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AS a nominated Member of the Legislative Assembly, I do not represent a single constituency. I was appointed to serve where constituency-based representation, by its nature, is often least effective - urban, cross-district and systemic issues that cut across boundaries, agencies and portfolios.

Urban Sabah faces problems that rarely sit neatly within one district or under one authority. 

Regulatory congestion, fragmented decision-making, overlapping jurisdictions and unclear accountability are everyday realities for businesses, professionals, civil society organisations and residents alike. 

These are not problems of political neglect, but of structural design — and they require a form of representation that is not tied to geography alone.

It is on that basis that I have chosen to focus my work, and that I have established a service centre at Lot 2, 1st Floor, Bangunan Seri Damai, Lorong Nibung 1A, off Jalan Kolam, Luyang, 88300 Kota Kinabalu (same row as Lintas Superstore).

The service centre operates strictly by appointment to ensure that engagements remain structured and purposeful. Appointments may be arranged by contacting Alvis Loo at 010 650 9688.

Purpose of the Service Centre

The service centre is not a complaints counter, nor a substitute for constituency offices or welfare programmes. 

It is a place for structured, evidence-based engagement on how laws, policies and institutions operate in practice, particularly in urban settings where complexity is the norm rather than the exception.

Its purpose is to surface recurring failures, inconsistencies and gaps that cannot be resolved through individual casework or district-level intervention alone, and to translate those realities into legislative input, policy clarification and administrative reform.

The aim is not to bypass elected representatives, but to complement constituency-based politics by addressing issues that are cross-cutting, systemic or institutionally unresolved.

Engagement with Businesses and Professionals

In engaging with businesses and professionals, my role is neither to lobby nor to negotiate individual favours.

Instead, it is to identify where laws, regulations or procedures are being applied inconsistently across districts; where multiple agencies impose overlapping, unclear or contradictory requirements; and where existing frameworks no longer reflect how work is actually done in an urban economy.

These are matters that call for policy alignment, administrative coordination or legislative attention, not exemptions or special treatment. The focus is on improving systems so that compliance is clearer, fairer and more predictable — for everyone.

Working with NGOs in the Public Interest

In working with non-governmental organisations, I do so as a partner in public-interest outcomes, not as a patron or routine funder.

Priority is given to programmes addressing urban or cross-district challenges such as environmental resilience, public health and mental well-being, employability and skills development, access to essential services, community safety and social inclusion — particularly where responsibility is fragmented or no single agency has clear ownership.

Support may take the form of facilitation with authorities, cross-agency coordination, policy engagement, or limited and targeted project-based assistance to pilot, unblock or validate a programme. Assistance is directed at public-interest initiatives, not at organisations as a whole.

Use of Sentuhan (Discretionary Assistance)

As a nominated Assemblyman, I am allocated Sentuhan funds. These funds are limited and discretionary, and they are not intended to operate as a general welfare mechanism.

Where used, Sentuhan support will be applied strategically and sparingly — to enable pilot initiatives, feasibility work, data gathering, or temporary measures that help unlock longer-term solutions. It will not be used for routine individual assistance, ongoing operational costs, or queue-based distribution.

Sentuhan is most effective when used as catalytic support, not as a substitute for systemic responsibility.

How I Define Service

I do not measure service by visibility, volume of requests handled, or funds distributed. 

I measure it by whether laws become more workable, whether institutions coordinate more effectively, and whether urban systems function more fairly, consistently and predictably for the people who depend on them.

That is the basis on which I intend to serve — and the standard by which I should be judged.

Annex A

Illustrative Scope of Matters Appropriate for Engagement at the Service Centre

This Annex sets out illustrative examples of the types of matters that may appropriately be brought to the service centre, grouped by category. 

The examples are grounded in Sabah’s urban and administrative realities and are intended to clarify the scope and limits of engagement.

The list is not exhaustive and does not create individual entitlements. It is provided to distinguish systemic, cross-district and institutionally unresolved issues — which fall within the purpose of the service centre — from individual casework, appeals or requests for preferential treatment, which do not.

1. Businesses and Professionals (Systemic, regulatory and cross-agency issues — not individual lobbying)

Appropriate matters include:

Developers, architects or planners encountering materially different planning conditions imposed by DBKK, Penampang District Council or neighbouring local authorities for comparable urban projects, without clear statutory justification.

Businesses facing overlapping approvals, inspections or licensing requirements from multiple agencies (local councils, Bomba, Health Department, JKR, utility providers), where timelines, standards or documentation requirements conflict.

Contractors and engineers dealing with inconsistent enforcement of building by-laws, earthworks conditions or infrastructure requirements across districts.

Professional firms affected by duplicative or poorly aligned state–federal compliance regimes (including SSM, LHDN and local authorities) that impose unnecessary administrative burden.

Businesses operating in newer urban sectors — such as co-working spaces, short-term accommodation, urban logistics or digital services — where policy frameworks lag behind actual economic practice.

Not appropriate:

Requests to expedite, follow up on, or influence individual approvals or licences.

Appeals against specific enforcement actions or penalties.

Requests for exemptions, waivers or preferential treatment.

2. NGOs and Civil Society Organisations (Public-interest, cross-district or institutionally orphaned issues)

Appropriate matters include:

NGOs addressing urban flooding, drainage and environmental resilience, where responsibility is split between local councils, JPS, land offices and utility providers, resulting in chronic coordination failures.

Mental health or public health organisations operating in regulatory or institutional grey areas, where programmes fall between Health, Welfare and Education portfolios.

Environmental groups dealing with urban river pollution, waste management or air quality, where enforcement authority is fragmented and accountability unclear.

Organisations supporting urban poor, informal workers or marginalised communities, including stateless children and families in urban centres such as Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan and Tawau, where responsibility is fragmented across NRD (JPN), Immigration, Education, Health and Welfare.

Advocacy groups documenting inconsistent interpretation and application of laws and administrative procedures across districts and agencies, including citizenship registration, late birth registration and documentary requirements.

Organisations addressing systemic barriers to education, healthcare and access to basic services arising from unclear or conflicting agency policies, including those affecting stateless or undocumented urban populations.

Civil society efforts surfacing how statelessness, urban poverty, housing insecurity, informal employment and public health risks intersect, particularly where no single authority has clear institutional ownership.

NGOs seeking to pilot evidence-based pathways, data collection or inter-agency protocols to address entrenched urban and social issues — including statelessness — where existing frameworks are absent or ineffective.

Support that may be offered includes:

Policy-level engagement and facilitation with relevant state and federal authorities.

Surfacing systemic failures for legislative attention or formal representation.

Limited, targeted support for pilot projects, feasibility work or documentation exercises that inform durable, system-level solutions.

Not appropriate:

Handling individual citizenship, documentation or status applications.

Acting as an appeals body for NRD or Immigration decisions. 

Routine welfare provision or ad hoc financial assistance.

3. Sentuhan (Discretionary Assistance) (Catalytic, strategic use only)

Appropriate uses include:

Seed funding for pilot or proof-of-concept initiatives addressing urban or cross-district issues (for example, flood mapping, public transport gaps or statelessness documentation exercises).

One-off support for data gathering, feasibility studies or technical assessments that underpin policy or legislative reform.

Temporary bridging support to unblock initiatives while institutional responsibility is clarified, coordinated or assumed.

Support for testing new delivery or coordination models where no agency currently has clear ownership.

Not appropriate:

Individual welfare payments.

Ongoing NGO operational or staffing costs.

Queue-based or first-come-first-served distributions.

4. Urban, Cross-District and Systemic Issues (Issues that do not belong to any single constituency)

Appropriate matters include:

Regulatory congestion across the Kota Kinabalu–Penampang–Putatan urban corridor, where planning, housing, transport and utilities fall under multiple authorities.

Public transport failures arising from unclear division of responsibility between state, local and federal agencies.

Utility coordination problems (water, electricity, telecommunications) in dense urban developments with no effective coordinating mechanism.

Structural delays in approvals caused by serial, siloed decision-making across agencies rather than coordinated or parallel processing.

Long-standing systemic problems — including statelessness — that persist precisely because they are cross-district, inter-agency and institutionally unresolved, and therefore cannot be addressed through constituency-based intervention.

Closing Clarification

Nothing in this Annex is intended to substitute for the statutory functions of government agencies, elected representatives or the courts.

Its purpose is to clarify the scope of engagement at the service centre and to ensure that expectations are aligned with its intended role - identifying and addressing systemic failures through legislative, policy and institutional means.

The views expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Express. If you have something to share, write to us at: Forum@dailyexpress.com.my