Spare the rod and spoil the child

Updated at 8pm (see the end of post)

In Malaysia, somethings are very predictable. In fact, they are as predictable as the sun rises from the East.

One of them is, whenever someone from UMNO, not even the top echelon of leaders but one of the second or 3rd tier wannabes, utter certain racial slurs, the component parties leaders will raise a great  hue and cry. Police reports would be made. Demands that action be taken against the fellow would be made. In the end, everything will quieten down and nothing much will come out of it.

 The recent case of a UMNO division chairman is a good example (read my earlier post). PM has already said that this fellow did not mean what he said. Perhaps what he means is that  all of us can go around scolding and insulting people and then say, I do not mean it.  But in the end, I am sure nothing will come about the whole incident. (Not even a sorry, but maybe a regret!! )

The next predictable thing is the Auditor General”s report. Year in and year out, there would be the same abuses and the same wastages reported and the same promise of action; but again , no action is made to punish the errand officers and the wastage will go on unchecked.

A company, with no previous experience  and not even a license to handle radioactive materials, were given the contract to supply PET scan machines, which are highly sophisticated imaging machines and required special expertise in knowledge of radioactivity.  And the contract is worth 33 millions. We can cry our heads off, but I can assure you this thing will continue unabated and no one would even lift an eyebrow.

All these are about rules and laws. There must not be 2 sets of rules- which is eactly the case in our country-  one for the lay people , and one for the powerbrokers or senior officers.

In the first instance, without any action being taken against this division chairman who uttered racial slurs, others will be emboldened and racial insults will be  hurled again and again. Well, nothing can be done, but the power-that-be forgets that the people are smart now. They know they are  the masters, even though only on one day every 5 years. . They will know what to do the next round going to the polls.  In the end, not only the component parties suffer because of the arrogance of UMNO members (they have only themselves to blame for being so subservient), even UMNO candidates will be rejected , as more and more people realise that racial politics will not be good for the advancement of the country.

Similarly with all the government abuses and misuse of funds. If these things are left unchecked, sooner or later , there will be a day when our coffers will all go to private pockets and  nothing will be left for your future generations.

But will things change? Again, this is predictable. Things will not change.

There is a saying that ” spare the rod and spoil the child”. In the case of SIngapore and Hong Kong, they do not spare the rods and they have efficient government and civil services to face the challenges of globalisation. In our case, sadly, it is again predictable that rods will never be used against certain politicians and those elites with connections.

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Update  Latest from the Star online at 8pm:

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno, the backbone of the ruling Barisan Nasional government, has issued a public apology over a remark made by Bukit Bendera Umno division head Datuk Ahmad Ismail during the Permatang Pauh parliamentary by-election last month.

“We hope that the non-Malays will not be too disturbed with the statement and we apologise if it has incurred the sensitivities or unhappiness over the statement.

“We apologise, Umno apologises although it is not our statement but it is a statement made by one of our division leaders. It is totally unwarranted and does not reflect the position and the attitude of Umno or the leadership of Umno. We regret it very much,” Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is also Umno deputy president, said here on Tuesday.

 I am really puzzled! Why should one person made the remark and another person apologises for it. It does not make sense at all !!!  Malaysia Boleh!