(Unbelievable when it comes to semantics! Sometimes you really, really need to read in-between the lines especially when it comes from the local politicians. Image source: http://rulingsnarl.wordpress.com/)
If you had blinked, they would have shoved the semantics in your, oh, you get the idea
Never mind, just read these very slowly:-
Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil will step down as Minister of Women, Family and Community Development when her term as Dewan Negara member ends on April 8. The decision was made after giving it much thought, she said.
“I want to do the right thing. I think for me now, the right thing is to leave my post as a Cabinet Minister.
The time has come.
(Source)
And
Despite overwhelming opposition against the controversial Board of Computing Professionals Malaysia (BCPM) Bill, the government is still convinced it has support. More than two-thirds of the groups surveyed by the ministry did not approve of the bill.
“The number of official feedbacks was 70, received from both individuals and organisations. 29% supported the proposed Bill, but nonetheless, this number may not reflect the overall segment of the ICT (information and communications technology) community,” the ministry said in a statement.
(Source)
Shahrizat said she is doing the right thing and she said that she did this after “giving it much thought”.
But is she? If you have read it well in between the lines, she is not really resigning. Do you voluntarily tender your resignation on the day you retire from work or the day you are fired from work? Yes? No? If you do that, don’t you think you would look incredibly stupid? And it seems like that is the same case here.
If you want to resign, you resign immediately – not 1 week from now and certainly not 3 weeks from now. In the political world, you don’t have to give the usual 1-month notice. So, with the end of her Senatorship, her Ministership ends automatically as well. It is crystal clear – even her former boss echoes the same thing:-
Former Wanita Umno head Tan Sri Rafidah feels that Datuk Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s announcement of stepping down as Family and Community Development Minister sounds hollow.
“There is no issue of stepping down or resigning!” Rafidah said.
“There is nothing to step down from as she is legally no longer a Minister on April 8. “She is not resigning on April 8, it is just that her Senatorship expires that day and her Ministerial post automatically lapses.”
Calling Shahrizat’s quit announcement as a “sham of a statement”, Rafidah said resigning meant Shahrizat should quit immediately – while she was still a Senator.
(Source)
And for a person who was somehow linked to the mismanagement of public funds amounting to millions of Ringgit and refused to accept responsibility and refused to heed the calls to resign immediately, what rights they to use words like sacrifice and doing the right thing.
Then there is the news that the Government still expecting full support on its controversial Board of Computing Professionals Malaysia (BCPM) Bill but hold your horses there.
Didn’t they also said that “more than two-thirds of the groups surveyed by the ministry did not approve of the bill”? With almost 71% opposition to the Bill from the industry, would you say that there is support?
I don’t know – the official 70 feedback was too small to be considered as a valid size, I may agree and perhaps with a wider scope of the response, things may be different. But with 71% opposition, one should not make say that they have the support to continue – the opposition is simply overwhelming.
But then again, when is playing with semantics, anything is possible.