by A Kadir Jasin
On
June 27, I published a posting entitled Malaysian Parliament vs Animal
Planet. On November 14, judging from media reports, the Dewan Rakyat was
transformed from the more respectable Animal Planet into a mere zoo.
It
was the climax of yet another uncivilised behaviour of our elected
representatives, when the Opposition PKR member from Padang Serai, N.
Surendran was suspended for six months for allegedly insulting Speaker
Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia outside the House on November 12.
How
I wish the government of Prime Minister Mohd Najib Abdul Razak acts
equally swiftly and decisively on the plights of the rakyat, like the
plan by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall to hike assessment rates by as much
as 200% or the spike in deadly shootings around the country.
It
is interesting that the National News Agency, Bernama should use the
term “allegedly” to describe the circumstance surrounding the
Surendran’s suspension.
Does this mean that the charges against the PKR member were never conclusively proven?
According to Bernama, the suspension motion, which was tabled
by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nancy Shukri (left) amid protest by members of the Opposition, was passed via block voting.
by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nancy Shukri (left) amid protest by members of the Opposition, was passed via block voting.
The Opposition questioned the legitimacy of the motion, triggering a heated argument, which lasted almost 90 minutes.
When
the division was called by Deputy Speaker, Datuk Ronald Kiandee, 92 BN
parliamentarians voted for the motion while the opposition
representatives abstained.
On
Tuesday, Surendran was given a marching order by Pandikar Amin for
challenging his decision to reject an emergency motion he proposed over
the alleged demolition of the extension to Sri Maneswarar Kaliyaman
Temple extension in Jalan P. Ramlee, Kuala Lumpur.
The
dissatisfied Surendran told a press conference outside the chamber that
Pandikar Amin was bias and likened the Dewan Rakyat to the Zimbabwean
Parliament.
They deserve no honour
I
have no intention of honoring the bravado of these people, be they on
the government or opposition bench.These people are not fit to be
elected “wakil rakyat”. Sadly, over the years, we see more and more of
these characters being elected to the august house.
I
miss the gentler and more decorous days of the Parliament when members
were more civilized, tolerant and more gentlemanly in their verbal
exchanges.
As
one former members of Parliament noted, those were the “jahiliah” days
when liquor was served in the Parliament and some members took time off
to play a round of poker.
Has
the current breed of politicians lost the ability to debate with
civility, flair and candor using powerful yet inoffensive terms and
expressions? Or does this mean that the standard of the Malay language
and the intellect of today’s YBs are so inadequate that they have resort
to uncouth language and vulgarities when making their points?
Somebody
should broadcast parliamentary debate in totality for the entire period
of sitting so that the rakyat can judge for themselves who are humans
and who are apes among the YBs. Maybe live telecast will force them to
be more civilized and thoughtful.
It
is puzzling that a temple issue should lead to expulsion. I am not
saying that it was not an important issue, but no less important were
debates on top government leaders and important people spending RM182
million last year alone on private jet travels.
Or
more shocking is the revelation by the Finance Ministry that the
Federal government had spent RM7.2 billion since 2009 to hire private
consultants for national projects.
It
is clear that Mohd Najib as PM and Finance Minister loves private
consultants despite the government having a whopping 1.4 million staff.
This is not counting his special envoys and special advisers with
ministerial status.
In
response to question by the DAP MP for Kelana Jaya, Wong Chen, the
ministry revealed a gradual rise in the bills for private consultancy
firms from RM1.3 billion in 2009 — the year Mohd Najib became PM — to
RM1.63 billion in 2010, RM1.8 billion in 2011, RM1.82 billion in 2012
and RM722 million from January to October this year.
In
a damning indictment of the civil servants, the Finance Ministry said:
“The capabilities of government researchers are limited in terms of
their competency and human resources.”
If
they are not good, sack them or train them. What's the point of having a
million over civil servants and paying them better salaries if Mohd
Najib has to rely on outsiders and foreigners? Actually we can get free
consultancy from such multilateral organisation as the World Bank and
the Asian Development Bank if we want to.
As
a footnote, I congratulate a former BN MP, who now chairs a statutory
body, for telling two Ministers –Mustapha Mohamed and Idris Jala – in a
meeting with journalists a few days ago to stop hiring foreign
consultants. I would not ask if he dares saying that if he is still an
MP.-- kadirjasin.blogspot.com,
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