The Malaysiakini report in the piece entitled, Anwar calls for a fresh budget uncovers a scenario eerily similar to my earlier post on the MCA Debate, neither the MOF I nor MOF II were present in Parliament when the matter of Budget 2009 came up. I will break precedent by quoting my own earlier post, In Malaysia, the people in power tend to avoid unscripted settings. It has an annoying tendency to make them look ordinary.
Malaysian leaders need to have a halo and aura surrounding them. Like the Wizard of Oz they rely on bells and whistles to make them look good. This cannot happen in a debate.
Besides, Ong-Ong must have taken notes during the Anwar-Ahmad Shabery debate and the Guan Eng-Tsu Koon debate. The guys associated with the Establishment were left flapping in the wind because they were trying to defend the undefendable positions.
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Malaysian leaders need to have a halo and aura surrounding them. Like the Wizard of Oz they rely on bells and whistles to make them look good. This cannot happen in a debate.
Besides, Ong-Ong must have taken notes during the Anwar-Ahmad Shabery debate and the Guan Eng-Tsu Koon debate. The guys associated with the Establishment were left flapping in the wind because they were trying to defend the undefendable positions.
.A terse Anwar Ibrahim decried the absence of MOF I and MOF II on such an important matter as the Budget.
Meanwhile...
It was the former MOF I in the shape and form of the outgoing Prime Minister, who commented on the state of the economy. Pak Lah, the PM, said that Malaysia can withstand the impact of the current global economic situation and he believes that it will not go into a recession.
What is sad isn't my infantile glee at being nearly correct (which is, indeed, a sad indication that I desperately need to get a life). What is sad is that the economic management skills and leadership of the Federal Government of Malaysia has become moribund.
What should bother Malaysians is that Najib, the MOF I, appears to be unprepared for the job at this point (does he have time for a learning curve) or, equally bad, Najib has just demonstrated a clear disdain and contempt of one of the three pillars of the Federal Government of Malaysia, namely, the Legislature.
Is this a portent of things to come under a Najib Administration?
Meanwhile...
It was the former MOF I in the shape and form of the outgoing Prime Minister, who commented on the state of the economy. Pak Lah, the PM, said that Malaysia can withstand the impact of the current global economic situation and he believes that it will not go into a recession.
The Prime Minister said Malaysia would be able to withstand the US credit crisis as it still had strong economic fundamentals as well as political stability. He said that Malaysia has very strong reserves, our surplus is still strong, our domestic savings are also very high and our currency is also stable and not subject to fluctuation. He also indicated that there is also no intention to re-introduce capping on the Ringgit (he meant pegging, I think).
Hey! Did I not predict that those types of bland and dull words would be uttered by MOF I in the immediately preceding blog below?What is sad isn't my infantile glee at being nearly correct (which is, indeed, a sad indication that I desperately need to get a life). What is sad is that the economic management skills and leadership of the Federal Government of Malaysia has become moribund.
What should bother Malaysians is that Najib, the MOF I, appears to be unprepared for the job at this point (does he have time for a learning curve) or, equally bad, Najib has just demonstrated a clear disdain and contempt of one of the three pillars of the Federal Government of Malaysia, namely, the Legislature.
Is this a portent of things to come under a Najib Administration?
1 comment:
I was gob-smacked to learn that the PM and Najib were not in Parliament when it reconvened today. Were they afraid of something or someone? Were they not in a position to answer questions on the budget that would be posed by the Opposition? Were they afraid of a no-confidence motion during the budget debate? How long are they going to hold out? And they ask to be respected! Malaysia boleh, once again!
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