From Around The Blogs. The Week Of March 15, 2010

By Joe Fernandez

From around the Blogs

Government not as dumb as China Press
This Gov't is so dumb that it defies all description. But even so they wouldn't be so dumb as to allow Musa Hassan to quit prematurely as China Press would have us believe. The rumour mills will churn even faster overtime should Musa quit under such circumstances. People might even speculate that he was either sacked or forced to quit before his current contract expires "because of his underworld contacts" as the bloggers would have us believe. The fact of the matter seems to be that there's going to be a reshuffle of top police brass & the IGP will exit during the process. Why didn't China Press report the reshuffle & instead reported that Musa will be quitting? That comes across as either selective reporting or a half-truth. China Press isn't going to get away easily with its report on Musa Hassan. Obviously, their angle was wrong & less than the whole truth & they need to be put on the carpet as a warning to others. The media should also distance itself from China Press on this issue.

Typical sour grapes "non-Malay" wishful thinking & living on hope & hype
This report tries to work backwards from a pre-determined conclusion to more than stretch the truth. The writer probably had only a few skimpy "details" which seems to have been enough to convince him to make a mountain out of a molehill. There isn't even an iota of evidence in the story to suggest that he really spoke to anyone before dashing off his piece in the splendid isolation of his cubicle somewhat like a "katak di bawah tempurung". Journalists are unlikely to make a difference if they continue to churn out reports without going to the field or confine themselves to rehashing the blogs. The nexus between the ruling party & the top brass in various branches of gov't is the reality of a situation where the political masters don't know where politics ends & good gov't begins. Either we need better politicians or better civil servants to break the nexus. To speak of a rebellion in the civil service is typical sour grapes "non-Malay" wishful thinking & living on hope & hype.

Home Ministry should not swear by its Blacklist
The Home Ministry should not take the easy way out & threaten the China Press a la ketuanan Melayu. What purpose does it serve to demand the resignation of the Editor under threat of a three-month suspension? The Home Ministry is noted for creating a blacklist of journalists & warning newspapers not to employ them or else have problems with it. This is most undemocratic & against the concept of a free press. Soon, only the dongkus will be left with the newspapers if the Home Ministry gets away with its blacklist. Newspapers are even advised who to send for government press conferences & fax a pre-determined list of questions. Instead, the Home Ministry should prove to the newspaper that it was wrong. Having done that, the next step is up to the newspaper itself. The newspaper could either discipline the Editor, the sub-editor concerned & the reporter or wait for a reasonable period of time for the errant staff to make suitable amends. Mistakes do happen in the race for scoops.

People should have stake in financial management of country
GST is obviously the right approach (start with 2.5 %) because it will ensure that M'sians feel that they have a stake in the financial management of the economy, administration & the country. Now, most people couldn't care less about corruption because they feel it is not their money. S'wak is a classic example of a state where institutionalised corruption a la Lee Kuan Yew's S'pore is the norm & yet most people don't even bat an eyelid. In S'pore, we are told that either all or the majority of housing agreements involving Gov't-built housing are prepared by Lee & Lee which is either run or used to be run by Minister Mentor Lee's wife. Taib in S'wak has taken a leaf from this & makes sure that all or the majority of Gov't contracts & procurements go to state-owned companies in which his family has a significant stake. He thinks that he can avoid the corruption issue by taking this approach. What about nepotism & conflict of interest? These are issues to consider in the next polls

Feathering their nest might come first
The gov't is taking the right approach with GST. They want to get everybody worked up. After that GST Bill will be delayed & the rate lowered to 2.5 %. The important thing here is not the percentage but the idea. GST will be delayed until the 13 th GE is over. They will start off with 2.5 % if they do well at the polls. If not so good, it's likely to be 3 % to 3.5 %. But this rate will be brought down just before the 14 th GE to 2.5 % just to win. After that, it will depend on whether they win by a small margin or comfortable. If comfortable, 3 %, if low margin 3.5 %. By that time, the people will get used to GST. Soon, it will be 4 % & we are looking at 15 % eventually at the high end. By that time, people will get worked up over the level of corruption in the country. So, it's not known whether the ruling party is more worried about financial management & managing the economy & taxation system or feathering their own nest. If their pockets, they will delay GST, keep subsidies.