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Pak Lah – the Trailblazer?

Somehow this was foreseen – Pak Lah or his cronies (and the leeches) must be getting really desperate.

Out of the blue when some of us have almost forgotten the name of our PM, the newspapers spins up new stories to remind us. There is a time to “kipas” someone and there is a time to stand up when things are not done right (kipas = a Malay word used for apple polishing). And when a bunch of politicians and so-called academicians held such seminars praising the PM, you know that apple-polishing has gone to the extreme.

First was the seminar titled “Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s Three Years in Putrajaya: Trailblazing a Brighter Future for Malaysia

The Star this morning had this statement – “Abdullah brings a fresh wind to Malaysia”. That was news! The seminar which seemed hesitantly organized is nothing but a lame attempt to do damage control of the criticism leveled against Pak Lah for going MIA when large part of the country was siege by flash flood and rise of living cost. Pak Lah was on holiday and no tragedy it seems (except perhaps the death of someone close in his family) will cause him to break his holiday and return home to handle the situation.

This is what the apple-polishers said in the seminar:-

Umno Information chief Senator Tan Sri Muhammad Muhamad Taib said Abdullah had brought much openness and transparency to his administration, while on the international stage he had established greater rapport with world leaders, especially the superpowers.

The chairman and chief executive officer of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Datuk Seri Mohamed Jawhar Hassan said that it might be too early to evaluate Abdullah’s performance as he had been at the helm for only 38 months, but it needed to be done as democracy demanded so.

Don’t you want to puke?

38 months is one bloody long period and you keep saying that it is not enough? Are you still warming? Don’t tell me that only after the next general election, you will be ready to act like a PM? Hello, anybody is at home? The PM’s post is not like a new car where you can test drive first before you purchase it. You act like a PM or not act – there is no “cuba-cuba” (tries).

But for these apple-polishers, it does not matter. It does not matter if weaknesses are not brought to the surface for remedy. It does not matter if policies and actions taken by Pak Lah seem to be going against the interest of people. For these apple-polishers, as long as they can kiss Pak Lah’s backside and shower him with flowery & false praises in return for some kind of return, it is more than enough.

Of course, the seminar does not fail to chant the usual Barisan Nasional slogan to keep them in power – Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid, who closed the seminar, urged all Malaysians to give their full support to Abdullah to take the nation to greater heights. Don’t you feel funny – someone screws you at the back when you least expected and then tells you that he is your close friend and will be helping you to progress?

Second was the seminar titled “National Seminar on Abdullah Ahmad Badawi: Three Years in Putrajaya: Tracking the Country’s Future”

In the NST on the other hand, the general view that was spinned was that “Pak Lah’s plans are excellent and practical but he is being let down by poor implementation”. Now, who are they trying to fool here – planning and executing may be done by different person but as the Prime Minister of the country, don’t you have some kind of powers to haul in those lazy and ignorant civil servants and sack them? Or at least screw the Ministers who not checking on their staff. In 3 years, you could have done a lot of things. Unless of course you are telling us now that you were too lazy and ignorant yourself, so you close one eye on the lack of execution.

Of course the apple-polishers were there to soften the impact. They said “Those who are supposed to implement the plans would either take their own time in executing the plans, or because they do not have a clear idea what the policies intend to achieve, carry it out halfway. And this is where the policies fail.” Is that right? So, whose fault is it when the company goes down – the CEO of the company or the lonely Indonesia cleaner lady who comes in twice a week?

If to make the matter worse, someone even brought in some kind of X-files kind of conspiracy theory. Social Institute of Malaysia director Professor Dr Mohamed Fadzil Che Din said “certain parties” with their own agenda were interfering with the implementation of the plans”. We all know about the hidden agendas for a long time now, don’t we? All you need to do is ask Dr M and he will tell you about the boys at the Fourth Floor in the PM’s office.

First week of the first month of the year and already we have people who think less and talk more nonsense! Sigh.

Read also the take on the issue by Rocky’s Bru and the Malaysian and Lim Kit Siang

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