DAPSY ROAD SIGNAGE
BY TANIA LAM and SHAH AHMED FAROUQ
KUCHING: Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) has called on Democratic Action Party Socialist Youth (Dapsy) Kuching to issue a public apology over their recent action of affixing Chinese characters on several road signs here without permission.
Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Islamic Affairs and DBKU) Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi said the commission aimed to remove the stickers as soon as possible after the police had conducted their investigation.
“For example, if the investigation is completed this afternoon, I will request the enforcement (officers) to take down the stickers tonight or tomorrow morning — as soon as possible,” he said at a press conference at the DBKU City Library here yesterday.
He revealed that DBKU had lodged a report at the Central Police Station here on Thursday and would leave it to the police to take further action.
He pointed out that Dapsy’s action was an offence under Section 103 (3), Local Authorities Ordinance, 1996, and also By-Law 22, Local Authorities (Cleanliness) By-Law, 1999, which is misconduct towards property of local authorities or the government.
Abdul Rahman added that such actions showed a lack of respect for the law as well as the local authorities.
On Thursday, Dapsy members had tried to affix Chinese characters on road signs around the city including Jalan Main Bazaar, Wayang Street, and Jalan Green Hill – claiming that DBKU had removed them.
Their Facebook post on their endeavour went viral and resulted in a range of comments from netizens. Various political groups and state leaders have also voiced their feedback on the matter.
Kuching South City Council (MBKS) mayor Datuk Wee Hong Seng said they should ask for consent from the council and not take matters into their own hands.
“If people think that the road sign needs to have mandarin words on it then they should write in to the city council which will look into it but please do not take the law into your own hands,” he said when asked to comment on the issue.
He also stressed that the action taken by the DAP Youth would not solve the problem but had ended up with a backlash of negative comments on social media.
“I think there is a hidden agenda and only known to the people who made it,” he said.
He pointed out that Sarawak was proud to have multilingual road signs as it proved that the people lived in a multicultural state.
