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 ©The Malaysian Insider (Used by permission)
by Debra Chong
KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 – There are a couple days left before the 12th Parliament
takes a long recess till the next sitting on June 23 to July 25. It has been a
lively Dewan Rakyat so far for the rakyat and certainly members of parliament
who have been attending quite religiously now that the first 30 minutes daily
are aired live over national television.
For MPs stepping into Parliament for the first time, it has been an overwhelming
experience overall. Not least for Teo Nie Ching, 27, the MP for Serdang,
Selangor who won the very first time she ran for political office in the March 8
polls.
"It's stressful!" remarked the bubbly new politician from Batu Pahat, Johor, now
that the idea of being an MP, for real, has sunk in.
"When I entered Parliament, the first few days were fun. I wasn't nervous at
all. We had the swearing in and all that. On the third day, I had a chance to
stand up and say a few words," she said happily, clearly proud of her moment in
the limelight.
Until an incident occurred inside the august House that drove home the fact that
parliamentarians, as lawmakers, have a heavy responsibility to discharge to the
rest of the country.
"Lim Kit Siang stood up and directed a question at Jerlun MP, Mukhriz (Mahathir).
He asked: 'Do you know what is KKM?' And of course, he didn't know and so he 'kena'
from Lim Kit Siang-lah," she said, remembering the incident.
"But in my mind, I was thinking, 'What is KKM?' I was embarrassed because I
didn't know the answer myself. Imagine if I'd been asked the same question," she
said, voicing her worry and momentary empathy for Mukhriz, despite being a
political rival.
Since then, she had been most zealous about "doing her homework" in preparation
for the next parliamentary sitting; not only to avoid being caught unable to
answer questions but more importantly, to be able to ask "incisive questions"
that will enable her to obtain a proper answer from the ministers or at the very
least cause them to look badly if they fail to answer the question.
"Before I became an MP, it was so easy to scold the MPs for asking stupid
questions in Parliament. As a new MP, I find that we need to learn how to ask
questions," said a humbled Teo, and added, "to me, some of the quarrels and
fights are pointless and unnecessary."
She was reminded of how Parliament had turned into a circus on its very first
day and admitted that there were justified criticisms levelled at the Opposition
coalition because of that.
"There is an art to asking questions. The questions can't be too open or they'll
find ways to evade it. In court, it's different. If cannot get an answer, can
ask again and again," added the UK-trained lawyer.
"In Parliament, you only get one chance and you don't want to waste it. The
challenge inside (the Dewan Rakyat) is to (find ways to) solve people's problems
in the shortest time. I'm still trying to find a tactic to do it."
Teo has latched on to Lim Kit Siang, Ipoh Timur MP and DAP party advisor, as a
role model. "I like the way he argues and debates with others in Parliament,"
she said, noting his brevity and sharpness.
Outside of Parliament though, Teo's biggest challenge is dealing with the
expectations of her constituents.
"People expect to see you (in the constituency) not once a month but once a week
at least. The Chinese community in Serdang when they invite you to a jamuan
or majlis, they expect you to turn up for all of them. But (they don't
understand) it's impossible to attend all jamuans and majlis;
there's no time to do homework to solve the problems," she said in frustration.
The voters' frequent displeasure at her no-show upsets her a lot. But the
adversity from within the camp has only served to toughen her. As the saying
goes: When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
"I'm elected already. I cannot say I don't want to do it now (become MP). If I
do so, I'll set a precedent. I'll disappoint them. In future, people might not
trust new faces anymore," Teo explained.
"What I want to do might be different from people's expectations. People want me
to attend functions but what I want to do – meet NGOs and participate in
drafting of private bills. It's a good chance for me to solve problems for
people. I can't solve all but if I can solve one, two or three of the people's
problems, it'll make me better.
"It's not just about me but we're creating history here. I just hope that by me
participating in politics at such a young age, it'll motivate young people to
participate in future as well. My goal is to be someone responsible and
respectable."
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Circular No 023/2012: Talk on ISO 9001 | 2008 Quality Management System Certification
I've had the pleasure of working with Nie Ching when she was practicing. Am very proud of her and I'm certain she will be a forced to be reckoned with in time to come.
Syamsuriatina Binti Ishak