Kuching: The Sarawak Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairman Chong Chieng Jen has raised concerns about the financial implications for the Sarawak state government after the State Legislative Assembly (Composition of Membership) Bill, 2025, to add 17 new elected representatives to the State Legislative Assembly was tabled.
He who also the assemblyman for Padungan stressed that the move would incur an estimated RM20 million in salary costs alone over one term.
“This does not include additional expenses such as their service centres, perks, and lifelong pensions. The government should use that money for the people instead of expanding the legislature unnecessarily,” he said told a press conference at the State Legislative Assembly Complex here, yesterday.
Chong also highlighted the existing cost of maintaining 32 political secretaries to the Sarawak Premier – one for each parliamentary seat in the state – each drawing salaries, perks, drivers, and entitled to pensions.
“If the concern is about insufficient ADUNs, then why not reduce the number of political secretaries first? They’re unnecessary. To me, having one or two political secretaries is already enough,” he said.
He added that rather than increasing state-level representatives, the real issue is Sarawak’s underrepresentation at the federal level.
He urged the state government to push for an increase in the number of parliamentary seats for Sarawak through the deputy prime minister or minister.
“That would be a meaningful step. I and other DAP MPs from Sarawak will fully support any motion to strengthen Sarawak’s voice in Parliament,” Chong said.
Earlier during his debate at the special sitting of the DUN regarding Dewan Undangan Negeri (Composition of Membership) Bill, 2025, Chong also pointed out that he does not see the need for Sarawak to increase its seats from 82 to 99 as the current population-to-state elected representatives (ADUNs) ratio remains relatively small compared to other Commonwealth nations.
“There was no compelling reason to increase the number of ADUNs, especially when the existing representatives already serve fewer constituents than their counterparts in both developed and developing Commonwealth countries.
“In Australia, South Africa and Canada, each state assemblymen or assemblywomen serve a lot more than our current ADUN member-to-population ratio which is 1:34,000 persons, and I think the land masses are a lot bigger,” he said.
Chong also called for a more balanced and data-driven approach to the allocation of state seats in Sarawak, proposing a weighted index system that takes into account both the geographical size of a constituency and its population density.
While acknowledging the logistical challenges faced by representatives in large rural constituencies, Chong stressed that urban constituencies present equally complex demands due to their higher population and broader range of issues.
“The more people an elected representative has to serve, the more demands they must address. Urban areas may be smaller in size, but they deal with a wider variety of problems due to population pressure and social diversity.
“If your area is very big, maybe you get one point. If your population is large, you get another. This index must be designed and applied to the delineation process so that the distribution of seats reflects both geographical and demographic realities,” he explained.
Chong also responded to some elected representatives who claimed they were overwhelmed by their workload and needed more seats to cope. He rejected this rationale, suggesting that public service should come with responsibility, not convenience.
“If you feel it’s too difficult to serve, then step aside and let someone else who’s ready and willing to do the work take over,” he said.
He further questioned the justification that an increase in voter registration alone warrants the addition of more state seats. Chong argued that the role of an elected representative extends beyond serving voters alone.
“The job is to serve all constituents, regardless of age or voter status. Children, the elderly, and those not yet eligible to vote are also part of the community’s needs,” he said.
“There hasn’t been any significant population spike in Sarawak, so the claim that we need more seats due to a voter surge is not convincing.”
