Cemerlang, Gemilang & Terbilang - Again??

Wahahahahaha.... this statement should be attributed to YB Badruddin Amiruddin, no?

I had actually promised myself not to indulge in my passionate (and time-consuming) interest in blogging for the time being until I have cleared up my backlog of work.

But something caught my attention while reading the papers during breakfast this morning.

And I cannot resist ...

It was reported in The Star today that Pak Lah called on civil servants to be "Cemerlang, Gemilang dan Terbilang" during these trying times. He further said that while everyone should practise moderation in all aspects, such moderation should not be applied to the job, and that the quality of human capital should not be measured only by their skills but also by their morality.

That's when I started choking on my coffee.

First of all, the very mention of the much repeated slogan "Cemerlang, Gemilang dan Terbilang" brought to mind this entertaining piece here by M. Bakri Musa. This piece was followed-up by an exchange of letters between him and Din Merican here discussing the leadership of Pak Lah during his first term as opposed to the spin put out by NST's Brendan Pereira.

You might like to check out both articles here if you haven't done so already. They are pretty interesting, to say the least.

And then, there's this talk about productivity, human capital, skills and morality. Again.

If Pak Lah is talking about the civil service, did he actually commission a survey to find out whether since the implementation of the 5-day work week, has productivity actually increased or the reverse is true, that things are moving slower than they were before, that the long weekends civil servants are enjoying seem to make them even more lethargic and uninspired?

And then, does anyone seriously believe that our civil service is staffed by highly skilled, efficient and morally upright people, even prior to the 30 sen fuel hike, before everyone is now supposedly in such low morale brought on by trying to make ends meet because we are caught in trying times due to effects from the fuel hike?

If the civil service was bad BEFORE insiden tigapuluhsen, am I (and everyone else) being realistic in expecting the civil service to marginally improve its efficiency level AFTER insiden tigapuluhsen? Merely on the sage advice of Pak Lah?

If so, certain laws of nature does not apply in Malaysia.

In the NST, it was reported that:-

Reiterating the need for civil servants and Malaysians to be prudent in their spending following the recent fuel price hike, Abdullah said a modest lifestyle for Muslims should encompass all aspects of life.

For Muslims??

So Pak Lah is indirectly admitting what YB Lim Kit Siang has said in Parliament the other day, that it is not wrong to say that our Malaysian civil service can also be rightly identified as the Malay civil service after all?

That's calling a spade a spade, isn't it? And what is wrong with being honest about this, huh, MP from Jerai? Are you ashamed to admit that the civil service of today is dominated by no less than 90% Malay staff? Is it also because we all know how bad the level of service we get from civil servants these days?

Before I digress further, perhaps it would have been more appropriate to re-phrase that sentence to say,

"a modest lifestyle for Barisan Nasional leaders, Chief Ministers, State Councillors, Pengarahs, Department Heads of civil services, etc... should encompass all aspects of life to show leadership by example."

A. Kadir Jasin (ex-chief of NST) says it aptly in part of a piece he wrote in his blog:-

OIL PRICE AND CHANGING LIFESTYLE

IT’S okay for Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Najib Abdul Razak to advise us to change our lifestyle in preparation for the high oil price policy.

But how sure is he that every Malaysian can change his or her lifestyle to cope with rising consumer prices, higher inflation and more moderate growth?

We are not talking about Ministers, top civil servants, the residents of Bukit Tunku and those with palatial official residences in Putrajaya.

These people can be prudent, no doubt. From a 5-litre car they can step down to a 3-litre one. From a family holiday in Las Vegas, USA they can downgrade to Perth, Australia. And there are many more things they can do to save money without risking hunger and indignity.

We are talking about padi farmers, smallholders, vegetable gardeners, low-ranking civil servants, construction workers, lorry drivers, low-ranking pensioners and those on welfare.

Can they rise up to Najib’s challenge and change their lifestyle when, in reality, they don’t have any kind of lifestyle to talk about? Theirs is mere survival.

...

The irony of oil price subsidy is, while it benefits the rich -- those with fuel guzzlers more -- but it has greater impact on the wellbeing of the poor. The rich can stomach the higher gasoline prices and the inflation it is causing but the poor is less capable.

...

In line with its own mantra of transparency and accountability, it is incumbent upon the Government to explain clearly the operation of petroleum subsidy so that people are convinced that they are not being short-changed and that in the long run, they will not fare badly.

*Sigh*

Not everyone is convinced that the Government has the rakyat's best interests in the long run.

Heck, they can't even agree on how the govt should use the savings from the fuel subsidies. The newspapers say people favour improved public transportation, govt poll shows public health services, ... and me?

I think education should be looked into, especially those schools in rural areas both in the Peninsular as well as Sabah & Sarawak where even basic amenities like electricity and clean piped water are not available, let alone a proper roof and non-termite infested buildings for those poor schoolkids and long suffering teachers.

I digress again.

Fact is, some things will never change. They are just given a new coat of paint to cover up the rot and fungus that have embedded deep into the woodwork.

No??

Take this example.

Our MP from Jerai has proven time and again that he has been consistently consistent in making a fool of himself by exposing his total inability to comprehend facts and figures even when it is laid out in front of him. As always, he prefer to drown it all out by flounting his animalistic behaviour.

Maybe he thought labelling his opponents as animals is more acceptable than words like "keling"? What else will he come up with next?

You might want to check out the hansard on this shameful behaviour here, courtesy of fellow blogger The Senseintrovert.

Excuse me now, I have to get back to work because my Ringgit has shrunk and I am now forced to change my lifestyle, whatever that means to those who live in ivory towers.