Malaysiaku, Negaraku

As Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad prepare to announce their political futures on the very day of Anwar Ibrahim’s party convention, the optics of this timing cannot be ignored. I have a crucial piece of advice for these two leaders as well as many of their followers, as they navigate this pivotal moment. It is easier for me as an outsider to see what these two young Turks fail to see. Rafizi may be assisted by people who know how to project him even through a piece of photograph — even using the background of a morning sun — that depicts him and Nik Nazmi as promising  future leaders.  After reading and understanding some insights, hopefully, you will see through both Anwar and these two young Turks. Let me begin with Rafizi when he first pulled out of politics. His announcement was that he would retire from politics forever. Obviously, he is inconsistent with his own words. When I tried to persuade him to return to politics, he projected himself as one who was deeply hur...

  One ministers, whose work is hardly appreciated by all, is Datuk Seri Dr Zaliha Mustafa, former Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of the Federal Territories. When she was picked to helm the ministry, I knew that she would do a good job to “revive “ the city of Kuala Lumpur.  My first appointment with her was at her office in Putrajaya, overseeing the lake and the iconic bridge in Putrajaya, where together with her personal assistant Ooi Heng we spent nearly two hours of her precious time to discuss about the city.  Having lived in Kuala Lumpur my whole lifetime, I noticed that over the years, great projects had come and gone. What was left of the city was almost nothing we could be proud of to show to our visiting guests or relatives from overseas. “Kuala Lumpur is a soulless city,” I told her. Little did I realise that a number of the ideas that i had always wanted to see happening in the city came to live, and here am I to unravel them one by one t...

  Apa ceritanya, baca untuk ketahui  Aduan Sifar memang boleh dicapai jikalau penjawat awam terutama sekali mereka yang berada dalam kategori Pengurusan itu memaparkan sikap yang lebih proaktif, seperti dalam contoh ini. Saya meneriima satu video seperti yang di atas yang dibuat oleh seorang rakyat biasa menggunakan gambar Google Earth. Beliau  tidak dapat mengambil gambar di tempat kejadian tersebut kerana kelajuaan kenderaan yang datang dan Jalan Kepong yang boleh menyebabkan kemalangan dan nyawa tergadai begitu saja.  Selepas mendengar video tersebut walaupun ianya dibuat menggunakan dialek Kantonis yang biasa digunakan antara kami berdua, saya membuat hantaran video ini kepada Tuan Narendran Maniam, Ketua pegawai eksekutif IWK untuk tinjauan beliau.   Selepas beberapa ketika, beliau memberitahu bahawa team dari IWK akan pergi siasat.  Dalam masa yang singkat sahaja, Narendran memberi maklumbalas:  “Paip air kumbahan kami pecah 450cm RCP. Ini diseba...

  Every Saturday, while I drive past these five MyKiosks at Persiaran Angsana, Bandar Sri Damansara, I think of the RM150 million allocated by the Ministry of Housing & Local Government for this grand project.  Although this is supposed to be a noble project to help hawkers, its implementation is obviously the reason why it is successful or it is but a flop.  The minister, Nga Kor Ming should understand that the implementation tasks can be delegated to the local government, but overall, it is still his responsibilty to ensure that his pet project is successful and achieve its intended objectives. You simply cannnot delegate a task and expect it  to magically produce the results.  It is the same with the efforts to rebuild the habitat for wild monkeys beside Jalan Gallagher. The lady who has successfully implemented the idea of restoring the habitat of the wild monkeys so that they return to the trees, has sent his political secretary a call for help to mobil...

Changing the mindset is the most difficult task in reform, but necessary if the country wants to move out of its mediocre mindset While we can fully understand that it takes time to reform this present government, the onus is on each minister, not to mention the Opposition, too have a part to play as well. If this country’s civil servants continue to do business as usual (BAU) and what’s worse is the Ministers concerned have been wshispaered to either by email or via WhatsApp either to themselves or their political secretaries, yet nothing is done, it is unfair to then blame the lack of reform on just Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for everything sundry. For example, a longstanding issue faced by people who apply to the Social Welfare Department can be summarised with just one word: REJECTION.  Changing mindsets is the most difficult task and if there is obvious misconduct or malfeasance by the department’s staff, the axe may have to be wielded; otherwise no amount of counseling wil...

  Dato' Sri Nancy Shukri Minister of Women, Family and Community Development of Malaysia There are a number of cases where people deserving social welfare are not getting the support from the Department of Social Welfare. In recent years, I have come across a number of cases where applications for their entitlements under the government schemes for social welfare expecially for retirees, are not getting the help from the Department of Social Welfare.  I wish the whole department is overhauled, and only the good ones are given the promotion so that the department can perform its duty conscientously to help the B40 community. Only then can its minister just go to her posh office and enjoy Earl Gray served in the posh porcelain jug, and no one would bother to disturb her. She can then happily adopt the three blinded monkeys - not hear, see or be told of what the staff at JKM are doing for the underprivileged people.  I am not referring to everyone at JKM. As I have always sa...

  Where is the hype? Rafizi arrived at the MACC office dressed in a full suit. The Unnecessary Rumblings Surrounding Rafizi I thought this title may attact readers more, but I decided to use the other topic in view of my desire to see this country coming back together again, and nothing else.  Someone sent me a message that made me fumed. It accuses the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) of exercising selective investigations.  To me, this kind of messages is baseless. And the way how former Minister of Economy Rafizi Ramli's former aide James Chai had staged it over a few weeks, showed that both Rafizi and Chai are very determined to create a drama out of something that is normal for MACC or the police to conduct its investigation when a report is lodged.  Often, the authorities are accused of sidestepping the investigation; the truth is the evidences provided are not strong enough that can be produced in court, or at the very least, convincing the officers ...