Friday, 27 July 2012

Mawan: Don’t dwell too much on date of next election

by Churchill Edward
Tan Sri William Mawan
KUCHING: The people are reminded not to continue speculating on the date of the next general election because it is a waste of time and there are better things to do in life.

Minister of Social Development Tan Sri William Mawan gave this reminder when receiving a courtesy call from a committee charged with conducting a research and feasibility study for the Sarawak Sports Museum project at his office here yesterday.

He said even though elections were only held once in every five years and as such always created some kind of excitement it would be better if the people were to engage themselves in social and welfare work in their free time instead of talking about politics.

He cited the good examples of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for improving the country’s welfare services and also his tireless effort in reaching out to people.

“After giving out Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M), opened up Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia (KR1M), the prime minister came out with TR1Ma (Tayar Rakyat 1Malaysia) to help the taxi drivers.

“The impact of the assistance is far reaching. If you ask the taxi drivers what they think of the Barisan Nasional government, they would agree that the government is a caring one. Even if they were hardcore supporters of the opposition, at least now they would just keep quiet when asked the same question,” he said.

He said the BN could not anymore impress the people by using the old tactic (element of surprise) to catch the opposition off guard by selecting a suitable election for the BN only.

In this modern era of IT, it was better for the BN to impress the people by improving their social and welfare aspects and getting very close to the grassroots, he said of Najib’s good deed.

“There is no more element of surprise. This tactic is not working now. The prime minister knows this,” he said.

Mawan, who is also president of Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party, said he was now focused of social society matters rather than politics.

He said that politics was now rather ‘fluid’ and as the president of a relatively small sized party it would be wise for him and the party to observe other “bigger politicians orbiting, colluding and seeking alliances while preparing for possible change in the near future”.

On his social plan, Mawan said he had a great unity plan for Sarawak Dayak National Union of which he is the president.

He said SDNU was trying to shed its Iban-dominant image by including leaders of races other than the Iban as office bearers.

“When its constitution is amended, there will be three new vice-presidents and six executive members on top of the existing number of office bearers.

Among names bandied to fill up the VP posts are Dayak Bidayuh National Association president Datu Ik Pahon Joyik and as well as two leaders from the Orang Ulu community Gerawat Gala and Hulu Rajang MP Datuk Billy Abit Joo.

Their inclusion would broaden SDNU membership makeup and enhance unity among the various ethnic groups in of Sarawak, Mawan said.

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