Dr Sim wants more senators appointed from Sarawak

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Dr Sim (seated centre) shares a light moment with the recipients as they pose for a group photograph. At second left is Tan Kai. — Photo by Kong Jun Liong

KUCHING: Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) president Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian hopes that more senators will be appointed from Sarawak.

He said that at the moment, only three out of the total 70 senators in the Dewan Negara (Senate) are Sarawakians which is a small number in comparison to the other regions in Malaysia.

Although he did not mention names, the three Sarawakian senators are Dr Sim himself and two others are from Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB).

“As a senator, I am entitled to give out the grants to anyone throughout the country but I will only allocate mine to those

from Sarawak, since there are only three senators from this state. If anyone from outside Sarawak approached me for grant, I will refer them to the other 67 senators.

“Let us remain focused on getting more senators for Sarawak,” he said during the presentation of government grants to 30 associations and clubs at SUPP headquarters yesterday.

Dr Sim was reappointed senator for the second term on June 5 this year. He was first appointed as a senator on May 26, 2014 when he was still SUPP secretary general.

He is also a member of the state cabinet since May 13, 2016 as Minister of Local Government and Housing, after he won the Batu Kawah seat in the 2016 state election.

He pointed out although he now has government grants from three sources as a senator, a state assemblyman and a state minister, these funds will only go to organisations and individuals from Sarawak.

He explained that as state assemblyman for Batu Kawah, he can only disburse grants to applicants from the constituency but as state minister, he can give ministerial grants to anyone from within the state.

“If I did not win the 2016 state election, I would not have gotten myself many sources of funding. These funds are not for me to use, but to give out to the people

“Like today, the funds are meant to appreciate the various organizations for their community work,” he said.

He advised the recipients to cash or bank in their cheques within the time frame, to avoid complications.

He revealed there had been cases of recipients cashing the cheque after the expiry date, which resulted in the cheques being rejected by the bank.

A political secretary to the Chief Minister and SUPP Youth chief Tan Kai was among those present yesterday.