If you or I fail at business, we fail. If we cheat and fail, we go to jail. But if you’re rich and politically connected, your incompetence may be protected by a government bailout.
Robert Kiyosaki, American businessman and author
Sometime in May Tun Daim Zainuddin spoke of ‘menteri bodoh’ (stupid ministers) who contributed to the fall of the ringgit.
Daim was clearly pissed with ministers who made decisions and statements that frightened both investors and the Malaysian public.
He said people were being harassed by tax notices like never before: “Sebelum ini tidak pernah umum, bila Pakatan Harapan jadi kerajaan, hantar notis sampai lapan juta. Lapan juta notis kalau seorang isteri dan seorang suami sudah 16 juta, kacau ni. Anda bunuh keyakinan. Dulu mereka keluar makan, sekarang mereka takut nak keluar.”
(Before now, there was no public announcement, but when Pakatan Harapan becomes government, up to eight million notices were issued. Eight million notices, if you have married couples, then you have 16 million notices, this is disturbing. You’re killing confidence. Last time they had dinner out, now they are afraid to do that)
Daim went on to advise ministers to discuss with their press secretaries before issuing statements: “Kalau nak buat kenyataan, bincang tengok apa kesannya, bincang dengan pegawai kemudian bincang menteri dengan menteri. Bukan seronok-seronok buat kenyataan. Kalau positif keluar kenyataan, kalau negatif jangan keluar kenyataan, kalau negatif nak umum juga, bodoh lah.”
(I you want to make statement, discuss for possible effects, discuss with officers and then discuss with fellow ministers. Don’t make statement to please the self. Publicise positive statements, not the negative ones. It’s plain stupidity to publicise negative statements)
Are these ministers really stupid? If they aren’t why are they doing things that draw the wrong kind of reactions? Why do we have ministers officiating at the opening and launching of toilets and lifts?
Why do we have a minister launching his million ringgit flying car that turned out to be just a drone?
Apparently, he didn’t think people would see it as just a drone. To him it was a flying car and he wanted to surprise everybody, including the prime minister, so he had it launched without anyone knowing – also including the prime minister.
Not telling the PM beforehand was a bad mistake because if he had informed his boss, he would have been saved the embarrassment of being told later that what he had there was a drone, not a flying car.
But then again, the ministers are having a tough time looking for materials for their report cards.
You see, they have to get this report card to the PM before the year is out, so they are doing all sorts of things possible just to have something to report.
The first report card submitted was that of Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik. It was a very impressive one, and it sure makes it even more difficult for the other ministers to come up with something close to that.
Maszlee’s report card does look hard to beat but the one dilapidated schools beats me: “…the Education Ministry consistently gave top priority to this matter, and 90 per cent of dilapidated school projects have been completed, comprising 452 of the total 534 dilapidated schools which are now operational, while 1,216 science laboratories have been upgraded.” – Bernama December 13
The PM was quick to tell between a drone and a flying car, he should go to Sarawak to see if the state’s dilapidated schools have been addressed or not.
And then you have a minister who came to announce the PH government’s decision to revive the “sick” Lawas hospital project.
But this project was never “sick”. It was a healthy project that was waiting to be tendered out when May 9 GE14 overtook it. The incoming PH government decided to shelf many projects in Sarawak, and one of those was the Lawas hospital project.
Yes, the PH government scrapped it. It actually died because it was scrapped. The question of reviving a sick project did not arise. It was actually bringing to life a once healthy project that the PH government had killed.
The line is familiar. It is really no difference from how the PH government claimed it was inheriting a national debt that had hit the trillion mark days after it took over Putrajaya.
The Finance Minister kept playing up the trillion ringgit national debt for the next few months and telling Malaysians the PH government was working to bring it down.
And because it is a government free of corruption and abuse of power, the trillion ringgit debt had been reduced!
Did Malaysians rejoice? Or rather, how much exactly was the national debt? And how much lower is it now?
While the debate raged on, investors were pulling out, is it any wonder why Daim was so pissed with the PH ministers!
If Daim was in such a mood, there is no reason to believe Tun Mahathir was celebrating.
On Dec 8, when opening the Federal Territories DAP convention, DAP sec gen Lim Guan Eng proudly announced that the PH government had fulfilled 60 percent of the coalition’s manifesto promises and will fulfill the remaining 40 percent in 2020.
In other words, Malaysians will be celebrating over a lot more ‘feel good’ policies.
And what are these policies? Would a less bloated civil service and no pension for new government employees ― so that the government will be saving more money ― fall into the ‘feel-good’ category?
The year is drawing to a close, and 2020 is just days away, it’s Christmas Day, and for Sarawakians the ‘feel good’ is here and now.
It’s a time to spread joy and cheer, appreciate our blessings and honour traditions like ‘open house’ where we treat our family members, friends and relatives to food and drink, no matter our race or religion.
Sarawakians are unaffected by Zakir Naik and his ‘it’s a sin to wish Christians merry Christmas’. We are as unaffected by someone from Terangganu who told Muslims not to wear Christian costumes.
Sarawakians find strength in our differences, and celebrate everything we have in common.
We do our part to take care of each other, and make life better for the people around us.
That’s what Christmas is all about for Sarawakians. Merry Christmas, everyone.
