Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
| PM needs to put a little crazy in his circle Posted: 15 Aug 2011 04:19 PM PDT
He would suggest that a much better and cheaper way would be to perhaps invite a few hundred avid Malaysian bloggers to Seri Perdana for tea and curry puffs and tell them to help promote Malaysian tourism instead. David D. Mathew, The Malaysian Insider There is a man in London who travels six miles to work on his bicycle. He often walks around the office barefoot and has been spotted at work wearing a T-shirt saying "Love Me, Love My Bike". If you're thinking that this man is some random bloke working dispatch — think again, because you'd be wrong. His name is Steve Hilton — the British prime minister's director of strategy and close confidant. Yes, Hilton, a political outsider, works at No. 10 Downing Street. Famed for his out-of-the-box "blue-sky thinking", Hilton was recently thrust into the spotlight when the Financial Times ran an article about his more radical ideas such as scrapping maternity leave because it is "the biggest obstacle to woman finding work." Frustrated with the lumbering government machinery, Hilton was also reported to have suggested sacking hundreds of government press offices and replacing them with a blog for each Whitehall department. He is also in favour of employing "cloud busting" technology to create longer summers. The list does not end there. Some of his other ideas to boost the economy come in the form of abolishing Job Centres, suspending consumer rights laws for nine months "to see what would happen" and ignoring some EU employment regulations. Not all off his proposals are actually carried into becoming government policy but Hilton's barmy ideas serve as intellectual challenges and spark debate within David Cameron's inner circle, many of whom are traditionalists who tend to play it safe. Perhaps Prime Minister Najib Razak needs a Steve Hilton as well. Let us name this hypothetical character Jebat. Jebat will tell the prime minister that spending RM1.8 million to develop six Facebook pages to promote Malaysian tourism is a waste of money and something this country can ill afford in these difficult times. He would suggest that a much better and cheaper way would be to perhaps invite a few hundred avid Malaysian bloggers to Seri Perdana for tea and curry puffs and tell them to help promote Malaysian tourism instead. After deducting the cost of the tea and curry puffs, the remainder monies could perhaps be channelled as scholarships for gifted students. Jebat will then tell the prime minister that no matter what, inviting strange African dictators like Robert Mugabe to town and spending taxpayers' money on him is a terrible idea. Rather than spending money holding events such as the Langkawi International Dialogue, out of which the public sees little positive outcome, it would be better to spend that money hosting the Simpang Pulai Local Dialogue on Reducing Horrendous Annual Bus Accidents, for example. Jebat will also tell the prime minister that since there is no real emergency in this country it should follow that the Emergency Ordinance and its evil twin brother the Internal Security Act be repealed. In its place, the government could look into enacting a variety of other more palatable legislation.
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| Najib’s latest moves a sign of returning to the centre Posted: 15 Aug 2011 04:03 PM PDT
The Malaysian Insider understands that at last Wednesday's retreat involving ministers and chief ministers/mentris besar, Najib spoke about the need to understand clearly the aspirations of the people and not be dismissive of people who did not agree with the government. Datuk Seri Najib Razak's announcements last night of a select committee on electoral reform and rolling back censorship of international media are the clearest sign that he has decided to put some space between himself and hardliners in government, especially Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein. Sources in the prime minister's camp say that Najib now realises the folly of a sledgehammer approach — one which has soiled his aim of being seen as a moderate and reformer and has caused him support of middle Malaysia. Privately, he has blamed several ministers and aides who have been counselling tough action against Bersih 2.0 and painted an erroneous picture of some of the challenges facing his administration. "The tough action has widened the disconnect between PM and the people, and the reality of the situation. He is taking steps to repair that damage," a source told The Malaysian Insider. The Malaysian Insider understands that at last Wednesday's retreat involving ministers and chief ministers/mentris besar, Najib spoke about the need to understand clearly the aspirations of the people and not be dismissive of people who did not agree with the government. Notably, many ministers stayed clear of the topic of Bersih 2.0 and electoral reform, with only Hishammuddin giving a stout defence of the police crackdown on the July 9 rally, justifying and saying it was correct. Since the fallout of the rally, some of Najib's aides have been at pains to say that he received wrong advice from certain ministers, advice which may explain the PM's decision to rescind the stadium offer. The Malaysian Insider understands that Najib had informed economic advisers on July 5 that the government had agreed to the stadium after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong met Bersih chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan but he then inexplicably changed his mind later. There has been some pressure from the more conservative elements of Umno for Najib to go hard after the organisers of Bersih, and these hardliners have the support of a couple of senior Umno ministers but the PM knows that this approach will cut his support among middle-class Malays and the non-Malays even more, and reduce chances of a good win at the polls. It is still unclear why Najib took so long to find out or decide that the hardline approach was leading him down the path of political demise.
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