Dr Koh to Guan Eng: Practise what you preach

PUTRAJAYA: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon has told Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to practise what he preaches, especially in matters concerning transparency.
“He (Lim) champions transparency but he himself is not transparent. All I wanted was transparency and accountability,” Dr Koh, the former Penang chief minister, said after opening the Public Complaints Management Seminar here on Monday.
He was asked to comment on the spat between the two leaders, which began after Lim challenged Dr Koh last week to a debate on alleged land scams during the latter’s administration of the state.
Dr Koh picked up the gauntlet three days ago but said that first he wanted the current state government to declassify the state executive council meeting minutes on the Kampang Buah Pala saga so that things could be done in a transparent manner.
Lim, who is also DAP secretary-general, then accused Dr Koh, the Gerakan president, of being insincere as he was imposing conditions for the debate.
“I have already stated my conditions but this does not mean that I am insincere. He should be prepared to be transparent.
“I have asked him to open the (Kampung Buah Pala) exco minutes and he should be prepared to do so. This looks like the champion of transparency himself is not transparent after all,” Dr Koh said on Monday.
Earlier, he said the Public Complaints Bureau received an average of 11,000 complaints against civil servants monthly.
“And 40% of the complaints are through the electronic medium such as email and short messaging service. This also shows that people are starting to lodge complaints if they have ways to do it.
“With these two media, it is easier to lodge a complaint. The bulk of these complaints concerns the local councils, the police, the National Registration Department and the Immigration Department,” he said.
He said these agencies and departments received the highest number of complaints because of their high exposure to the public.
Most of the complaints were about delay in replying to various applications like renewal of licences and permits. -- Bernama

tunku: for guan eng, transparency only meant for bn not for them.if guan eng is really sincere just declassify the state executive council meeting minutes on the kampang buah pala issue.why want to hide it?you hide it when you did something wrong.guan eng is indeed not practicing what he preaches."cakap tak serupa bikin".