Attendance Report
It is reported in a local daily, that one of our Senior Minister has only been to the Parliament 19 times in 6 years…Yup, 19 times only !!!!!
This has come as a shock to many Malaysians including me. I always thought that the responsibility of the elected MPs is to represent his/her constituency by engaging in intellectual discourse ( though I don’t think there’s much of it anymore) and informing the parliament on the needs of the people that he/she represents. Imagine, how cheated the voters of that area must feel, now that they know the rep that they chose has falied in its duties.
Looking into a bigger perspective, I think this indirectly fails democracy. Democracy is not only based on the principal of electing one among the many in a majority voice but its also about the rep that was chosen to represent the people who elected him/her in the parliament/senate/ congress etc I think this is indeed a slap on the face of the voters who play their part in the democracy process but are left short changed by the attitude of the Senior Minister.
I’ve even come up with a more interesting theory :
6 years : 19 times
Average per year : 3 times
Out of the 3 times, once is surely for Budget Setting and once is surely for the opening of the parliament. That makes an average of 1 time per year. Now explain to me rationally, how does a MP represents his/her people by being in the parliament only once in a year ???? Irrelevant, whether the MP is a Senior Minister or not, I think that’s not the issue. The person should feel responsible enough to come to the parliament and play an active role. If the person doesn’t, then how does one justify getting the allowance that all MPs get ? Those allwances are of tax payers’ money. Justify that !!!
Well, we all know who the person in question is. I like you MADAM Senior Minister, I think you’ve done a good job in your portfolio. On the current hot issue that you are facing, I think its a bloody screw up from your Ministry and yourself but once again, I don’t think you’re the only one to be blame. I’m sure the Cabinet was well aware of the happenings unless you informed us that you don’t report to your superiors / cabinet or your cabinet/superiors do not give a damn what your Ministry does. Either way, you are not the only one to be blame !!!
I seriously see the setting of the sun on one of our longest serving Minister in the cabinet…for better or worse… Good luck Rafidah !
September 30th, 2005 at 1:30 am
Good luck Rafidah? Who needs luck when you can summon tears at the blink of an eye! By the way Shazmi, are you even sure that she is attending the current budget sitting? And I am also curious as you what makes you think the Iron Lady has done a good job in her portfolio?
October 2nd, 2005 at 11:40 pm
Well bro, she did go the sitting. Bout her ability to tear easily, well I dont think it’ll wash the sins of her ministry.
I think she’s done an ok job, benchmarking againts other ministers and ministries. Our Industry ratings and FDIs have increased over the years.
In that sense, yeah, she’s done an average job. You see, I won’t just tear the person for the sake of tearing a person down. I’ll give some credit where its due.
October 3rd, 2005 at 1:32 am
An average job in a country that has the potential to be far above average is actually a bad job. Disagree as you might, i dont think comparing her to a below average cabinet makes her good. I would still judge her on her own accord and in that sense she has failed to anticipate many economic trends in terms of foreign investments into the country. Malaysian companies have only recently started to bid for major projects and investments abroad, and that too more due to the local economic climate in Malaysia, and not due to the efforts of her ministry. I have dealt with her Ministry on several occasions and i must say they were dissapointing experiences.
October 3rd, 2005 at 2:36 am
Agreed, she could’ve done much better. There are other non performing Ministers in the cabinet, what do we do about them ? Nothing much. The rakyat still ensure there are there time after time…