By Xavier Kong
LOOK, I know it has been a long few months, what with the Movement Control Order and the Conditional Movement Control Order, as well as the change in government right before that. But with the adaptation to the new normal, as well as changing lifestyles and habits to combat Covid-19, was there something I missed about making sure to do your homework before committing to something?
There was the whole brewery issue, and whether or not they were allowed to operate. First it was yes, then it was no, and it ended up becoming a moot point as breweries could operate anyway during the CMCO.
Then we have the various flip flops that come from the handling of interstate travel during the MCO and CMCO, where people started flooding back due to the early announcement of the MCO, then there was the whole thing with the university students, and visiting over the festive season. Honestly, I think Health Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham looks seriously tired of all this when it comes up.
Furthermore, there was the issue with migrant workers, with the initial promise that there will be no penalties for undocumented workers stepping forward to be screened and tested, to people suddenly being arrested in a sudden turnaround by the National Security Council.
Alcohol comes up again with the issue of drunk drivers, and a sudden suspension of new permits to sell alcohol by the KL City Hall, which makes no sense and jumps the gun, since few people are going to make the move to open up a new bar during the CMCO when social distancing still applies. In turn, this leaves the move questionable at best and severely uninformed at the worst, since it won’t affect places that already have the permit.
And now, now we have the broadband spectrum allocation, which was revealed on June 2, which was then annulled the very next day by the same minister who signed off on it, stating it was “due to technical issues, laws, and the need for a transparent process.”
Call me curious, but is it not customary to make sure you do your homework, due diligence, and fact-checking before making a decision, especially when said decision would very well impact the livelihoods and literally, lives of people?
Let’s just look at the latest example. The allocation of the bandwidth was meant to be an open tender affair, which would not only allow the best suited companies to offer their services for the betterment of the nation, but also ensure the highest quality of the infrastructure provided, while allowing other local players to potentially break into the market.
But no, let’s do a direct allocation instead, including to the company of a tycoon which no one knows hide nor hair about!
It would have been a different matter had this been an open tender, and the company in question had made it through by virtue of its proposal and its ability to follow through with it. That would have garnered some serious respect for that company to play with the big players, as it were.
Now, any victory that might have been won has turned to ash, following the backlash from the decision for a direct allocation instead of the fair and transparent process of an open tender.
Come now, minister, are you honestly telling us that the idea of an open tender is not transparent? Pretty sure this has been gone over, rehashed, refried, and served over and over again, that going back to a direct allocation, especially of something you yourself have agreed is a national asset, goes way across the line.
And really, I feel sorry for the rank and file staff who work for that telco. Any pride and joy felt over being one of five exclusive 5G frontliners in Malaysia is now dust in the face of the backlash of something beyond their control, from a decision made beyond their control.
That being said, could all of these people who are in charge of national direction in so many aspects just please do their homework and due diligence?
Haste makes waste, and any move to circumvent the transparent process required by law and the will of the people will subject any gains or achievements to questions of foul play. Don’t do this to the people who made it work, purely due to the decisions made way beyond their control. – June 3, 2020
