Category: Government

After the tabling of the nation’s Budget 2021 by our Finance Minister, everyone is hyped about the RM85.5 million allocation to Jabatan Hal Ehwal Khas or more commonly known as JASA. As usual in Malaysia’s typical politics, those politicians who are ruling the government will laud the move while those who are not in the government will keep criticising the decision.

Before I even comment on the issue, let us look back at what this JASA is all about.

The department was originally established as Badan Hal Ehwal Khas after the 1959 general election with the objective of maintaining and protecting the political, religious and government stability. The name was subsequently changed to Cawangan Hal Ehwal Khas and then Jabatan Hal Ehwal Khas. The role of JASA was then also to explain the government initiatives and programmes. 

To justify, I wouldn’t say that it is a definite right or wrong about the existence of the department or even the proposed RM85.5 million that was allocated to it.

Some criticised that the JASA has been misused as a political propaganda machinery for those who are in the government. It is an irony that those who have attacked JASA were the ones that are benefiting from their efforts when they were in the government. Now that they are not in power, they criticise it.

Now that we already have the experience of both sides ruling the government, if we were to pay attention closely; no matter who is in the government, there are units or departments that were formed to appoint people into positions, politically. 

Some say that RM85.5 million can be used to curb the Covid-19 pandemic. But this is very subjective. What if the role of JASA can be turned to be part of curbing the Covid-19 pandemic. At the end of the day, it is whether we are doing the right thing or not. The government can always divert the RM85.5 million to another department or ministry, but if it is not used wisely or misused, it will also be a waste. The question now is not about where the funds flow to, it is whether the government is efficient or not, whether they are effective or not, whether they are sincere in governing or not.

Some say that Tun Dr. Mahathir has been doing the right thing by abolishing JASA in 2018. But if we were to think politically, could he have been doing that to get rid of his political adversary’s machinery? Considering that when he joined politics, JASA has already been around, and that when he was the Prime Minister, JASA has also been assisting in his government, and he knows JASA very well. And if JASA has only been doing government work, why would he choose to abolish JASA?

When we discuss the objectives  of JASA, I actually think that a department such as JASA is important in any nation with the role of promoting and creating awareness of government’s initiatives. I have been long enough in politics and on the ground to know that the majority of Malaysians do not know what does the government has to offer to the people. 

To put a good confidence of the people towards the government is a secondary matter. But a lot of the rakyat do not know they have specific benefits from the government or they do not know how to get them. While other departments need to play a role to implement policies, we need units such as JASA to make the people know about how to benefit from government policies. 

The tabling of the budget is an example of the lack of awareness from the public. On that Friday, I was sitting in a cafe doing my work while listening to the Finance Minister’s speech. As and when I heard some announcement that could benefit people that I know of, I would drop them a message. Unfortunately, most of them would ask me what is this, when was it announced? They don’t even know that there was a tabling of the Budget at that time.

There are pros and cons if we were to have JASA back in the government. In the end, there is no right or wrong on reviving and allocating RM85.5 million to JASA. It is whether the government as a whole is doing the right thing or not. Again and again, the more important thing to change now is our political culture. If we don’t, the same mistakes will happen to the country over and over again. But of course with the current political culture, I would still prefer if the funds are allocated to more important efforts such as education and entrepreneurship and the environment.

This article is published in Kwong Wah Yit Poh in Chinese dated 17 November 2020.

Since a couple of weeks ago, Malaysia was busy again discussing the same topic. After the hoo-haa of a potentially vote of no confidence motion to be tabled in the Parliament against the Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin, the Government then proposed to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to impose a ‘political emergency’ which includes suspending the Parliament.

The ‘emergency’ proposed by the government was to enable the nation to focus on battling the Covid-19 pandemic and battered economy despite some saying that it is a strategy for the Prime Minister to stay in power amid a leadership challenge.

To impose an ‘emergency rule’ over the nation might be too exaggerating and might cause even more chaos or stress towards Malaysians; but I do agree that a stop towards politicking should be done at all cost. 

The more we lengthen the political uncertainty, the more dangerous it is to our health and economy as I have mentioned how this has affected the Covid-19 infections as well as our economic setback.

With due respect to our Constitution, if we still allow any MP or any political leader that claims that they have the numbers, and they need to seek the audience to the King or table a motion of no-confidence vote; then we will continue to have a chaotic political arena. 

Politicians from all sides will be eager to know who the ‘numbers’ are, and political camps will start contacting and meeting up. Those who are in the government will do their best to protect their power while those who are not in the government will do their best to get themselves into power. And all of them will tend to forget about the pandemic and economy again. That is what happens in Sabah state elections which has caused the growth of the pandemic to a critical situation now.

All these negotiations of power not only involve the elected officials, but also people surrounding them, dealing with negotiations and horse trading. The assistants, the lobbyists, power brokers, political influencers, leaders and even political members.

And each time a person claims that they have the ‘numbers’, everyone else gets busy together with them – the journalists, the staff of the Parliament, civil servants and even the King.

Instead of imposing the emergency rule, as I said, we should put a stop towards politicking. Parliament should still go on as the lawmakers have to decide on the Budget 2021 to enable the government to function. But there shouldn’t be any other political agenda including tabling of no-confidence vote. Some may like and some may dislike the current government, but if we continue to harp on political agenda, nobody will get any benefit from it if we do not solve the pandemic problems. 

Considering the amount of people involved in the politicking every time there is a possible change of power, if they can spend the time and energy in focusing to fight the pandemic instead, I am sure we can do better.

It is also weird how some politicians fear the pandemic and feel that the Parliament session shouldn’t be held to avoid the spread of infection, but how they weren’t afraid when they campaigned in the Sabah state elections. They weren’t afraid when they traveled around the country doing the negotiations and dealing so that they will stay or get into power.

This is how hypocritical some politicians are. Are we having an emergency over the politicking or are we politicizing the emergency? And by looking at the numbers of the Covid-19 infections today, we better stop politicking, I hope and I wish.

This article is published in Kwong Wah Yit Poh in Chinese dated 3 November 2020.

Coming this November, our Minister of Finance will be tabling his maiden budget speech, which is the National Budget 2021. It is the biggest budget of all in the country, as it determines how the government funds are spent in each category.

However, if we go down to the streets and ask the regular citizens whether they know about our national budget or how do they benefit from it, I believe we’ll get a lot of blank stares and question marks.

Very few people actually understand what it is all about. And when they do not understand, how can we expect that the national budget is tailored for the people’s needs? Most of the time, the budget is decided from the top, and not from the bottom up.

We are always saying that Malaysia is a democractic country; a country that respects the rights of each citizen. But have we ever thought that we ever have a say in our country’s budget? Do we have the right platform to give ideas or to vote on how government money will be spent?

We don’t. We never have.

Despite a couple of years back, when we started to have the option to give ideas on government budgets through website; we are not really empowered to participate in making decisions regarding the annual budget.

Perhaps, the elected politicians must give themselves more political will to begin at a small level. Begin to create awareness of the importance and empower the people in making decisions for their community.

In our case, I think Member of Parliaments (MP) and State Assemblyman (ADUN) play an important role in making engagement with their constituents, and to get them to participate in giving inputs on government budget.

Participatory budgeting gives citizens real control over where a budget is spent. As such, budgets can be spent in a way which better reflects the strengths, needs and aspirations of the population and can be more effective.

Participatory budgeting allows citizens to identify, discuss, and prioritize public spending projects, and gives them the power to make real decisions about how money is spent.

The budgeting that involves the public can be done in several processes:

– Participants or citizens are divided geographically into the areas that they live in.

– Members of Parliament then have to form their team of staff and volunteers with the advice from the Ministry of Finance. State Assemblymen should assist in the efforts whereby they can also garner feedback and inputs for the State Budget concurrently.

– The team that are established in each constituency will use multiple methods to get the ideas from the public including meetings, workshops, town hall sessions, door-to-door visits, public interviews, etc.

– Feedbacks and inputs have to be from individuals as well as local NGOs, religious organizations, trade organizations, etc.

– All proposals and ideas, initiated by the citizens, will then be compiled and submitted to the Ministry of Finance.

– The drafted budget is shared to the public and put for a vote. The government implements the top proposals.

For this, I have to give credit to YB Steven Sim and YB Lee Khai Loon who have executed participatory budgeting in their own constituency. It may not be perfect yet, but it is a good start to empower the citizens and let them feel responsible towards their own living place.

Participatory budgeting empowers people to decide together how to spend public money. The process will strengthen democracy, build stronger communities, and make public budgets more equitable and effective.

The rights of the citizen is not only to vote every 5 years; but to subsequently give feedback and be part of the government’s decision making process.

This article is published in Kwong Wah Yit Poh in Chinese dated 25 August 2020.

We have been through the Movement Control Order (MCO) for more than a month now. And just last week, the government has announced to loosen the regulations and allow most of the businesses to resume their operations again.

The challenge during the MCO is not only about health hazards, but also economic challenges. We may have been able to strive through the darkest hours of the pandemic in terms of health. But the economic hazard has just about to begin.

Since the beginning of the MCO until now, it has affected almost every industry economically. The first few weeks have not been extremely tough for some companies yet as it can still be considered a short term loss. But when they couldn’t resume their business weeks after weeks, and yet they still have to bear operating costs, that is when the pain comes in.

Business owners and the management have to figure out ways to cut operating costs to reduce losses. Businesses with multiple offices have to consolidate their human resource into one office to reduce unnecessary usage of utilities. Some have to resort to negotiating with their employees to take unpaid leaves. Certain companies have to close off some of their branches. Some have to retrench their employees. The worst is to make their decision to close down their businesses permanently.

The tourism industry has been one of the worst affected ones. There are no flights, airlines are not in operations. No traveling means no tourists, and which makes hotels unable to continue their operations. The impact is very obvious in Malaysia as we have seen hotels closing down permanently one after another.

As of now, there are about 10 hotels that have decided to close down permanently in Penang, Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur. Malaysian Association of Hotels are expecting about 15% of hotels may have to shut down their operations.

This is only the beginning, and we’ll never know what will happen for the next few months. Although we may continue most of our business operations, the tourism industry may not be resumed yet. Traveling is still limited, even for inter-state travels. And even when tourism is allowed to resume, there won’t be many tourists that would want to take the risk yet; or perhaps the economic difficulties that were suffered might prevent people from traveling within this short period. The order that prevents large gatherings also caused the loss of hotels’ food & beverage department.

Besides that, the retail sector has also been affected badly as we can see the apparel brand, Esprit pulling out from Asia, and Esquel Group closing their operations in Malaysia. 

These are the huge companies and brands that are announced in the media. We might now know how many of the other small business owners that may have to close down. 

Despite the negative economic situations that we may see now, perhaps we can also see the light at the end of the tunnel.

In every major economic challenge that our community faces, there is always an opportunity to overturn. The losses of some businesses today, might be an opportunity to grow new ones.

This MCO has ‘created’ a number of homemakers into small entrepreneurs. Those who have nothing to do at home have spent their time making their own products, cooking meals and creating brands to sell on the internet. I am sure almost all of us who are using Facebook have seen a lot of friends and family selling their own products during this period.

It has proven that Malaysians are able to develop their own products and brands. But what can the Government assist from here? 

Governments always feel proud and boast their numbers of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) every quarter and every year. It is always good to have foreign companies investing in our country. But to think again, these companies might not have anything to do with our community other than earning profits. When operating at a loss or when it is not cost-efficient to operate in the country anymore, the management can easily close down the operations. Esprit and Esquel might be an example. 

Perhaps the Government should look into assisting Malaysians to grow their own brands and products into the standards whereby in the future we are the ones investing in other countries instead of us looking for investment from other countries. 

We have to look into the ideas and talents that may grow from these small and young online entrepreneurs. The Government has to tap into the passion of these young entrepreneurs, make that little spark in them into a fire by giving them necessary assistance. We can begin by drafting more public policies that promote entrepreneurship.

I believe that many of our own products have the quality that equals the big brands out there. But what we lack is knowledge of building brands, opportunity, and trust of our own people.

The confidence towards Malaysian brands have grown compared to decades ago, but it is too slow to expand ourselves to compete with the international market. 

I have always reiterated that in building a nation, it is not only the role of a Government, but our own community and people.

To rebuild our economy post-MCO, one of the most important factors is for ourselves to support the local economy. Buy from local makers, brands and shops. 

It may be a real challenge, and although we might want to see our economy striving again as soon as possible, I think the call to loosen the MCO regulations in such a sudden contrast is very risky. It should be done in phases in different industries.

Do we want to risk another wave of infections and start all over again? But a decision has been made, let’s do our part to keep our nation safe and hope for the best.

This article is published in Kwong Wah Yit Poh in Chinese dated 5 May 2020.

In the modern world, advocacy for women’s rights, women empowerment and gender equality is a common thing. The awareness and the growing power of women is a norm in many developed countries.

We have people like Maya Angelou, Oprah Winfrey, Sheryl Sandberg, Malala Yousafzai, Emma Watson, Michelle Obama, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez playing their roles of empowering women. Locally we have women figures like Dr Amalina Bakri, Zainah Anwar and her team in Sisters in Islam, Irene Fernandez, Heidy Quah, Dr Mazlan Othman and many more.

Although not directly, these people, and also many men have been supporting campaigns for women such as He for She, Girls Not Brides, and even the United Nations have stated in the Sustainable Development Goals that gender equality is one of the global goals.

Since independence, we as a nation, have been trying very hard to move from an underdeveloped nation, to a developing nation and hopefully towards a developed nation.

Without a doubt, Malaysia has grown significantly fast in terms of material development. In a short period of half of a century, we have among the tallest towers in the world, long bridges, good infrastructures, buildings and cities.

But as we continue moving forward towards the status of a developed nation, we ought to think of the definition of a developed nation. Beside materials, infrastructures and buildings, what other aspects do we have to achieve?

Gender equality and women empowerment is definitely one factor that determines the status of a nation. A developed nation is not only about buildings and infrastructures, but the mentality, mindset and the human capital.

Unfortunately, during the COVID-19 crisis, many Malaysians were simply disappointed with the newly formed cabinet members when it comes to women empowerment. And worst is that the blunder came from the Ministry of Women & Family.

When we are in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis, it started with a purported Deputy Minister Siti Zailah’s Twitter account that states “the probability of dying from coronavirus is 1%, while the possibility of dying at any moment is 100%”. But after being condemned by the Twitter world, the account was deleted. If the Twitter account is hers, which she did not deny, she should have acted like a leader, a Deputy Minister; admit the mistake, apologise and move on. And not deleting the Twitter account and not owning the mistake.

Even when she was appointed as the Deputy Minister during the period of crisis, one of the first few matters that she brought up was the shariah-compliant attire policy for female flight attendants. That was at a time when approximately 13,000 MAS airline employees had to take unpaid leave due to the Covid-19 pandemic. And this does not include other airlines yet. And that does not include employees from other sectors and industries which will affect every family in Malaysia yet.

When the employees are worrying and struggling to make ends meet, the Deputy Minister focuses on attire. The bread-and-butter issues have to be addressed first. Afterall, if the airline cannot survive through the crisis, what is there to discuss about the attire of the flight attendants?

The highlight happened last week when the Ministry’s official social media account posted a series of infographics with the hashtag of “#WanitaCegahCOVID19”, which I assume should be about how women can play a role in preventing Covid-19.

One of the infographics stated that women who work from home must avoid wearing home attire. They should be putting on makeup and wearing smart working attire. I totally agree that anyone including men, has to keep their outlook neat, tidy and nice. But I don’t see how this message is going to help to fight Covid-19. And I don’t see the necessity of wearing smart working attire at home unless we have to attend official video conference calls.

The other infographic basically mentions that, “If you notice that your spouse is carrying out task in a manner that clashes with your own method, avoid nagging – use a humorous way such as ‘cara sidai baju macam ni lah sayangku’ (mimic the tone of the cartoon character Doraemon and followed with giggling coyly”.

Again, this has nothing to do with the prevention of Covid-19. And this is totally not what should come from a Women’s ministry. When women should be taught how to empower themselves, this Ministry is telling the world that women are powerless and have to resort to such behaviour to get the agreement of their husbands. Can’t women reason with logic and sense? Can’t women debate and deliberate constructively? They are simply promoting patriarchy in this series of infographics, stating that men have the power over women; which is totally wrong.

To use a cartoon character, Doraemon as an example is simply showing that the Ministry is childish and unprofessional. Worst is that I don’t think the tone of the cartoon character would do any good in negotiating between husband and wife.

Well, the social media postings were then deleted after that which I think they owe an apology to every female in Malaysia.

Perhaps the Prime Minister should reconsider his appointment of his fellow cabinet members. For women to lead the Ministry of Women & Family but with the priority of restricting the attire of female flight attendants; and not finding ways to assist them during the difficult times is simply unacceptable. Perhaps she would perform much better in religious affairs.

There are a lot more important issues of women, gender and family for the Ministry to work for. 

Domestic violence, violence against women, sexual harrasment, sexual exploitation, child grooming, child marriage are some important matters that should be prioritize by the Ministry and the Cabinet.

When the Ministry of Women & Family should be protecting the women & family, they aren’t.

This article is published in Kwong Wah Yit Poh in Chinese dated 7 April 2020.