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Sakmongkol ak 47

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Monday 13 April 2009

A Look at Team Najib(1)

Some people erroneously think that
it's acceptable to take in below average person as a leader. Such thinking may be difficult to defend. We want leaders who ARE above average. We don't want a jaga sekolah or a gardener to become a deputy minister do we?

The suggestion that having below average talent as leaders is all right, implies as long as a system is in place, we should be all right. That would contradict the experience of most countries. There, we observed that the calibre of people who run the system is more important that the system itself.

This observation is readily illustrated in our implementation of the NEP. The NEP was a system to implement corrective economic measures to create a just and more equitable society. Even after it has been renamed and replaced by other corrective systems or regimes, the targets of achieving Malay economic parity with other groups in Malaysia has not been achieved. Most agree that the chief cause for the sluggishness has been the talent implementing the system.

The sluggishness in implementation can be retraced to the tardiness at the top when we tolerated the inclusion of below average talent. Many are familiar with the saying, sluggishness at the top leads to jackassadaisical implementation below.

It's no longer acceptable to have below average talent as team Najib. Otherwise it will still be labelled as half-past six. Very frustrating. We have a system. We need men to implement it. We need above average talent to do the job.

There's a place in the sun for everyone. But to each his own space and place. Being a leader, or a deputy minister or a minister is no average job. Consequently, we don't ill fit by putting someone who is below average there. In the Islamic religion it is said decline seeps in as soon as we do a misfit- putting a below average in an above average job or even an average person in an not an average job.

Despite my own misgivings about the term elite, when it comes to leadership of this country, the term brings with it, great significance. An elite corps is needed to lead and guide this country. That would sound unfair, but it is also reality. This country's fate and destiny would depend on a cadre group that will inspire and drive this country. Accordingly, the induction of people into this cadre group is the most important first task of the PM.

Let us take the 3rd pillar of the PM's motto. The performance bit is dependent on the quality of the leaders he has brought into the cabinet. I am not sure whether capability is the only criterion he has taken into account. No one has KPI-ed the selection process. Let us see who the doubtful inductees are.

That chap from Sarawak who happens to be the son of the Sarawak Chief Minister is said to be incapable of giving a decent answer in parliament. This seems to be the general impression which I obtained firsthand from many parliamentarians. In the past he has even been involved in pub brawls and was reported to have punched his lady friend in public. His indiscretions would make the revelation about KJ attending a party seemed a tame affair. Yet he is given a deputy minister's post. Political expediency appears to be a more deciding factor there.

Let us accept for the moment that Dato Seri Sulaiman's inclusion into Team Najib is seen as time spent at the apprenticeship phase. That would lend credence to widespread suspicions that he is being prepared for eventual succession to the CM's post in Sarawak. If this is the intention then his inclusion into the Dato Najib's team will serve only to further embolden BN's political enemies in Sarawak. A principal grouse in Sarawak is the almost universal rejection of the idea to have Taib Mahmud's son succeed him. The recent victory in Batang Ai
must not be seen as renewed endorsement of Taib Mahmud. The swing towards BN occurred only at the last two days of the by-election. The sudden volte face is suggestive of a change in heart possibly brought about by massive dosage of monetary intakes.

The trio in PM' department.

The appointment of Koh Tsu Koon after losing Penang is a mystery. It can only be rationalised as helping out Gerakan to retain whatever depleting credibility that it has left. Tsu Koon lost the election and he bloody lost the state of Penang. How can a junior partner to UMNO as compared to MCA be asked to play a role in uniting? National Unity is now under the portfolio of Tsu koon. We shall wait what creative measures he will take to forge national unity.

I hope he won't do a Syed Hamid Albar on us by suggesting to the PM the banning in the usage of certain terms like bangsa Cina or the word PENDATANG. So after this there will no more PENDATANG tanpa izin.

Was the move to include Tsu Koon a last minute answer to forestall the self implosion of Gerakan? Maybe UMNO wants to retain Gerakan as an equaliser to MCA's increasingly aggressive posturing?

And when the Gerakan people hailed Tsu Koon's appointment as a super minister they forgot that the term should actually be supernumerary. Tsu Koon is just excess capacity. If you are a medical doctor, Tsu Koon's inclusion in team Najib is just a 3rd nipple. Politically, Tsu Koon's role is just as reserve player and an errand boy. He will just play class monitor overseeing the performance of the 40 deputy ministers. Has he got the resourcefulness and temerity to apply KPI on full ministers especially on the performance of UMNO deputy vice presidents?

I would like Tsu Koon to carry out a watchful surveillance on the performance of Hishamuddin. Hishamuddin's has a track record of bringing with him a battalion of his supporters into the ministry he presides. Will Tsu Koon set up a special squad to monitor the activities of Hisham's battalion?

Law and Parliament Minister.

The inclusion of the obnoxious Nazri Abdul Aziz is indeed a surprise. The Mahathir troopers should watch out for this man. When he was vociferously condemning TDM, I wrote some scathing criticisms of Nazri Aziz. He was extremely abusive, disrespectful and infuriatingly given free hand to run down Dr Mahathir. And I saw none of the current Mahathir lovers denouncing this man.

So what role does this peon of parliament now play? Ah he has been given the additional duty to look after the laws of Malaysia. This was the duty performed by Zaid Ibrahim before.

The real role that Nazri Aziz will play will be as Najib's hatchet man should TDM continue to berate the new administration. Nazri, I suspect will be the voice that Najib isn't. Nazri will say what Najib will not and dare not- berating Mahathir. Other than that, Nazri is simply included in Team Najib because they go back together a long time. The PM calls him brader.

Economic planning unit is now assigned to the vadey-for-breakfast Nor Mohammad Yaakob. Vadey is good for the bowels you know. We will need large intake of vadey in the morning to rein in the goodfellas in the Economic Planning Unit.

Nor Yaakob is probably included on account of his experience in economics. He played a pivotal role in the 1997 economic crises as Dr Mahathir's chief economic enforcer. He flew to South America to brief our own great Helmsman on the currency crisis then. Personally he is seen as a workhorse with the ability and capability to manage the EPU. At the same time, let us hope his son doesn't buy another Lamborghini to celebrate the father's success at being retained as minister.

14 comments:

Anonymous,  13 April 2009 at 11:55  

Sak

Betwen the average and the corrupt, I'd have the former any time. Of course I'd like to have the above average and not corrupt fellows.

The country must have it; it's in quite a lot of shambles already. Hopefully the 6 monthly reviews would lead to weeding out the below average and the corrupt.

I agree with practically everything else you said. I'll give credit to DS Najib for at least getting rid of the really useless and corrupt from the last cabinet. He has already said we can speak up, he reads blogs, and would depart from the "Govt Knows Better" routine. We will continue to speak up as it might even help him in checking the Class Monitor control the calss, if at all the Monitor can.

Walk D Talk 09 13 April 2009 at 13:14  

Having Muhkriz in the Kebinet too is a big mistake and soon will be a damage for naib, klik here

Walk D Talk 09 13 April 2009 at 13:17  

Huh , Rais yatim sepatutnya kini sudah berada di Reject Shop , kini cakap besar polok doh , nak kasi tahu kat orang yang dia bagus sanagt boleh duk bawah 5 Menteri, Apa rahsia dia , apa lagi , talam dua muka dan bodek. Najib pula dah janji siapa yang tekan pak lah ada kerusi More related story on rais

Anonymous,  13 April 2009 at 13:29  

If in 6 months that son of the Sarawak boss,the MCA boss @ transport,the sole MIC representative and the DPM fails to make the cut i.e didn't hit their so called KPIs...would DS Najib sack them?
And...most of these Ministers were serving under Mr Badawi...and generally that admin was considered a failure >> why are they back in town?Even DS Najib?...in reality,in our culture the No 1 guy is so powerful and the role of the other members of the cabinet is only to say "Yes Boss"...definitely do not need Oxford cred for that.

Idzan Ismail,  13 April 2009 at 18:39  

I agree with Walk D Talk 09 on Rais.
He is well past his shelf life.
Just wonder how a burnt bridge is still upright.
Or is it now a crooked bridge.
Then there are too many senators.
Why must Shahrizat and Chew Mei Fun be senators.
Just appoint Kamilia Ibrahim in place of Ijat since she is MP.
Najib can offer the same reasoning for Razali in the cabinet and not Kairy.
And why is Masitah Ibrahim still there?
Do not put just any woman to have women quota.
Every women know quality.
The Puteri woman should not be there.
Will she be like Azalina and Noraini whose tenure is short-term?

Anonymous,  13 April 2009 at 20:30  

Ordinarily, in developing countries, the most important posts are the Mome Ministry, which controls the powers of arrest, and the Defence Ministry, which ensures no power grabbing by the Armed Forces. Though we are not comparable to African and Latin American countries in the frequent arrest of dissenters and in the occurence of coup d'etats, the Home and the Defence Ministries are still very important to whoever holds political power. DSN has taken care of these by the appointment of his own cousin and his trusted ex-Political Secretary. It is understandable though not necessarily appaludable, considering the credentials of these two. We now hope that Hishamuddin will perform better than the messy education system he has left behind and that the new Defence Minister would not allow hefty commissions being built into defence purchases, and have such purchases transparent as far as possible, not always hidden under the cloak of secrecy.

I think it was a smart move to have DPM Muhyiddin as Education Minister. He appears to be a no-nonsense kind of person and hopefully can have a thorough review of the education system, devise one that can produce a true Bangsa Malaysia, without the racial tension - however slight it may be - that has arisen from weak leadership in recent years. No simple task this one, with varying concepts and definitions, but the interests and the views of the Malays who form the majority in this country must be given priority. Otherwise they will express their dissatisfaction at PRU 13. The review would take time but a new policy decision can be made before PRU 13 and BN can score or lose points at that time.

Anonymous,  13 April 2009 at 21:13  

The rise and fall of great ancient civilizations. Where did it all go woefully wrong for them? Many of these civilizations have left great structures for tourist to pay big bucks to fly around the world to see and be photographed with. Where did it all go so horribly wrong for these empires that all we have left of their existence are those structures they created? What were their governments/rulers of the day doing and thinking?

Anonymous,  13 April 2009 at 21:37  

Anon 21:13

Would be good to know the answers. As you see them.

And how they may apply to Malaysia now.

Tok Pendita 14 April 2009 at 00:25  

I don't have an ounce of respect for Nor Mohamad Yaakob. The reason is nothing to with his performance as a minister. Many years ago when Tun Dr M was still the PM, news on TV showed Nor Mohd Yaakob bowed and kissed Tun Dr M's hand. Can u believe it? A 65-year-old man bowed and kissed the hand of Tun Dr M who's about his age! I can forgive if he kissed the Agong's hand, but this is a Prime Minister!

Quantum Metal Consultant 14 April 2009 at 02:03  

Tok Pendita, apa nak hairan kalau Nor Yakob cium tangan Mahathir kalau hari ini ada juga yang bersara dan tua tetapi sanggup jadi tukang cuci najis KJ !!!

Ada orang hari ini anggap barisan kabinet Najib hancus sekadar tidak melantik KJ sebagai Menteri.

King Bundy,  14 April 2009 at 02:53  

KJ isnt corrupt, he is being stitched up from the word go. We all know who is behind it and many many delegates were oissed off as the so called clean candidate was throwing money down on the last night because he was too far behind. even for the Open endorsement to the last minute pump, he still could'nt make it. why?

ITS ALL A STITCH UP. Some older bloggers know this drill, when one goes against the current, he will be dealt with a fast un-honorable political death where he will be tainted and walk this land a leper.

Whole thing is set up.

Walk D Talk 09 14 April 2009 at 04:51  

1. MACAM MANA RAKYAT MAHU UNDI BN - BARU MENANG JAWATAN NAIB SUDAH PAKAI 6 BODY GUARD KETIKA BERKEMPEN .
2. APA KHABAR AZALINA ?
JANGAN MARAH JIKA SAYA TULIS - INI SATU KEYATAAN YANG PERLU KITA PERBETULKAN, WALK LA D TALK HAH , DON'T JUST TALK TALK HAH.....
here

Pak Zawi 14 April 2009 at 07:11  

Dato' Sak,
This is a great start. We will compile a profile of our Ministers and Deputy Ministers as they are now. Though they maybe subjective, nevertheless they are still useful to provide us with a benchmark. We will see how they go from here. At least they know what we know about them.

Anonymous,  14 April 2009 at 10:23  

Kluangman?
Aku tak tahu pun. Siapa yang dok cuci najis KJ? Bapak ke atok hang??

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