WITH the July 31 expiry of one element of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Transformation and Political Stability between the Government and Pakatan Harapan (Pakatan) – i.e. the part that pledged to avoid triggering a general election prematurely before July – the stage is set for the dissolution of Parliament to make way for the 15th General Election (GE15).
But even before the expiry date was reached, most political parties have already upped the ante by organising roadshows and making statements that reflect an earnest and intense preparation for GE15. This has contributed to an atmosphere of election fever.
DAP is the most hardworking, using every available platform, including even Parliament and social media, to its maximum advantage.
Seputeh MP Teresa Kok recently drew flak from many Malaysians for making a mountain out of a molehill over the question of the Malays’ preponderance in the civil service.
It all started innocently as a question in Parliament when she asked for a breakdown of the racial composition of the civil service and if the Government has any plans to make it more representative of the Keluarga Malaysia concept promoted by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
Kok had a field day on July 20 she made a statement based on Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Special Functions) Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad’s written reply, alleging, inter alia, that race-based policy in recruitment and promotion has made many talents reluctant to apply to join the civil service.
Why blame the Government for the low intake of the Chinese when they are not interested in applying for a job in the civil service, asked Kok’s 14th General Election (GE14) candidate Chan Quin Er from MCA.
The Malays are in preponderance simply because not only are they interested in getting a job in the civil service, but they also care to apply, as compared to the Chinese or Indians.
Strange that the opposition will always say all Malay political parties, especially those in the Government, are whipping up identity politics to gain power.
Here then is a clear example of a DAP MP scoring points by playing up identity politics – perhaps because she and her party leaders could already sense that they will be trounced in GE15?
Not that identity politics is necessarily bad; it’s just natural for one to help their community first (as long as the assistance given is not at the expense of the other communities).
“Don’t give silly excuses”
Hence, Kok should not give silly excuses blaming the race-based policy, lack of promotion and opportunity for career advancement, and low salary structure for the small numbers of Chinese in the civil service since these apply to all.
If there are many Chinese in the civil service who experience a lack of promotion, there are many more Malays experiencing this in the civil service. Similarly, if there are some Chinese earning a low salary in the civil service, we can find many more Malays having a low salary in the civil service.
Moreover, the research done by Chan shows the two categories in higher positions collectively known as Turus and Jusa (which of course mean higher pay due to promotions) comprise 3,300 Malays (0.3%), 388 Chinese (0.53%) and 243 Indians (0.51%).
You can’t really encourage people to work in the civil service if they are innately not interested in it.
If Kok has a better idea on how to do this, then she should share her idea in Parliament for the Government to take it up instead of whacking the Government for the non-existent race-based policy in recruitment and promotion in the civil service. Blame it instead on her sloppy research and for coming up with such superficial and race-centered conclusions.
The minister has other important jobs to do, and it’s good that he didn’t waste his time spoon-feeding Kok with more statistics. As an MP, she is paid quite a hefty allowance and salary, so she should not be lackadaisical and stingy in her research.
If she had done her research properly, she wouldn’t have even had to ask this question in Parliament.
Perhaps the time has come for those who are pressuring the Government to consider cutting the salary of ministers to also ask the Government to consider cutting the allowance and salaries of MPs so that they will always be thorough, careful and on their feet in making any statement instead of being a loose cannon.
By the way, Chan’s research has been viral. (Watch her video here)
You may have heard of the quotable quote on statistics: “There are lies, damned lies and statistics”, attributed to Mark Twain. But what I like most is the quote by Fletcher Knebel: “Smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics.”
Knebel’s quote hints at arriving (concluding) at something with no concrete substance as the aim of statistics. And to wit, we are all indeed “smoked” by Kok’s conclusion on the data provided by Latiff.
Perhaps Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin should also take note because this involves “smoking” of the wrong kind, which will affect the political health of the country.
The LCS scandal
There was also a subtle hint of identity politics when DAP publicity secretary Teo Nie Ching (an MP and a former deputy minister) urged former premier Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak to explain why he, in his capacity as then finance minister, resorted to giving favourable treatment to the main contractor Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) for the project to build six littoral combat ships (LCS) for the Royal Malaysian Navy.
And the rejoinder from Najib in a Facebook post: “It’s because BNS belongs to the Armed Forces Pension Fund (LTAT), which belongs to every Malaysian military personnel. And I accept that LTAT is my ‘crony’ as our military and the rakyat as my ‘cronies’.”
“Besides, I wanted LTAT to reap good profits so that it could offer dividends and bonuses as high as 10% to its contributors – unlike the paltry rate between 2% and 3% disbursed during Pakatan’s time. And BNS is the only company in Malaysia that has its own dockyard fully equipped to acquire, build and surrender such ships to the navy.
“So, if not LTAT, who do we give the project to? Vincent Tan? The company involved in the Penang undersea tunnel project? Do we purchase it straight from other countries?” Najib asked.
The question that Teo should ask is why did it take a long time for the authorities (both during Pakatan’s time and its predecessor, Barisan Nasional or BN) to discover the irregular practices of some officials in the LTAT and BNS that led to the LCS controversy – NOT why BNS was given the contract.
Hence, there is a subtle hint of identity politics here when every Malaysian knows about the preponderance of the Malays in the military.
The grand idea is to find something like the 1Malaysia Development Board (1MDB) saga to hit the Government and its coalition partners with during this election fever and GE15 so that a repeat of 2018 will occur, and Pakatan can then return to power.
Political analyst Awang Azman Pawi, for instance, said the RM9 bil LCS controversy was being used as a “political weapon” by the opposition.
And the timing that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, led by a DAP member, Wong Kah Woh, in releasing the report on the LCS scandal is too good to be true to call it a coincidence; right smack at the height of election fever.
The PAC began its probe into the procurement of the ships in 2020 and had called several officials to testify before it. The issue was first raised in the 2019 Auditor-General’s (AG) Report, with the PAC calling former defence minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and several former senior officials to testify.
“Why did PAC take so long?”
The question is: why did it take so long for the PAC to conclude its findings after two years of starting the probe, and why did it then conveniently release the report at the height of an election fever?
Since releasing it later would be worse, especially just before Parliament is dissolved, it should have been released either earlier this year or at most in June when the MoU between the Government and Pakatan calling for an election not to be held before July was still in place and the element of stability was still there.
If we don’t want to impute politicking on the part of Wong, then the inability of the PAC committee to produce and release the report earlier is just a matter of sheer inefficiency and a matter of not knowing its priorities.
Hence, the call of cutting the allowance and salaries of MPs in this trying time is justified.
I’m not a fan of Najib. The problem he faces with the 1MDB scandal is his alone, and thus it is his problem alone in facing the music in the courtroom.
But just because he was convicted in the SRC International case, it doesn’t necessarily mean he is also guilty of decisions he made as the prime minister or finance minister on all other issues.
This bestial vindictive mentality on the part of the opposition when it was in power has resulted in many blundering decisions on their part just to get back at the previous administration – for instance, in the Sulu claims saga.
At the end of the day, only those who have committed or masterminded wrongdoing must face the wrath of the law, and vindictive witch-hunting attempts of the alleged wrongdoers should be put to a stop unless there is solid evidence to the contrary. – Aug 20, 2022
Jamari Mohtar is the editor of Let’s Talk!, an e-newsletter on current affairs.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Photo credit: Bernama
