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Wednesday, April 26, 2017

The people must keep score on those appointed to serve

Surely, it does not augur well for Malaysia if we have so many ministers behaving and acting without common sense.
FMT LETTERS
The-people-must-keep-score-on-those-appointed-to-serveBy TK Chua

A minister is in a position of respect and responsibility, hence those given the honour are expected to be credible, intelligent and wise.
It is rare to have ministers who are loose cannons, unthinking and brash. But in recent times, it is not so rare anymore. These ministers forget that they are the ministers of the crown, not of a political party.
When ministers make a statement or a decision, it is on behalf of the government of all the people. The people expect objectivity and impartiality.
When a minister openly declared that his ministry would no longer spend any money in opposition held constituencies, what does that tell us as a democracy?
When a minister, without clear evidence, openly blames the opposition for collusion with food outlets to increase prices indiscriminately, what does that tell us about his intelligence and objectivity?
When a minister doggedly set up a 100% Bumi-owned and -operated digital mall just because some trouble had erupted arising from a Malay youth stealing from a Chinese retailer at a popular digital mall in Kuala Lumpur, what does that tell us of his (the minister’s) character and impartiality?
What can we derive from the observations highlighted above? Surely, it does not augur well for Malaysia if we have so many ministers behaving and acting without common sense.
It would appear to me they are deliberately anti-democracy, obstinate, “economics illiterate” and maybe even racist.
When an MP made an outlandish statement on child rape, the nation rightly showed its scorn on him.
But what about a minister showing his utter contempt on democracy by openly and arrogantly wanting to deny projects and funding in constituencies held by the opposition?
Has the minister forgotten the opposition held constituencies are part and parcel of Malaysia? Has he forgotten that the people in those constituencies pay taxes just like anyone else in the country?
Why must the people have to accept such actions, instead of criticising him until he changes his policy?
When a minister blames the opposition for colluding with operators of food outlets to increase prices, it almost fringes on idiocy.
How could the opposition collude when there are thousands of food outlets in the country? What magical power does the opposition have?
It is blatantly obvious to us that when the minister is unable to rein in runaway inflation, all he does is to blame and divert attention, never mind that in the process he reveals his stupidity.
We know stupidity is not a crime, but obviously it has its consequences. Should we let stupid people run havoc?
What happened in Low Yat Plaza between a thief and a retailer was unfortunate. The incident was a crime, not a racial altercation. Somehow, a minister twisted the whole episode into a racial “exploitation” and “cheating” incident and as a consequence, Mara Digital Mall was born.
With the first digital mall set up in Kuala Lumpur, the minister has promised many more.
Don’t get me wrong, I am for affirmative action if a project is viable and good for national unity. It has been about one and a half years since its establishment, may be it is time for the minister to give us a full account of the mall’s performance.
When ministers choose to give thoughtless statements or make arbitrary decisions, it is time we the people keep score and repeatedly ask them to account for their actions. If not, more stupid and ridiculous statements or decisions will come our way.
TK Chua is an FMT reader

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