Selangor Gerakan State Chairman David Ang Chin Tat condemned the indifferent attitude by the Selangor state government regarding the alcohol ban controversy in Selangor as a serious dereliction of duty.
He said that the Selangor government did not take any action to solve the problem after the move by the Petaling Jaya City Council to ban alcohol in Chinese medical halls had caused colossal uproar.
In this light, David Ang urged Selangor State Executive Councilor Ean Yong Hian Wah who was in charge of local state affairs as well as the Selangor government to explain on the matters and to stop their political bureaucratic way of handling issues immediately.
“It has been the third week since the alcohol ban crisis, yet Ean Yong is almost disappeared after giving short explanations. Selangor Speaker Hannah Yeoh and Exco Teng Chang Khim merely said that they had ordered Ean Yong and all Liquor Licensing Board to provide details in order to come out with a workable solution on the issue. Apparently, Selangor government is dragging on the matters with empty promises.”
He said that if the whole matter is really like what Teng said, is a matter of enforcement not state government policies, then can Selangor government explain why no results were announced after the vigorous discussion. No action was also taken against the related enforcement officers.
“If it is the problem of the enforcement unit, then shouldn’t the state government take the necessary steps against those who break the laws? Why would they delay the issue under the excuse of “further investigation”? Until now, Chinese medical halls are clueless about whether or not they are allowed to sell liquor. This shows that the state government is incapable in solving issues and allow the Small Napoleonism to prevail.”
He continued to claim that the Selangor government must requested the related authorities to submit research report on the matters but not wasting time to make fruitless discussion on the issue. He questioned wouldn’t two weeks not enough for the responsible parties to come out with a report on this?
“Since the Selangor state government has stated that there is no laws to rule Liquor Licensing Committee on their decisions, all decisions must be reported to the state government or state excos, the Chairman of the culprit (Petaling District Licensing Council), Syarifah Ainul Suhana must then provide proper explanations on the matter.”
David Ang further questioned could the authorities provide reasonable explanations on the matter where the Chinese Medical Halls were banned from selling alcohol with merely a notice.
“The businesses apply for liquor licenses through legal procedure and will renew their licenses on time. In fact, Chinese Medical Halls have been operating on the model of mixing hard liquor with herbs, even pregnant ladies need these herbs to recuperate their bodies. As such, selling hard liquor in the Chinese Medical Halls are necessary and demanded by the market. It is imperative that the authorities understand the operating model of the Chinese Medical Halls as liquor has been an inseparable part of the Chinese traditional medicines.”
“If Chinese Medical Halls cry up wine and sell vinegar, why the traditional Chinese Medical Halls become the primary target? I guess these people fail to understand that most hard liquor ranges from at least RM 100.00, and can go up to RM 1,000. If there is claims that youngsters can buy liquor at these halls for merely RM 2.00, then wouldn’t the convenient stores and mini-markets which sell cheap beers provide a better channel for the youngsters to buy alcoholic beverages?”
In this light, David Ang urged the Selangor government to review their ban and withdraw their request for the Chinese Medical Halls to apply for multiple licenses as well as to put Chinese traditional medicines and hard liquor separately. It has not been an issue, bringing it up now will only affect the operation of these Medical Halls and highlight the negligence of duties of the Selangor government who left out important issues and sought problems on small things.
selangoronline.com 
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