Little Limp Napoleons and Mighty Ming Emperors
Little Limp Napoleons and Mighty Ming EmperorsIf Prime Minister Abdullah cannot handle the Little Limp Napoleons in the bloated Malaysian bureaucracy, there is little assurance that he could deal with the Mighty Ming Emperors of the competitive world.
We had a preview of this in the bungled negotiations over the proposed crooked bridge to replace the causeway. That was an embarrassingly graphic demonstration of the administration’s ineptness. If that was Abdullah’s performance in dealing with representatives of only a Little Ming Emperor, imagine if the adversary had been the big Ming Emperor!
In the negotiations with Singapore over the proposed bridge, Abdullah nearly gave away the store after being indulged with effusive flatteries. Malaysia is currently deliberating a Free Trade Agreement with America; that treaty will have major social, economic, and foreign policy implications. If the recent experience with Singapore is any indicator, I reckon that with only a brief visit to the White House, minus a state dinner, would be enough for America to secure whatever it wants from Malaysia.
It would be pretentious of me to suggest to Abdullah ways of dealing with the Ming Emperors of the world, but having served as a surgeon in the Malaysian medical service, I have some ideas on disciplining those Little Napoleons of our civil service. Yes they existed, and were pests, even then.
As for the metaphorical Ming Emperors, rest assured that they did not get to be the “top dog” without being tough, skillful, and in many instances, ruthless. If they were so disposed to their own kind, they would not be any less to others. Taking on our local Little Napoleons would thus be good exercise and training for Abdullah in dealing with the outside Ming Emperors.
The Problems
It is ironic that Abdullah, being a former longtime civil servant, could not discipline those Little Napoleons. Going by the precept that it would take a thief to catch another, Abdullah should be the best person to reform the civil service and rein in those littleNapoleons. Unfortunately this former Little Napoleon has become an even bigger Napoleon, albeit still a limp one, on becoming Prime Minister.
In my book Towards A Competitive Malaysia, I wrote that Malays have special reasons in demanding an efficient civil service. One, it is needed to implement the various NEP programs to help Malays. Two, being an increasingly if not exclusively Malay institution, its deficiencies are thus viewed as the failings of the race.
The civil service has at least three significant problems: insularity, lack of specialization, and the brief tenure of its senior heads. Promotions are strictly from within, with no infusion of fresh talent at the upper levels. Recruits enter at the lowest level and work their way up patiently. Personnel are transferred all over the service, with few opportunities to develop areas of competence. You may be in Treasury this year and in charge of old buildings the next.
As officers wait patiently for their turn, they reach the top only near their retirement age. Then they are left wondering whether their contract would be renewed. When renewed, it is often only for short durations. Such agency heads would then be consumed with planning their post retirement careers. The temptation (and reality) would be to suck up to their superiors in the hope of extending their contracts or securing a plump directorship in one of the GLCs. Thus at the time when they should be independent and assertive after reaching the pinnacle of their careers, they become docile and not dare challenge their political superiors.
If I were to survey the top 100 civil servants, this is what I would find. They would be mostly Malays, liberal arts graduates of local public universities, science illiterate, have abysmal mathematical skills, and little facility with English. Their reading repertoire does not extend beyond local publications. Do not expect them to read the Economist or Wall Street Journal. They do not own a laptop, meaning that when they are away from their offices, they cannot do their office work or communicate except by phone.
The late Tun Razak recognized early the weaknesses of the civil service. Instead of endlessly lamenting or criticizing the state of affairs, he invited an American consultant, Milton Esman, to spruce up the service. To me, the revealing aspect of Esman’s work was not his official report rather the book he wrote chronicling his local experiences. Particularly trenchant were his observations on the habits and work culture of our senior civil servants. For example, he was flabbergasted to find that in the official meetings of the Secretaries-General (KSU), the ministries’ number one civil servants, the bulk of the discussions were on trivia like who would get which prized government quarters! One would have expected substantive discussions on major policies. There has been no change since then.
The Remedies
It would not take much to change the work culture of the civil service. A few high-level recruitments from the outside would quickly break the insularity of the service. Imagine recruiting a senior executive from a multinational corporation to be the next Chief Secretary; he would revamp the work culture right away. The impact on the other senior civil servants would also be immediate. Knowing that the top slot is not theirs automatically, they would now buckle down to prove themselves. A few such high level infusions of talent would shake up the civil service in no time.
Next would be to recruit graduates from disciplines other than the liberal arts and encourage those professionals in the civil service (engineers, lawyers, and doctors) who have an interest in management to go for their MBAs. I fail to see why a doctor or engineer could not be a Secretary-General, especially for those ministries that have a high professional component, like Health and Works.
As recommended by Esman, there should be specialization within the civil service, with officers rotated only within their special sphere of expertise. Ministries like Treasury, Trade and Industry, Customs, and Taxation with their high accounting and economics content could be one area. Another would be Transport, Environment, and Works Ministries with their high technology contents. Third would be those concerned with security, and fourth, foreign affairs.
Lastly, there should be greater competition for the top slots. When vacancies occur, they should be open to outside candidates as well as those within the service that are three or four layers below so as to tap the widest and deepest pool of talent.
When officers get the top spot, they should be given at least a five-year term even if they are within a year or two of the official retirement age. That would give them time to stamp their mark. Besides, with such job security they would be less likely to be shy in challenging stupid ideas coming from their political superiors. The nation would then be well served.
Implementing these reforms would require minimal changes in the civil service code or personnel policies. Nor would these changes incur additional costs.
The major obstacle would be for the Prime Minister, being a former civil servant himself, to accept these innovations. The “not invented here” syndrome is ingrained in our civil servants. For that to change, the Prime Minster, his advisers and senior civil servants would first have to expand their intellectual horizon considerably. That would be the challenge.
January 29th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Good one!!
Pity none of the current people in power would read this,or if they did,could understand.And if the few did understand,could go beyond exclaiming”what to do,the whole system is koyak already.I just want to jaga my ricebowl ma!Let the younger ones do the change lah”
Its sad and i am posting this comment just to tell you sir that
your conclusion is so true . . . . .
January 29th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
The citizens of Bolehland ended the year 2006 in high spirits. Even though things did not quite work out for the work-with-me Prime Minister (PM), the government of the day took us to great heights in various ways.
We were also kept high-minded by former PM Dr Mahathir (Dr M), who instead of riding off into the sunset, got on his high horse and refused to come down from it - even after his manhood had been questioned.
Dr M felt it was high time to highlight to the PM that the latter had sold the country, stooped before his neighbours, stopped listening to ‘My Way’, stabbed him in the back and scrapped his pet projects……….He was not interfering, merely asking Pak Lah to step down, that is all.
It was difficult to differentiate between the annual haze and Dr M’s high-end smokescreen. His past ’sins’ were shrouded by his sensational high-drama series of a crooked-half-bridge, cancelled projects, crooks and cronies - with him playing the lead role as a reluctant saint.
Part of the drama was an arranged peace talk, during which Pak Lah kept his peace and Dr M talked with his high-hat on. The ‘old man’ gave the PM higher ‘doses of venom’ for his blistered image. The latter took down the long prescription…and left everything to God.
As sparks flew, venom spewed and divisions grew, it became clear that the high-impact and the historic spat between the two had much more to do with the four issues raised by Dr M or his insinuations of the Oxbridge-trained people on the 4th Floor of the PM’s Office.
It was about the elite in Umno jostling in high-gear with one another for the control of the country’s resources. It was about privileged people in high places sinking so low in outdoing one another in their chauvinism and arrogance, and high rollers gambling away the country for high stakes.
In the name of Malay Supremacy and with the help of Executive Supremacy, the elite in the dominant party exerted their “supremacy” over one another. They were at one another’s throat whilst screaming at the rest not to question their state, status, and of course, superiority.
High hypocrisy:
Pak Lah’s chime of change and his high-sounding anti-corruption cheer and chant continued on in 2006. He proved himself capable of producing the same old ‘tap-and-dance routine’ synonymous with his predecessor.
He displayed such ‘high tolerance’ for certain people in high places in Umno. For example, he held up high scandal-ridden former Klang municipal councilor Zakaria Deros as a “good leader”. He told ‘close-one-eye’ Jasin MP DatukYusof to close his mouth and assured him that he will be given ear.
On the eve of the Umno General Assembly (GA), Pak Lah dished out an additional RM600 million (of the publics money) to spearhead rural development. The ‘bonus’ will go to 191 parliamentary constituencies (read as ‘Umno divisions’, excluding Sarawak (where there is no Umno).
Lim Kit Siang rightly called it ‘political corruption of the worst kind’. Dr M said it was ‘very wrong’ and that it ‘has to be given to everybody’. But Pak Lah was not listening. He would roar very religiously that he was disappointed over the lack of debates on corruption during the GA.
(One cannot help but think of the highly hilarious statement of the occasionally-wise de facto law minister Nazri Aziz who declared with a straight face: ‘Money politics in Umno……….do not involve public funds or public projects.’ How naïve can Nazri be?)
By the end of the year Pak Lah had nothing to show - no high-profile individuals to be prosecuted for graft - not even amongst the unknown 18 of high standing on the corruption list. Mukhriz Mahathir was absolutely right - Pak Lah had offered nothing new at the GA - and neither had anyone else in Umno in 2006.
“Good governance” reigned in many local councils in 2006. A good number of politically-appointed councillors made good money in good time for “the good of the people”. They built for themselves palaces, bulldozed the homes of the poor, blasted holy places of worship and bullied the marginalized.
The citizens began to doubt their tell-me-the-truth PM. His explanations regarding his son and son-in-law were treated as half-truths or outright lies. We asked him to tell the truth, but he would instead speak of his son-in law’s rice bowl and of Dr M’s children having been awarded far bigger projects than those given to his son.
Ferreted out of his ‘elegant silence’, and realizing it was time to play high-ball Pak Lah stuttered, stammered, stumbled and strained for ‘the truth’ to shore up his shaky defence against Dr M’s accusation that Bolehland has become a ‘half-past-six country which has no guts’.
Indeed, Pak Lah’s half-past-six government often appeared at sixes and sevens - with either his ministers and officers contradicting one another, making u-turns, or with almost everybody free to pronounce policy - from minister to mufti to the mob and to the multitude…but he would still insist ‘I am in control’.
Sharing Pak Lah’s prize for hypocrisy was Dr M who complained that he had been denied the right to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, and that he was a victim of a police state - a legacy which he had so proudly left behind.
He even very humbly claimed that he never had anyone arrested under the ISA for political reasons and blamed the mass arrests of Operation Lalang in 1988 on the police. A highly-incensed Lim Kit Siang reminded Dr M, who was also the then Home Minister and Justice Minister, that he was the ‘mastermind’ of the 1987 dragnet.
He complained that the mainstream press had spurned him and spiked his statements. He even alleged the existence of spin doctors. Dr M was given a taste of his own medicine. He must have found the fact that he was no longer the darling of the mainstream press, difficult to swallow.
The seasoned politician was pepper-sprayed when he arrived for one of his wayang kulit road shows in Kelantan. However, proving he was worth his salt, he bounced back peppering the government with his snide remarks and sarcastic swipes.
It was also a year when the chickens came home to roost. Ani Arope, ex-chief of Tenaga, enlightened us on the role Dr M played in the higher electricity rates we are paying for. Anwar highlighted Dr M’s contribution to Bolehland RM30 billion loss as a result of forex speculations.
One-time corporate high-flyer Tajuddin Ramli disclosed details in a court document regarding his “national service” duty to Dr M. Former High Court judge Syed Ahmad and former Lord President Salleh Abbas provided more disturbing information on the 1988 judicial crisis and other scandals in the judiciary which still stink to high heaven.
The Pricewaterhouse Cooper Report on the Mismanagement of Proton Holdings (1996 - 2005), which The Edge had called “Proton’s Can of Worms”, provided a revealing glimpse into the worsening saga faced by the auto industry in Bolehland and exposed how the citizens had been taken for a ride.
High and Mighty:
2006 also saw the high-performance in Bolehland of half-witted leaders and politicians. Leading the pack were some of Umno’s high-profile “heroes”, often engrossed in putting up a desperate act of either denial, diversion, damage control or demonizing another race, party or person to demonstrate their superiority.
For a start, the ever-cautious and calculating Deputy PM Najib made it clear that the NEP would be a Never Ending Policy. He declared during the Umno GA to a thunderous applause: “In this struggle for the Malays, it must be firmly said that there is no time limit within which we must achieve our targets.”
He preached that ‘the Malay mind must be sharpened’ yet in the ASLI controversy, he chose to shy away without ascertaining the truth with the help of experts with regards to the methodology in calculating wealth held by different ethnic groups. The people should no longer question the government’s findings, was his methodology of a sharp mind
At one moment he would challenge the Malay with an agenda for reform and at another he would be obsessed with the Malay Agenda which would result in the Malay clutching on to their crutches, clawing at their privileges and clamouring for more handouts.
He struggled to rebut the contention of Penang Education and Economic Planning Committee chairman Dr Toh Kin Woon that the NEP was “only for the elite, especially those who are close to the leaders”, by generating generalities like: “Many non-Malays have received the spillover and contracts from the government and also certain approvals.”
Najib obviously ran out of fuel in trying to justify the government’s decision to increase the price of petrol when he meekly said: “Malaysians should change their lifestyle and adapt to the inevitable fuel price increase.” The indignant citizens pointed out to Najib the shameless high lifestyle of the cabinet ministers and the political elite.
Najib chastised Deputy Higher Education Minister, Ong Tee Kiat, for alleging that there might have been corruption in the Ministry of Education in the utilisation of a special fund for upgrading vernacular schools. Ong Tee Kiat was proven right. But Najib did not want to “discuss the facts of the issue”. He insisted that the case be closed. Notice his ‘methodology’ again.
Umno Youth chief, Hishamuddin, (who is also the Education Minister) proved yet again that his intellectual prowess lay very much in his kris-kiss-brandishing stunts at Umno Youth GAs. Ever wondered why gangsterism is rife in our schools and universities?
The keris may indeed be a “pivotal part of Malay culture”. But when an Umno delegate at the GA asked “when is he (Hishamuddin) going to use it” - it became evident that Hishamuddin’s act had nothing to do with Malay culture but came across as part of the bullying and bankrupt culture of Umno.
Then there was Khairy, the PM’s millionaire son-in-law, and a supposedly brilliant Oxbridge graduate who showed that he was willing to be ox-brained and to play the racial card, in order to promote himself as the PM-in-waiting.
He said: ‘Chinese were taking advantage of the infighting in Umno to ask for more rights’ - without mentioning that he was the major cause of the infighting. ‘Malays in Penang are being marginalised’ - yet “Khairy has done nothing concrete to alleviate the problems faced by the Malays in Penang”, as Dr M had correctly pointed out.
Khairy called Anwar a traitor for saying that the New Economic Policy (NEP) was no longer needed. He forgot that his father-in-law had said almost the same thing at the Umno GA a year earlier: “The government cannot play the role of Santa Claus, perpetually handing out gifts”.
De facto Law Minister Nazri Aziz helped enrich the script of the PM’s anti-corruption charade by declaring that the ACA ‘has no powers to initiative investigations on reports and charges of money politics and bribery within Umno……….because these offences are confined to political parties and not public transgressions’.
A lawyer well-versed with the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 showed how nascent Nazri was with the law: “…to say that money politics ‘does not affect the public in the sense that it does not involve public projects and public funds’ is spinning the spin. More so, when the minister was a former advocate and solicitor.”
These and many others who worked with Pak Lah, were called ‘apple-polishers’ by Dr M - though the latter’s humility did not allow him to acknowledge the fact that he had a lot to do with their highly ‘polished’ character. As it turned out in 2006, an ‘apple’ a day tried to keep the Dr away.
High Hopes:
Parliament was not spared the charade of change. The august house was served with shocking half-baked replies by parliamentary secretaries and Ministers of the half-past-six government. Some BN MPs showed very remarkably how virile they were in verbal brawls, vulgar jokes and vituperative debates and venturing into the cafeteria.
2006 was a year when higher education sank so low that a renowned academician called the once-world-class University Malaya a “high school”. The country had 80000 unemployed graduates - more than 90% of whom were from public universities. A report showed that the standard of primary education in Bolehland was way below that of not only developing nations, but even that of some African countries.
It was also a year which saw the brazen high-handedness of the police in breaking up a peaceful demonstration in front of KLCC against price hikes in fuel and electricity. The PM had in January 2006 given his blessings to the setting up of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC). Till today it is still kept under wraps in ‘elegant silence’.
High crime dominated the past year. According to official statistics, there were an average of one snatch theft every hour, three murders every two days, six rapes every day, and the total number of violent crimes committed rose from 21604 cases in 2000 to 22133 cases in 2005. As the citizens suffered in high anxiety, Pak Lah felt very safe with his brand new RM20 million security system.
The rate of drug addiction reached a new high. 1% of our population are drug addicts. A drug addict is created every 29 minutes. The authorities detain about 20000 new addicts every year, nearly two-thirds of whom are teenagers or in their 20s. 6120 new HIV cases were reported in 2005. There are an average of 19 new cases daily.
It was also a year when the whole world saw how Bolehland which is often touted as a melting pot of all races and religions had become a boiling pot. For a country that has Vision 2020 as its declared aim, the increasing racial eyesores that developed throughout 2006, with the government often turning a blind eye, was highly disconcerting.
The religious scenario was no different and it had very much to do with certain people of a particular persuasion who believe they are representatives from on high and it is their duty to dominate, dictate and decide on (and even disrupt) what others can and cannot discuss, debate, dialogue and do.
Pak Lah, who once declared that he was the Prime Minister of all citizens of every faith in this country, unfortunately allowed them to impose their views, to intimidate with a mob and to insult the intelligence of the people. Alas, as is always the case, the greatest casualty in religion is God himself - as he watches from above puny minds trying to play God.
Alas, 2006 was a year when Pak Lah and his half-past-six-government functioned at half throttle, displaying half-measures against corruption and half-hearted efforts in the public service delivery system, and often indifferent to how the other half lives.
It was also a year when we had to endure sky-high prices (resulting in high cost of living), high and scandalous wastage of government funds, high destruction to the environment (which resulted in a big flood in Shah Alam in early 2006 and another at the end of the year in Johor), high death tolls of 6000 a year on our roads, etc.
The citizens of Bolehland were paying the high price of believing in the tell-me-the-truth government led by Pak Lah. There is, however, a high probability that they will still vote in the BN government in the next general elections in spite of all the ‘high points’ of 2006, being as absent-minded as they usually are!
January 29th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
Well written piece with great commentary by “Malaysia is no future”.
The question remains: QUO VADIS, Malaysia!! Vested interests are very entrenched everywhere in business, civil service, and GLCs in particular (exempt PETRONAS) and at the grassroots level. If not, why did Tun Dr. Mahathir attack Badawi, his anointed successor!!
Tun Dr. Mahathir has no right to comment because he had destroyed institutions, including the judiciary, and weakened UMNO by “killing off” smart leaders like Tunku Razaleigh, Tun Musa Hitam, Anwar Ibrahim and others, leaving behind a huge leadership mess in UMNO. He did that in order to stay in power. To his political credit, he was successful for he ruled like a dictator after removing people who could stand up to him intellectually and in politics.
Look at the main thoroughfare in Putrajaya. It reminds me of Hitler’s dream for Berlin, which, as we all know from history, was a disaster. Cyberjaya is too a serious state of disrepair and parts of Putrajaya are badly maintained. For all these, Tun Dr, Mahathir should be impeached or taken to court for abuse of power. Even our education system is a a huge mess.
Just in case we forget, who introduced money politics and KKN (Korupsi, Kronynisme, Nepotisme) in Malaysia? Who started this Islamisation programme, if not Mahathir. Corruption is now a budaya in our country.
I wonder what people like PaK Din Merican and California-based Dr. M Bakri Musa have to say about this. I feel when it comes to Mahathir, both these critics of the Badawi Government have a blind spot.
Both Badawi and Najib are mediocre. It is true, but we can confidently say that Mahathir had a big hand in their rise to power today. Mahathir is the supremo of the “blowing out the candles of others” syndrome. But in an attempt to protect his legacy, Mahathir is screwed up. What he has done in the last 22 years is being systematically dismantled and replaced by the father of Islam Hadhari.
So it is no wonder we as a nation are in the dumps and hopes of getting out of it are slim. No political will or just plain incompetence now?
January 29th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
If you agree that the fish is rotten at the head you can’t expect its body to function any better.
The civil service, its respective departments, look to its respective ministers under which it functions for direction and leadership. It can only be as good as its ultimate heads of department, the goverment ministers.
The civil service today is the same as it has been 30 years ago. For this dinosaur, a living fossil, to learn new tricks nothing less than a complete revamp of the government’s mindset and attitude will do.
Not even Dr. Mahathir, much-feared during his time as prime minister, who in his first years as PM, introduced name tags and time clocking in an effort to improve the civil service, could inject new life into this dinosaur.
Your rantings are unlikely to have any effect. Not now nor anytime in the foreseeable future. Ramon Navaratnam said that Malaysia is displaying all the signs of a failing state. My opinion is that nothing less than a revolution in the people’s mindset and the poltical system would prevent Malaysia from eventually imploding.
January 29th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
“If I were to survey the top 100 civil servants, this is what I would find. They would be mostly Malays, liberal arts graduates of local public universities, science illiterate, have abysmal mathematical skills, and little facility with English. Their reading repertoire does not extend beyond local publications. Do not expect them to read the Economist or Wall Street Journal”.
Dear MBM,
Your observation is spot on .AAB with civil service experience has brought his vast experience into managing the country the way the civil service is run….with great inefficiency.
Combine with his ideas of pleasing every one in his political team we end up with a cabinet almost three quarter the size of India’s Cabinet (they have 900 million pop mind you).
Bigger cabinet ,bigger cost and more inefficiency.That would escape his thoughts though …that would be expecting too much from him.
January 29th, 2007 at 10:16 pm
Bravo to for an articulate summary of Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his successor Pak Lah, focuing on their weaknesses mainly.
Wrt:” Tun Dr. Mahathir has no right to comment because he had destroyed institutions, including the judiciary, and weakened UMNO by “killing off” smart leaders like Tunku Razaleigh, Tun Musa Hitam, Anwar Ibrahim and others, leaving behind a huge leadership mess in UMNO. He did that in order to stay in power. To his political credit, he was successful for he ruled like a dictator after removing people who could stand up to him intellectually and in politics. ”
I would say Dr Mahathir should not be dismissed from such a forum or discourse. He should answer the charges. I would add that not only DR Mahathir destroyed all the four Estates. He turned the Executive (fFrst Estate) into a Dictatorship, lessened in magnitude by anointed successor no doubt, but the inherited “supreme power” vested in the PM’s office largely remains; Dr M also disembowelled the Legislature (Second Estate), enhanced by Pak Lah’s massive 90% mandare so it has become equally weakened and has become sycophantic to the PM chiefly;and as mentioned by
“anon Says: January 29th, 2007 at 8:27 pm “, Dr M also dstryed the Judiciary (Third Estate). My reading after three years is that Pak Lah has slighly improved the Judiciary, but it’s early days yet to be positive it will be across-the-borad progress or merely cosmetic and selective. Whatever semblance of the Fourth Estate that existed was a compliant, sycophantic Press (mainstream) with some online alternatives starting to bloom as New Kids On The Blog! On this last field, Pak Lah’s performance is premature to find a Verdict. Even if the Fourth Estate rises to a freer performance, I believe it’s driven not by Executive wishes but forced on the arrival of the infant “Fifth Estate” represneted by Internet-enabled citizen-journalism and blogging. JUst an aside. The outcome of the current defamation suits by NSTP plus associates against two Bloggers would have a landmark impact on Malaysian Blogsworld future direction.
To be fair, I must accord to ex-PM Dr Mahathir his contributions to putting Malaysia on the world map. He performed superbly in his first 10-12 years. My judgment is that it was in the second half of his helming the ship called NegaraKu was mis-directed by “over-staying his welcome” as the country’s CEO, compounded by his children’s involvement in “BIG” businessness. The writers’ reference to “K,K and K” is relevant, but I won;t dwell long in this field lest I be seeen as promoting the clarion calls of ex-DPM Anwar and his Reformasi movement. Cronysim, Corruption and Nepotism” remians well entrenched thanks to Dr M’s 22 years’ moulding and cast-ironing, yes?
I have also written aboutr the next point, and benefited through (later) discussion with Sdr Din Merican, wrt Anon’s next point I had also thrown at the two “gentlemen”. Gentlemen because Din still bought me kopi and nasi kandar while I traded with my terhtarik. I look forward to –ditto– with Sdr Bakri, but California is still ….s-miles away:)
“I wonder what people like PaK Din Merican and California-based Dr. M Bakri Musa have to say about this. I feel when it comes to Mahathir, both these critics of the Badawi Government have a blind spot.”
I echo Anon’s Q in Hi-desibels so that Bakri would still buy Desi grapefruit when I visit with a HelLo- and Behold, and we can continue our banter in Bazk Malay!:) I know Din will still belanja Nasi Kari Ikan Kepala Tenggeri or Kepala Ikan Yu!:)
PS: I will engage you Amore if you ID yopurself, preferably with A* link to your webpage if you are a fellow Blogger?
January 29th, 2007 at 10:20 pm
PPS: The first and last lines should contain “Anon” somewhere, and I “minta maaf ” from the ER (EsteemedReaders) here the few Typos which I am sure you discern. If not, nah mind!:)
January 29th, 2007 at 11:45 pm
Dr. Bakri’s analysis is spot on. The government has to be serious about the civil service, because its failings reflect badly on the Malays, who comprise a majority of Malaysians, and also reflect badly on the country. And, as Dr. Bakri says, there have to be tangible incentives, both positive and negative, to get civil servants to buck up. One of the real Napoleon’s favourite ways to manipulate people was by using the carrot and the stick. There is no reason we can’t apply the same methodology to our little Napoleons here:
http://www.infernalramblings.uni.cc/articles/Malaysian_Socio-Politics/79/
January 30th, 2007 at 1:38 am
Anon, ylchong and others,
I refer to Anon’s hard hitting comments on Tun Dr. Mahathir, who is a mentor and a role model to men and women of my generation.
I do not deny that I have a lot of admiration for his intellect, guts, vision and political skills. At the same time, I am not blind to his policy failures. Like the rest of us, he is not perfect.
In my opinion, however, Tun Dr. Mahathir did things that he thought was good for our country. He was a very active Prime Minister who set very high standards for himself. He was also an excellent crisis and time manager with great work ethics. In my eyes, he is a Malay sifu.
On the domestic front, Tun Dr. Mahathir successfully turned around the economy after the 1997-1998 East Asia by introducing selective capitals. His actions checked the slide of the Malaysian ringgit and stabilised the macroeconomy.
His decision to impose capital controls in September 1998 was controversial, but over time, he won praise from the IMF and the World Bank,monetary experts and academics for doing so. He got the economy going again and restored investor and public confidence so that by 1999/2000, the Malaysian economy rebounded strongly.
Malaysia would not be what it is today in terms of development, especially modern infrastructure, if he did not make bold decisions. He never wavered. Over 22 years, he transformed the Malaysian economy from a colonial agricultural backwater into a modern export driven one.
Tun Dr. Mahathir brought the internet and inter-connectivity into our homes, offices and cafes so that today we can do business efficiently and exchange views and ideas in real time.
His achievements in the area of foreign policy and international relations, especially in promoting South-South cooperation and ASEAN, and projecting our image abroad would be difficult to emulate. On the world stage, he stood firmly in support of our national interest and those of the Third World countries. He was particularly critical of the unilateralist policies of the Neo-Con led Bush Administration. In evaluating him, it is easy for us to overlook the role he played on the international stage.
Tun Dr. Mahathir set a clear agenda (Vision 2020) for a united and caring Malaysia, but he failed miserably to change the mindset of the Malays to embrace Islamic modernity. Regretably, he allowed his Deputy Anwar Ibrahim a free hand to outwit PAS in the Islamisation game.
Anwar was at that time an admirer of Ayatollah Khomeini’s 1979 Iran Revolution and had dreams of making Malaysia the new “Andalusia” of the Islamic World (See Ziauddin Sardar’s “In Search of Paradise”). This turned out to be a serious error of judgement, which he was to repeat with his choice of Badawi to succeed him in 2003. But no one dared to challenge him on both occasions. A few might have done so, but they might have been ridiculed or marginalized.
He was tough on his detractors and those who sought to disrupt public order. His human rights record was not good and that led him to be labeled an authoritarian leader or “dictator” by some. Did he grow arrogant? Yes, in some ways since he must have succumbed to persistent bodekism of his people.
Why should we impeach Tun Dr. Mahathir? On what grounds? He always sought parliamentary approval and those of his Cabinet colleagues for his proposals. We, as citizens and voters, too went along with him and kept him in office for 22 years. Most sought to curry his favour while others were indifferent, or did not dare to challenge his ideas. The minority who disagreed with him felt the heat of his high office. That is politics.
Those who wish to understand his politics and socio-economic programmes should read Khoo Boo Teik’s ” The Paradoxes of Mahathirism” (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1995). Dr. Khoo made a fairly balanced assessment of the Tun.
As for Tun Dr. Mahathir and upon looking back, this much I can say: “He did what he had to do, he saw them through without exception and he did them his way”. For that, I thank him for his hard work, dedication and for his convictions.
Let us not be diverted from the present. Prime Minister Badawi is in the 4th year of his administration. So far we have nothing but talk only. He has yet to show me at least what he can do. I am waiting for the day when I can say “Thank You” to Prime Minister Badawi for doing what he had to do.
For the time being, I have yet to be convinced if he is up to the job. I will rejoice if he proves that I am wrong for taking very skeptical view of his administration.
January 30th, 2007 at 2:53 am
“So far we have nothing but talk only. He has yet to show me at least what he can do. I am waiting for the day when I can say “Thank You” to Prime Minister Badawi for doing what he had to do.”
The English say a barking dog rarely bites…
January 30th, 2007 at 10:51 am
Yes, the mantle has been passed on to Pak Lah and now it is very obvious that Pak Lah is not cut for the job. God bless this country.
January 30th, 2007 at 11:24 pm
I fully agree with your observations. and so your remedy ! The ony snag is that , the civi service (PTD) will never agree to bring outsiders to lead . If possible they prefeer to broaden their wing span to cover every aspect of govt services. If possible PTD would like to take over the leadership in military or police (They tried but shot down by TDM) . Unlike in the uniform branches, itis a very tedious process to take disciplinary action on a civil servant. As such the head departments ,if possible , try to avoid taking disciplinary action and more often than not sweep it under the carpet. This very weapon has not been regularly use by head of department to instill disciplin within their ranks. So the limp bigger napoleon lingers on without any achievement!
January 31st, 2007 at 8:24 pm
“The citizens of Bolehland were paying the high price of believing in the tell-me-the-truth government led by Pak Lah. There is, however, a high probability that they will still vote in the BN government in the next general elections in spite of all the ‘high points’ of 2006, being as absent-minded as they usually are!”
Thanks, Malaysia is no future. Your observations are most appropriate given the current state of affair in Bolehland. Mahathir has a hand in almost every problem the country faces now. But his apologists and supporters are aplenty.
The rural Malay mass is right behind Umno come every election. So why should the party stalwarts worry. They just dish out “goodies” to please the pak ciks and mak ciks and the party’s continuity is assured.
Severing this lifeline is the only solution. But how are we to do it when the party controls the print and electronic media less for cyberspace, which it is trying hard to exert control as well.
But given time Umno, like other political parties the world over, will disintegrate under its own weight. And the time is well neigh near.
February 1st, 2007 at 3:50 am
Dr. Musa,
You are truly a Malaysian at heart and you love your country just as much as I do. I think is high time for Malaysians like yourself and others to come back from abroad and make a sacrifice by joining in the local political arena and be that instrument of change for this poor ailing nation which we call HOME. No point just “bitching” about the current UMNO/BN regime when your’re out there in the States having a good time. This nation need new leaders, especially Malay leaders like yourself and many more living abroad to take Malaysia to greater heights! The next General Election is not that far off ……. I don’t mine seeing a YB Bakri Musa around my constituency, a highly educated, highly respected, intellectual man, voicing the woes of the nation, bringing those winds of change of peace, stability, unity and prosperity to my beloved Malaysia. What say you doc? Boleh tak?
February 2nd, 2007 at 3:17 pm
“Give free computer and training to operate it to every Malay family home in the rural areas. Do this and may be in 10-15 years ..”
You gotta be jokin’!
Nothing is free in life. No such thing as a free nasi kandar. Someone is always paying for it. If it’s not you, then it’s somebody else.
February 2nd, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Hi Ali Jihad, NEP is allocated massive public funds with the specific agenda to uplift the general living standard of the Malays. If siphoning money from this fund to enrich the already filthy rich in the ruling class and the privileged ones connected to it is not a cruel joke why should it be a joke to spend the same funds to provide schools and computers to Malay village clusters? Of course there are immense related problems involved in trying to implement this scheme but given the political will it can be achieved progressively. The ongoing abuse should prick the conscience of the crooked beneficiaries. When will the rural Malays awaken? Education and exposure to outside world is the passport for progress. You need people like Bakri Musa, Chandra Muzzafar and Marina Mahathir - individuals with broad vision and a heart for the poor and the marginalised - to get into the political domain and strive to bring about the transformation all Malaysians desire.
February 27th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
“Nothing is free in life. No such thing as a free nasi kandar. Someone is always paying for it. If it’s not you, then it’s somebody else.’ Al Jihad
Din Merican always pays for my nasi kandar.
March 2nd, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Saya harap Pak Lah kena memantau selalu keadaan perkhidmatan awam sekarang. Sebenarnya mereka boleh buat apa saja kerja yang di arah. Tapi tiada siapa yang mahu mengiktiraf kerja mereka. Bila ada cadangan atau pandangan yang di beri selalu masuk ke bakul Alam Flora atau lurang Indah Water.