Posted on by Kit

Please walk the talk

— Lucius Goon
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 30, 2011

SEPT 30 — One day soon, I hope a Malaysian leader will emerge who will say what he means and means what he says.

This leader will not tailor his message to his audience, be in love with symbolic acts and depend on image makeovers.

This leader will not be afraid of making unpopular but necessary decisions and policies for the country and will not allow family members or associates to plunder the country at will.

Prime Minister Najib Razak last night spoke at a gathering of Malay business and economic NGOs. He told them not to be too infatuated with protectionism. That was good but in the same speech he also reminded them that the government had reserved more than 40 per cent of the massive MRT project for Bumiputera companies.

That certainly sounds like protectionism to me, and molly-coddling a group of businessmen and creating unnatural business conditions for them.

Najib’s mixed-signal speech last night would be the equivalent of a parent warning a spendthrift son that the days of loans to settle debts were over and then slapped the boy on his back and reminded him that money had been credited into his bank account.

Do you think that the son would be persuaded to change his profligate ways? Similarly, how many of the Malay NGOs last night would actually take to heart that message of cutting the reliance on protectionism, etc?

The more I see it the more I am convinced that Malaysia will only prosper and be a healthy democracy if we have leaders who mean what they say and say what they mean.

21 Replies to “Please walk the talk”

  1. You mean the 40 pct “reserved for bumiputras only” counts as protectionism ? Are you nuts ? That’s enshrined in Article 153 of the Constitution, so it’s “entitlement”. Get your wording right, boy….

  2. Giving Bumi companies even 100% of the project isn’t an issue provided that all those companies who got the project are based fair competition with tender price open to all. We have lived under negotiated tenders which invariably mean project costs increased by a number of folds. Such situation can mean only one thing: inflation down the line. Just like the toll road, a built-in inflationary system. Paying civil service with higher pay would attract better caliber candidates but when the majority of them is consider below average, then such increase will bring all the after-effects of inflation which will burden the rural poor the most! Very soon, we will be chasing the Zimbabwe-like dollars by being printed with larger and larger denominations! Maybe we need such environment to hit the equivalent of us$ 16,000 per capital by 2020.

  3. Is there truth in “Singaporeans would likely get ‘kidnapped’ in Johor”? Kidnapped only aah? Not worse, like shot at or killed?

    Did LGE walk d talk n talk d truth dat all Singaporeans oredi knew?
    Apologise 4 speaking d truth, nothing but d truth, Y? U know what, many S’poreans buy insurance b4 travelling 2 M’sia, d lawless n anything can 1 land, no joke 1

  4. If a leader cannot be leader, for what we have a leader ? If a leader is not rightfully a leader, then it must be a puppet. If a leader pushes all the job to somebody else, then somebody else should be the leader. The so call leader should just disappeared. Right ?

  5. Najib’s speech last night was meant to fish both non-Malay votes (when he said Malays are not to be too infatuated with protectionism) and Malay votes (when he said the government had reserved more than 40 per cent of the massive MRT project for Bumiputera companies).

  6. There is NO 40% or whatever percentage enshrined in Article 153 of the constitution. It is the same for the socalled ‘social contract’ that is being bandied about by the ketuanan melayu UMNOputras. In fact the rent seeking and beggar mentality was brought about by the evil Mamakthir Mohamad Kutty who decided to throw crumbs to the Malays in perpetual dilemma so that he can loot the kitty with impunity.

    The Pee M’s speech to the Malay businessmen and NGOs shows the hollowness of his 1Malaysia. 1Malaysia and its slogan ‘ People first…….’ is nothing but a great con job, hoodwinking the gullible uneducated Malaysians and a great public relations exercise to win over international support.

    Sad to say, not everyone is deceived. Even the warlords like his deputy is not buying into his 1Malaysia. Mooheedin has declared openly that he is a Malay first. In other words, he is a leader of the Malays only. He does not represent the other Malaysians in the country.

    Anyway it is no use paying too much importance to whatever the Pee M says. He is just playing to the gallery. He might just contradict whatever he says the next day and claim that he was misquoted by the media.

    He might turn out to be worse than the sleepy head exPM and the evil Toon put together.

  7. That is all UMNO talk. Razak said NEP was for 20 years. What happened after 20 years and now 40 years later? Najib does not have to be philosophical; he needs only to honour his father’s promise and stop NEP straightaway. He can easily use the correct and relevant statistics to confirm that NEP target has been achieved. But he chose to give empty talks. The Calicut Indian’s son also cried claiming that he could not change Malays’ mindset. Out of power, he said that Malays have short history compared to Chinese and Indians and they must be protected forever. That is UMNO talk. Najib is aping that Mamak. What is new?

  8. ///UPDATED 7.55PM Despite being widely reported saying that quotas have to go, PM Najib said he was merely inspiring bumi businesses to be independent.///–Malaysiakini

    It is no surprise about the intention. What is surprising is the speed he denies his sweet talk. Perkasa has not reacted yet. The denial is to prevent any suspicions among Malays now that some non-Malays are fooled.

    How can one expect Najib to mean what he was reported to have said when he wanted to soak kris in Chinese blood, in 1987?

  9. ///One day soon, I hope a Malaysian leader will emerge who will say what he means and means///— Lucius Goon. Well one never knows. Maybe one has already been born but he’s too young at present to be in politics! Or maybe he’s still exercising his right to remain silent. For conditions may be too hostile to walk the talk. If one were on the wrong side of the political divide, the talk, no matter how true or innocuous (like or eg crime rate in a state), will be deliberately misquoted and then used against him backed by demands that he “apologises”! And even for one at so called apex of the right political divide, the talk may be perceived as the surest and quickest way of ending one’s political career immediately. So it may be safer to talk the talk (especially with the right dose of ambiguity with words like “eventually”) that may still reap some voting support from raising the hopes of some quarters who like such talk whilst at same time allaying the fears of others who dislike it. There’s a limit to what a man can do positively but no limit to what a person can talk (positively). So what if one is often accused of talk cock- it’s lonely at the top, there’s others plotting 24 hrs to rid one of it, but one surely eats better up there than his accusers.

  10. It is hard for a true leader who walks the talk to arise in a political milieu that we presently find ourselves in – in which one can be forced to apologise for saying the truth and gets supported for telling lies – a sure indicia that the country is heading downhill.

  11. political talks are all a farce, by two-face, three-face, even four-face malaysian politicians. They sweet talk. They hook-wink. They double speak, they double talk. Full of deceit to different audiences. Money, corruption, abuse, etc. just to stay in office. And more money, corruption, abuse, etc. A mockery of malaysian democracy.

  12. I was amused by the latest PDRM promotional drive on tv touting their “blue ocean” strategy obviously reflecting on Najip. It should be appropriately called “blue film” or “filem biru” strategy.

  13. SPM 2012 leaked essay question:

    Name the great leader who declared his country to be “da best democracy in da world”. Compare and contrast him to Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin and Mao, and explain in detail how he is better than all of them combined. Explain also why he should be allowed to take over from that useless Obama in the white house.

  14. When have we receive a confession from Drug-addicts that they will never take drog again? The BN cronies will never be able to be weaned off the gravy train, not in a HUNDRED YEARS! He is still in the UMNO Parade ground with the retired sergeant-major sitting at the ring-side giving him orders: ‘ PUSING KANA, PUSING KIRI! GOSTAN! TERBALIK! TIDUR! BUNGKUS! BALEK RUMAH! And this is the result!

  18. The Sultan of Johor was angry when he heard report that somebody said to another person that Johor was not safe.

    Was the Sultan angry at the state government for not doing enough to protect the people? That is undestandble because it was not for the Sultan to prove or otherwise that the state was safe. But the fact that such remark was made points to the possibility that the state had not done enough toinvite the opinion.

    The Sultan said that he did not want to be involved in politics. It means that he did not want to take side as to which political party he would support in the opinions expressed by politicians of any political parties.

    Najib was presumptious that the Sultan was angry because he could not stand to hear the state being criticised. The Ruler did not have to take responsibility for running the state, and however the state was run, others take responsibility. So when the Sultan got angry, it was not against the people who criticised that state, rather it was against the persons responsiblefor running the state. Had Najib been a matured PM, he should have told Johor to make sure that the state is safe and seen to be safe rather than claiming that LGE apologized because he had stated facts. Najib did not know that in a democracy, there is freedom of speech, and there is also law to sue for libel. But Najib’s comment shows that as PM he knows not what democracy means and yet he claimed to make Malaysia the best democrcacy in the world. Is Najib’s world Kuantan?

  20. Our so-called leaders prefer to “Shiok Sendiri”, they don’t want facts. They will be very happy if you say that Johor is crime free.

    A little child is very happy because his teacher mistakenly gave him 100 marks although, in fact, he scored 0 mark.

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