3-hr Cabinet meeting on general election – a premiership quickly losing ability to differentiate between right and wrong


Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader and DAP MP for Ipoh Timur Lim Kit Siang at the launching of the DAP Pasir Pinji Election Operation Centre in Ipoh on Thursday, 31st January 2008 at 1 pm:

3-hr Cabinet meeting yesterday on next general election the latest example of gross abuse of power, lack of integrity and rapid degeneration of ethical quality of Abdullah premiership, which is quickly losing the ability to understand the difference between right and wrong

New Straits Times today carried an exclusive about the three-hour Cabinet meeting yesterday on preparations for impending general election under the heading “Get ready to face election, ministers told”, which reads:

On your marks, get set, go.

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told ministers yesterday to get ready to face the general election.

The prime minister touched extensively on the subject during the cabinet meeting.

A minister said Abdullah reminded them in a three-hour discussion on election preparations to be fully prepared to go out on the hustings.

He said the prime minister, who is also Barisan Nasional chairman, did not indicate a date for the election.

“We are ready to face the general election and this is the commitment we gave the prime minister. We also gave him an assurance that preparations were in third gear.”

The minister said Abdullah was also informed that all BN election operations rooms were ready for the polls.

Another minister said the session also saw ministers reporting the economic situation in their constituencies.

It is sad and even tragic that very few Malaysians seem to realize that this report highlights a very decadent political culture unparallelled in the 50-year history of Malaysia, of further degeneration of the ethical standards of the government-of-the-day to the extent that the Abdullah premiership has quickly lost the ability to understand the difference between right and wrong.

The Cabinet is not a Barisan Nasional outfit but the highest decision-making body of the executive in the country. It has no business to waste its whole morning of three hours to discuss the individual or collective electoral prospects of the Barisan Nasional Ministers.

Why should the Cabinet be discussing the “economic situation” of the individual constituencies of the Ministers, when they should be concerned about the “economic situation” of the whole country and all Malaysians?

The three-hour Cabinet meeting yesterday on next general election is the latest example of gross abuse of power, lack of integrity and rapid degeneration of ethical quality of Abdullah premiership, which makes a total mockery of the National Integrity Plan launched by Abdullah in his first year of premiership.

It is not that there weren’t important national issues for the Cabinet to address yesterday, for instance:

* The latest instance of “body-snatching” aggravating racial and religious polarization in the country, involving 74-year-old Gan Eng Gor of Seremban.

* The jailing of Dr. Basmullah Yusom, the first doctor to be jailed under a technicality under the Private Health Facilities and Services Act (PHFSA) 1998 despite assurances of the former Health Minister and Director-General of Health Services that the PHFSA would be amended and that no doctor would be criminalized or jailed over a technicality.

* The endemic crime in the country as illustrated by the failure to locate 5-yr-old Sharlinie Nashar, who had been missing for more than three weeks. The one-week deadline given by bomohs that Sharlinie would be found has come and gone. Clearly, both the terrestrial and supernatural police are of no help to locate and rescue Sharlinie.

Sadly, the issues and concerns of the people were completely sidelined at the Cabinet meeting yesterday.

Abdullah and all Cabinet Ministers should apologise for their most unethical conduct in spending a whole Cabinet meeting yesterday discussing the general election preparations which should rightly be held in Barisan Nasional meetings – when they should be proving their Ministerial worth by addressing the problems of the people!

No wonder former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has dismissed this Cabinet as a “half-past six Cabinet”!

  1. #1 by mobileworld on Thursday, 31 January 2008 - 7:09 pm

    Half past six cabinet ….good one, well anyway he was part of this one time ago..the pot calling the kettle black?

  2. #2 by Tickler on Thursday, 31 January 2008 - 7:25 pm

    Badawi is guilty of corruption.
    It is only fitting that he go to Sg. Buloh for 7 years.

  3. #3 by Justicewanted on Thursday, 31 January 2008 - 8:28 pm

    Since the election is around the corner, do not be surprise as an election gimmick, fire crackers and fireworks will be allowed during the Chinese New Year period.

    What do you expect from a HP6 PM who always gets the priority wrong???

  4. #4 by DarkHorse on Thursday, 31 January 2008 - 8:38 pm

    Most Malaysians I must say aren’t that politically informed of the difference between the country’s highest executive body deliberating on issues of the day which affect the economy etc and a BN committee deliberating on election issues and electoral strategies.

    After so many years of abuse of the government machinery, using government machinery i.e. using government officials to ‘campaign’, government facilities etc even they are today unable to see the difference between the government and the political party that runs the government.

  5. #5 by sungaisiput on Thursday, 31 January 2008 - 8:40 pm

    well said sir…this is the way to go….

  6. #6 by DarkHorse on Thursday, 31 January 2008 - 8:42 pm

    Should Malaysians under the circumstance then expect them to understand the importance of the concept of a caretaker government?

  7. #7 by k1980 on Thursday, 31 January 2008 - 9:00 pm

    Da old prick can’t differentiate between his own left and right hands, so how can he differentiate between right and wrong?

  8. #8 by smeagroo on Thursday, 31 January 2008 - 10:17 pm

    Take away his jet plane and his casanova days will be over. Tell me how to tackle girls without a plane?

    Eh i thot all these while BN is Umno and Cabinet is BN?

    If we are not careful, one day our lives will also be under Umno. EVen the dead belongs to them.

  9. #9 by HB Lim on Thursday, 31 January 2008 - 11:17 pm

    Well, the Ministers are all very smart, quick and efficient and are able to discuss national issues within a short three hours. But the most important issue now is how to bluff and win in the election. All the other issues are “biasa-lah”. Malaysians will soon forget.

    As to the techniques of bluffing the citizens, all the Ministers are well-trained, especially those who have been in the cabinet for decades. There is no need to spend so much time discussing such techniques. Just one round of confirmation that “we know what to do-lah” will finish the discussion on the techniques of cheating the people. So, how much cabinet time do you think they need for a cabinet meeting on the eve of election time? After all, day in day out since the last election, they have been talking about how to win this election.

    On top of that, not all the citizens are voters. And not all the voters bother to go to their constituency and vote. Even those who want to vote may have difficulty finding their names on the roll. Many of those who are vehement in their political opinion are mere easy chair critics who probably did not bother to register as voters. So, the deciding voters are actually very small in numbers.

    Three hours would be more than adequate for this Wednesday cabinet meeting. These thick-face ministers may just come around and say, “Hey, look, we are just a caretaker cabinet now. What do you expect us to do? We can’t be seen abusing power, time and money.”

  10. #10 by mendela on Thursday, 31 January 2008 - 11:24 pm

    Bodohwi and the whole cabinet SUCK!

    I really feel that I myself and my company should stop paying income tax and the corporate tax.

    A bunch of crooks!

  11. #11 by iyamwhoiyam on Thursday, 31 January 2008 - 11:29 pm

    joker has jet planes??…i didn’t know that, hey brader dun la go slander slander all…..if say he got some nice wheels ok la…jet plane dunno la….kiter punyer gomen maner ader cukup budget mau ada Air Force One……

    semua sudah kena makan ma……go build empire in Klang, and hidden areas of titiwangsa and Kuantan ma….ekekekekekek

    But seriously…….3 hours to discuss on electoral preps??..c’mon…..see waste more taxpayers money la…sini ader hotel function, sana hotel function…build big big putrajaya admin centre with big big white elephant buildings…..then still have “seminars” in hotels….buang masa buang duit…..

    now meeting lagi…takder kerja lain ka

  12. #12 by DarkHorse on Thursday, 31 January 2008 - 11:54 pm

    “Hey, look, we are just a caretaker cabinet now. What do you expect us to do?”

    Except that you’re taking care of your own interests and not the nation’s. But then we should not expect semi educated village idiots to understand what a caretaker government is about! They thought its all about taking care of themselves!

  13. #13 by jus legitimum on Thursday, 31 January 2008 - 11:57 pm

    Kerismudin n OKT hugged each other and the keris flasher announced that six more chinese schools would be built but probably they would only be completed after the 13th GE.Every time around general election such gimmick is used to fish the ‘bodo’ Chinese’s votes.The problem is why can’t they build the schools based on need and a proper system.Obviously these crooks are not sincere in helping the chinese community.The smart chinese know their dirty tactics.

  14. #14 by limkamput on Friday, 1 February 2008 - 1:42 am

    jus legitimum Says: ….keris flasher announced that six more chinese schools would be built but probably they would only be completed after the 13th GE. Every time around general election such gimmick is used to fish the ‘bodo’ Chinese’s votes.

    We shall see more and more of such gestures when election gets near. Besides schools, they will soon make more visits and give more allocations to temples, churches and trade associations. Stupid and insulting it may sound, but such tactic works. Soon the Chinese will be falling heads and shoulders over these gesture and forget yet again our long term misery. For UMNO and BN, such a gesture is only a small price to pay since the bulk of the taxes is collected from the China men anyway.

    We Chinese get full excitement when we get six more schools. But these schools are not even one Sekolah Bestari or one half of MARA Junior Science College in terms of cost. So, China men, please don’t get excited for nothing. But then, I still think the tactic works. China men are savvy business people but zero politically. That is the sad part.

  15. #15 by laifoong on Friday, 1 February 2008 - 5:25 am

    “China men are savvy business people but zero politically. That is the sad part.”

    What about me?? No China woman arr??

  16. #16 by k1980 on Friday, 1 February 2008 - 8:02 am

  17. #17 by ktteokt on Friday, 1 February 2008 - 8:27 am

    BEWARE OF POISON CANDY!

  18. #18 by Bigjoe on Friday, 1 February 2008 - 8:31 am

    Of course they don’t get it. Separation of powers, independence of branches of government are concepts they don’t get much less the separation of party and government.

    One of the most laughable thing UMNO/BN do is say things like ‘only the BN can deliver development’ everytime they built something like a mosque, bridge etc. Who don’t know how to spend money? Truth is that so long as a party can hold on to power in Malaysia, they can do the job no worst.

  19. #19 by bystander on Friday, 1 February 2008 - 8:55 am

    The jailing of Dr smacks of vindictiveness and agenda. govt is trying to teach dr a lesson

  20. #20 by limkamput on Friday, 1 February 2008 - 9:42 am

    What about me?? No China woman arr?? laifoong

    Owahl ong time no hear! Missing you already. Don’t worry too much. When China men get excited, China women get thrilled too.

  21. #21 by k1980 on Friday, 1 February 2008 - 11:02 am

    the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research has revised Malaysia’s economic growth down to 5.1 percent in 2008 from 6.1 percent in 2007. The institute’s director, Mohammad Arif, says growth could fall to as low as 4 percent if the U.S. falls into a full-blown recession.

    “Our economy in 2008 may not be performing as well as it did in 2007, although authorities are putting on a brave face, but we think we should brace ourselves for a slowdown,” he says.
    http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1019&Itemid=31

  22. #22 by shortie kiasu on Friday, 1 February 2008 - 5:45 pm

    That is the rights, privileges and supreme advantage of the incumbent with all the resources at their disposal, at the expense of the people and the tax payers of this country.

    This is manifestly selfish and narrow-minded as a government elected by the people, that goes on to suck as much as they could, the blood of the people befor ethey call for another shot and another shot.

    This is what they call “knowing how” to run the country, and despise others, like those in the opposition, not capable to run the country. Is that so??

  23. #23 by david67shahalam on Saturday, 9 February 2008 - 11:28 pm

    no point of voting for BN…so many scandal…everybody is to bz trying to get more money for themself rather than serving the nation

You must be logged in to post a comment.