Day: June 24, 2012

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 24, 2012

24 JUN — Baru sehari dua menjadi Ketua Setiausaha Negara (KSN) Dr Ali Hamsa sudah bercakap politik, sedangkan beliau adalah ketua kepada 1.4 juta perkhidmat awam yang sepatutnya tidak menyebelahi mana-mana pihak dan bekerjasama dengan sesiapa atau mana-mana parti yang dipilih rakyat.

Kakitangan kerajaan merupakan pelaksana kepada apa-apa dasar yang telah digubal oleh sesiapa yang memerintah yang diberikan mandat oleh rakyat.

Ali menyeru kepada semua kakitangan kerajaan supaya memberikan sokongan kepada kerajaan yang ada pada hari ini dan jangan mendengar janji-janji kosong dari pihak pembangkang. Walaupun beliau berasa berterima kasih kepada kerajaan kerana dijadikan KSN manggantikan KSN yang lama ia tidak bermakna Ali boleh menafikan hasrat rakyat yang ramai yang merupakan empunya kepada negara ini.

Penjawat awam itu pun kepunyaan rakyat dan dibayar gaji mereka oleh rakyat termasuk gaji Ali itu sendiri. Penjawat awam seperti Ali ini nampaknya mesti melalui kursus sivik yang asas untuk memahami apakah jenis negara dan sistem yang ada yang beliau akan tadbir ini. Continue reading “Ali Hamsa! Lepaskan jawatan KSN, tanding atas tiket BN!”

— The Malaysian Insider
Jun 24, 2012

JUNE 24 — Datuk Seri Idris Jala has a tough job, to manage the performance and delivery of key government initiatives and targets from the economy to cutting index crime.

So, the minister and the PEMANDU chief executive has to work with the private and public sector on all these targets.

But telling the media how to report crime — be it solved or unsolved — isn’t really his brief. That’s just window-dressing, and there’s a limit to window-dressing, don’t you think?

The Sunday Star today carried an interview with Jala, where he called on the media to play its role in fighting crime and help arrest the “doom and gloom” by reporting on solved cases and not sensationalising crime by repeatedly reporting the same news. Continue reading “Crime: Perception and publicity”

— Gomen Man
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 24, 2012

JUNE 24 — I get it, Ali Hamsa. You are so thankful to Najib Razak for jumping over the queue of more senior civil servants to become the Chief Secretary that today you did something unprofessional: you urged your subordinates who are supposed to be non-partisan to become supporters of Barisan Nasional.

By doing so, you have forgotten about the great tradition of the Malaysian Civil Service, that great body which once upon a time produced stellar gentlemen as Abdullah Ayub, Malek Marican, Bhupinder Singh. Civil servants who understood that their loyalty was to King and country and the taxpayers.

That is why they were so careful with how government funds were used and why they fought off any attempts to turn the civil servants into puppets for politicians. Continue reading “Civil servant or politician, Mr Ali Hamsa”

Rom Nain
Malaysiakini
Jun 21, 2012

As the 13th general election looms on the not-too-distant horizon, the incumbents seem to flinch at giving us all a date when it will be held.

Indeed, the coast seemed clear for them to set a date some months back. But three letters, N, F and C, some related cows, cars and condos – and the predictable disappearance of few million ringgit of our tax money – started to screw things up.

Of course, no sooner had the minister involved been chastised and then, of course, cleared and forgiven, then the mainstream media got all that off our radar.

But, as the saying goes, it doesn’t rain, it pours. Continue reading “Monkey see, monkey do”