Judged on merit and nothing less

It’s official: The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V presenting the letter of appointment to Malanjum at Istana Negara. Looking on is Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. — Bernama

Judicial diversity and meritocracy are inseparable in order to win the faith of society. The appointment of Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, a Sabah-born Kadazandusun, as the top judge is a first for a non-Malay Malaysian and is welcomed as a major step towards winning greater confidence in the Judiciary, CHELSEA L.Y. NG writes.

IT’S a fairy tale come true for some Malaysians banking on a better Judiciary grounded on merits when news of Tan Sri Richard Malanjum having been sworn in as the ninth Chief Justice of Malaysia started to trickle down to the media late Wednesday evening.

Just several hours before that, the witty Malanjum had brushed off talk of him being selected as the next top judge.

“Itu cerita dongeng (It’s a fairy tale),” he told reporters in Kuching before walking off quickly.

But by then there were already some pictures of him attending an alleged rehearsal session being circulated among a few privileged ones.

Well, going by some of the not-so-welcoming responses from those who thought that the position was reserved for only Malay judges, the initial hush-hush circumstances were understandable.

But we cannot really fault those who think the positions are reserved purely for Malays. If you have only been exposed to Chief Justices (CJ, top post) and Chief Judges of Malaya (CJM, top three) after 1994, then you might be forgiven for thinking that the posts are for Malaysians of Malay origin only (see lists of LPs and CJs).

In the last two decades, top posts had been taken by Malay judges but if we look further back, the situation was much different prior to 1994. There used to be a good mix of judges from different races at least for the CJM post, which was then known as the Chief Justice of Malaya (a No.2 post then and not to be confused with the current CJ post, which is a top post). The top judge was known as the Lord President (LP) then or Lord President of the Supreme Court in full.

The LP position was created after the abolition of appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in 1985.

Below the LP were the Chief Justices of the High Courts of Malaya and Borneo.

In 1994, the LP was renamed CJ when the Supreme Court reverted to the name of Federal Court, which was the name used prior to 1985 but with the Privy Council as the highest authority.

In 1994, Parliament amended the Federal Constitution and approved a reorganisation of the court system and significantly set up the Court of Appeal as the second highest court and renamed the highest court Federal Court (previously Supreme Court). After 1994, there was a new No.2 position created called the President of the Court of Appeal. The CJM hence moved to the third position.

For senior lawyer Datuk Roger Tan, judicial diversity is an essential element.

“It is pivotal in creating confidence in a multi-racial society. Diversity can be on the grounds of race, religion and gender.

“In Britain, they just had the first female President of the Supreme Court in hundreds of years,” said Tan.

Lawyer Fahri Azzat said there is nothing in the Constitution that demands that a Chief Justice, President of the Court of Appeal or the Chief Judge of Malaya must be of Malay heritage, or dictates that the racial composition of the Federal Court or even the Court of Appeal contain a majority of citizens of Malay heritage.

In fact, Article 123 of the Federal Constitution which deals with the qualifications to be a High Court judge and above provides the following:

A person is qualified for appointment und

er Article 122B as a judge of the Federal Court, as a judge of the Court of Appeal or as a judge of any of the High Courts if – (a) he is a citizen; and

(b) for the 10 years preceding his appointment he has been an advocate of those courts or any of them or a member of the judicial and legal service of the Federation or of the legal service of a State, or sometimes one and sometimes another.

For Fahri, that a persistent racial pattern at the appellate courts continues in the Judiciary suggests that race is a more influential factor than abilities or merits when it comes to the appointment and promotion of a judge.

Fahri even wrote about it in 2010 on the LoyarBurok website about the racial composition of the Judiciary.

“Any litigator who is in the thick of litigation practice in our civil courts will acknowledge that at the level of top senior counsel, the composition is the opposite of the nation’s racial population.

“Where top senior legal counsel are concerned, the ratio of Malaysians of Indian heritage are highest as compared to those of Chinese heritage who come in second as compared to those of Malay heritage who have the lowest numbers. That is how I know it to be from experience and conversation,” Fahri wrote then.

However, on Malanjum’s appointment, Fahri has this to say: “I think it is a step or start in the right direction. Whether it closes the gap in terms of judicial diversity and meritocracy remains to be seen with subsequent appointments of both the top judges and the High Court judges.

“I think it will be the starting point for the public to renew its faith in the Judiciary but that again remains to be seen from their judgments, judicial statements and the Judiciary’s actions collectively.

“Just as a swallow does not a summer make, a few judicial appointments do not guarantee rejuvenation of the Judiciary,” he said, adding that these positive developments if seen through over the long term will help foster faith and trust in the Judiciary and the administration of the justice system as a whole.

Retired Federal Court judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram said the appointment is definitely a welcome move and expected to improve the Judiciary.

“This is the first time we have a non-Malay being made a top judge. Prior to this we had non-Malay judges being appointed to the second highest positions. But that was before 1994.

“From the time of independence until then, no one had looked at the appointments on racial or religious angle. Only in recent times did people start to do so.”

He named a few prominent top judges then such as Tan Sri H.T. Ong, Tan Sri S.S. Gill and Tan Sri Gunn Chit Tuan.

“Richard’s appointment verifies the oneness of Malaysia. That there is only one Malaysia. That there is no East Malaysia or a West Malaysia,” said Sri Ram.

Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah had in his special address at the book launch of Tun Arifin Zakaria last year mentioned a valuable quote by his father Sultan Azlan Shah, who was also a respectable Lord President.

“I quote, ‘The rules concerning the independence of the judiciary ... are designed to guarantee that they will be free from extraneous pressures and independent of all authority, save that of the law. They are, therefore, essential for the preservation of the Rule of Law,” he said.

The Sultan hit the nail on the head. Justice and judges should be free from any extraneous pressures and everything has to be based on the merits of the law.

The Ruler had on the same occasion called on Federal Court and Court of Appeal judges to write dissenting judgments if they do not agree with the majority of the Bench.

“Sometimes, the brave dissenting voice is transformed into law. A classic case is that of Brown v. Board of Education 347 US 483 (1954) when the US Supreme Court gave weight to the spirit of Justice Harlan’s dissenting voice in Plessy v. Ferguson 163 US 537 (1896).

“As a result, and in a historic judgment, then-chief justice Warren held that racial segregation in public schools constituted a violation of the US constitutional guarantee of equality of rights,” he said.

The Sultan added that judges should be free to express reasons in their judgments as they thought fit, and in other words, for the Rule of Law to flourish, courts and their participants should be allowed to express a variety of ideas and principles.

In the case of Malanjum, some critics even brought up the point that he was not qualified to be made the Chief Justice because of his dissenting judgments in the case of Lina Joy and the use of the Allah word in the Bible.

In Lina Joy, she lost a six-year battle in 2007 to have the word Islam removed from her identity card after the Federal Court dismissed her appeal in a majority decision.

In his dissenting judgment, Malanjum said the department responsible for issuing identity cards should have just complied with Lina Joy’s request to remove the word from her IC. He accused the National Registration Depart­ment of abusing its powers.

“In my view, this is tantamount to unequal treatment under the law. She is entitled to an IC where the word Islam does not appear,” Malanjum said.

In the second case, the Federal Court was divided again with Malanjum dissenting and arguing that the Constitution must remain the supreme law of the land.

In his column, constitutional law expert Prof Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi had also written about Malanjum’s boldness in voicing out his stand and daring to dissent.

According to Dr Shad, in PP v Kok Wah Kuan in 2008, the Federal Court had in a majority judgment “mocked the doctrine of separation of powers as having no legal basis” in the Constitution.

The judgment went further to say that the power of the courts was limited to whatever Parliament bequeathed.

“Fortunately, there was a bold dissent from Malanjum, our Sabah and Sarawak Chief Judge, who insisted that separation of powers and judicial independence are firm pillars of our constitutional edifice.

“He rejected the view that ‘our courts have now become servile agents of a federal Act of Parliament and that the courts are now only to perform mechanically any command or bidding of a federal law’.

“Justice Malanjum was eminently correct on both scores. A Consti­tution is not mere words written on paper,” Dr Shad wrote in his column.

These words by the eminent professor were enough to back Malanjum as a strong guardian of the rule of law and is definitely fitting for the grand position of a Chief Justice.

Enough said, time will tell if we have taken the right path.

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Govt-linked companies (GLCs) shake-up as they sing a different tune

On the rise: A man walks past the Employees Provident Fund headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. Remuneration of GLC chiefs, senior management and directors have been on the uptrend following a transformation initiative to make them more competitive commercially. 

Overpaid CEOs and social duties of GLCs set for review

The new government has clearly said that there is a need to review the role of GLCs and the remuneration paid out to their top executives

A GLANCE at one of the annual reports of the country’s government-linked companies (GLCs) reveals that its chief human resource officer earned close to a million ringgit or about RM80,000 per month, last year.

Other senior personnel were also compensated with generous remuneration, with its chief executive taking home over one and the half million ringgit in financial year 2017.

More importantly, this was at a company that had courted much controversy in recent times over allegations of mismanagement and under-performance.

Such a scenario, however, is not uncommon at GLCs, where remuneration of key executives tend to run in the millions but performances sometimes leave much to be desired.

By definition, GLCs are companies where the government has a direct majority stake via their entities such as Khazanah Nasional, Employees Provident Fund, Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), the Armed Forces Fund (Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera) and the Pilgrims Fund (Lembaga Tabung Haji).

In recent years, remuneration of GLC chiefs, senior management and its directors have been on the uptrend following a transformation initiative to make them more competitive commercially.

The thinking behind this is that in order to attract talent – subjective as the definition of that may be – top dollar should be paid.

Some, however, argue that GLCs should in fact prioritise national service a little more.

Universiti Malaya’s Faculty of Economics and Administration professor of political economy Edmund Terence Gomez says GLCs have social obligations.

“What this essentially means is that GLCs cannot operate in a purely commercial manner as they also have to look at the social dimension,” he says. “The GLC professionals have many times articulated that they are doing national service. Going on that alone, one can argue that they shouldn’t be paid private sector salaries,” Terence adds.

And so it is now, there is a disquiet building up among GLCs following the change in government.

The new government has clearly said that there is a need to review the role of GLCs and the remuneration paid out to their top executives and senior management.

In this regard, the Pakatan Harapan government is understood to be mulling over making drastic changes in the appointment and remuneration of key directors at GLCs which include government agencies.

It was reported recently that the Council of Eminent Persons, headed by Tun Daim Zainuddin, who was Finance Minister in the 1980s, has requested details of the salaries of some of the top executives at GLCs as part of the review.

Already, there have been a couple of GLC chief executives who have left and more of this is expected to materialise over the coming weeks.

“It appears to be a purge of Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop’s boys,” quips an industry observer, referring to the veteran politician who was instrumental in the revamp and transformation of Khazanah which started in 2005 and subsequently, driving the GLC transformation initiative.

UM’s Terence says if the new government is to appoint new individuals, it must ensure that the process is transparent.

“If you are removing these people, who are you replacing them with? More importantly how are you selecting these people?

He adds there needs to be a transparent mechanism in the appointment of this new breed of professionals that will be brought in and what must also be looked into is the kind of check and balances being put in place to ensure governance.

“There should be a debate on these things,” he says.

Economist Yeah Kim Leng believes that a review is timely and appropriate as part of a deeper institutional and structural reform.

“The broad aims are firstly, to reduce excessive payoffs which don’t commensurate with performance and secondly, to address the widening wage and benefits gap between the top and bottom rungs of the organisation,” he says.

Such rationalisation will result in a more equitable salary structure as well as raise the generally depressed wages of middle management and support staff which form the largest number of most organisations, Yeah adds.

Unfair advantage

The role of a head honcho, be it at a GLC or non-GLC, is seldom a walk in the park.

CEOs make critical operational decisions that affect everything from future business directions to the health of a company’s balance sheet and employee morale.

The job generally entails long hours and tremendous pressure to meet expectations of shareholders and stakeholders.

But again, while local GLCs have been key drivers of the economy, one key feature is that they are ultimately owned by the government.

This, some argue, give GLCs unfair advantages such as access to cheap funding and political patronage over their private counterparts.

So, is running a GLC more of a stewardship role as opposed to an entrepreneurship role?

Therein lies the issue that in turn will have a bearing on the remuneration levels of GLC heads.

Minority Shareholders Watch Group (MSWG) chief executive office Devanesan Evanson puts it this way.

“Entrepreneurs have their skin in the game in that there are often the major or substantial shareholder in a company.

“It is in their direct interest to perform as this will be translated into share price appreciation which will impact the value of their shareholdings – this is motivation to grow the entrepreneurial spirit,” he says.

On the other hand, GLC heads do not have their skin in the game save for their limited shareholding through ESOS or share grant schemes.

“If a GLC loses money, the impact on them is limited. They may be prepared to take perverse risks as the eventual loser is the government-linked investment companies or GLICs (and the minority shareholders of the GLC), which eventually are the people who are the members or subscribers of the GLICs.

“In that way, we are not comparing apple to apple and yet, we need talent to run GLCs.

“So we can conclude that, we need to pay for talent at GLCs but it should not be as much compared to what one would pay the CEO of a firm which he started,” Devanesan says, noting that remuneration of some of the GLC heads have risen too fast in recent years.

Rising remuneration is a given, others say, as the government had recruited top talent from the private sector to helm these companies.

A case in point is  Axiata Group Bhd , which has done relatively well with the infusion of the “entrepreneurial spirit” under the helm of president and group CEO Tan Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim, who has helmed the Khazanah-owned telco since 2008, they point out.

Prior to that, Jamaludin was with rival Maxis Communications Bhd, a private company controlled by tycoon Ananda Krishnan.

Other GLCs which have performed consistently over recent years include banks like Malayan Banking Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd which have expanded their operations out of Malaysia, carving a brand name for themselves regionally.

Under a 10-year transformation programme for GLCs initiated in 2005, companies were given quantitative and qualitative targets to meet as measured by key performance indicators.

Now, the 20 biggest GLCs currently make up about 40% of the local stock market’s market capitalisation.

One of the principles under the programme was also the national development agenda, which emphasised the principle of equal growth and development of the bumiputra community with the non-bumiputras.

Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (ASLI) Centre of Public Policy Studies chairperson Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam says the purpose of establishing GLCs to encourage bumiputras to participate in business has largely been fulfilled.

“Now that the bumiputras are on a strong footing in the corporate sector with able leaders who have wide experience, it (GLCs) could be seen as an erosion to the welfare and progress of the smaller and medium-sized industries, particularly those where other bumiputras are involved,” Ramon says.

Having said that, he says although many GLCs are doing well, they have performed well “mainly because of protective policies and monopolistic practices”.

“The time has come in this new Malaysian era for more competition and less protection.”

Benchmarking

Still, if simplistic comparisons are to be made, the CEOs of the country’s two largest GLC banks, Maybank and CIMB for instance, took home less than the CEO of the country’s third largest bank, the non-GLC Public Bank Bhd last year.

In 2017, Public Bank’s managing director Tan Sri Tay Ah Lek took home some RM27.8mil in total remuneration while Maybank’s Datuk Abdul Farid Alias earned RM10.11mil and CIMB’s Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz made RM9.86mil.

Across the causeway, a survey of CEO remuneration of Singapore-listed companies by one financial portal shows that Singaporean GLC CEOs earned 31% more than their non-GLC counterparts in 2017.

Singapore’s Temasek Holdings-owned DBS Bank, which is Singapore’s largest bank, paid out S$10.3mil (RM30.36mil) to its head honcho, while in the telecommunication sector, SingTel’s remuneration to its top executive was some S$6.56mil (RM19.34mil) for the most recently concluded financial year.

By definition, Singapore GLCs are those which are 15% or more owned by the city-state’s investment arm Temasek Holdings.

UM’s Terence does not think Singapore should be a benchmark for Malaysian companies.

“Singapore is a much smaller country and the manner in which they operate in is also different ... their GLCs are deeply conditioned by their holding company, which is the Minister of Finance Incorporated,” he says.

MSWG’s Devanesan notes that determining remuneration is “not exactly science” as there are many parameters to be considered.

Some of the factors to note include whether the companies are in a monopolistic or near monopolistic position and the performance of the GLC heads over the years.

“Based on these parameters, we can instinctively know if a GLC head is over-remunerated,” he says. Over in China, state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country’s largest lender by assets, paid out about 63.43 yuan or about RM39mil in total remuneration before tax for the year 2017 to its top executive.

Notably, the Beijing-based ICBC’s net profit’s was at a whopping US$45.6bil (RM182bil) in 2017.

Sources: Gurmeet Kaur and Yvonne Tan The Star

GLC singers sing a different tune

Some officials singing 'Hebat Negaraku'.

 Swan song for some after 'Hebat Negaraku' post-GE14 - CEO think video to showcase musical talents

 Several heads of government-linked companies (GLCs) have come together in a heartwarming music video titled "Hebat Negaraku" (my country is great). 

 GLC chiefs show off musical talent in 'Hebat Negaraku' music video ...

https://youtu.be/hfK_wfD17qk

The heads of government linked companies (GLC) who sang a song that later became the theme song for the Barisan Nasional’s election campaign have distanced themselves from the controversial music video.

Those who sang and played musical instruments in the music video titled “Hebat Negaraku” (my country is great) said they did not know the video or the song was going to be a political theme song.

There have been repercussions on the CEOs who appeared in the music video. They have come under scrutiny for making a song that was used as propaganda by Barisan in the last general election.

Three of the GLC bosses in the video have either retired or resigned since the new government took over.

Several more have been speculated to leave in the coming weeks or months but nothing is cast in stone. Sources said this is because most of the CEOs are not known to have campaigned openly for either Barisan or Pakatan Harapan.

“None of the CEOs had a clue it would become a political song. Do you really think the CEOs would have done it if they knew it would become political?” asked one of the CEOs who appeared in the video but declined to be named.

“We have said no to so many things, and we could have easily have said no to this if it was political.’’

Another CEO said he was approached and felt it was “more of a patriotic song and nothing more.”

“At that point in time, we did not think much (of the repercussions). Hebat Negaraku was announced as Barisan’s campaign theme long after the recording was made. We did not know that.’’

Another CEO added: “We thought it was a casual thing when we were approached as some of the CEOs have their own band.’’

It all started when several CEOs were called to be part of a music video and they thought it was to showcase the musical talents of 14 GLCs heads, plus staff members of the 20 key GLCs.

The song is about the greatness, advancement and inspiration of Malaysia. It was released on YouTube on March 22 but has since been taken down.

But fingers have been pointed at the GLCs bosses who made the music video because it became a political video.

Datuk Seri Shazalli Ramly has been said to be the main orchestrator for the group in terms of making the music video. He was also said to be the branding chief for Barisan’s elections campaign.

Barisan lost the elections held on May 9 to Pakatan, which has since formed a new government and is scrutinising all the performance, processes, remuneration and procurement of the government and GLCs.

Shazalli quit his job as group CEO of  Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) on June 6. Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) group managing director Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din has retired as group MD last week and it was something he had planned to do.  Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd Datuk Badlisham Ghazali did not get his contract renewed. All three were in the music video.

There is a GLC secretariat that now comes under the purview of TM, which was earlier parked under Khazanah Nasional Bhd. The secretariat organised the making of the music video, according to sources. The CEOs were called to attend a session and within a few hours it was all done with no prior rehearsals.

“When you are called, it could be difficult not to comply since it is the secretariat that called you. We have to oblige but we really did not know it was going to be a campaign slogan. This is really unfortunate that it has turned out like this.

“We were surprised when we found out it was a party slogan but it had already been done and what can we do, we are in the picture,’’ said another CEO.

Not all CEOs who were invited took part in the video. Prior engagements were the reason used for declining to appear. - By b.k. Sidhu The Star

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Warning to civil servants: stop bodek-bodeking, Serve people and govt of the day or else ..

‘Enough with being yes men’ - MACC chiefs warns top civil servants against brown-nosing

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has warned civil servants to stop the culture of bodek-bodeking (brown-nosing) in the public service.

Directors-general and heads of department must stop being “yes men” to ministers and deputy ministers, Chief Commissioner Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull (pic) said.

“Do your own work and don’t interfere in the tasks of others. In fact, civil servants should consider this a warning – from now on, stop with the bodek-bodeking culture.

“By right, ministers have no authority on projects, they can only create policies. That is why the directors-general and heads of department must be brave enough to say no.

“Do not be ministers’ crutches or their yes men. It does not matter if we get kicked around as long as we are doing the right thing,” he told Sinar Harian.

He said that the separation of powers between the legislative, executive and judiciary should be abided by, and boundaries of autho­rity should be clear at each level.

“Do not ever breach the boundaries of another person’s job scope.

“That can cause chaos,” Mohd Shukri said.

He also said heads of department, especially those in enforcement divisions, must give clear and accurate advice to ministers, deputy ministers and other policymakers.

“Only say yes if you know it’s true, don’t just say yes, yes, yes although the matter may be untrue. You must be brave,” he said, adding that they should refer to the MACC if they were unclear about instructions.

Mohd Shukri also called on directors-general and heads of department to be bold enough to give the right advice as demanded by their rank.

“If you are not brave enough to say no to something that is not right, then it’s better to not hold that position in the first place,” he said.

He suggested the Government appreciate those who have served with integrity and not the kaki bodek (apple polishers), saying the latter group was ruining the country’s system.

“Get angry at me if you want, I am speaking the truth and the truth hurts but it’s worth it.

“Look at the situation now. When misdeeds are exposed, who wants to help? No one. Only we can help ourselves,” he said.- The Star

Wan Azizah to civil servants: Serve govt of the day or else ...

Concerned Ministers: (from left) Rina, Dr Wan Azizah and Dr Maszlee speaking to the media during a press conference after chairing the national Children’s Well-being Roadmap meeting in Putrajaya. — Bernama

Civil servants must serve the government of the day and not obstruct the workings of the new administration, says Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

“It has come to my attention that a small number of civil servants are not supporting, but obstructing, the Pakatan Harapan government.

“This is a warning to those doing so that we expect professionalism from our civil service and for them to serve the government of the day,” she said in a press statement after chairing a meeting for a national Children’s Well-being Roadmap in Putrajaya yesterday.

Her warning follows concerns raised by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad earlier this month over the loyalty of civil servants who campaigned for Barisan Nasional during GE14.

On the Children’s Well-being Roadmap, Dr Wan Azizah, who is also Women, Family and Community Development Minister, said that more input was needed from stakeholders to develop strategies and programmes to address pressing issues affecting children.

She highlighted the need to develop a more integrated and coherent approach when dealing with children with growth deficiencies.

“We do not want a piecemeal approach to this,” she said.

Dr Wan Azizah said the roadmap would also cover marginalised, stateless and refugee children along with children who are victims of sexual abuse.

“This inter-ministerial meeting was called to create coordination as well as an expression of political will and our determination to get to the bottom of these problems.

“We can’t claim to be a caring society if we ignore and neglect those who are most in need of care,” she added. Present at the meeting were Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik, Rural Development Minister Rina Mohd Harun, representatives from the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) and Home Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Alwi Ibrahim. - The Star


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https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/06/07/policy-changes-and-new-initiatives-soon-dr-m-shift-includes-ensuring-top-civil-servants-know-and-spe/ 

PUTRAJAYA: Signalling a major policy change over defence and administrative issues, the Prime Minister has outlined several initiatives that the Government will undertake from now on.

For starters, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad does not want warships on either the Straits of Malacca or the South China Sea.

In doing so, Dr Mahathir has sent a strong message to superpo­wers, such as the United States and China, that Malaysia wish to remain neutral over their desire to control the region.

To ensure better spending of public funds, he has enlisted the help of former auditor-general Tan Sri Ambrin Buang to head a high-level committee to look into the procurement of government supplies, starting with the Defence Ministry.

In a move to improve the running of the public sector, Dr Mahathir said top civil servants would have to sit for an English competency test, signalling a major initiative in pushing for the language to be part of the civil administration.

“We consider English a very important language and it must be mastered by all high-ranking civil servants. These top officers must have a strong command of English because they always have to deal with foreigners,” Dr Mahathir said at a press conference after chairing the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday.

Instantly, former civil servants lauded the move, as many felt that government officers today were less proficient in English and as such, could not work as well as the seniors before them.

Tan Sri Dr Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria, for instance, said that it was important for civil servants at all levels to master the English language.

“It’s a good idea and it’s about time that this was introduced. Thailand and Vietnam are catching up very fast and we don’t want to be left behind,” said Dr Rebecca.

The former International Trade and Industry Ministry secretary-general said Miti staff in particular had to undergo English language training as the ministry was involved in a lot of international work, drafting agreements and statements that required a high level of proficiency in the language.

Former Malaysia’s Permanent Representative to United Nations Tan Sri Hasmy Agam concurred.

“It’s a fantastic idea. In this globalised age, we have to be proficient in English at all levels.

“If you are a civil servant and you are not proficient in English, you can’t participate much at the international level,” he said.

Hasmy said apart from top civil servants, proficiency in English should also be emphasised in schools and universities as well.

“If Malaysia is aspiring to join the ranks of developed countries, we have to start now.

“A Malaysian would be more patriotic if he or she can communicate in international languages, in this case English, when representing the country’s interests abroad.

“Negotiations in diplomacy, trade, labour – you have to negotiate in English,” he added.

Both Dr Rebecca and Hasmy said that the younger generation of civil servants were less proficient in English due to different mediums used in schools.

“We have to do it (English language training) for the younger ones coming into the service because they went through a Malay-medium education,” said Dr Rebecca.

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https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/05/29/the-writing-is-on-btns-wall-controversial-agency-has-a-good-chance-of-being-shut-down/
 

In the 44 years since it began, the National Civics Bureau has evolved into a racial and propaganda machine of sorts. The Biro Tatanegara may be in its last days as the Government plans to review its relevance in multiracial Malaysia.

 The writing is on the wall for BTN

PETALING JAYA: The days of the National Civics Bureau or Biro Tatanegara (BTN) seem numbered with the Government to look into whether it should keep or abolish the controversial agency.

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said BTN and several other government bodies had been turned into political tools by the previous Barisan Nasional government.

“All this will be studied, we may maintain or abolish it. We found that there are many agencies which have been set up not (to benefit) the government but Barisan; but they use government money to pay salaries,” Dr Mahathir told a media conference after chairing the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia supreme council meeting.

Dr Mahathir, who is Pribumi chairman, was responding to a question on the fate of BTN following the Government’s move to abolish several other taxpayer-supported bodies, namely the National Council of Professors and the Special Affairs Department (Jasa).


Set up in 1974 to promote patriotism, BTN has come under fire over the years after numerous complaints about it promoting racial hatred.

The Pakatan Harapan Government in its election manifesto has pledged to dissolve the agency which it said had become a political agent for Umno.

PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said the abuse of BTN by the previous government was possible grounds to shut it down.

“How many propaganda and brainwashing agencies do we require? BTN has not done much to inculcate a sense of patriotism or belonging,” she said.

The bureau’s director-general Datuk Ibrahim Saad could not be reached for comment.

BTN, which is under the Prime Minister’s Department, conducts courses for civil servants, government scholarship holders and selected students from colleges and universities.

According to DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, the budgets for BTN multiplied 10-fold in the 1990s (RM200mil) compared to the 1980s (RM20mil), and continued to increase.

From 2010 to 2015, the allocation for BTN totalled some RM365mil.

Veteran journalist Datuk A. Kadir Jasin said it would not be surprising for the bureau to be shuttered.

“If BTN performed a political task and if the Government has already decided to close down other (similar) agencies such as Jasa, then I would imagine that it’s not hard to predict that BTN would or should suffer a similar fate,” said Kadir.

The Pakatan election manifesto stated that Umno and Barisan had abused government programmes to spread narrow ethno-religious politics to influence youths.

“The Pakatan Harapan Government will dissolve the bureau, which over the years had become a cheap political agent for Umno,” it said.

PKR Youth leader Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, who has called for a shutdown of BTN, recounted his own experience with it.

He was a student when he attended one of the BTN camps back in 2003.

“I found the whole affair racial and political in nature. (There were) racial, religious bigotry and hatred against PKR, PAS, and DAP mainly. “BTN was formed for political purposes. It is outdated. Schools, hospitals and universities need money, so let’s prioritise,” he said.

MCA publicity spokesman Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker said a thorough review of BTN should be conducted before a decision is made.

“There are institutions we can save instead of just being shut down. We need to ensure they are independent and free to pursue positive progressive ideas,” he said.

Ti said a number of institutions started out well but was hijacked along the way by the political masters.

“A lot of this happened during Dr Mahathir’s time, so it is good for him to remedy these issues,” he said.

Umno information chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa said the Government could do what it wished with the bureau.

“My view is very simple; they have the mandate, they are free to do it,” said Annuar.

Parti Rakyat Sarawak president Tan Sri James Masing said the functions of BTN needed to be reviewed in order to reflect Malaysian society.

“The multiracial nature of our society must be strengthened and reflected in every nook and corner of our nation. No one race can claim ownership of this nation,” he said.

Sarawak United People’s Party Youth chief Michael Tiang said any agency that promoted racism and intolerance should be reviewed or even abolished. “Racism and intolerance are never part of the Malaysian spirit,” he said.


Souces : The Star by razak ahmad, sharon ling, hemananthani sivanandam, rashvinjeet s. bedi, hanis zainal,  and n. trisha
 

BTN course was a nightmare, says participant

PETALING JAYA: She penned down her experiences attending a team-building course with Biro Tatanegara (BTN) in her diary. And it was not pleasant.

Sahana, as she wanted to be known, recounted how one of the lecturers had picked on her physical appearance.

During one session, the lecturer even poked fun at some of the participants as a way of engaging the class.

“He would say things like ‘ah yang pendek tu, bangun (you, the short one, stand up).”

“I was seated next to an Indian girl when he pointed at my direction. When I turned to the girl next to me, he said ‘ awak lah, yang hitam, besar tu’ (you, the dark and big sized one) to indicate that he was directing the question to me,” said Sahana, who is now a communication executive.

Sahana, 36, was a first year college student then. Her college had informed the students that they had to attend a series of lectures and team building exercises at a camp in Johor.

“We were looking forward to it because we were there with our peers and it was a long trip away from home. For some of us, it was our first excursion out of state so we were excited,” she said.

However, the excitement did not last long. The lecturer’s comments embarrassed Sahana, who cried in class but others including the lecturer just laughed at her.

“I already had this complex about being a plus size, so naturally, when remarks like that were made, it really hurt me.

“It was a big hit to my self-confidence,” she said, adding that she felt that being dark skinned and large was a big sin.

Sahana wondered why physical appearance and skin colour were highlighted at the camp that was actually meant to teach participants values and instil patriotism.

Sahana also found insensitivity when it came to food being served as beef was given to them.

“Not that I am complaining but it made me wonder back then; how a Hindu, Buddhist or vegetarian would survive when beef was the main dish served?” she asked.

A parent wrote to The Star to complain that her son was “hounded” for being Indian.

“Throughout the five-day course, he and other Indian participants were constantly hounded about the actions of the Hindraf movement.

“His friends and him are not supporters nor sympathisers of the group. Yet, they felt disappointed at the way the instructors kept harping on the issue at every turn and opportunity,” the mother wrote.

Another parent echoed the sentiment, saying that participants were repeatedly reminded of the “social contact” in the formation of the country.

“Throughout the five days of the course, participants are repeatedly told not to question Malay rights and so on,” said the parent, adding that even Malay friends of the family were upset by the programme’s content.

There, however, were praises for the programme.

“I must say that there were many great people there, especially the facilitator in my group. I have heard many unpleasant things about it and I don’t understand why.

“During my stint, I learnt many things from my facilitator, not only of a better understanding of Malaysia but also the spirit of a Malaysian.

“We, the non-Malays, really appreciated him as our facilitator. We never felt aggrieved or hurt. Through him, we learnt unity, not disunity,” wrote a participant.

Another participant wrote of learning more about Malaysia at the programme.

“I learnt more of our own country while having a great time throughout the activities and group-learning sessions filled with good values,” the participant said.

 

How many propaganda and brainwashing agencies do we require... BTN has not done much to inculcate a sense of patriotism or belonging. – Nurul Izzah, PKR vice-president  

If the BTN performed a political task and if the Government has already decided to close down other (similar) agencies such as Jasa (Special  Affairs Department), then I would imagine that it’s not hard to predict that BTN would or should suffer a similar fate. – Datuk A. Kadir Jasin, veteran journalist

I found the whole affair racial and political in nature. (There were) racial, religious bigotry and hatred against PKR, PAS, and DAP mainly. – Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, PKR Youth leader

There are institutions we can save instead of just being shut down. We need to ensure that they are independent and free to pursue positive progressive ideas. – Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker, MCA publicity spokesman

‘Move to shut down BTN unreasonable’

PETALING JAYA: While the National Civics Bureau or Biro Tatanegara (BTN) has drawn flak over the years, there was an effort to improve the body.

Umno member Datuk Lokman Noor Adam, who was involved in BTN, said complaints against the bureau had prompted the Government to set up a panel about three years ago to seek improvements.

Lokman, who was on the panel, said new modules were then drawn up for BTN.

He hit out at the current Government, which he claimed was out to shut down all agencies perceived to have strengthened the position of Barisan Nasional.

“I am sure that their next target will include Jakim (Department of Islamic Development Malaysia), Mara, Tekun (Entrepreneur Development Centre), Mara Junior Science Colleges, Universiti Teknologi Mara and others,” said Lokman.

Former Kepong MP Dr Tan Seng Giaw, who was also on the panel to rebrand BTN, said the bureau needed to represent the country’s plural society.

“This is 2018 and yet there are Malays, Chinese and Indians who say racial things. So I told the panel – let’s try to reduce this.

“Let’s emphasise tatanegara, which means the discipline of a nation. Let’s make this whole thing non-racial.”

He said he was not sure whether his suggestions were subsequently taken up, adding that other panellists also gave some good ideas.

Dr Tan said BTN should only be closed if efforts to change it failed.

“If we are to shut down everything we don’t like, then why not close ministries and everything else?

“If it is impossible to revive the BTN, then it is reasonable to shut it down. But this is not a question that it cannot be revived but of getting the policy right,” said Dr Tan.


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RM7bil to bail out 1MDB, CEO Arul Kanda utterly dishonest & untrustworthy said Finance Minister

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PUTRAJAYA: On top of paying RM6.98bil to bail out 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), the Government is now facing the prospect of forking out an additional RM953mil to service the company’s debts by November.

“I have been informed that besides the RM142.75mil due at the end of this month, another RM810.21mil worth of interest is due between the months of September and November in 2018,” Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng told reporters after being briefed by ministry officers.

Lim, who was shocked at the revelation, added that the ministry had been bailing out 1MDB by servicing its debts since April 2017, which included payments for International Petroleum Investment Corp’s (IPIC) settlement agreement amounting to RM5.05bil.

“This confirms the public suspicion that 1MDB had essentially deceived Malaysians by claiming that hit had paid via ‘successful rationalisation exercise’.

“It has been the ministry that has bailed out 1MDB,” he said.

He also said the previous government had conducted an exercise of deception with regard to 1MDB and even misrepresented the financial situation to Parliament.

Lim said 1MDB’s chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy, and directors Datuk Kamal Mohd Ali and Datuk Norazman Ayob will be grilled to determine the company’s state of affairs and its ability to service its debts.

He said officers from the ministry would conduct a detailed study on 1MDB’s debts and liabilities aimed at resolving the “crisis created by the scandal”.

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Asked what was the full extent of 1MDB’s debts and liabilities, Lim said this would only be known with full access to files and accounts which had been previously barred or blocked to auditors.

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