Thursday, March 20, 2008

An Analysis on Cabinet 2008

Malaysiakini had published the Full list of 2008 cabinet .
For a free viewing of the cabinet list, you can go to The Malaysian Insider

I received an e-mail today. It is an analysis of Pak Lah's new cabinet.
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Dear All,

First of all, I would like to congratulate Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi on his re-appointment as Prime Minister along with formation of his new cabinet.

Nevertheless, I am quite disappointed with this new formation of the cabinet and my voice speaks out to the whole nation. After losing the heavy battled election, Pak Lah should realize by now (a Chinese proverb saying that a man will be wise once he is older), that change is needed. He needs to get the support of people who are good in the art of government to back him up if he intends to further his political career and at the same time safeguarding the interests of Barisan Nasional, the governing party in Malaysia.

I love Malaysia and I do not want to see our country falter. The again, we should not fall behind due to the incompetency of our government officials. All we have is Malaysia Hope, Malaysia Boleh, Malaysia Harmony and Malaysia Economy. As a nation, this is all we have. However, with the newly announced cabinet lineup, I fear that we are heading towards failure. Hope is all we have now:

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak – Deputy Prime Minister, Unfortunately, the ministry under his charge was implicated in a case of national, international and world-wide attention- and this case is still brewing with intrigue and scandals. Considering that the case is still unresolved in the Court, it is only prudent that he should not be re-appointed Defence Minister nor even Deputy Prime Minister. The C4 bomb in question in the case was used in the murder of Altantuya.

Datuk Mohd Zaid Ibrahim – He is a newly appointed senator and has been involved in politics since 2000. Previously, he was the BN Member of Parliament of Kota Baharu in the state of Kelantan. However, the experience in governing is important because it sets apart the politician and the public administrator. Appointment in government as a full minister, is absolutely mind blowing. Everyone seeking an office as a Minister should go through the proper steps, firstly by becoming a Senator in the first term in the Dewan Negara, then Deputy Minister and then finally Minister.

Datuk Amirsham Abdul Aziz – I would give the similar reason and analysis of Zaid Ibrahim to this appointment. What is fascinating is that how does a banker get involved in the Prime Minister's Department of the Economic Planning Unit. He should be involved in the Ministry of Finance as they would benefit from his experience. Otherwise, he should be appointed Deputy Minister of Finance. Let's face it, he is more of a banker than a politician.

Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said – Her experience is managing the sports industry as a government portfolio rather than tourism. As such, she should be retained to continue the good work she has done thus far as Tourism Minister. The tourism industry in Malaysia has taken a hit from tourists preferring to go to Thailand, Cambodia and Singapore respectively. What Pak Lah should do is to bring someone who is knowledgeable and experienced in the tourism industry rather than someone who is more well versed in the sports industry.

Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib – With his previous charge in Australia, should we not be concerned with his integrity? I guess I would not want him as full fledged Minister but rather a Deputy Minister, push comes to shove. However, if Pak Lah insists it, then so be it. In addition, there is the concern is that as a fully fledged minister, one does wonder if there would be any swindling or breach of trust issues going on.

Datuk Liow Tiong Lai – Here is a person who is not a doctor, yet is appointed as Minister of Health. He has not a single prior experience in the healthcare industry. The Malaysian medical fraternity may question the issue of his appointment due to his lack of exposure in the healthcare. I do not think he is suitable yet then again, there are no qualified doctor cum politicians who is either an MP or a Senator.

Datuk Seri Zulhasnan Rafique – Do we still need a Federal Territories Minister and considering that only 2 MP seats out of 12 are from BN? With 10 MP seats gone to the opposition there would be some policy making gridlock. I would suggest simply closing down the ministry as it is a waste of public funds.

If Pak Lah has any intelligence left, he would choose a minister with experience. The person should have experience in public administration affairs or an industrial background experience related to a particular ministry. We all know that a tiger eats meat, but now it seems that a tiger eats vegetable also.

Let us not forget that the economy has gone sluggish and crime has increased significantly since Pak Lah's ascendancy as Prime Minister in 2004. Let us all hope that this shrunken cabinet truly represents the peoples' interest.

Article by Steve Peter H S Kok
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15 comments:

H J Angus said...

Here is a way of looking at the Cabinet using colours.

http://malaysiawatch3.blogspot.com/2008/03/malaysias-cabinet-colours-paint.html

Anonymous said...

So Steve,

Who would you recommend instead in the Cabinet? At least throw up some names lah, don't just kutuk.

Anonymous said...

your analysis does not make sense.
if you said that zaid ibrahim and amirsham is too inexperience as a minister than there is not many candidate left.....
i think if they are capable to run a big organisation like maybank, i do not think inexperience stand......

by the same token, we should not vote for PKR-DAP as they have never administer a state before....

Anonymous said...

YES, I fully agreed with anonymous. These analysis are not in-depth at all. Just bull. It is a waste of time.

Tiger

Anonymous said...

if we were to go by your arguments Obama should be serving in the Bush cabinet to gain experience... not running for president...

Amin Ahmad said...

i beg to differ some sort of analysis here.

let say BR win last GE, do u really think all the MP's really have experience(s)?

let's think as a malaysian, not as a member of any coalition or party :)

my 20 cents :)

Anonymous said...

I too think that some of your analysis doesnt make sense. Zaid Ibrahim and Amirsham may not have experience as ministers, but I think they have the necessary experience to contribute positively.

I am more concerned when people come into government without any such experiences. Bloggers entering the government for one is a concern of mine (no personal offence to anyone though).

Anonymous said...

Your wrong on several accounts.
1. Azalina was embroiled in the controversial UK sports complex which was conveniently swept under the carpet. She should be left out in the cold.
2. Minister of Health, there are no qualified medical doctor in the cabinet? What about Dr Ng Yen Yen? Is there some biased against women in what is perceived as a man's domain? Badawi's cabinet suggests an inclination towards regarding women as less capable than men, therefore relegating women MPs to less important posts.

Oh how we wish that the day will come when our MPs are not only clean, they must also be seen to be incorruptible. Only then will will the nation respect the powers of the day.

Man On The Street

Anonymous said...

The biggest change with need is at the top 2 positions in the cabinet. Both are supposedly the drivers of the country for the next 4 years or so. Without both of them, we stand a better chance of coming out from this present political uncertainty or revolution or whatever we perceive it may be and start afresh. We didn't vote for a change to see the top 2 desperately clinging on to their positions. As such, this cabinet to me is irrelevant.

Anonymous said...

This is for real... Pak Lah is a God Fearing man.. since coming to Power he realised how bad things were with UMNO, the party stopped wprking for the people, wanted to make more money for themselves and clearly enrich their cronies.

One day, after his Prayer, he receives inspiration that he must change Umno, deep inside he knows the cancer has spread in UMNO, it is so bad that it cannot be cured, he opts for euthanisia for UMNO.

All what we witness today, the demise of UMNO is the result of this action. Twenty years from now we will Thank Pak Lah, the true father, who sacrificed big time for the good of the Malatsian people.

So, give Pak Lah the true credit he deserves, and a Grand Going Away Party.

Orang Utan said...

I think you are ill advised. Liow Tiong Lai makes a good candidate for Health Minister. Why? He has a degree in Nutrition Science. Also, it is not true you said there were no doctors in the present cabinet lineup. Dr Ng Yen Yen is a gynecologist.

Anonymous said...

I agreed with Steve's statement and it is a good analysis he made up.

It is true that most of the new faces in the cabinet should start at the deputy level.

Anonymous said...

Facing huge recession soon & we need to have good cabinet team. Look at Singapore, the PM get the people at the right field & now so successful. We are in debts and no safe (crime lots)

Anonymous said...

Sekarang UMNO pun messy dengan coalition pun.

Bagi DAP, PKR dan PAS chance dulu, tengok bagaimana mereka boleh ubah keadaan dulu. BN under Pak Lah sudah berapa term...1 1/2..sekarang 2 terms ...tak ada banyak ubah negara...lagi messy sekarang.

Anonymous said...

Bukan kita tak bagi chance kepada Pak Lah, dah 2 terms lebih. Get orang suitable dalam kementerian, right people right job.

Kalau ekonomi baik, rakyat tak akan bimbang, rezeki pun baik, harmoni dan attack dari blog-blog ada bukti.