The Kuala Lumpur Young Lawyers Committee (“KLYLC”) organised a visit to Parliament on 11th October 2010, which saw 8 of its members attending the third session of the 12th Parliament i.e. Lai Chee Hoe, Syahredzan Johan, Johnson Lim, Chan Kit Keong, Kenneth Wong, Joanne Leong, Johana Rosli and Joachim Leong.
Despite being informed that the session commences only at 10 am, we enthusiastically gathered as early as 8 am on a Monday morning for fears that there will be inadequate parking. After feasting on food and drinks at the Parliament’s cafeteria located at the 1st Floor, we then made our way to the public gallery in the House.
Member of Parliment (“MP”) for Rembau, YB Khairy Jamuluddin was one of the earliest to arrive, and very kindly took the time to greet each and every one of us personally, where he subsequently ran through the agenda for the day with us.
Parliament convened exactly at 10.05 am with a short recital of the doa selamat, followed by the start of Questions for Oral Answers by Tangga Batu MP, YB Datuk Ir Haji Idris, who also acknowledged the presence of the KLYLC members, before a packed House who welcomed us with a roar of applause.
We had the opportunity to witness an emergency motion raised by DAP advisor YB Lim Kit Siang, under Standing Orders 18(12) to allow a debate in Parliament over the alleged racial slurs made by two school principals. However, Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin refused to allow such debate claiming that action had already been taken against them.
The House also stood up in one-minute silence as a sign of respect for Batu Sapi MP YB Edmund Chong, who tragically passed away on 9/10/2010 in a motorcycle accident. Independent MP from Pasir Mas, YB Ibrahim Ali did not stand up at this point, but continued talking on his mobile phone, which drew various criticisms not only from the MPs but also from the KLYLC members! There was a brief moment of chaos in the House when Puchong MP YB Gobind Singh criticised YB Ibrahim Ali for his ignorance, who then shouted back at the former.
At approximately 11.30 am, the KLYLC paid a courtesy call on MPs of DAP. The meeting, which was held at the Opposition’s Office located at the 13th floor was attended by YB Kulasegaran, YB Teo Nie Ching, YB Tony Pua, YB Ngeh Koo Ham, YB Anthony Loke, YB Liew Chin Tong, YB Wong Ho Leng and YB Chong Chieng Jen. We were given a surprise visit by YB Lim Kit Siang during the meeting. It was indeed a rare and first-time experience for most of us, to finally shake the hands of our own elected MP. In particular was YL Johana Rosli who introduced herself to YB Liew Chin Tong, MP for Bukit Bendera.
YB Kulasegaran then provided us with insights into the general workings and attendance of MPs in Parliament. Other issues discussed during the meeting were issues on the KPI system of the Malaysian courts, live telecast of Parliamentary sittings, views on shadow cabinet in Malaysia, the general state of young voters today, so on and so forth.
The visit to Parliament ended at approximately 1pm. Till then, we hope to see more young lawyers joining us for the next KLYLC Parliament meeting in 2011!
Web report by: Johnson Lim