

Five key themes to move Johor Forward
Upon my appointment as the State Opposition Leader by Pakatan Harapan Johor, I have expressed my intention to lead a constructive opposition that builds on bipartisanship in the hope to propel Johor forward and to safeguard the interests of Bangsa Johor.
I have written to the Menteri Besar, YAB Datuk Onn Hafiz bin Ghazi, on behalf of the Johor opposition, to propose the following thematic bipartisan select committees to be established in the Dewan:
๐ฆ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ (๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ง๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐จ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ธ๐ฎ๐ฝ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ)
Good governance and integrity are fundamental to any government and public service. Best practices recommended by the committee shall be adopted across the state agencies, state GLCs, and local authorities to ensure effective, efficient and clean governance.
๐ฆ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐น๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐จ๐ฟ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด (๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ฎ๐ต ๐๐ธ๐น๐ถ๐บ, ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฟ)
Climate change is an increasingly important issue. Floods, heatwaves, and other disasters continue to remind us that climate actions are needed. There is also a need for better planning for our cities and rural communities including infrastructures, public transport systems, housing, cleanliness and flood mitigation.
To form a committee in the Dewan means these issues could be addressed in a bipartisan manner and also to encourage wider public participation in shaping the future of Johor in these subjects.
๐ฆ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ-๐ฆ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป (๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ท๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฎ ๐๐ผ๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ-๐ฆ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ฎ๐ฝ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ)
Singapore matters to Johorโs economy and wellbeing in a big way, far more than to other states in Malaysia. Similarly, Singapore is heavily reliant on Johor for various resources that it lacks. Having a committee in the Dewan to examine issues relating to Johor-Singapore relationship would help formulate long-term bipartisan ideas and policies to ensure closer people-to-people exchanges, flow of goods and services, and economic opportunities between Johor and Singapore.
๐ฆ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ท๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐บ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ (๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ ๐ก๐ฒ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ)
The Malaysian Federation needs a reset. The current constitutional arrangement concentrated too much power in the central government, at the expense of the states like Johor. It is the legacy of the previous one-party state dominated by an UMNO prime minister that had all the state chief ministers and menteris besar taking instructions from the PM. The time has changed.
Malaysia needs a federation that gives the Johor state government more power in health, economic development and education, just to name a few, and a higher share in income tax collection from Johor. When the Constitution was framed in 1957, tax sources from land were crucial whereas income tax was hardly featured then. But today, it is the reverse and income taxes form the largest part of federal revenue.
Sharing of income taxes with the state government is not a zero-sum game. The more economic development and the more collection means both federal and state benefit from a larger pie.
This is a huge topic and a very important one for the future of Johor, befitting serious bipartisan effort.
๐ฆ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ช๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐๐ฎ ๐๐ผ๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ (๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ธ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ถ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ท๐ฎ๐ต๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐๐ฎ ๐๐ผ๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ)
For the wellbeing of ordinary Johoreans and the future prosperity of the Johor economy, there is a need to build consensus across the political aisle and with the community to upgrade and reform our economy.
Issues such as creating better jobs with better pay, the cost of living crisis, youth unemployment, technological upgrade and innovation all deserve more attention and bipartisanship.
๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
During my courtesy call to the Menteri Besar on 16 April, we discussed at length the importance of select committees. On 21 April, the Menteri Besar told me privately that the idea of bipartisan select committees is โon my radarโ, and he had also told the media that he looked forward to setting up these committees.
Functioning thematic bipartisan committees will ensure elected representatives are well-versed in policy matters and develop policy focuses and fortes for themselves, which will improve the quality of public debates inside and outside of the Dewan.
Letโs move Johor forward with these key themes.
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