give compensation to the ex-tenants? MSM obviously is not in the business to address this nor on the intention of these people who love the area so much that they were willing to pay RM100 per family to continue squatting there.

What I don't understand however is why Ms Kok didn't update them on the progress for the last 4 years. I guess that is her biggest mistake. She should have just organise an annual meeting and tell them the progress even if there is none. But is it really her fault if our legal system takes 4 years to reach a verdict? Or that people in their greed forgot that it is not themselves (by advertising free service but offer useless advice) but others (in this case it is the ex-tenants in dilemma) they should be helping?

Yet I can't help but wonder, why now? Why only now Mr Chin a.k.a. Lassie wannabe takes action? Shouldn't he visit places and ask them if they need any help when they encounter any problems frequently? Perhaps if he is sincere, why not just work with the elected MP for the good of the people? If he really wants to score genuine political mileage on his own, cheap advertisement like this may actually backfire.

One can't help but wonder whether uncanny resemblance between canine behaviour and those seeking power forces one to conclude they are just animals out for a one time only good kill where minimal efforts are spent but maximum enjoyment are obtained. I shudder at the thought where these wolves in sheep skins would continue in power.