MCA on Ong Tee Keat’s watch: About your aides

Dear Dato’ Seri Ong Tee Keat,

I have this uneasy feeling about you and those leaders helming the MCA national bureaus.

Chua Soi Lek, Lee Wee Kiat, Wong Nai Chee, Gan Ping Sieu …

Competence is clearly trumping ideology in the Ong Tee Keat’s new administration, and God knows after two terms of Ong Ka Ting & Co., it’s time to get back to the idea of streetwise smart, capable people advising the MCA president and executing his policies.

What I wonder is whether the members of your administrative team and staff aides, in addition to their grasp of the issues and success at achieving power, have a real feel for the needs of the people they are supposed to be representing.

I don’t doubt that they have the best of intentions. But the people near the pinnacle of power in MCA are encased in a bubble that makes it extremely hard to hear the voices of those who aren’t already powerful themselves.

There is no underestimating the challenges facing MCA, and you will need a strong administrative team and staff aides in your Presidential office NOW to help back you up with intelligences (internet and grassroots) and execute necessary actions at the grassroot level to get MCA started on the long road to re-connect MCA with the voters, both Chinese 25% and non-Chinese 75%.

Will your staff aides / administrative officers follow a new course, reaffirming plans to remove deadwoods of the previous administration?

We wish MCA all the best on your watch.

~Femalevoter

** I took the liberty to paraphrase a little from that excellent piece Bob Herbert wrote for The New York Times

cc: Malaysiakini.com

Abdullah’s hand-me-down the PMship to Najib unconstitutional?

It is good that bloggers are now asking the right questions.

What we have said in our previous post have now been picked up. We are terribly relieved that bloggers are finally leading thoughts and the rakyat to ask the right questions.

Bravo, Susan Loone… we reproduce below latest posting from her blog for your thoughts (caveat: we reserve the right to not agree with some of her recommendations)

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When Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he and Najib Tun Razak had made a deal about when the latter will take over the leadership of Malaysia, no one asked the right question!

One experience mainstream editor merely said “It’s a done deal” and another ex-editor asked “When?”. As if that is the only thing that matter.

Now you know why the media is in such a pathetic state like it is today. Every news fall into people’s morning tables or lazy laps just like that!

No one asked if it is even legitimate for Abdullah to make such a statement. Had he consulted other UMNO members? Had he even broach the subject with other BN component parties, or are they now non-existent, after the March 8 Tsunami?

Sadly no one ever considered any of these questions.

But in “Are we a democracy or a feudal state?”, lawyer Charles Hector asked in his blog if it is even constitutional for Abdullah and Najib to have come to this decision all on their own.

It looks like the two not-so-gentlemen may have even insulted the Yang Di Pertuan Agong by going against the Federal Constitution:

In Article 43 of the Federal Constitution — and it says that it is the “…Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall first appoint as Perdana Menteri (Prime Minister) to preside over the Cabinet a member of the House of Representatives who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House…” – it is the Yang Di-Pertuan Agung that appoints the PM – not the current PM who decides on the next PM…and here Abdullah is reported stating that there was an agreement —
Hector asked: Is this is not an action that demonstrates disrespect to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Is it also not an action (….an agreement) that is in breach of our very own Federal Constitution?

Our highest law of the land, the Federal Constitution, is also clear that the only consideration before appointment by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is that the candidate for PM is “…likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House[i.e. the Dewan Rakyat]…”
Do the two individuals think they have the support of the majority or are even liked or respected by Malaysians?

We only know that there are not enough UMNO divisions who are courageous enough to nominate someone who will challenge Abdullah or even his deputy.

I hope Karpal Singh or someone else will make a police report aganst the two power crazy duo!

UMNO President aka Prime Minister of Malaysia: Fifth estate must lead!

Following the conclusion of the 12th General Election, news media hound’s attention is now focused on UMNO and fate of its future and its President.

Every Malaysians remembered how the rancour of the General Election’s campaign was covered. The amount of money spent was covered. But in this political season, nobody has yet to shout out about lack of information about the top UMNO proposed candidates’ vision, mission, priorities, policies, and leadership — and for that matter, important information that Malaysians will need to back up the next Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Was this why we always get the gut feeling that our political appointees too often did not make the cut or fit our aspirations?

Why? The vigorous press that was deemed an essential part of democracy in Malaysia is mediocre at best. The internet and the blogs have the tendency to spew too much flames, according to a tired BN operative (flame means hate). I am not suggesting that every journalist in the mainstream media is neglecting his/her duties as the fourth estate. There are still a sprinkling of good souls in newspapers and magazines who run analytical articles, and publicise longer, more probing segments.

And what did we learn from the 12th GE?

We found out that the mainstream media supplied faithfully a variety of analysis – that is shortened, taking every corner that is cut, which moves us further away from the truth until what is left tasted bland in our palate.

This problem has drove voters who take their responsibility to be informed seriously enough to search out information about the candidates in the internet. Even though there was not much substantive findings to be found in midst of the flames, as some may say.

Would you, as a non MCA member for example, ever know a single fact about Ong Ka Ting’s leadership values based plan? Anything at all? But let me guess, you know better about Chua Soi Lek’s sex escapade. We seem to forget the serious business about choosing political appointees, especially in the instance of the office of the Prime Minister, the next leader of the country. Are we buying pisang goreng or are we choosing a spokesman possessing speech ability or a leader with primarily leadership abilities? All are very different and not the same!

What’s troubling is that, the internet news media have shown instances where it has cut candidates like Tony Pua out of the process even before he got started. And then rushed to cover him as he won. Just to be clear: I’m referring to all serious contenders regardless of political affiliation and ranks who encounter the same prejudice. Voters are finding it harder and harder to have a 360 degrees overview, what more if they do not have access to the Internet.

And it’s not as if people didn’t want this sort of information of serious candidates with distinguished record.

Who is responsible for the veil of silence over the unheard of serious candidates?

The decision was probably made by the same people who decided that Najib or Muhyiddin were serious candidates. In the case of Najib, articles purporting to be news spent thousands upon thousands of words contemplating whether he would enter the race, to the point that before he even entered, he was already anointed the successor for UMNO presidency. Has he had not done or said anything that would allow anyone to conclude he was a worthy candidate. Whether the voters noticed the absence of leadership testimony, serious ideas or commitment to getting in progressive economic policies makes for another thesis altogether.

I join as one of the very few who noticed this shallow news coverage. An overseas report by the Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy found that in the early months of the USA 2008 presidential campaign, 63% of the campaign stories focused on political strategy while only 15% discussed the candidates’ ideas and proposals.

Watching the UMNO party elections campaign unfold, I saw how the press gravitated toward a narrative template for the campaign, presenting stories of each characters as if for a novel: a man more comfortably fitted as a religious teacher, a second man who has no testimony of leadership qualities, a former chief minister who bettered his leadership skills and a respected royal who has not demonstrated new ideas to embrace the Rakyat Malaysia aspirations.

When the important issues will be presented to the rakyat as they watch on the sidelines of UMNO? Issues that could make a difference in the lives of Malaysians that didn’t fit into this narrative template and which was forced to take a back seat to these superficialities?

The state of UMNO’s political campaigning is not espected to be better: without a press to push them, candidates who do not have solid workable national proposals avoid the tough questions. All of this leaves Rakyat uncertain about what approach makes the most sense for them in the choosing of the next UMNO President aka Prime Minister of Malaysia. Worse still, it gives us permission to ignore issues and concentrate on things that don’t matter.

As UMNO move to gear up for its party contest, I want to propose the bloggers to know as much as they possibly can about what these men or woman would do as President of UMNO aka Prime Minister of Malaysia.

If the Rakyat want a vibrant democracy, the apparent mandate is for the fifth estate to demand it. By talking calmly, repeatedly, constantly for the ears of those in whom we have entrusted this enormous responsibility.

For starters, we the fifth estate, must fulfil our stakeholders’ rights to demand for the best UMNO President aka Malaysia Prime Minister.

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Disgraceful Parliament first telecast

All thanks to MPs playing to the gallery.

Perhaps all were exhilarated to be in the Dewan Rakyat’s hallowed ground that made MPs like Karpal Singh, Bung Radin, Ngeh Koo Han lost balance of their right minds.

Thank you to them for showing to Malaysians their shallow decorum and lack of working knowledge:

Karpal for labeling BN as “Bigfoot”

In return Bung Raden called Karpal – “Monyet”

Then Ngeh demonstrated his terrible lack of knowledge in State vs Federal government roles.

We await with aghast for future telecasts.

The only redeeming feature today was Ong Ka Ting. Kudos to him for demonstrating knowledge of governmental role and most importantly, adherence to house decorum.

Read more in Malaysiakini.