He insisted that he was merely shoulderingt his duties by raising the actual problems of the people and bringing them to the attention of the relevant authorities who have the power and means to rectify the situation.

"I never intended to become a hero and I don't feel like a hero.  I am just here being entrusted by the people to see that their welfare is being taken care of land make sure the government knows about the problems," he said.

He made these remarks when officiating at the installation night for the Federation of Sarawak United Assocociations of Chinese Primary Aided School Boards of Management here on Saturday.

In his capacity as SPDP central region Liaison Chief, Tiong said he planned to submit a special report to the Prime Minister on gangsterism in this region and of his move to weed out the menace.

He explained that his intention was to provide "a true picture" of what is really going on here so that Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi could edecide on the right course of actions to rectify the situation.

"There is no point sweeping the problem under the carpet and give only nice picture to the leader when he had insisted on knowing the real problem of the people so that the government can help, " Tiong said.

The MP also planned ot submit proposals to the PM on ways to improve public security heer, particularly in terms of raising the efficiency of the police in curbing crime and eventually restore public confidence.

He noted that the low crime solving rate especially in dealing with serious crimes had raised public concern, particularly in Sibu, where he learnt that known crimnals were seen moving freely and police there could not take action due to "lack of evidence."

He is disappointed ot find out that a number of Sarawakians being banished were actually being banished to within the State, instead of being sent to other states or detention centres beyond Sarawak.

"To me, banishing someone from Sibu to Bintulu is merely like granting a vaction to the person as his place is just over two hours' drive away," he said.

In reminding the public about their roles in the fight against gangsterism, he said they could  begin by first providing information to the gighest police officer in their area.

In the case of Bintulu, he was gald to note the determiation shown by the district police chief, SUPT Sulaiman Abdul Razak, to weed out the problem in his jurisdiction and has personally requested anyone who has relevant information to contact him directly at 012-8078000.

"With the determination shown by the Bintulu KPD (District Police Chief), I have full confidence in the police leadership in Bintulu which has proved determined to rid the force of any black sheep in its midst as part of the general fight against crimes," he said.

During the function, Tiong also anounced the approval of grants amounting to RM130,000 for the federation, Bintulu CHinese School Board Association, SJK Chinese Sibiew, SJK Chung Hua Tatau, SJK Siong Boon and SJK CHung San...END.