3 Cabinet Decisions Withdrawn In Succession??

One would imagine that the ultimate decision making body in any "democratic" country would be the one chaired by the nation's leader. In Malaysia it would be the Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi. With all the resources at hand one would assume all facts and factors are considered before decisions are made. The men and women on the Cabinet also claim to be representatives of the people and therefore, as they claim, are fully in touch with the pulse of the nation and its people.


And yet, in just a matter of a couple of months there have been three successive decisions made by the cabinet that have been reveresed in short order.


The approval of the cabinet for the take over by Sime Darby of Institut Jantung Negara, the building of another airport at Labu, within just minutes of the grossly underutilised KLIA and most recently the hike in the toll rates on the privatised highways.


Making oneself look good is easy enough. One reversal of an unpopular decision should be enough to make one look good. But cause to make three reversals of decisions recently made in quick succession, then the decision makers soon come out looking stupid. I don't knowof any committee, board or body of people who have made such significant decisions in quick succession and then only to have them reversed just as quickly wihtout a label or stigma attaching to them. I should say, this Abdullah Badawi led Cabinet has all but lost any credibility to continue leading.


When valuable assets of the nation are managed by amateurs whose only experience has been in politics and the ability to make decisions on the strength of being able to push through anything without a care for accountability, it should be worrying for future generations.


Anyone with their finger on the pulse of the people would have known Sime Darby's attempts at IJN and Labu as being one of the most stupid and ill conceived public relations disasters one could ever imagine.


Now, Sime Darby is surely not led by idiots prone to making such infantile decisions. It was a PR disaster for Sime making everyone on the Sime Board look stupid.


Not only that. The Malaysian Cabinet too, led by Abdullah Badawi, must be looking very stupid indeed. They are supposed to be the ultimate "board", playing custodian to the nation's political, social and economic health. And yet, within a short duration of time, we see three major withdrawals or cancellation of Cabinet level decisions. IJN, Labu and most recently the toll hike.


And then you have Sime sacking Fox Communications which is run by known Abdullah Badawi favouring runners and cronies.


Obviously with Fox being discredited this way, any more spins they push out will be not as effective anymore.


Who gains in all this?


There has been talk that Badawi might want to hold on to the Prime Ministership post 31 March. To do that he has to have a lot of wind behind his sails.


Surely these three episodes would would have the effect of taking out the wind off any sail!!


Everyone suggests Badawi dances to the tune of his son and his son-in-law. Attacking them would be pointless. So maybe take the wind out of Badawi's sail. That might do it!


But is it enough?


If this was the play, and I am no political watcher or expert, and if I can come up with this spin, surely Badawi's men can come out with even more to put the wind right back behind the sail.


IJN and Labu were non starters. You don't plan to set out on a course of action without knowing what the feedback would be. Sime would seem to have wanted the feedback they got. One, not enough, they did another number with Labu. Once again they were made out to look stupid. But was it they or the cabinet that looked stupid when in succession we saw the withdrawal of 2 cabinet decisions? Or was the price of making the Sime board look stupid all worth while anyway? Then the toll hike, making it three.


Najib seems to be looking better and better each time...of course his reference point is Badawi!! Now, that is no match!! And yet it would seem a lot of wise men and women are prepared to look stupid in very quick succession. I wonder why!!