From: New Straits Times 27th October 2005
PARLIAMENT is not “people-friendly”, charged an Opposition MP yesterday
The reason: It discriminates against women. Teresa Kok (DAP-Seputeh) said it was hard sometimes for women to gain entry into the Parliament building.“If they dress a certain way, they are barred. If their clothes are a bit too tight, they are barred. (more…)
Today, former MAS air stewardess Beatrice Fernandez who sued the airline for dismissing her because she was pregnant came to Parliament.
I invited her to meet some MPs because MAS is demanding about RM100,000 legal cost from her as she lost her legal battle in the Federal Court.
I then spoke about her case in the debate, and the UMNO MP for Ketereh supported my speech by saying that it is cruel for MAS to sack its staff because they were in pregnancy as it is the will of Allah for us to have children.
She then met Sharir Samad, chairman of BN Back Benchers Club, who asked her to write a letter of appeal to the new CEO of MAS and cc to him.
Beatrice seems happy with her visit in the Parliament as she heard us bringing up her issue in the debates and won sympathy from some UMNO guys outside the chamber.
I hope we can pressure MAS to cease demanding the RM100k legal cost from her. I will continue to pursue the issue again in the debate of other ministries in two weeks’ time
(more…)The debate on the Finance Ministry started today. I waited the whole morning and finally I was lucky enough to be able to speak before lunch break at 1 pm. This is the last day of Parliament sitting before Deeparaya next week.
In my speech, I criticised Inland Revenue Board (IRB) officers who have been very agressive and sometimes a bit inhumane when pursuing business people whom they regarded as tax evaders. In many instances, the IRB officers asked them to present their company financial account dating back seven years.. It is impossible for most people, especially small and medium business operators to keep their account for so many years.
I also mentioned that since self assessment taxation was implemented hastily, many people don’t know how to fill the form which is bit challenging for some people. The taxation department is also very slow in their refund to taxpayers. When tax payers unable to pay tax within 30 days, they have to pay 10% interests, but when IRB delay in refund within three months as promised, no interest is paid to those who qualify for refunds.
I also mentioned about corruption among officers of IRB and I read a complaint letter sent to me on this matter as part of my speech.
(more…)