The Measure or Mismeasure of Man.

The Measure of a Man is the title of a book written by one of my favourite actors- that of the West Indian Sidney Poitier. It is also an opposite title of a book written by a scientist on the fallacy of eugenics. The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen J Gould, I think. Readers can pick their choice here- whether to think it as a measure or mismeasure of a man the subject matter discussed.

Here goes:-

At one point, our thought space was inundated by calls from so many telling our PM to fill his cabinet with clean people. The term 'clean' is indefinable. It can mean free of money politics. In that way only a few will qualify. It can mean morally virtuous. That prompted me to ask whether we were asking for people to become committee members of a surau or mosque. In the case of other religions, that would be members of their religious committees.

But there is another material measure that is more practical. Let us call it the Mahathir Corruption Index. It would probably rank alongside the widely used measure like International Corruption Perception Index and Transparency Index.

The MCI is still in a state of infancy. Its origins were fairly recent. It is said to have come upon the scene just as the Pemuda UMNO contest was about to begin. It hasn't yet developed a rigorous methodology as to how to reach a quantifiable measure. That explains why its usage is seasonal in nature. In the meantime, the starting point is just the pronouncement from the Oracle.

You get classified under this measure if TDM has his sights on you. If he says you are corrupt, then you are. If he says, you are relatively clean, hey presto, you are certified sanitised. For example, when TS Muhyiddin was the MB of Johore, he would have certainly been classified as such. This time around, he is certified clean.

The first test of its application appears to have been made when our PM, DS Najib created his first cabinet last Thursday. When DS Najib unveiled his cabinet, TDM commended DS Najib that he had done well. How well? Well enough to prompt TDM to say that DS Najib has created a cabinet that is more or less graft free. The more or less or maybe half past six graft free measure has been achieved by dropping most of the people who have been accused of corruption.

Here is something tricky. With the pronouncement, then there is a strong presumption that those who were jettisoned from the 1^st Najib cabinet such as:-

1. Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar (Home);
   
2. Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said (Tourism),
   
3. Senator Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib (Rural and Regional Development),
   
4. Senator Datuk Amirsham Abdul Aziz (Prime Minister's Department),
   
5. Datuk Ong Ka Chuan (Housing and Local Government),
   
6. Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed (Works),
   
7. Datuk Seri Zulhasnan Rafique (Federal Territories)
   

Two Deputy Ministers,:-

1. Datuk Idris Haron (Higher Education)
   
2. Datuk Noraini Ahmad (Human Resources).
   

are corrupt individuals.

If they are, what do we do next? Do we report them to the SPMR? But then the SPMR may get itself into a bind, because they haven't yet arrived at a methodology to make corporeal the new species of corruption. They will have to fall back on just a pronouncement from TDM which is just that- an anecdotal measure.

Also, by logical extension, those ministries from which the above were dropped represent places with the highest probability of committing corruption. This is an excellent predictive value and breakthrough arising from application of the MCI.

Probably because the science behind the MCI is still in its infancy, one or two individuals have managed to slip into Dato Najib's cabinet. Haiyya, sayy la. That would mean that Dato Najib's cabinet has not achieved top marks yet. It must be thoroughly cleansed. Maybe washed 7 times with dirt water to be followed by 7 times of wash with pristine spring water from the island of Langkawi. That's total immersion for you.

Curiously, a stringent application of this MCI is only mandatory on Dato Najib's cabinet. It wasn't that welcomed during TDM's time. Maybe the MCI wasn't even thought of then. It wasn't for self application. Indeed, during TDM's time corruption as he defines it was better tolerated. For example, Malaysia's ranking on the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index fell from No. 23 in 1995 to No. 37 to 2003. That worsening measure on the ICPI could only mean that more than one or two corrupt Ministers and Deputy Ministers got into his cabinet. Yet it was tolerated by TDM. That could only mean, that the MCI was still able to preserve its integrity even after allowing MORE than one or two got through. Hence using the MCI, it would seem that Dato Najib's cabinet ranks higher on the more or less and half-past-six graft free scale than Dr Mahathir's cabinet then.

DS Najib is already better than Tun Mahathir.

So we ask, which measure did Dato Najib use when choosing members of his cabinet and deputy ministers last Thursday? It could not have been the MCI for that would have required Dato Najib to accommodate more than one or two.

So, if Dato Najib's cabinet has only allowed one or two to slip in, this cabinet is far more superior to TDM's cabinet where definitely more than two got though. Or, if more than two managed to get through the MCI, then, that could only mean the MCI wasn't enforced or if it was enforced, it was done lackadaisically.

I will need Dr Watson to look for the one or two who have slipped in. That may not be elementary, Watson.