KUALA LUMPUR, August 23 — Bandar Utama state assemblywoman Jamaliah Jamaluddin from the DAP has been appointed the Selangor state executive councillor for Public Health and Environment.
The second-term state assemblywoman’s exco portfolios comprise public health, as well as environment, climate change, and green technology.
Jamaliah was reportedly the youngest person at age 34 to have been appointed a state exco in Selangor.
When Jamaliah was 26, she was appointed as a city councillor for Petaling Jaya in 2016, under the guidance of then Bandar Utama state assemblywoman Yeo Bee Yin, who is now a former federal minister.
Jamaliah replaces public health exco Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud. Prior to Jamaliah’s exco appointment, she reportedly did some work on health as a state assemblywoman, such as the state’s Skim Peduli Sihat health insurance and basic health treatment scheme, as well as the Bantuan Sihat Selangor health assistance programme.
Jamaliah also told Selangor Kini in an interview in August 2022 that during the Covid-19 pandemic, her constituency of Bandar Utama recorded the highest number of vaccination programmes.
Anfaal Saari, a first-term state assemblywoman elected to the Taman Templer seat in the 15th Selangor state election, was appointed as the state exco for Women Empowerment and Welfare.
Anfaal, who is also vice chief of Angkatan Wanita Amanah, is in charge of the women and family empowerment, welfare, and care economy portfolios.
When CodeBlue asked why the care economy portfolio was not under the jurisdiction of the public health exco, Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari’s press secretary Jay Jay Denis said the Selangor state government is treating the care economy as a new area under development that it wants to expand, including aged care and child care.
“As it is new, it needs a specific focus and a new standing committee will be formed to reflect this.
““Part of it is also for childcare and aged care practitioners to be adequately paid and compensated for their roles. Long-term, it will transition into the public health standing committee after the system is up and running,” Jay Jay told CodeBlue.
Mohammad Fahmi Ngah – a first-term state assemblyman for Seri Setia from PKR – was appointed the exco for Islam and Innovation, holding the Islamic affairs and halal industry, as well as the digital infrastructure and science, technology and innovation portfolios.
Fahmi is also currently the director of the Selangor Research Institute under state-owned Menteri Besar Selangor Incorporated (MBI).
“Selangor residents want to feel safe in Selangor – safety not just in terms of security, but also in the belief that when they are hit with unemployment or health problems, a caring government, Selangor Penyayang, has a resilient assistance system to ensure that they can get back on their feet again without experiencing a major crisis,” Amirudin said in a speech today, when announcing the state exco list.
The Pakatan Harapan (PH)-Barisan Nasional (BN) coalitions, during the recent Selangor state election, had pushed out their election manifesto, Tawaran Kita Selangor, that includes four initiatives for health.
The first of those initiatives is to increase the number of programmes under their IItizam Selangor Penyayang from 46 to 60 programmes.
Iltizam Kesihatan Selangor provides Selangor residents access to multiple subsidised health services such as women’s health (mammograms, biopsies, and ultrasounds); eye checks; tuberculosis treatment; child nutrition; cancer screening; heart treatment; assistance for dialysis, medical devices, cataracts, minor surgery, and prosthetic legs; as well as life insurance.
The second health initiative is the expansion of the Selangor Saring health screening programme and Mental Health Programme offered for free through the Selangkah mobile application.
The application, which was first developed by the Selangor government, to curb the spread of Covid-19 has been expanded to include the digitalisation of users’ health data. The app stores users’ lifetime records, allows users to get non-communicable disease (NCD) screening, and receive mental health assessments.
Thirdly, the PH-BN seeks to register and train child care givers and provide child care facilities at state government offices and local councils. This initiative will also offer incentives to private sector workplaces to establish child care facilities.
Finally, the PH-BN state government intends to also provide free ambulance services under Selangor Penyayang to all local council areas.
