Najib Cabinet – can it pass the test of being clean and the slogan of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now.”?

The country is inundated with rumous and speculations about the first Najib Cabinet which may be unveiled tomorrow.

According to one
report
, as many as 10 Umno Cabinet Ministers may be dropped and among those named in this category are Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad, who has already tendered his resignation, and  Second Finance Minister Datuk Nor Mohamed Yakcop, Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, Tourism Minister Datuk Azalina Othman, Energy, Water and communications Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor, Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Zulhasnan Rafique, Rural and Regional Development Minister Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khalid Nordin and Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Chik.

The Najib Cabinet is expected to be leaner than the Abdullah Cabinet.

MCA is reported to be demanding that a new post of a Chinese Deputy Prime Minister be created while MIC wants to have a second Cabinet appointment.

The first Abdullah Cabinet appointed after the Barisan Nasional landslide general election victory in March 2004 was a great disappointment – laying the seeds of the failure and downfall  of the Abdullah premiership.

In fact, it did not take long before former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad condemned and dismissed the Abdullah Cabinet as a “half-past six” Cabinet – although the majority of the Abdullah Ministers were holdovers from Mahathir’s Cabinet.  (I often wonder whether Mahathir was aware that he had been a Prime Minister of a half-past six Cabinet for most of his 22 years of premiership.)

Will the first Najib Cabinet meet the same fate of the first Abdullah Cabinet – although  not dismissed by Mahathir as a “half-past six Cabinet” with Mahathir now ensconced in his new position as eminence grise or even Empress Dowager Cixi “ruling from behind the curtain” in Najib’s premiership but by the Malaysian people?

The new Najib Cabinet must pass the test of a clean slate of Ministers which meets the three Najib benchmarks of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now.”

It is shocking that two Cabinet Ministers dropped by Abdullah in his second Cabinet after the 2004 general election are “hot favourites” to be appointed into the Najib Cabinet.

How can Najib convince Malaysians that his first Cabinet is a clean one when he could appoint as Ministers persons whom Abdullah had thrown out of the Cabinet because of their failure to pass Abdullah’s integrity test?

The Najib Cabinet will come under stringent scrutiny as to whether it would pass the first Najib slogan of “1Malaysia”.

Will the Cabinet be fully representative of “1Malaysia” where important Cabinet portfolios are fairly allocated to all ethnic groups – and not as in the past, where Umno political hegemony denied to all other racial groups, whether Chinese, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans,  fair allocation of important Cabinet portfolios?

Will Najib breathe meaning into his “1Malaysia” slogan by ensuring that important Cabinet posts such as Finance, Education, International Trade and Commerce, Home, Defence and Information are allocated to  non-Umno Ministers, whether Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans?

If the Najib Cabinet is to pass the test of his second slogan “People First”, he must slash the 33-Minister Cabinet of Abdullah by at least one third to be really lean, effective and productive.

Najib will lose all credibility to talk about “People First” if he continues to put political interests above national interests by having  a bloated Cabinet with many Cabinet Ministers appointed not because of their competence or  capability  but just to “distribute spoils of office” among Barisan Nasional leaders.

Najib’s third slogan of “Performance Now” could not have started on a worse footing, when his announcement of the “immediate release” of two Hindraf leaders, V.Ganabatirau and R. Kengadharan under Internal Security Act detention on Friday night was only executed 46 hours later on Sunday evening.

If the Prime Minister’s writ is not honoured and implemented immediately by the bureaucracy, how can Malaysians have faith and confidence to  expect greater efficiency and productivity on the part of the rest of the Najib Cabinet?

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 7 April 2009, 4:25 pm and is filed under
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Principled governance the only way forward for Najib

by
Tunku Abdul Aziz

Malaysian Insider

April 6, 2009

Every head of government, whether elected or not that I know of, begins his or her term of office by making some dramatic gesture or other. In a repressive regime such as ours, releasing political prisoners and other prisoners of conscience from detention camps in which they have no business being incarcerated in the first place, is de rigueur.

For a leader such as Tun Mahathir Mohamad, adopting this practice as a public demonstration of his overflowing compassion for the people of Malaysia was certainly not out of character.

The resultant public euphoria went as fast as it came when hundreds were later detained under the ISA in the Operation Lalang crackdown. I am naturally disappointed that Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak has allowed himself to freefall into the pits of cynicism by announcing the release of the ISA detainees days before the by-elections; one each in Kedah, Perak and Sarawak.

You, Najib, have missed a great opportunity to show us that you are different!

It was a sinister, cruel and macabre joke that Mahathir played on unsuspecting Malaysians. Their only sin was to have allowed themselves to be taken in by barefaced lies by the leader of a corrupt and unrepentant oligarchy. It is quite clear that if a change of leadership such as we have just had is without the attendant change of values and value systems, the process amounts to nothing. In such a situation, the culture of Machiavellianism in politics merely means more of the same.

I am prepared to give Najib a fair crack of the whip, and to give him not the traditional 100 days, but a full 365 days before I judge him. I hope Malaysians will give him a sporting chance, and be fair to him. But Najib must not be too clever by half in his dealings with Malaysians of all backgrounds.

Once trust is lost, he will be treated with contempt, and once confidence in him is lost, he will not continue to enjoy their co-operation and then he will have to resort to unjust laws administered on his behalf by servants of the State whose own credentials cannot bear close public scrutiny.

We expect him to deliver not genuine fakes, however good they may look, but the real McCoy. Show us that his 1Malaysia is not just another slogan because he cannot propel the ship of state on slogans. Does he have what it takes to deal with racial, religious and economic issues in ways that will benefit ALL Malaysians?

I have been one of his harshest critics, and although I hold a position in an opposition political party, my views on social and other national issues have not changed because of my political affiliation. I am Malaysian first and last and fervently hope that his 1Malaysia will be implemented vigorously.

He cannot govern effectively without the support of a team of people who share his values and vision. Najib must choose his Cabinet colleagues carefully and wisely. Quite apart from their technical qualifications for the jobs on offer, they must be men and women of great moral substance who believe, as an article of faith, that public duty must always be in the public interest.

There can never be a substitute for this sacred trust and belief.

Corruption has been and will continue to be the Achilles heel of Umno, and the responsibility for its future as the country’s ruling party will be placed squarely upon his shoulder. We sweep a staircase from the top and never from the bottom up or end up with dirt and dust on the face. We will take our cue from him as the head of government.

Najib has to show us he is a clean Prime Minister, and I will be the first to say that the swirling allegations of impropriety against him are probably just coffeeshop rumours and gossips. Remember, we have give him a sporting chance because we want him to be Malaysia’s Bapa Reformasi. The three bits of advice I want to give Najib is one, reform, two, reform and three, reform.

So, as he assumes the leadership of this difficult nation with its tangle of races, languages and cultures and attempts to create 1Malaysia, I wish him well. Malaysian First has for a long time been the motto of the DAP, my party. I am sure on this Najib and we can all work together. There are no doctrinal differences on this score.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 7 April 2009, 8:47 am and is filed under
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The “Democracy Tree” DVD that the Police finds offensive

This is the “Democracy Tree” video for which DAP Perak State Assemblyman for Tebing Tinggi, Ong Boon Piaw was arrested by the police on Sunday, 29th March 2009 purportedly in violation of
the Film Censorship Act 2002 for “manufacturing, circulating, distributing, displaying” a DVD without first getting a B certificate from the Film Censorship Board.

Boon Piaw, who is out on police bail, will know on  April 13 what the authorities propose to do in the case.

In his speech at the
MPI-Petronas Malaysian Journalism Awards 2008/Malaysian Media Nite 2009
 yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak called for a “free, vibrant and informed media empowered to report without fear of consequence and holding governments and public official accountable”.

He said that this is the kind of media, with “world-class, fact-based reporting”, which he would like to see emerging “if we are truly to build a democracy that is responsive to the needs of all the people”.

If Najib wants to be taken seriously in his first policy pronouncements, then he must walk the talk and also embrace a “free, vibrant and informed” citizen journalism, like the “Democracy Tree” DVD.

He should stop the Attorney-General and the Police from  harassing and persecuting Boon Piaw for the “Democracy Tree” democracy DVD and send a clear and unmistakable signal that there would be no prosecution and that  the Film Censorship Act will be amended so that  there would be no unreasonable or draconian restrictions to responsible citizen media/journalism like the “Democracy Tree” DVD.

Part 7 – to be uploaded – technical issue.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 7 April 2009, 1:07 pm and is filed under
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Tri-election breaking news

Breaking news : BN winning in Batang Ai

7.50pm Batang Ai OFFICIAL RESULTS

BN’s Malcolm Mussem Lamoh (3,907 votes) has beaten PKR’s Jawah Gerang (2,053). The majority is 1,854.

Update 2

Unofficial results – at 5.50 pm., BN majority in Batang Ai widens to 1,609 votes

Already 21 streams counted out of 25 polling streams.

BN

2901

PKR

1430

Majority

1415

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 7 April 2009, 6:00 pm and is filed under
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What’s wrong with non-Muslims quoting Quranic verses?

by
Azly Rahman

April 05, 2009

I read the following troubling Malaysiakini newsstory.  It happened in Malaysia:

‘Belittling Islam’ – police report against DAP leader

by Jimadie Shah Othman | Apr 5, 09 11:52am | Malaysiakini

A police report has been filed against Perak DAP secretary Nga Kor Ming for allegedly belittling Islam during a ceramah in the campaign for Tuesday’s Bukit Gantang parliamentary by-election.

The report was filed by Malay Unity Action Front president Osman Abu Bakar at the Taiping district police headquarters this evening.

According to him, Nga – who is also the Taiping MP and Pantai Remis assemblyperson – made the disputed remarks during a ceramah in Changkat Jering two days ago, the contents of which were also published on Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s blog.

In his report, Osman accused the DAP leader of belittling Islam by reciting Quranic verses from the Surah Al-A’ raf for campaign purposes. Furthermore, he said the holy verses were recited improperly.

In view of this, Osman said he felt compelled to lodge a police report in his capacity as president of the Unity Front.

The activist was accompanied by some 15 supporters, some donning shirts bearing Barisan Nasional and Umno logos, to the police station.

I do not see anything wrong in a non-Muslim finding wisdom in Quranic verses; the message of Islam is universal.

I do not see anything wrong in Muslims quoting from the Bible, the Torah, the Bhagavad Gita, the Ramayana and Mahabharatta, the I Ch’ng, the Analects of Kung Fu Tze, or even from Marx’s Das Kapital.

No need for to lodge a police report on the DAP man who quoted the Quranic verses.It merely display our ignorance of the perspectives of others. We should be proud if we hear politicians finding wisdom from all religions and philosophical texts.

Embrace multiculturalism and learn from the wisdom of all scriptures. Universal values and timeless wisdom in all these texts.

We must grow up, read more, and grow old with timeless wisdom.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 7 April 2009, 2:59 am and is filed under
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Malaysian Elections: A Case of Too Little, Too Late for the Government?

By
Farish A. Noor

The by-elections in Malaysia this week have demonstrated in many ways the fact that Malaysia’s political landscape has changed very little over the past year: The ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front) that is dominated by the UMNO party won the by-election in East Malaysia, but lost both by-elections in the West Malaysian states of Perak and Kedah. In the case of the latter, the results of the elections have shown that the prevailing political mood in West Malaysia remains in favour of the opposition made up of the parties of the Peoples’ Alliance (Pakatan Rakyat), which won a majority of the votes in the Peninsula during the general elections of March 2008.

Political commentators and analysts will now set about dissecting the results of these elections and engage in the arcane art of political predictions: Not least for the simple reason that the by-election results will be seen as the peoples’ verdict on the standing and popularity of the country’s new Prime Minister, Datuk Najib Razak.

Sworn in as the country’s sixth Prime Minister less than a week ago, Najib Razak hails from one of the oldest elite families that have dominated the internal politics of UMNO – and by extension Malaysia – for more than half a century now. Son of the country’s second Prime Minister and connected to several of the aristocratic families of the country, Najib ironically cuts a curious figure in the context of Malaysia’s new and increasingly complex politics. In the 1950s and 60s he would have been seen as a prime candidate for the office of Prime Minister thanks to his elite background and Western education. But today Malaysia is witnessing the emergence of a new society that is infinitely more complex compared to the Malaysia of the 1950s.

After several decades of uneven development, Malaysia is an anomaly of sorts: The country that once boasted of having the tallest building in the world is also one where the Health Ministry recently announced a two and a half-year course in ‘traditional Islamic healing’ that also involves, among other things, lessons for treating victims of witchcraft, black magic and all manner of hocus-pokus shenanigans that apparently is widespread in Malaysian society today. This is a Malaysia that on the one hand thinks of itself as an Islamic state while at the same time is deeply engaged in sorcery of all kinds, to the extent that a magic spell was found under the table of the former Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

It is also a Malaysia that is in many ways unable to speak to itself, and unable to deal with its manifold contradictions. As soon as he came to power Najib Razak made his first speech calling for national unity and propounded the notion of a ‘united Malaysia’ where all races and religious communities would be given equal treatment. Yet Najib leads the very same UMNO party whose leaders have, in the recent past, unsheathed weapons including the traditional Malay dagger (keris) in public while calling for the re-statement of Malay numerical dominance in the country. This is a country that aspires to reach the first-world status of a respectable democracy, yet also a country where Malaysians of Indian origin have suffered disproportionately while under police custody.

Prime Minister Najib needs and wants to be given a chance to show that he can succeed in changing the trajectory of the nation as it lumbers down the precarious path of intolerance and inequality. But the results of the by-elections in West Malaysia would suggest that many Malaysians are neither willing to listen or be persuaded by the rhetoric of reform that was, after all, articulated by his predecessor Badawi who failed singularly in his own appointed tasks of reforming the judiciary and police force.

So as the dust settles and Malaysians brace themselves for the full impact of the global economic recession that may well send the country back by two decades, Malaysia’s political impasse seems to have remained at the status quo of 2008. The victory of the opposition in the two by-elections demonstrate that Malaysians who support the opposition are prepared to think out of the box and to go against the grain of outdated political norms. One of the victorious candidates who won, for instance, was from the opposition Malaysian Islamic party, and he had won even in  areas dominated by non-Malays and non-Muslims.

UMNO and the Barisan’s rhetoric, however, is still struggling to re-present itself as a discourse of national unity while at the same time harking on issues such as Malay rights and privileges. All of this is bound to send worrying signals to the leadership of UMNO and the Barisan, and add to the impression that the ruling coalition is living out its final salad days before its ultimate collapse. As in the case of other long-established parties such as India’s Congress party and the LDP of Japan, the case of UMNO and the Barisan in Malaysia demonstrates that being in power for too long may ultimately be the cause of one’s own downfall and undoing.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 8 April 2009, 2:22 am and is filed under
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Second political tsunami – double ‘no confidence’ vote on Najib and Zambry

The impressive victories by Pakatan Rakyat candidates in Bukit Gantang parliamentary and Bukit Selambau state assembly (Kedah) by-elections yesterday is a second political tsunami in Malaysian electoral politics in 13 months.

They are a double “no confidence” vote on Datuk Seri Najib Razak four days after being the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia as well as on Datuk Zambry Abdul Kadir as the illegitimate and usurper Perak Mentri Besar following the undemocratic, unethical, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak two months ago.

The Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau by-election results, with increased majorities for the Pakatan Rakyat candidates as compared to last year, are a clear and unmistakable endorsement of the March 8, 2008 political tsunami telling the nation and the world that what happened in the 12th general elections in March last year was neither accidental nor a fluke, to disappear like fireworks in the skies, but a major political paradigm shift representing the deep-seated and widely-held aspirations of Malaysians regardless of race or religion for democratic change.

Furthermore, that such fundamental political change is here to stay!

Although UMNO and Barisan Nasional leaders had claimed after the March 8 political tsunami, which toppled Barisan Nasional governments in five states and ended its unbroken two-thirds parliamentary majority, that they had heard and learnt the message of the voters, the verdicts in the Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau by-elections are loud and clear – that UMNO and Barisan Nasional had failed in the past 13 months to heed the message of the 12th general election results.

This is why the by-elections yesterday have become a multiple referendum, viz:

Firstly, a resounding rejection of the undemocratic, unethical, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak personally orchestrated by Najib in February, two months before he became the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia, creating a protracted political stalemate and constitutional crisis with two Mentris Besar – the legitimate and popularly-recognised Datuk Seri Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin and the “usurper” and popularly-rejected Zambry.

If Umno and Barisan Nasional had heard the message of the Malaysian voters for democratic change in the March 8, 2008 political tsunami, the unethical, undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak would not have taken place.

The two-month political stalemate and constitutional crisis in Perak should be ended in the most democratic manner by returning the mandate to Perakians with the dissolution of the Perak State Assembly for a new state government to be elected by the people.

Zambry should respect the political will of the people and be honest and humble enough to acknowledge that with the unmistakable result of the Bukit Gantang by-election, the question of his legitimacy as Perak Mentri Besar cannot be avoided or ignored, and come forward to publicly agree to the only honourable political solution available – dissolution of the Perak State Assembly and holding of Perak state general elections.

Secondly, the deepening of the national and international crisis of credibility, integrity and legitimacy faced by Najib since becoming the sixth Prime Minister four days ago, largely because of his refusal to confront and come clean on the host of serious allegations haunting and hounding him, whether over the C4 murder case of Mongolian Altantuya Shariibuu or defence deal mega-commissions, as through the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry; and most recently, over his democratic credentials and commitment in having personally orchestrated the undemocratic, unethical, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak.

In his four days as the new Prime Minister, Najib had suffered two major setbacks:

The failure of his maiden speech introducing his three thematic slogans of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” to “catch fire” and inspire Malaysians, because of the wide gulf between words and deeds – as illustrated by the outrageous 46-hour release of the two Hindraf leaders, V. Ganabatirau and R. Kengadharan despite Najib’s announcement of “immediate release” and the host of undemocratic and draconian restrictions placed on the two as conditions for their ISA release from Kamunting Detention Centre.

Rejection by the voters in the Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau by-elections doubly manifested not only by the Pakatan Rakyat victories but also in the increased majorities for the Pakatan Rakyat candidates.

A third failure in Najib’s first week as Prime Minister awaits him, as nobody believes that he would be able to announce a new Cabinet which is not only clean and incorruptible, but fulfils his slogan of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now”.

In view of the deepening of the national and international crisis over his credibility, integrity and legitimacy as Prime Minister with every passing day, Najib should convene an emergency meeting of Parliament to secure a motion of confidence from the majority of Members of Parliament.

This was what Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi did when he became the fifth Prime Minister in 2003, with Parliament passing a motion of confidence in him in his first week in office. This was also what Datuk Hussein Onn did when he took over as Prime Minister in 1976 when Tun Razak died of leukaemia in London, convening an emergency meeting of Parliament to secure a motion of confidence in him in his first fortnight in office.

Thirdly, rejection of the return of both Mahathirism and Tun Mahathir himself. Within two days of the accession of Najib premiership, the former premier Abdullah had been sidelined while his predecessor Tun Mahathir was given a high-profile welcome-back like the return of the prodigal son, giving Prime Ministerial treatment when his appearance at the Bukit Gantang by-election campaign on Monday was telecast live on TV1 for 90 minutes!

Fourthly, endorsement of Pakatan Rakyat as the movement for the future and the relegation of Barisan Nasional as the coalition of the past. In the by-elections, it is Pakatan Rakyat which manifested the spirit of “1Malaysia” with DAP, PAS and PKR working as one team regardless of race or religion while Umno and Barisan Nasional exploited the outmoded politics of the 3Rs – race, religion and royalty.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 8 April 2009, 1:16 pm and is filed under
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Death for Azilah/Sirul  – intensify demand for RCI into allegations of Najib’s involvement in Altantuya C4 murder case

The end of the murder trial of the century in the Shah Alam High Court this morning, with policemen  Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar found guilty and sentenced to death for murdering Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu, and then blowing up her body in a jungle clearing on Oct 19, 2006,  is not going to end public fixation with any Altantuya-Najib nexus in national and international circles.

The question that is inevitably asked is who could be behind the two  Bukit Aman Special Action Squad (UTK) cops’ C4 murder of Altantuya.

Those who had thought that the end of the Altantuya murder trial, with the conviction and death sentence pronounced on Azila and Sirul, would end national and international fixation with any connection of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak with the Altantuya murder case cannot be more wrong.

While Azilah and Sirul would appeal against the mandatory death sentence upon conviction  under Section 149 of the Penal Code, their  conviction and death sentence have not lessened but intensified public demands and necessity for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into swirling allegations of Najib’s involvement in the Altantuya’s  C4 murder case.

At 3 pm today, Najib is announcing his new Cabinet – but this important event in his six-day premiership, which is already marred by the two Umno/Barisan Nasional defeats in the Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau by-elections,  is totally overshadowed by the Altantuya murder case conviction and death sentences.

As Najib has repeatedly declared his innocence of any involvement in the Altantuya C4 murder case, he must act decisively to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to lay all the swirling allegations about his involvement in the murder case which are haunting and hounding him, his administration and the nation’s good name, to rest once and for all – whether about the accessibility of C4 explosives, the disappearance of Altantuya immigration records, the exchange of SMS messages or the disappearance of  private investigator Bala Subramaniam after making public  a very damaging statutory declaration about Najib.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 9 April 2009, 11:00 am and is filed under
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Malaysia– After the Battle on Bonkers Hills

by
Azly Rahman

Two Hills were won – Bukit Selambau and Bukit Gantang.

I still remember when I was a child; the name “Bukit Gantang” is associated with a “panglima” or a warrior of fierce look and disposition equipped with the keris, Steroid-pumped up body and a tanjak (headgear). Hence Panglima Bukit Gantang. “Gantang” is a unit of measurement used to calibrate the amount of rice. A bigger unit than “secupak”. The more powerful one is in society, the more gantang one gets. The lower the rakyat is in rung of the “dog-eat-dog world”, the less “cupak” one gets. That’s the ugly side of the language of power/ideology/class  of the people of “semangat padi”.

I still remember the word “selamba”, close to the sound of “Selambau”. I know what selamba means — “poker-faced” and no shame in playing dirty games. Selamba saja muka dia … That’s from a Johor dialect I grew up with. Now, “lahabau” is a bad/unacceptable/inappropriate/cuss word used by my friends from Melaka. It mean “jackass”, or worse, maybe. It is actually an affectionate greeting. Truly the Melakkans are good at ‘gangsta-use” of language. They would curse good friends secupak segantang ( a “truckload” of nasty words) when the meet friends who they have not met for months, years, maybe — wondering where this “lahabau” have been all these years. That explains my fear of meeting my friends from Melaka. Fear of being called “lahabau” or “hamlau” or “cilaka kau” in the process of being greeted! Yes– they are the fierce Vikings of Malaya, those modern Melakkans.

So, selambau and segantang are two words that are fiercely affectionate yet contradictory. They represent a face-saving poker-faced situation of anyone who wields the keris and try to take over two hills at the same time. That’s the linguistic-anthropological link between those two words of historical significance and the human condition we Malaysians are in now.

Politicians make the selamba face out of their corrupt past as they show their warriorship hoping to again cheat the rakyat of many gantangs of gold and silver by using the machinery at their disposal — using money, materials, media, and mental manipulation. All these are done as if nothing had happened in the past 50 years. As if the law cannot even touch them with a ten-foot pole.

So, Bukit Selamabu and Bukit Segantang are those two significant battlefields one can see as significant events not just philologically and linguistically but also metaphorically as we dig deeper into the psyche of the Malay.

Now what does these two hills got to do with “Ba Ba Black Sheep” which came to my mind a few seconds ago? Recall the nursery rhyme, Ba Ba Black Sheep. I read it differently now.

Ba Ba Black sheep have you any wool

Yes sir yes sir three bags full

One for my master

One for my dame

But none for the little boy

who lives down the lane

Brilliant message.

One for my master one for my dame and none for the little boy who lives down the lane. And the boy lives down the lane? Indeed, the syndrome of “Atap Genting Atap Rumbia”. Reminds me of Muchtar Lubis’s novel Senja di Jakarta (Twilight in Jakarta).

And what did the little boy do?

He went to the Master and the Dame and demanded his bag of wool. He is not contented with “secupak” which he is not getting. He wondered why others are getting “segantang” and more and he and his “imagined community” living down the lane are not getting any. He is reminded of the New Economic Policy and how it has now become “New Economic Plutocracy”. Smart kid. He must have read Pramoedya Ananto Toer’s “Bumi Manusia” and “Kisah Dari Blora” before demanding those bags of wool from the master – and the dame. The “dame” sounds like Ibu Tien Suharto (of Bapak “Yudistira” General Suharto fame) affectionately called “Ibu Ten Percent” those days.

Hence, the boy grew up to become Panglima Bukit Gantang, and with a band of bloggers took over the hills, installed a new kingdom, arrested the Master and the Dames and put them in the bags with wool and ship them via FedEx to Cayman Islands.

That rhyme inspired the French Revolution. Maybe it did. Just like a child’s whistling of a tune inspire the French to adopt it as its national anthem Marseilles

The Master is one who owns the means of production. The Dame is the female crony of the Master. The little boy are the growing nation that is enslaved and given goodies once in a while but in a Master –Slave sado-masochistically inspired political-economic arrangement.

So there is a history behind our memory of names. It is these moments that bring a child’s imagination into modern day analysis of things.

In June of 1775 The American Revolutionary Army led by Colonel William Prescott, in its battles against King George fought a battle near Bunker Hill. That was a decisive battle with tactical mistakes from both sides, ending in the victory of the King’s army but did advance General George Washington’s plan for the seize of Boston.

In Bukit Selambau and Bukit Gantang it was two battles in one. The revolutionary forces won. Ideologically what does this mean? Here are my early thoughts:

Times have changed. The change is needed now – change that should have happened yesterday. And time is of essence here, since the more time one is given to rule the world the more one consolidates power and do not wish to leave. That has happened in our history – twenty two years was a long long time. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The end of race-based politic is near. If indeed one wants to play around with the R.A.H.M.A.N prophecy, the N-word at the end signifies a short note to the ending. A whimper. It is neither a crescendo nor a fierce Eddie Van Halen or Joe Satriani – like guitar riff. Nor will it be a Pete Townshed act with smashed guitar and screaming amplifiers — a WHO antique. It will be a glorious gamelan ending played by Gangsta rappers from the South Bronx, New York.

The bloggers have become a more powerful force governments can no longer ignore. Band of Bloggers moving from one by-election to another is a scary sight. These are cybernetic legionaries that move back and forth from the Maya-world of cyberspace to the kampongs and urban trenches of Malaysia’s realpolitik-al scenes. Many, like Raja Petra Kamaruddin have become the Nostradamuses of our time – “soothsayers” in a world of “Dragon-slayers”. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight syndrome we are seeing time after time since the Internet was unleashed out of the Malaysia’s Multimedia Super Corridor.

The middle class is getting more and more agitated with the countless violation of civil liberties. Except from the members of the Malaysian academia that has remained silent on all these issues, other segments of the middle class — lawyers, journalists, artisans, traders, craftsmen, and even the modern indentured serfs and a few aristocrats here and there — have remained louder, clamoring for radical changes. They speak from their heart. Hopefully we will hear more academicians in our public universities playing the role of “organic intellectuals” to guide our citizens out of this Malaysian world of “instrumental reason, human capital, an crony capitalism,” we have plunged ourselves into.

Those hills have eyes. And they did see through the heart of men. Hearts of those poker-faces and patriots alike.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 9 April 2009, 8:14 am and is filed under
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Najib Cabinet  not “lean”, may be “mean” – announcement overshadowed by ghost of Altantuya

Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Cabinet failed to live up to the hype of “lean” though it may be “mean”,  setting a dubious Cabinet record of using the “back door of Parliament” to bring into the government   the biggest crop of defeated candidates in the previous general election – namely  Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun and Datuk Dr. Awang Adek Hussin which does not speak well for the government’s commitment to accountability and democracy.

If Najib wants the Cabinet to be really “lean”, he should have slashed the 32-strong Abdullah Ministers by at least one-third!

All the blurb about downsizing Abdullah’s second 67-strong Cabinet (32 Ministers and 35 Deputy Ministers) has not really borne fruit, as Najib has produced a bigger 68-strong Cabinet with 28 Ministers and 40 Deputy Ministers although there are four Ministers less.

Najib has appointed even more Ministers and Deputy Ministers than Mahathir’s last Cabinet after the 1999 general election, when there were only 27 Ministers and 27 Deputy Ministers, together with 15 Parliamentary Secretaries.

Najib’s unveiling of his Cabinet  has set another record, being the worst public relations (PR) disaster in the nation’s history.

Najib’s P.R. advisers should be sacked for it was completely overshadowed by the ghost of murdered Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu after the morning’s High Court conviction and death sentence for policemen Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar for her C4 murder.

The majority of those who watched Najib’s live-telecast announcement of his Cabinet were not interested in his 15-minute statement on KPI (key performance index) for his Ministers, with  the Altantuya murder case uppermost in their minds, and all they wanted to know with growing impatience was his  new list of Ministers.

Najib’s Cabinet cannot convince Malaysians  that the country has a new Ministerial team which can be serious in the three Najib mottos of “1 Malaysia. People First. Performance Now”.

Although Najib does not want to have Ministers with  political baggages, there is not only the question as to which member of his Cabinet can claim to be free from baggage, there is the even bigger question as to which Cabinet Minister  has more baggage than Najib himself!

Unlike his predecessor, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Najib failed in his highly-publicised attempt to recruit any  prestigious member from the corporate sector  to join his Cabinet.

The Cabinet appointment which has evoked the greatest interest is not a Minister but a Deputy Minister – the appointment of Datuk Mukriz Mahathir as Deputy Minister for International Trade and Industry and the conspicuous omission of  Khairy Jamaluddin, the Umno Youth leader.

This  reinforces public perception that Najib is under thumb of former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad as well as raises the question as to why Khairy, who is publicly accused by Mahathir of  being corrupt, could continue as Umno Youth leader when he is not fit to be a member of the Cabinet – just like the question asked by Malaysians how Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam could continue to be Malacca Chief Minister when he was not qualified  to contest for Umno deputy president because of his involvement in money-politics corruption!

In Najib’s Cabinet, Sabah is the biggest winner and Sarawak the biggest loser – as Sabah has four Ministers while Sarawak only two.  Clearly, Najib does not appreciate the Batang Ai by-election victory of the Barisan Nasional on Tuesday.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 9 April 2009, 6:00 pm and is filed under
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Pakatan’s rising hills, Najib’s declining slope

by
Bridget Welsh

Malaysiakini

Apr 8, 09

The results are in, and the 2-1 victory shows that both Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional held onto their original seats. But the final tallies do not suggest a status quo. Far from it.

The larger majorities for the opposition indicate serious obstacles for Najib Abdul Razak and BN. Voters have decisively rejected his new leadership less than one week into his tenure. The debate will not only centre on the numbers, but around the factors that contributed to BN defeats.

Allow me to point out 10 factors that stand out.

1) Leadership credibility – Najib has a serious public image problem. Despite hiring public relations firms, his reform-oriented speeches and calls to give him a chance, the new premier has yet to win over the support of a majority of Malaysians. The results show that this problem is across races (even among the Malays), classes and generations.

The sources of the problem are two-fold:

a) The cloud of scandal that surrounds his leadership has darkened his future and unless the issues are addressed squarely, it is unlikely to dissipate. Apparently these unsubstantiated rumours have poisoned Najib’s well.

b) Equally important is that he has yet delivered on reform. Malaysians have listened to unfulfilled promises and are unlikely to be swayed with piecemeal measures, such as the 13 ISA release. They also see him as an integral part of the Abdullah Ahmad Badawi government which had failed to live up to its electoral promises.

2) Umno infighting – Najib faces divisions within his own ranks. Despite the convincing win of his cohort in the Umno polls, this has not translated into a mending of differences within his party. Dissatisfied Umno members joined the independent list of candidates in Bukit Selambau from the onset.

Yet, Najib’s actions since taking office also had an effect. The growing purge of Abdullah people from the party leadership ranks has upset many. This played itself out in the by-elections where Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s remarks deeply offended Abdullah supporters. The sheer number of Umno members – even elected Umno party representatives –who stayed home rather than vote allowed the strong Pakatan’s win to evolve into a landslide, notably in Perak.

Appointing Muhyiddin Yassin, seen as the man contributing to Abdullah’s downfall, as election operation manager and discouraging Khairy Jamaluddin from campaigning had agitated the rifts, but it was Mahathir’s presence that reopened the wound.

Umno remains splintered within and this hampers the party from even gaining back its traditional base. This says nothing about the fact that reforms in Umno have not been substantial and this obstacle undermines the party’s ability to win back younger voters and fence sitters.

3) BN weakness – When the votes were counted, the results showed that in the two Bukits, non-Malay voters remained squarely behind Pakatan. Over 80% of the Chinese voted for the opposition, and in some polling stations, including traditional Chinese new villages, that number rose to 85%.

Among Indian voters, as the results in Bukit Selambau notably show, over 60% voted for the opposition. One estate worker wearing a BN shirt pointed out that her vote was in her heart, not what she was wearing. The massive effort by the MIC to distribute patronage in the Indian community and promises of additional Hindraf releases won back some voters, but the effort only made a dent in what appears to be a major post-March 2008 shift among Indian voters toward the opposition.

The valiant efforts of Gerakan, MCA, and MIC failed to woo their traditional ground. The reason is well-known – the BN as a multi-ethnic coalition is not working. Najib’s choice to visit Sin Chew Daily last week without his BN counterparts and failure to publicly engage the non-Malay component party leaders openly illustrates that even his administration recognises that the current non-Malay party leaders are weak.

Ironically, Najib’s actions are weakening them further, as non-Malay voices from BN have been marginalised and this marginalisation has undermined their ability to win back support. Until the non-component parties have stronger leaders to defend their parties interests and move beyond a system of accepting secondary status, they are trapped in a structure that is not seen as representative.

Remember, the majority of constituencies in Malaysia are mixed (and definitely not a Malay majority that some Umno members suggest), and ultimately the coalition that wins these seats, wins over the majority of voters.

4) Greater Pakatan coherence – The West Malaysian results have sealed Pakatan electorally, at least in the short term.

While it is foolish to suggest that the ideological divisions and inter-party competition do not remain, the win in Bukit Gantang that has brought Pakatan’s extremes together – DAP and PAS – in unprecedented fashion and the viable cooperation between all three opposition parties in Bukit Selambau that boosted a weak PKR candidate to an impressive victory, shows that the opposition is institutionalising as a electoral force.

In contrast, the failures of Pakatan cooperation showed in Batang Ai, giving the BN a solid victory. The umbrella of change with calls for better governance and the move toward moderation on the issue of Islamic law are inclusive enough for the diversity of opinion within Pakatan and cohesive enough for the electorate.

5) Corruption – If there is one issue that brings the voters to the opposition, it is corruption. From the Chinese fisherman to the retired Malay military officer, the message of dissatisfaction is the same – the rot within.

 The predatory activity in the campaign as funds allocated to gain support were pocketed by the leaders and the larger sense that corruption in land deals, party polls, and contracts is endemic has deeply alienated many voters who are fed up with this practice.

Piecemeal initiatives and the selective targeting of individuals as occurred in the run-up to the Umno polls only served to deepen this sense that the people’s money is being taken by graft as ordinary voters struggle in the more difficult economic climate. The disparity of wealth and blatant display of spoils of power all favour Pakatan, even despite the problems the opposition coalition faces by some within its own ranks on these issues.

6) Patronage politics declining – A new politics in Malaysia is evolving, even in semi-rural/rural constituencies. Traditionally the delivery of election goodies – this time round bicycles, TOL agreements, fishing licences, school allocations, temple funds, and open financial allocations – has been enough to win over these areas.

It did the trick in Batang Ai, where promised of over RM70 million (for over 8,006 voters) yielded a bumper BN majority. (As one person commented, it was a strategic long-term investment in their community.) Yet, it was not enough in West Malaysia. Patronage cannot guarantee victories any more.

The reasons here are also two-fold:

a) The sheer population numbers undercut the personal relationships of reciprocity that underscore patronage. It works in Sarawak because personal ties remain. This is not the case any longer in West Malaysia as migration, party changeovers and ironically development itself has transformed dynamics into more impersonal exchanges. No wonder voters take the money and vote independently.

b) Another underlying cause of this transformation has been the evolution of voting for issues, not financial rewards or development promises. Voters have rejected short-term gains, showing that long-term factors in areas of governance matter more.

7) Voter sophistication – This is tied to the greater sophistication of voters who get their information from a variety of sources. While the Internet did not permeate these areas to the same extent as the urban constituencies and many of these voters do not engage alternative media (such as Malaysiakini), they see the forest through the trees. They are tired of being taken for granted and treated like children that should follow blindly.

The underlying patronising approach toward voters ignores that Malaysians vote strategically and purposefully. The approach of BN has yet to move away from the patronising mould. For example, while Bukit Gantang contest had a more sophisticated BN campaign with clearer alternative messages on the issue of the royalty, these remain superficial and lack credibility among fence sitters.

Parties across the spectrum have to keep up with the voters to win over their support. This will mean both BN and Pakatan will have to deepen the messages from abstract ideals to more concrete deliverables.

8) Rejection of hardline racial tactics – The multi-ethnic calls of “We Love Pakatan” outside the Town Hall in Taiping last night from the multi-ethnic crowd illustrated that racial politics have evolved. It would be a mistake to say that ethnic factors do not matter – they remain paramount and continue to shape campaigning on both sides – but the by-elections show that new ties are forming.

When Malays sit in DAP ceramahs and listen intently to Chinese speeches (that most do not understand) and Chinese attend kampong sit-ins organised by PAS, norms and boundaries have been broken. The BN’s aim to use race – especially Malay rights – to galvanise its base only served to bring back a small number of its core. Hardline racial language only goes so far.

But it was also the anger over tactics in Perak, with Hindraf and police brutality that proved decisive in both West Malaysian contests. Among estate workers in Bukit Selambau, a woman’s eyes showed tears as she brought up the A Kugan case. The cries of Makkal Sakti permeated the crowds.

These April polls show that hardline tactics are risky and can backfire.

9) Personality and party – These contests also show that while both party and personality matter, party is decisive. In Bukit Selambau, a weak candidate was buoyed by party leaders and party machinery.

In Bukit Gantang, the power of Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin’s character gained support across the board, notably among Malays. Yet, his final victory was the product of Pakatan as half of his support came from non-Malays.

In Batang Ai, PKR’s candidate Jawah Gerang was not able to build on his previous service as the Lubok Antu MP to overcome the BN machine.

The candidate factor was not central, despite the choice of local candidates by BN. This was a national contest in which the BN showed that it still command support in East Malaysia, which has a third of the parliamentary seats, but continue to lose ground in West Malaysia, where the majority of Malaysians reside.

The only personality that mattered was Najib, and his image liabilities did not translate his coming into office into an adequate electoral boost. Even the personality factor of Anwar ibrahim did not have a major impact, as the new reformasi-minded younger leaders of Pakatan play a more prominent role in the campaigns.

In the final analysis, Najib’s political base may be even more reliant on East Malaysia than Abdullah’s post-March 2008. For Pakatan, the states of Sarawak and Sabah remain serious obstacles.

10) People’s power – Ultimately, these results were about the Malaysians who came out to vote. Despite the rain (and it does rain a lot in these Bukits) and the strategic placement of the election on a Tuesday (which clearly had an effect on the lower turnout of younger voters working outstation), many of them used their right to vote to send a message.

The end result is that Najib did not get the mandate he needed and the opposition was given another boost, especially in Perak, where the cloud of possible polls hangs over the court decision and mid-May requirement to hold a state assembly session.

Whether Najib and his new team will listen and reform, or whether Pakatan will deepen its effort to reach out to voters or coast along with the messages of March 2008 that can fade will be crucial in shaping outcomes in future elections (and more by-elections are on the horizon), it will not take away that in these three historic by-elections, the democratic process (even with its flaws) can empower communities across Malaysia.

(DR BRIDGET WELSH is associate professor in Southeast Asian studies at John Hopkins University-SAIS, Washington DC. She was in Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau to observe the by-elections.)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 9 April 2009, 9:41 am and is filed under
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Najib Cabinet – dominated by old faces, old ideas and old approach rejected by Malaysians in the March 8 political tsunami and two Bukit by-elections

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak claims that his cabinet announced yesterday is not only a new team with a new face, but also a new approach to administer the country better in a more responsible and transparent manner that focuses on the people.

This is not the perception and reaction of the Malaysian public who find the Najib Cabinet dominated by old faces, old ideas and old approach rejected by Malaysians in the March 8 political tsunami last year and the Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau by-elections on Tuesday.

Most of the media headlines screamed “28 Ministers, 40 Deputy Ministers” when actually it should be “29 Ministers, 40 Deputy Ministers”.

How could Najib, with his new slogan of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” make such a small yet colossal mistake?

Has Malaysian educational standards fallen so low after five years of Datuk Seri  Hishamuddin Hussein as Education Minister, that  the government is incapable of the most simple calculations?

What “Performance Now” when the Najib premiership cannot even count whether there are 28 or 29 Ministers in the Cabinet?

Malaysians were promised a “lean” Cabinet but Najib has 29 Ministers, only two less than the 31 Ministers of Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi when the fifth Malaysian Prime Minister submitted his resignation to the Yang di Pertuan Agong last Thursday and two more than the last Cabinet appointed by the fourth Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad after the 1999 general elections!

If Najib is serious about a lean and smart Cabinet, he should have trimmed the Cabinet by one third to have not more than 20 Ministers when in contrast,  the United Kingdom has a Cabinet of 23 full-rank Ministers, Australia a Cabinet of 20 Ministers and France 17 Ministers.

The
eight ministers
 dropped by Najib are Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar (Home); Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said (Tourism), Senator Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib (Rural and Regional Development), Senator Datuk Amirsham Abdul Aziz (Prime Minister’s Department), Datuk Ong Ka Chuan (Housing and Local Government), Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed (Works), Datuk Seri Zulhasnan Rafique (Federal Territories) and Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad (Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs).

Instead, Najib  appointed seven new Ministers, viz: Gerakan President Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon(Prime Minister’s Department), Maj-Gen Datuk Jamil Khir Baharom (Prime Minister’s Department), Datuk Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah (Second Finance Minister), Umno Wanita chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil (Women, Family and Community Development), Datuk Anifah Aman (Foreign), Lembah Pantai Umno division chief Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin (Federal Territories) and MCA Vice President Datuk Kong Cho Ha (Housing and Local Government).

The Najib Cabinet makes history as the first Malaysian Cabinet with the most number of “political rejects”, who had been defeated in the general election last year and have to be brought back to Parliament through the “back door” of the Senate – – namely Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil as Ministers  Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun and Datuk Dr. Awang Adek Hussin  as Deputy Ministers.

This  does not speak well for the government’s commitment to accountability and democracy.

The Najib Cabinet is not a forward-looking and visionary Cabinet which inspires Malaysians with hope and confidence that it could rally Malaysians to face the worst global economic risis in a century or unite Malaysians with a common national purpose with  Umno leaders increasingly resorting  to the divisive  and irresponsible politics of 3Rs – race, religion and royalty – as demonstrated by the recent Umno by-election campaigning in Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau.

What can Tsu Koon do as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Unity and Performance Management to rein in the Umno ultras, like Ahmad Ismail of “Chinese are squatters” infamy?

Can he really check the “Little Napoleons” and “Big Napoleons” in the civil service, apart from the “half-past six” Ministers, when his record as an effective Penang Chief Minister  in the past 18 years had been so dismal as to result in Gerakan’s total rejection in last year’s general elections?

Najib talked about introducing key performance indicators (PKI) as a six-monthly requirement for the Cabinet Ministers. Will there be a six-monthly PKI for the Prime Minister and dare Tsu Koon  conduct it?

Is Tsu Koon prepared to publicly admit that Najib had chalked up several failures in his first week alone  as Prime Minister to measure up to Najib’s new  slogan of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now”?

                This entry was posted on Friday, 10 April 2009, 10:44 am and is filed under
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Najib’s first  task is to get rid of the corrupt  in his Cabinet whether Minister or Deputy Minister

The first task of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is to get rid of the corrupt in his new Cabinet team – whether Minister or Deputy Minister.

He should seek an appointment with former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, who though praised the new cabinet as “more or less graft-free” nonetheless
qualified
 his praise when he said  that Najib “did very well by dropping most of the people who have been accused of corruption, although one or two slipped in”.

“One or two” corrupt Ministers or Deputy Ministers succeeded in slipping through the integrity scrutiny and firewall to get into Najib’s first Cabinet?

This is clearly unacceptable if Najib is to lead a clean and incorruptible administration with zero tolerance for corruption.

As Prime Minister for 22 years, Mahathir had shown great tolerance for corruption – as demonstrated by the fact that in the last seven years of his premiership, Malaysia’s ranking on the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index fell from No. 23  in 1995 to No. 37 to 2003  – which  could only mean that more than “one or two” corrupt Ministers and Deputy Ministers had got onto his government without any protest or action by the longest-serving Prime Minister of the country!

If by Mahathir’s very lenient attitude towards corruption – after all, it was the new Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who a decade ago had stood up as Umno Youth Leader at the Umno Youth General Assembly in 1998 to denounce Mahathir as the “father” of Malaysian KKN,  corruption, cronyism and nepotism – he  could still talk about “one or two” corrupt members of the new cabinet, a more stringent integrity standard would have faulted many more members of the Najib Cabinet.

Be that as it may, Najib should identify the “one or two” corrupt Ministers or Deputy Ministers who slipped through to be on the Najib Cabinet so that they could be flushed out and removed.

Alternatively, this could be the first task of the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department responsible for Unity and Performance Management, Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, to locate and flush out the “one or two” corrupt Ministers or Deputy Ministers who could not even  pass Mahathir’s  very low integrity benchmark for the Najib Cabinet to be  completely “graft-free”.

Mahathir said Najib had dropped most of the Cabinet members  accused of corruption.

Who are they?

Those dropped  from the Cabinet are from a very small circle, seven Ministers, viz:Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar (Home); Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said (Tourism), Senator Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib (Rural and Regional Development), Senator Datuk Amirsham Abdul Aziz (Prime Minister’s Department), Datuk Ong Ka Chuan (Housing and Local Government), Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed (Works), Datuk Seri Zulhasnan Rafique (Federal Territories) and two Deputy Ministers, Datuk Idris Haron (Higher Education) and Datuk Noraini Ahmad (Human Resources).

Everyone of them may want to clear their names and reputation from Mahathir’s public aspersions on  their integrity.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 10 April 2009, 2:16 pm and is filed under
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An untalented team lacking integrity

by
Tunku Abdul Aziz

The Malaysian Insider

11th April 2009

APRIL 10 — If you want my honest opinion, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s People’s Cabinet is totally uninspiring and insipid to boot. And that is being charitable. What a sad commentary on the paucity of proven talent and integrity within the ranks of Barisan Nasional that all Najib has succeeded in putting on offer is a team of recycled political expendables, many with personal records of integrity that will not bear close scrutiny.

Najib has done nothing more than a bit of tinkering. Is this the clean and honest team that he has promised the nation? Instead of calling it a Cabinet, a more accurate and honest name for it is surely “baggage room” because most of those who are our new ministers, including Najib, unfortunately, are perceived to be carrying oversized baggage into office. If this had been a team chosen by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, I should not have been surprised.

But subjecting his ministers to the discipline of the KPI or key performance indicators is an idea whose time has come. However, the danger with management tools like Long Range Strategic Forecasting and Management by Objectives, now long forgotten, and the new panacea, the KPI, is in the distinct possibility of their being more honoured in the breach than in the observance. That being said, let us see whether the new broom can keep up with a mountain of bureaucratic trash that has been generated in the corridors of Putrajaya.

As part of his whiter-than-white government, he should have said something, when he announced the Cabinet yesterday, about revamping the declaration of interests/assets regime for all those holding elected public office in his administration, i.e. his ministerial colleagues. The present arrangements are as effective as using a pop gun when confronting an armed robber. They are hopelessly inadequate and the whole exercise is a total waste of time. No one is fooled by it. I speak as someone with some practical experience in this area.

I was responsible in 2006, as Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the Establishment of the United Nations Ethics Office, for putting in place the Declaration of Interests (assets) and the Whistle Blower Protection programmes. It is interesting to note that when Dr Mahathir was prime minister, he proudly proclaimed that all his Cabinet colleagues should declare their assets to him.

To whom did the prime minister declare his assets? In the interest of curbing grand corruption in the Najib administration, I will be happy to share my knowledge with him notwithstanding the fact that I am a DAP man. Corruption should not be politicised. Anyway, if it is good enough for the UN, it should be good enough for the Putrajaya Mandarins.

The nation wants Najib to succeed in his “1 Malaysia” vision. He will if he keeps an eagle eye on key institutions such as the police, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the criminal justice system, including the office of the Attorney-General, not to interfere with their work, but to ensure that they do not abuse their power and authority.

Stupid police behaviour in dealing with public order, for example, can unravel any good the administration has tried to do. Najib must implement without delay the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission that Pak Lah did not have the stomach to put in place simply because the police top brass did not like it. Will Najib be prepared to put public interests at the forefront of all his actions, or will the police be allowed to dictate terms to our citizens?

Najib as part of his reform agenda must listen to what people are saying about the office of the Attorney-General. Rightly or wrongly, it is seen as having compromised its professional independence. Its decisions have in recent years lost the stamp of moral authority in a number of cases. Najib should consider seriously making the Attorney-General a ministerial and, therefore, a political appointee acting for the government on purely political issues.

Najib should, in the interest of greater public confidence in the criminal justice system, create a position, that of Director of Public Prosecutions. A decision whether to proceed with a case or not should not be made by the director alone, but a panel of his senior legal officers.

The problem with the present office of the Attorney-General is that the A-G enjoys what amounts to absolute power, and as we all know this can lead to abuse. Ours is a parliamentary government based on the Westminster model, and Britain has found a system of checks and balances to be absolutely vital to protect the citizens from arbitrariness in matters involving public prosecutions.

Najib can yet redeem himself by showing, by word and deed, that we have misjudged him. Has he the intellectual honesty and integrity to do what is right by the people of this country?

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 11 April 2009, 7:04 am and is filed under
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BAD Telekom service in LAHAD DATU, SABAH

Letters

(Barisan Nasional Sabah leaders are the biggest winners in the Najib Cabinet. But the people of Sabah do not share in this largesse, as seen by the following letter from Lahad Datu. Where is the Najib slogan of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now”?

I’m Pang, currently running my own business. my phone number is 089-883033, register under publix pharmacy. My phone line has been dead for the past one week and no action has been taken.

when i go telekom and complain to the manager, SAHABUDIN, he told me to call 100 to complain, my phone no tone how to dial up? He ask me to go telekom and call 100. Come on, we are doing business, every second count, my fax all cannot go out, my customer can’t even reach me. When i call this number, is normal, just that no tone from this side, phone no ring at all.

When i tell this SAHABUDIN, no tone cannot call all the problems. He just told me, ‘I tak tau’, as a manager how can you tell me ‘ I tak tau’, you as a manager must solve the problems. Every month i did pay my bill, my biz need the phone. I’m wonder what telekom is doing, the only landline provider also can do such lousy job.

Second, my housing area, TAMAN HAPP HENG. 2 years ago i apply streamyx, telekom told me no port, but still process my application and keep on billing me until i call up KL telekom only they terminate the line without charging me. Until now, i ask SAHABUDIN is TAMAN HAPP HENG got port for me to apply stremyx? He told me still don’t have, ask him when will have new port? Same answer from him ‘ I tak tau’, now is 2009 how sarcastic is it a place no streamyx.

I feel very disappointed with this TELCO provider, i believe is the worst in the world.

—

Regards,

Pang Wee Siang (Pharmacist cum Manager)

Publix Pharmacy

MDLD 4643, Kedai Taman Tabanac,

Jalan Segama, 91100 Lahad Datu,

Sabah.

Tel/Fax : +60-89-883033

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 11 April 2009, 11:47 am and is filed under
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Wow factors of Najib Cabinet? Backdoor Cabinet, Parti Belakang

What is the Wow factor in the Najib Cabinet?

None on the positive side.

If any, there are the negatives, viz:

Najib’s “backdoor” Cabinet –  the first Cabinet in the nation’s 52-year history with the most number of “backdoor” Senators, 11 in all and comprising mostly of candidates rejected by the voters in the political tsunami of  last year’s general elections.

Replacement of  one set of “old faces” like Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar and Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said  but who have entered Parliamen by the front-door by a set of equally “old faces” like Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun and Datuk Dr. Awang Adek Hussin who have to get into Parliament by the backdoor of the Senate as they had been rejected by the voters in last year’s general elections.

Parti Gerakan becoming “Parti Belakang” with its president having to sneak into Parliament from the backdoor.

It is laughable to see a senior Cabinet Minister  yesterday desperately trying to justify and convince the media that the Najib Cabinet is a “lean” one, claiming that there had been a reduction from 32 Ministers to 28, when in fact it was from 31 to 29, as Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had a 31-strong Cabinet when he submitted his resignation to the Yang di Pertuan Agong on 3rd April while Najib is now heading a 29-strong Cabinet!

Najib said that “The era where the government knows best is over” and that “We can only achieve our ambition for Malaysia if the government and people, in a united effort, work together for success and progress”.

Yet the first thing Najib did  as Prime Minister was  to violate this important principle that “the era where the government knows best is over” by appointing the most number of rejected politicians in last year’s general election into his Cabinet through the backdoor of Parliament, a fundamental defect which cannot be cured by Najib’s claiming that he has formed a People’s Cabinet!

Tsu Koon has denied that he is a “back door minister” – given prominence by Star today, with the headline
“’I’m no back door minister’ – Gerakan’s Koh defends appointment”
.

My blog has received email of a media report  (Sin Chew) in May last year with the headline,
“Exclusive Interview With The Gerakan Acting President: No Back Door Approach”
, quoting Tsu Koon as giving two reasons for rejecting any offer of Senator and Minister.

Tsu Koon quoted MIC President Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu that it was “going through the back door” if he accepted the offer as a Senator after being defeated in the general elections and that it would be “contrary to the true meaning of democratic elections” to become a Minister through a Senate appointment.

As for his ministerial portfolio of “Unity and Performance Management”, can Tsu Koon, who had been a Penang Chief Minister without power for 18 years and  who had to buckle down to the demands and pressures from lowly Umno divisional and branch leaders, have the power to monitor the ministerial performance of UMNO warlords in the Najib Cabinet like Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein?

Would his writ even extend to the MCA Ministers?

Tell it to the marines!

If Najib is serious about using the key performance indicators (KPI) to “stress impact and not input, results and not output, and value for money” to monitor the performance of Ministers, this portfolio should be the direct responsibility of the Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister and not be entrusted to a fly-weight  Senator Minister.

In the first place, is Tsu Koon able to work out and publicise a KPI framework to monitor the success of his other ministerial  responsibility, to promote national unity,  so that Malaysians can see the three Najib slogans of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” translated into policies, actions and results, particularly in reining in the extremist and irresponsible racialist and religious outbursts  by Umno leaders most recently manifested in the Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau by-elections.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 11 April 2009, 10:59 am and is filed under
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Tsu Koon – Super Minister or Superfluous Minister in Najib Cabinet?

Gerakan Youth leader Lim Si Ping yesterday hailed the Gerakan President, Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon as the
“Super Minister”
in the Najib Cabinet who is tasked with monitoring the performance of the other  28 Ministers.

Is Tsu Koon a Super Minister or Superfluous Minister in the Najib Cabinet?

If one is to strike out the most superfluous Minister in the  29-member Najib Cabinet without causing any ripples of having to find a replacement, it will be difficult to find another candidate than Tsu Koon and his portfolio.

How pathetic – to end up as a Superfluous Minister when he should be a Super Minister after 18 years as Penang Chief Minister, especially as he is the most senior Barisan Nasional government leader in the Najib Cabinet after the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak,  Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyideen Yassin and Information, Communication, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Rais Yatim.

He is even more senior as Barisan Nasional government leader than the other Umno leaders including Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Rural Development and Territories Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, International Trade and Industry Minister, Datuk Seri Mustapha Mohamad and Minister in PM’s Department (Law and Parliament) Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, not to mention the MCA President and Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, the MIC Minister for Human Resources, Dr. S. Subramaniam or the Minister for Agricultural Development and Commodities, Tan Sri Bernard Dompok.

As a flyweight in the Najib Cabinet, who will believe Tsu Koon can wield the powers and influence to monitor the performance particularly of Umno heavyweights like Muhyiddin, Hishammuddin, Zahid or Shafie Apdal – when as Penang Chief Minister, he could not exercise authority or influence over Penang Umno divisions or branches, as illustrated by the  “Chinese are squatters” political scandal  precipitated by the Umno Bukit Bendera division chairman, Ahmad Ismail  during the Permatang Pauh by-election last August?

However Gerakan  national leaders are not so naive like the Gerakan Youth chief as to believe that Tsu Koon has become a Super Minister, which is why the Gerakan Central Working Committee in its
statement
on April 10 welcoming the Gerakan President’s appointment into the Cabinet through the “backdoor” of Parliament  was careful to touch only on  Tsu Koon’s role to monitor the performance of the 40 Deputy Ministers, omitting all reference to Ministers.

Clearly  even the Gerakan CWC knows that it is ludicrous to expect a flyweight like Tsu Koon to monitor the ministerial performance of Umno heavyweights like Muhyiddin, Hishammuddin, Zahid or Shafie Apdal.

Never mind about being the “monitor” for the other Ministers on their  Key Performance Indicators to gauge their respective ministerial performance and achievements.

Is Tsu Koon prepared to set a KPI example for the rest of the Cabinet by being the first to make  public the framework and structure of the KPI to evaluate the success or otherwise of  his carrying out of the Ministerial portfolio  to promote national unity?

Najib had said when announcing his new Cabinet that he has created a separate portfolio in the PM’s Department to oversee national unity which will  “adopt creative approaches towards promoting national unity, in line with the concept of One Malaysia. People First. Performance Now.”

In other words, whether Najib’s slogan of “One Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” succeed or fail as miserably as those of his predecessors, like Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s “Cemerlang, Gemilang, Terbilang” and Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s “Amanah, Berseh, Cekap” , will be on Tsu Koon’s shoulders.

Is this what  Gerakan Youth leader meant when he said Tsu Koon is the Super Minister in the Najib Cabinet?

How can the Malaysian public evaluate  Tsu Koon’s  KPI to assess the success or failure in ensuring that Najib’s “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” is instantly the overarching philosophy of the Najib government in all fields and not just empty rhetoric?

Is Tsu Koon  able to come out with a website without any delay so that Malaysians who have complaints about the failures of the government in measuring up to Najib’s  “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” slogan can lodge their complaints and seek immediate redress?

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 12 April 2009, 11:57 am and is filed under
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“Najib, 1 Malaysia & 2 Bukit Tsunami”

Public Forum
:

“Najib, 1Malaysia & 2 Bukit Tsunami”

Date: 14 April 2009 (Tue)

Time: 7pm

Venue: Chin Woo Hall, Ipoh

Speakers include:

MP Lim Kit Siang, MB Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin, MP Ngeh Koo Ham, MP M Kula Segaran, MP Nga Koh Meng, and others

[Enq: Chris 016-2090545]

Q&A session included. All are welcome!

                This entry was posted on Monday, 13 April 2009, 3:42 pm and is filed under
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Najib’s 1Malaysia – does it mean “Ketuanan Melayu”?

The
interview
 given by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in
Mingguan Malaysia
 yesterday
“Kuasa penentu Melayu hilang jika terus berpecah”
may be appropriate coming from the Umno Deputy President but clearly unsuitable, most shocking  and even offensive coming from the Deputy Prime Minister of a plural Malaysia after more than half-a-century of nation-building and national unity efforts.

The following Q & A is one good example:

Q.
 Tetapi bukankah setiap kali pilihan raya kecil, permintaan kaum bukan Melayu dipenuhi, malah di Bukit Gantang walaupun peruntukan RM1juta diberikan tetapi kaum Cina tidak juga menyokong BN?

MUHYIDDIN:
 Ya, kadang-kadang kita berasa terpedaya juga kerana zahirnya nampak macam ‘ok’, sambutan dengan tepukan gemuruh tetapi mungkin sudah ada tertanam dalam hati iaitu sesuatu tidak mudah hendak berubah, pokoknya masalah isu Perak terutamanya di kalangan masyarakat Cina yang mungkin telah dipengaruhi dengan sentimen simpati kepada Datuk Seri Ir.Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin, kononnya dia ‘dijatuhkan’, lepas itu kononnya dasar memberi pegangan tanah selama 99 tahun dilihat dasar yang menguntungkan.

Ini yang mungkin menyebabkan sukar BN mendapat sokongan walaupun kita fikir bila mereka hendak sekolah Cina dibantu, kita bantu, sepatutnya mereka membalas budi. Pada waktu itu, kita pun tidak berharap sokongan kaum Cina akan meningkat 40 peratus dan sebagainya cuma kita berharap ada peningkatan sedikit tetapi apa yang berlaku ia mencatatkan penurunan, macam tidak ada penghargaan terhadap apa yang kita lakukan.

Oleh itu kita kena kaji psikologi apa yang menyebabkan masyarakat Cina tidak bersedia untuk berubah, pada zaman dahulu tidak begitu.

Persoalannya apakah mereka melihat dalam konteks senario politik baru ini, selepas kerajaan BN tumbang di lima buah negeri, mereka sudah menjadi kuasa penentu? Orang Cina rasa sekarang, walaupun mereka kumpulan minoriti, merekalah menentukan kerana kelompok masyarakat Melayu sudah berpecah tiga kumpulan. Masyarakat Cina tidak berpecah mereka bersatu, setidak-tidaknya dari segi semangat apabila bersama-sama membuat sesuatu keputusan.

Dalam keadaan ini, mereka boleh menentukan keputusan sesuatu pilihan raya dan apabila kesan itu dapat dilihat dalam pilihan raya umum lalu dan beberapa pilihan raya kecil, mereka fikir sekarang mereka lebih ada kuasa penentu, bukan sahaja Cina malah masyarakat India pun begitu, apa tah lagi apabila mendapat kedudukan dalam kerajaan yang ditubuhkan pakatan pembangkang dengan menjadi Timbalan Ketua Menteri, Speaker dan exco kerajaan negeri, jadi ini bagi mereka seolah-olah tawaran yang diberikan oleh pihak sana lebih baik daripada kita pernah tawarkan dalam konteks BN, jadi ini kita harus teliti.

Muhyiddin’s interview has been carried in the Chinese newspapers today, with headlines like
 “Muhyiddin – Chinese  ungrateful to BN”

(Sin Chew);

“Chinese fooled Barisan Nasional. Muhyiddin – Get benefits but do not vote in support”
(Nanyang)
;
“BN feels tricked. Muhyiddin  – Satisfy Chinese demands still no support”

(China Press)

It is most shocking that 52 years after national independence, the No. 2 in the federal  government of a multi-racial nation could come out with such retrogressive and most unacceptable  views about Malaysian democracy and nation building.

Firstly, Muhyiddin has confirmed that the Barisan Nasional is guilty of money politics in elections, using public funds especially in the form of development projects as baits to get support from the voters.

This explains Muhyiddin’s complaint about the Chinese being “ungrateful” and the BN being “duped” by the Chinese in getting various “benefits” without reciprocating by giving votes to the Barisan Nasional in the Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau by-elections.

The simple response to such a reactionary view is that the voters are only getting what belong to them as of right as Malaysian citizens when Barisan Nasional went around to distribute “instant noodle” development projects, and there is no question of the voters having to feel “grateful” to the Barisan Nasional as the monies  do not come from the private pockets of the Barisan Nasional leaders  but the public coffers of the government.

The voters of Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau did not “dupe” the Barisan Nasional; if any, it is the Umno and Barisan Nasional which had duped the voters for 52 years!

Secondly, Muhyiddin was being very mischievous in claiming that the Chinese and even Indians  in Malaysia want to be “kingmakers” in Malaysia at the expense of the Malays in the new political landscape.

Is this what Najib meant by his “1Malaysia” slogan?

Are the views propounded by Muhyiddin represent the  position of Senator Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, who has been appointed the Minister not only for KPIs (key performance index) for Ministers but also for Najib’s slogan of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now”?  What are the position of the  MCA,MIC and non-Umno Ministers in the new Najib Cabinet?

The Chinese and Indians  are not and do not want to be the political kingmakers in Malaysia.  Such a concept is most irresponsible and even dangerous and should not be encouraged.

What we want to see is the full, free and fair functioning of the system of parliamentary democracy in Malaysia where the kingmakers will be the Malaysian voters – Malays, Chinese, Indians,  Ibans, Kadazans, Orang Asli and all other Malaysians.

Thirdly, it is clear from Muhyiddin’s interview that he is still propounding the concept of Ketuanan Melayu (a camouflage for  Ketuanan Umnoputras) when after 52 years since Merdeka,  the time has come for  Ketuanan rakyat Malaysia!

It is also clear that the Umno leadership has not learnt the lessons from the March 8 political tsunami last year as well as the four by-elections of Permatang Pauh, Kuala Terengganu, Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau by-elections in the past eight months that Umno and Barisan Nasional have become politically irrelevant and that Malaysians, regardless of race or religion  want to be kingmakers to effect a major political change in the next general elections.

Muhyiddin’s retrogressive interview has raised the question as to what is the real meaning of Najib’s “1Malaysia”.

If it rejects DAP’s Malaysian Malaysia, Gerakan’s Malaysian Malaysia, even the Bangsa Malysia concept of Vision 2020, what does Najib’s “1Malaysia” really mean?

The first task of the Najib Cabinet at its first meeting on Wednesday is to define clearly the meaning of the Najib’s “1Malaysia” slogan to ensure that it is a motto  of unity and not of division.

The first task of Tsu Koon as the Minister for “1Malaysia” is to ask Muhyiddin to make a public apology for a most divisive interview which has given “1Malaysia” a bad name!

                This entry was posted on Monday, 13 April 2009, 12:30 pm and is filed under
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The Last UMNO Prime Minister

By
M. Bakri Musa

Newly-sworn Prime Minister Najib Razak created buzz when he released 13 prisoners detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and lifted the ban on Harakah and Suara Keadilan, publications of the opposition parties.  He also promised “a comprehensive review” of the ISA, a statute long abused to silence the government’s critics.

Malaysians long yearning for a change applauded him.  There were skeptics, of course.

Alas that was last week.  This week the hopes of those citizens were cruelly crushed when they saw the real Najib with the announcement of his new cabinet.  Far from being a team that would wow Malaysians, Najib’s cabinet was, as Tunku Aziz put it, “a team of recycled political expendables.”  And a bloated one at that!

The skeptics were right; Najib’s earlier act was nothing but a big and cruel tease.

This roster of “political expendables” was the best that the man could offer, from a leader who only a week earlier warned his party that it should “change or be changed.”  When given the ultimate freedom to choose his own team, Najib stuck to the tried and true, or what he thought to be so.  So this was Najib’s brave version of “Berani Berubah!” (Dare to Change!).

Najib is incapable of change; there is nothing in him to suggest otherwise.  He could not even recognize the need for one, much less respond to it.  Change would be totally out of character for the man.  Far from welcoming or be invigorated by it, change would threaten him.

Unfortunately for Najib, Malaysia has changed.  Incapable of change, he is doomed to be changed come the next general elections, from Prime Minister to Leader of the Opposition.  He will be our shortest serving chief executive, our Gerald Ford.  Ford was the unelected American President who assumed office following Nixon’s forced resignation over the Watergate scandal.  Like Ford, Najib too was not elected to the highest office.  Ford was subsequently rejected by voters; the same fate awaits Najib.

For Malaysia, that would truly be a wasted decade, with the first half already being squandered by Najib’s predecessor, Abdullah Badawi.

The True Najib

Najib is the obedient first son, the loyal subordinate, and the traditionalist aristocrat.  He even inherited his father’s ancient tribal title, Orang Kaya Indera Shahbandar!  How quaint in this 21st Century!  His career path has been straight and narrow, on a track that had been conveniently laid down for him by others who felt indebted or grateful to his illustrious father.

Najib has never shown a talent for striking new paths.  Even his ascendance to the Prime Minister’s office was paved by others, in particular Tun Mahathir and Muhyyudin Yassin.  Najib must remember that a favor offered is a favor owed.

Just as he was the obedient son, Najib was also the dutiful and loyal subordinate.  His blind obedience to Abdullah Badawi drew the wrath of Tun Mahathir.  As for experience, Najib has been dependent on paychecks from the public purse all his adult life.  He never had to meet a payroll; he has no idea of the trials and challenges of that endeavor; nor does he appreciate the sense of accomplishments and independence of those who have.

This is not the profile of a leader capable of making radical changes that Malaysia so desperately needs now.

Unfortunately the track Najib is on now ends at his office.  Ahead, for him and the nation, is uncharted territory, with steep hills to climb and wide canyons to traverse.  Turning back is not an option, as that path so carefully crafted by earlier leaders is now destroyed for lack of maintenance and prudent use.

That Najib is now portrayed as an agent for change is more a tribute to his highly-paid public relations operatives and the all-too-eager-to-please toadies in the mainstream media.  However, you could pedal a dud only for so long; sooner or later the ugly reality would emerge and the bubble burst.

When that inevitability happens, beware!  Voters react with vengeance when they feel that they have been hoodwinked by their leaders.  Ask Najib’s immediate predecessor, Abdullah.  The by-election results since the last general elections are portends for Najib and his party.

Totally Inept and Inadequately Prepared

Najib assembled his cabinet only last week.  Even then he spent that limited time talking with leaders of his Barisan coalition instead of with potential candidates.  He is clearly being negligent.  He knew he will be Prime Minster months ago; he should have been interviewing and short-listing candidates all along.  Being unopposed as president of UMNO and thus freed from having to campaign, he had plenty of time to preview his choices prior to last week.

I am particularly concerned with the choice of his deputy.  Did Najib have a private session with Muhyyudin before selecting him?  Nowhere is it written that UMNO Deputy President should also be the Deputy Prime Minister.  Najib is trapped by tradition.

Najib should have done a “Khairy Jamaluddin” on Muhyyudin, that is, keep him out of the cabinet and make him focus on rebuilding the party.  God knows, UMNO needs intensive rehabilitation as much as its Youth wing, if not more so.  Dispensing with Muhyyudin would strengthen Najib’s image as a reformer, quite apart from taking the sting out of having singly excluded Khairy from the cabinet.

Najib gave the very important Education portfolio to Muhyyudin.  Is Najib assured that Muhyyudin agrees with him on the major policy issues, in particular the highly contentious matter of continuing the teaching of science and mathematics in English?  Muhyyudin is unusually quiet on this.

It is equally hard to be enthusiastic on the rest of Najib’s team.  This is what happens when you choose your cabinet based on pleasing others, especially those whom you owe favors.

Najib struggled to get his team, just like Abdullah and Mahathir before him.  Like them, he too found the pickings slim as he fished only in the same polluted and shallow puddle of UMNO and Barisan.  He did not have the courage to venture beyond.

Najib unwittingly revealed much in his first few days as Prime Minister.  Thanks to his PR team, Najib managed to sound very positive, at with his promise of “a comprehensive review” of the ISA.  That sent orgies of praise for the man in the mainstream media and elsewhere.  The more perceptive (or skeptical) would note that he specifically did not mention anything about repealing it.

Then there was his announcement on the release of the 13 ISA prisoners “with immediate effect.”  In Najib’s lexicon, “with immediate effect” means at least three days later!  This shows how much he is in tune with the actual workings of the civil service.

If I had been Najib’s communications director, this is what I would have done.  Knowing how easily our civil servants could screw things up, I would first check with the Home Ministry, specifically the Chief of Police and Prison Director, to arrange for the release of the prisoners.  Send them to the nearby rest house at government expense if their families were not yet ready to receive them.  I would then alert television stations and other news media so they would be there to cover it.

Only after assuring myself that all those meticulous preparations are in place would I have Najib make his announcement.  Imagine the dramatic impact when the split screen on the nation’s television screens would also show the prisoners being released as he made the announcement.  It would also showcase the crispness of Najib’s new administration.  Had he done so, he would have been spared the embarrassment of his orders being delayed for days because of – you guessed it! – paperwork!

On the day Najib announced his new cabinet, the judge in the long running Mongolian model murder trial rendered his judgment.  Najib had been trying hard to ignore the grizzly tragedy, but it kept cropping up at the most inopportune time.  His strategy is to stonewall, banking that the success of his policies would make citizens forget the gruesome crime.

Najib is gravely mistaken in this.  Even if his ethics were beyond reproach, Najib would find his policies a tough sell.  Conversely, if he could clear up those sordid allegations (assuming of course he is innocent, a huge supposition) he would find that with his personal credibility now enhanced, the public would more likely buy into his policies.  Stonewalling is no strategy.

As it now stands, Najib is doomed to be the last UMNO Prime Minister.  He will not be even a “one-termer.”  He will go down in history as our shortest-serving Prime Minister.  Worse, it will be recorded for posterity that he was the Malay leader who brought down a once glorious organization, UMNO, an institution his late father was so instrumental in setting up.  All destroyed in just two generations; the first to build it, the second to destroy.  Truly a very Malay story!

For those who warmly applauded Najib on his first few days in office thinking that his was the dawn of a new day for the nation, I hope they would translate their disappointment into effective action.  Deliver to Najib his own KPI (Key Performance Index) at the next general elections.  It will be less than four years away; plenty of time to lay and grease the track for Najib’s (and UMNO’s) exit.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 13 April 2009, 11:01 am and is filed under
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