If you have articles, information, thoughts you want to share just send it to me at ali.syedakbar@gmail.com. Please keep your articles brief, not more than 1000 words or just use bullet points. If you have pictures to go with the articles, that is even better. Towards an excellent Malaysia.
An overdose of paracetamol said to have killed boy
KUALA LUMPUR: The family of a seven-year-old boy has alleged that he died after being given a prescription overdose by a doctor in a government clinic here.
P. Thirishanraj was in a coma from Saturday evening, before being pronounced dead at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital (KLH) yesterday.
According to Thirishanraj’s grandfather, Datuk N. Muneandy, the boy was taken to the government clinic after he had a fever on Friday afternoon.
He said the doctor prescribed the boy medication of two 500mg paracetamol tablets to be taken four times daily.
Picture : The distraught father N.Parasmeshwaran carrying the body of Thirishanraj (inset) after he was brought back from the hospital Wednesday.
However, after taking the medicine three times, the boy became weak and dizzy, forcing the family to rush him to a private clinic on Saturday.
“When we showed the doctor the medicine given earlier, he said it was an overdose and asked us to take Thirishanraj to KLH,” he said when met at his house last night.
The doctor even wrote a referral stating the boy was given an overdose of the medication.
Thirishanraj was admitted to KLH but the doctors there assured the family he was fine after conducting tests on him.
However, Muneandy said, several hours after he was admitted, the boy suffered swelling of the brain and went into a coma.
“After that, he depended on the machine to breathe,” he said, adding that the doctors also took samples to be sent to the lab.
Yesterday, doctors told Thirishanraj’s family that they wanted to do another test on him but the family refused them permission and asked the doctors to remove the boy from the machine.
Thirishanraj was pronounced dead at 6.05pm, after the machine was removed.
However, the ordeal did not end there for the family, who were then told that all documents and files pertaining to Thirishanraj’s check-up had gone missing.
“The referral letter given by the doctor from the private clinic was also claimed to be missing,” Muneandy said.
The family were yet to be told the cause of the boy’s death. Muneandy said they then returned to the private clinic and got another copy of the letter, before lodging a report at the Sentul police headquarters last night.
The family did not allow a post mortem on the boy, whose body was brought back to their house in Taman Rainbow, Jalan Ipoh about 9pm.
Here are my comments and questions to Health DG Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican :
1. The Government health services are in need of serious revamp
2. Education and training of doctors and nurses needs serious revamp
3. People are losing their lives or getting maimed at our Government hospitals.
4. Please do not say this child was born with just one kidney or something like that and hence died because of that, that there was no postmortem allowed therefore the exact cause of death could not be identified and so on. Can we move a bit beyond this type of convenient answers?
5. Here is my simple question, whether the seven year old boy had one kidney or not, whether there was a postmortem or not, was it correct for the doctor to prescribe the boy medication of two 500mg paracetamol tablets to be taken four times daily ?
I received the following from my friend Mansoor Saat and decided to post it. Its long but do read it.
One of the most difficult and tiring things to do is to listen to people talking without any real knowledge of a subject. It is called talking rubbish. One must of course be tolerant but sometimes people can really stretch and abuse our tolerance.
So here is an informed article, complete with academic references for those who want to study the matter further. Steel yourselves, you can read this in five minutes.
In 2007, Mansoor travelled with me to Pekanbaru in Riau where I (a mamak by DNA !) delivered a talk at the Festival Budaya Melayu Se-Sumatera.
Having a wide interest in anything to do with ships, sailing and maritime traditions, I recall in my talk I spoke of the Nusantara and the seafaring tradition of the Malay peoples (pelaut agong Melayu). This article here bears more testimony to the same.
But at that conference in Riau I learned something that is linguistically correct. The people in Riau used the word 'Melayu' constantly. The word 'Malay' is an anglicised corruption. The Madagascar writer of this article has also understood this point.
Do look at the picture of the Malays of Taiwan.
Regards. SAA.
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MADAGASCAR and the NUSANTARIAN WORLD
By Andrian-tefi-nanahary & Yanariak (October, 1997)
At the dawn of the third millennium, the world seems to look for a new direction. The development of globalization is threatening the very foundation of the old empires based upon nation-state centralism. Oppositely, new alliances based on more natural affinities, especially ethnic-based affinities which had been neglected or even prohibited, are now taking place. On the one hand, it is the fear of depersonalization that ignites the rehabilitation of one's ancestral identities. On the other hand, the need to join with competent partners to face the present frontierless world requires a connection with those sharing the same fundamental interests. From now on, as distances constitute little barrier to exchanges, the prospect of new alliance can be invoked.
One immediately does realize how much this new situation can be advantageous to the Nusantarian World. Until now, direct communications between the various countries belonging to this human group, spreading throughout two oceans over thousands years, were hindered by the distances. Moreover, during the last centuries, the European colonization and its aftermath discouraged us from pursuing such unity. For each newly independent country, the consolidation of national unity was its prime concerns.
In order to better define the role and the significance of Madagascar within the future of the nusantarian world, it is necessary to begin by recounting some of the major features of that world.
The Nusantarian Motherland
Among the major ethnolinguistic groups in the world, the nusantarian family (also called "Malayo-Polynesian" or "Austronesian" by western authors) undeniably occupied the largest geographical territory prior the modern era. From east to west, this vast territory covered the area from Rapa-nui (Easter Island) to Madagascar, approximately 60% the circumference of the earth.
From north to south, it included the island of Taiwan (Pekan, for the Nusantarian natives), the archipelago of Hawaii (from "Hava-iki" or "Little Java", to recollect the ancestral homeland of the Polynesian), and New Zealand (Aotearoa in Maori language).
Beyond this heartland, other regions were frequented by Nusantarians navigators, including the major part of the Pacific Ocean (to South America) and the IndonesianOcean, as far as East Africa. [1]
Today, there are approximately 300 million Nusantarians. Their communities are traditionally present in 34 officially recognized countries in Southeast Asia (including Taiwan and Hainan where the Cam Utsat people live), Oceania, and the IndonesianOcean.
In recent years, many authors concluded that the Nusantarians originated from the present coastal area of eastern China (well before the rise of the Chinese Empire).[2] Understandably, it was by seafaring, approximately 6,000 or 7,000 years ago, that our ancestors began to slowly occupy their historical territory. In so doing, they precociously mastered an extraordinary technique of navigation.
Indeed from the beginning of our era, it is known from testimonies found in Chinese texts that the Nusantarians of Southeast Asia were using ships (the Chinese *b'ak, related to the *bangkah of Melayu) capable of transporting several hundred of tons of goods and hundreds (or even a thousand) passengers.[3] That is hardly surprising if we know that in Oceania the big double canoes (waka or pahi, corresponding to bagan and to ancient bandung of Indonesia), although a lot less equipped in terms of tools, were capable of transporting together up to 500 persons.[4]
Subsequent to this common origin, the Nusantarian heritage is characterized by three affinities, namely linguistic, cultural and racial.
Throughout the Nusantarian domain, the basic vocabulary and many typologic resemblances are preserved in all languages, among which three major sub-sections can be distinguished: a) the archaic language group of Taiwan; b) those of the western nusantarian world and countries of Southeast Asia, from Madagascar to the western part of Micronesia (Marianas, Guam and Belau/Palau Islands); c) those of the oriental nusantarian part, including the whole of Polynesia and the major part of the Melanesia.[5]
The Nusantarian civilization is characterized by many common features found in their social organization, technology, beliefs and artistic expressions. Finally, from the anthropological point of view, the majority of the Nusantarians (the Melanesians excepted) are sharing the same human form, characterized by the "classic Melayu" model : in which the skull is mesocephalic or moderately brachycephalic, the brown skin color or sawo matang, the wavy hair, less or not at all slit eyes, etc.[6]
Taking account of these elements, we should re-appraise the status and the importance of Madagascar in the Nusantarian domain.
Madagascar, a part of Southeast Asian history
Within the Nusantarian World, Madagascar stands apart for many reasons. First, geographically, this island is the farthest from any other Nusantarian territory. Its closest neighbors, the islands around Sumatra, are more than 6,000 km distant. It is thus the only part situated in the western IndonesianOcean, close to the African continent. Also by its size, Madagascar is relatively large. Among all the Nusantarian islands, it is second only to Kalimantan. However, its most surprising originality is found in its cultural and historical aspect.
In all likelihood, the island was discovered in the first centuries of the common era by seafarers from central Indonesia, related to the ancestors of the present people of Southeast Kalimantan.[7] One wonders what drove them so far to the west. In the current state of knowledge, there is obviously no answer to that question. However, it is likely that those people were not the only Nusantarians who frequented the western part of the IndonesianOcean during that era.
In fact, the Melayu traders (namely, the Melayu speaking Nusantarians kingdoms, the most prominent being one named "Funan" by Chinese authors) traded between the Sea of China and the coastal countries of the Indonesian Ocean, as far as the Roman empire, to the northwest.[8] And probably, presence of Melayu in that region might have contributed to the process of hinduization of Southeast Asia.
My comment: This is a contemporary picture of the Malay 'natives' of Taiwan today. Taiwan officially recognises them as 'indigenous people'. The Thai Constitution recognises the Malays of South Thailand as 'natives'. This article calls the Malays of south Thailand as 'Melayu of Tambralinga'.
While the Merina's ancestors slowly undertook the exploration and colonization of Madagascar, others Nusantarians traded actively with the African coasts and the Middle East. The items traded were mostly spices, ivory, cowries, pearls, hides, slaves, and perhaps silk. It is highly probable (as referenced in some Arabic texts) that Melayu trading posts were established on the coasts of Africa.[9]
The presence of Melayu in western IndonesianOcean began to decline from the 8th century under the pressure of the emerging Muslim competition. However, by the 10th century, the Malays tried to reconquer the African coasts with an enormous expedition (Arabic texts talk about a thousand ships) but without success.[10] Since then, they had ceased to frequent the region. It should be mentioned that even their old maritime hegemony in Southeastern Asia - represented at that time by the empire of Srivijaya - was then contested not only by the new power of the southern Indians of Chola, but also, by a growing Chinese power.
Concurrently, the Merina's ancestors began their migration to the highlands of Madagascar to avoid the threat of the Islamized emigrants and their numerous African slaves who rapidly took control of the northern and eastern part of Madagascar. In respect to several traditions, their prime motive for leaving the coastal areas was their refusal to mingle with their new neighbors.[11]
It was from that time that the Merina, as a people completely isolated from Southeast Asia, started on a different historial path.
Meanwhile, some Nusantarians, especially the Bugis - as mentionned in the epic of Sawerigading of La Galigo -, might have continued to sporadically visit the region.[12] Also by the 13th century, the Melayu of Tambralinga (present southern Thailand) organized a certain number of expeditions to the Southern India and to Ceylan for reasons related to Buddhism.[13] But to our knowledge, there is no indication that any of those late nusantarian expeditions might have influenced the course of Madagascar's history.[14]
However, during the entire first millennium, the history of Madagascar is simply integrated with the presence of Southern Asian Nusantarians in the western part of the IndonesianOcean. Therefore, it is difficult to isolate that island. Perhaps in the future, the progress in archaeological research and the advance of cultural and linguistic studies will help us to better understand that past.
The importance of Madagascar in the future of the Nusantarian World
The exceptional importance of Madagascar in the history of ancient nusantarian navigation in the IndonesianOcean is perfectly known here. Moreover, it remind us that for 4,000 to 5,000 years, untill around the 10th century, the nusantarian peoples were the greatest navigators of the world. It is true that similars achievement can be attested to the peoples of the Oceania, but, as far as it concerns the Southeast Asia, Madagascar is ethnologically and historically closer to them. Oceania indeed belongs to the prehistory of Southeast Asia, while Madagascar is an integral part of its "old", or more exactly, pre-modern history; from the glorious period prior the Islamisation, the arrival of Chinese emigrants and the influx of European colonizers.
Furthermore, unlike the Indo-Javanese culture for example, the civilization of Madagascar developed out of the sole ethnic ingenuity of the Nusantarians, without any direct foreign influence. Even if words of sanskrit origin are found in Madagascar's native languages, they all seem to have been borrowed through the old Malay.[15] Similarly, the Arab-African influence on the Merina people is, not only very limited, but also considered as a corruptive rather than formative late addition.
In this regard, Madagascar constitutes one of the best examples demonstrating the dynamism and the potentiality of traditional nusantarian civilization. Even if the countries of Southeast Asia had not borrowed from foreign cultures, they would have been quite able to achieve extraordinary status. To us, it is significant that the king Andrianam-poini-merina (who ruled from 1783 to 1809), was a pure bearer of the traditional Merina civilization. He no doubt could be considered as one of the greatest nusantarian sovereigns of all time.[16]
In conclusion, the rediscovery of Madagascar represents to the South Asia nusantarian countries a kind of an encounter with their own history. The look of a Merina should remind them how great navigators were their ancestors, and how they were proud of their identity that they really did matter to preserve it above anything else.[17]
But the most startling is that besides recalling the Nusantarians' past, Madagascar is holding great promises for their future. As already pre-announced by the creation of the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation), indicators suggest that the Pacific basin will be the real economic heart of our planet, and also, to a larger extent, its cultural and political heart. In these conditions, those countries occupying the most propitious locations are suceptible to play highly decisive roles.
From now on, it is for the interests of the Nusantarian countries of Southeast Asia to contemplate themselves, not as being on the periphery of Asia and the Pacific Ocean, but as in the very heart of the oceanic domain. The Pacific Ocean itself is not an empty space, but a crossroad and a field of expansion for the peoples from its bordering continents, a territory for self-development for the peoples who occupied it for millennia, and who beforehand were Nusantarians.
So, it is timely that Melayu, Javanese and Tagalog peoples, among others, reassert their real attributes, as representatives of the Nusantarians, the Islands people, traditional masters of the Ocean, and not just a mere variety of "non-typical" and marginal Asians. For that purpose, they absolutely have to position themselves in regard to their own "peripheric surroundings", and also determine the boundaries of their actual inner dimensions.
For that matter and for their interest, the Nusantarians of Southeast Asia should integrate in their world vision as well as their political policy that the Merina, on the one hand, and the Micronesians and Polynesians, on the other hand, are in fact the extensions of their own identity.
These indeed are the peoples testifying their own history, especially the most authentic part of it. There is scant need to mention that for these "peripheral" Nusantarians, the new interest brought by their South Asian kin will finally help them to exit out of their isolation and to take control of their own destiny.
Henceforth, with the support of their kin, they will no longer be considered as just small islanders, lost in the middle of the ocean. They will no longer be the coveted objects by those foreigners thinking only of taking advantage of their vulnerability, but a member of a vast community of peoples sharing the same ancestors, the same basic identity, and together, sharing the same hopes in planning their own future.
In other words, within that perspective, Madagascar somehow might also have within it the actual keys to the future of the Nusantarian world.
NOTES
[1] Cf. BELLWOOD, Peter, Man's Conquest of the Pacific. The Prehistory of Southeast Asia and Oceania, Auckland : Collins, 1978. SLAMETMULJANA. Asal Bangsa dan Bahasa Nusantara. Jakarta : Balai Pustaka, 1975. (Back to Text)
[2] Among others, cf. LING, Shun-sheng. A Study of the Raft, Outrigger, Double, and Deck Canoes of Ancient China, the Pacific, and IndianOceans. Taipei: The Institute of Ethnology, 1970. BELLWOOD, Peter. Prehistory of the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago. Sydney: Academic Press, 1985 et "A Hypothesis for Austronesian Origins", Asian Perspectives, XXXVI,1, 1984-1985: 107-117. BLUST, Robert. "The Austronesian Homeland: A Linguistic Perspective", Asian Perspectives, XXXVI,1, 1984-1985: 45-67. REID, Lawrence A. "Benedict's Austro-Tai Hypothesis - An Evaluation", Asian Perspectives, XXXVI,1, 1984-1985: 19-34. ZHANG Guang-zhi. "Archaeology in the Southeastern Coastal China and the Origin of the Austronesian", Nanyang Minzu Kaogu, 1987, 1: 1-14. XING, Gongwan. "On the Genealogical Relationship between Han Language (Chinese) and Austronesian Languages", Minzu Yuwen, 3, 1991: 1-14.(Back to the text)
[3] MANGUIN, Pierre-Yves, "The Southeast Asian Ship: An Historical Approach", Journal of South-East Asian 0Studies, IX, 2, 1980: 266-276; "Sewn-plank Craft of South-East Asia. A Preliminary Survey", inSewn Planked Boats, Archaeological and Ethnographic papers, S.McGrail & E.Kentley, eds. Oxford, 1985:319-343. DORAN, Edwin Jr. Wangka: Austronesian Canoe Origin,Texas A .& M. University press, 1981. (Back to the text)
[5] WURM, S.A. & HATTORI, Shiro, eds. Language Atlas of the Pacific area, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, 1981. KERAF, Gorys. Linguistik Bandingan Historis, Jakarta: Gramedia, 1984. (Back to Text)
[6] Cf. HOWELLS, William. The Pacific Islanders, London, Weidenfield and Nicolson, 1973. BELLWOOS, Peter. 1978, op.cit. GLINKA, J.: "Racial History of Indonesia", in Rassengeschichte der Menschheit, 8, Lieferung Asien I: Japan, Indonesien, Ozeanien, München: Oldenbourg, 1981: 79-113. (Back to Text)
[7] Cf. DAHL, O.C. Malgache et Maanjan. Une comparaison linguistique. Oslo, 1951 et "La subdivision de la famille Barito et la place du malgache", Acta Orientalia, 38, 1977: 77-134. (Back to Text)
[8] WHEATLEY, Paul. The Golden Khersonese: Studies in the Historical Geography of the Malay Peninsula Before AD 1500, Kuala Lumpur, University of Malay Press, 1961. WOLTERS, Olivier W. Early Indonesian Commerce: A Study of the Origins of Srivijaya, Cornell U.P. 1967 et The Fall of Srivijaya in Malay History, Oxford U.P. 1970. MILLER, J.I. The Spice Trade of the Roman Empire 29 B.C. to A.D. 641, Oxford, 1969. Nia KURNIA SHOLIFAT IRFAN, Kerajaan Sriwijaya, Jakarta: Girimukti Pasaka, 1983. (Back to Text)
[12] KERN, R.A. Catalogus I. Catalogus van de Boeginese, tot de I La Galigo-cyclus behorende handschriften v. Jajasan Matthes te Makassar, Makassar, 1954. (Back to Text)
[13] PARANAVITANA, S. Ceylon and Malaysia, Colombo, 1966. SIRISENA, W.M. Sri Lanka and South-East Asia: Political, Religious, and Cultural Relations from A.D. c. 1000 to c. 1500, Leiden 1978. (Back to Text)
[14] Concerning others approaches, cf. ADELAAR, K.A. "Malay Influence on Malagasy: Linguistic and culture-historical Implications", Oceanics Linguistics, 28,1, 1989: 1-46. DAHL, O.C. Migration from Kalimantan to Madagascar, NorwegianUniversity press, 1991. (Back to Text)
[15] DAHL, O.C. op. cit. 1951, 1991. BERNARD-THIERRY, Solange. "A propos des emprunts sanskrits en malgache", Journal Asiatique, 1959: 311-348. (Back to Text)
[16] On king Andrianampoinimerina and his works, cf. Tantara ny Andriana eto Madagascar, Antananarivo 1908. (Back to Text)
[17] Cf. NAZIF, Mohamed. De val van het Rijk Merina. (La chute du Royaume de Merina), Buitenzorg (Bogor), 1928. TASRIF, S. Merina. Pasang surut Keradjaan Merina. Sedjarah sebuah negara jang didirikan oleh Perantau² Indonesia di Madagaskar. Jakarta : Balai Buku Media, 1966. (Back to Text)
A previously skeptical friend of mine called yesterday and said he fully supported Dato Najib as Prime Minister. He said, ‘Syed, looks like the PM is smarter than me lah’. (Maybe he was comparing Najib with Slumber Jack).
Yesterday also I was having lunch with a corporate friend who echoed the same thing : ‘Najib is going to be a successful PM’.
Looking at the list of rather bold reforms that Najib has introduced so far, it looks like he will indeed make a big splash before his first 100 days in office are over.
We have short memories but one of the biggest and earliest reforms which Dato Najib has promised is relooking the Toll Concessions. He has asked the EPU to come out with a comprehensive plan by July. July 4th (American Independence Day) will also be the end of Dato Najib’s first 100 days in Office (give or take a day).
If Dato Najib can announce a well thought and acceptable (meaning not half hearted, not half baked or half witted job) solution to the Toll Roads by July 4th 2009, it will be the icing to his first 100 days in office.
My only concern is that the relooking of the Toll Roads by July is being headed by the boys who were also responsible for introducing the KPIs for the poor performing GLCs who have now REFUSED to undertake the KPI job for the Cabinet ! Strange behaviour !
Najib’s handling of the forced ‘religious conversion of children’ issue has also been bold. Predictably the religious bards (yes bards) have come out strongly against Najib here. Stay the course, Dato.I believe you have done the right thing.
However an Indian lawyer friend of mine says he is really skeptical of this. He says he will not believe this reform (the forced religious conversion of children issue) until the actual amended laws are passed in Parliament and gazetted in the Government Gazette.
The same goes for Najib’s promise to relook the ISA.
There is some reason for his fear. Dato Najib made the announcement but we do not know how far these two reforms have moved ahead since then?
For example the fact is the woman Indira Ghandi, whose case has perhaps triggered this reform, has still not been reunited with her year old baby. She spent a night waiting at the Police station but to no avail.
Perhaps our compassion has become numbed by the number of sumbang mahram cases, the number of babies disposed in trash dumps by mothers and the neglect of so many children by uncaring mothers but I hope Ms Indira’s predicament will stir our hati perut to understand a mother’s anguish over her missing child.Someone must help her.
Minor issues will crop up for example inheritance issues : what happens if the divorced ‘father’ who converted to Islam, goes ahead and marries a new Muslim wife and has new sets of children with her and then he dies? The Shariah Court will say his assets can only be inherited by his Muslim children. But surely his non Muslim children can go to the Civil Court and say that since the Law allowed them NOT to convert to Islam, surely the Law should also allow them to inherit the deceased Muslim father’s assets.
Perhaps this is among the reasons why my Indian lawyer friend was skeptical over the whole thing.My suggestion in such cases, is for the Civil Court to first divide his assets into two – one portion for thechildren from the first wife and another portion for the Muslim children from the second wife. The non Muslim kids can then subdivide their portions through the Civil Laws and the Muslim kids can sort theirs out through the shariah courts.
This also will keep the fully codified and more complete Civil Laws as the dominant laws of the land. This is very important because Shariah Laws are not codified, meaning they are incomplete. There are no standardized Shariah laws anywhere in the world. They have always been incomplete and they can never be complete. (Can anyone guess why? Answer : The Divine).
Najib’s handling of the Ketua Perhubungan UMNO (State UMNO Chiefs) has also been well received inside UMNO.MB’s who lost their States to the Opposition have not been reappointed.The MB of Terengganu who is turning out to be quite the clown has also not been appointed as the Ketua Perhubungan of Terengganu.
The removal of the bumi equity requirements for 27 service subsectors will do plenty of good for the overall competitiveness of the country and it SHOULD also improve bumiputra competitiveness. However there are already complaints that this will impact the ‘Malay agenda’. Not really bros – I believe this is a good thing.
Opening up the economy will certainly promote competition but we really need a bumiputra specific ‘New Competitive Policy’ (I have spoken about this to some extent in my book ‘Things In Common’) specifically to increase the competitiveness of the bumiputras.
What is meant by “bumiputra specific”? Just some examples : a bumiputra specific“New Competitive Policy” would handle Friday prayer issues, sembayang during working hours issues, khenduri issues, balik kampong matters, coming to work on time issues, opening up for business on time, paying back borrowed money etc which really affect the bumiputras capacity to compete. Please do not think that these are small matters.
Moving on ... yesterday Dato Najib announced that more Banks will be licensed including two Islamic banks and a few Commercial banks.I personally feel the banking sector should be just opened up – at least to Malaysians. Whoever wants to run a Bank, just fill up the Borang, make sure you have the minimum RM250.0 Million capital requirement and go ahead.
But n’theless these are good policy reforms by Dato Najib Tun Razak our 6th PM. Lets help him along the way.
Today I read one more piece of good news. Najib says he is willing to hire private sector talent to run key Government jobs.
Dato Najib has proposed to open up key positions in the government to talent from the private sector and government-linked companies (GLCs) in an attempt to modernise the civil service. “We cannot be too dogmatic, we need selected talent, the best and tested for the benefit of the people,” said.
(Dato Najib may I apply for the job of Datuk Bandar of Kuala Lumpur? Having lived here for 24 years now, having worked here, bought and sold properties, and running my businesses here in Kuala Lumpur and continuously sufferingatthe hands of the DBKL, I strongly believe I can really do a much better job of running the DBKL and the city of Kuala Lumpur. I will certainly know where, when and how to manage the bicycle races. It can be really win-win.)
Then Dato Najib said the following kata-kata keramat “We need to control the size of government because the government doesn’t know everything or is in possession of every solution. The reality is, the era of big government and government knows best has ended”
I really hope that the Civil Service will listen to the PM and that the KSN will also put the PM’s reform plans for the Civil Service into real implementation. We will be watching you.
The first 100 days ends around July 4th. That is about 64 days left on the Calendar. How far have the EPU boys gone forward on the review of the Tolls and TollRoad Concessions?
Please do not do a last minute Khazanah Nasional Bhd who point blank refused the Prime Minister’s request that they help prepare the KPIs for the Cabinet. Kalau nak cepat siap kerja, tanyalah orang.
