Have all Cabinet Ministers assimilated, internalized and understood the new Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s overarching philosophy encapsulated in the slogan “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now”?
There are at least three Cabinet Ministers who clearly have not.
This is why there could be such a New Straits Times report (never mind the bad English) below:
‘Conversion case will take a while to solve’
KUALA LUMPUR: It will be quiet a while before a solution is found into the case of the three children who were converted to Islam by their father without their mother’s knowledge.
Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said yesterday that strategies had been identified to find a solution to the problem.
“We have identified the issues and discussed them but it will take a while before a solution can be found as it involves several agencies,” he said after a meeting with Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon (Unity) and Maj-Gen (R) Datuk Jamil Khir Baharom (Islamic Affairs).
The trio are members of a committee tasked with finding a solution to the problem.
The three-member committee was set up following a mother’s report that her children, aged 1 to 12, were converted to Islam without her knowledge by their father.
The mother, M. Indira Ghandi, 35, had turned to the Hindu Sangam branch in Ipoh after her husband, K. Patmanathan, 40, now Muhammad Ridzuan Abdullah, converted the children without their presence and without informing her.
He allegedly used the children’s birth certificates to get them converted. The children are said to be in the custody of their father.
Dr Subramaniam said the committee was doing its best to find a quick solution.
There are at least three Cabinet Ministers who clearly have not.
Tsu Koon, Subramaniam, Jamil – have you heard of “Performance Now”?
This is not the first time such heart-wrenching cases occurred where irresponsible people used religion to evade their family responsibilities and commitments.
There had been a long list of unresolved controversies since 2005, from Moorthy to Subashini, Rayappan and now Indira Ghandi.
The rights and wrongs are very simple and straightforward. Why is the Barisan Nasional government taking five long years and still unable to resolve the injustices caused by irresponsible conversion of non-Muslims who are married through civil laws to evade obligations contracted in civil law marriages?
Clearly, the three Ministers of the new Najib Cabinet (including Super-Minister responsible for KPIs for Ministers) do not understand “Performance Now”.
But do the rest of the 29-strong Cabinet and Najib himself understand the meaning of “Performance Now”?
The Cabinet meeting tomorrow will be the test whether it is not just Tsu Koon, Subramaniam and Jamil who do not understand “Performance Now”. The rest of the Cabinet including the Prime Minister will be all in the same boat – if the Cabinet is incapable of resolving the Indira Ghandi issue, returning the year-old baby daughter Prasana Diksa to the mother and restoring peace of mind to Indira and her two other children, Tevi Darsiny 12 and Karan Dinesh 11.
As DAP Perak State Assemblyman A. Sivanesan, Indira’s lawyer, said at our media conference with Indira and the children in Petaling Jaya earlier today, the host of heart-breaking cases can be simply resolved by making it mandatory requirement for all those attempting to convert to produce evidence that the person has fulfilled his civil marriage commitments when registering with the Islamic Department.
Over to you tomorrow, Najib Cabinet. Performance Now!
#1 by All For The Road on Tuesday, 21 April 2009 - 6:41 pm
If the three ministers just can’t perform their duties professionally, efficiently and effectively and carry out the “1Malaysia. People First. Performance now” concept propounded by the PM, then they should resign from their posts with immediate effect. Please walk the talk!
#2 by ekompute on Tuesday, 21 April 2009 - 6:54 pm
“But do the rest of the 29-strong Cabinet and Najib himself understand the meaning of “Performance Now”?”
“Performance Now” to me simply means “no performance before”. Does that mean that performance was never required before until now? if no, what makes you think that you can get performance now with just one slogan? We have ABC (Bersih, Cekap dan Amanah) that turned out to be nothing more than Air Batu Campur, and Cemerlang, Gemilang, dan Terbilang which ended up with this “Performance Now” slogan. So why are we still having faith with slogans? They are utter rubbish, as far as I know.
#3 by frankyapp on Tuesday, 21 April 2009 - 7:20 pm
It’s pretty strange that our muslim brothers and sisters are allow to share their faith with non-muslim friends and not the other way round .We are a free and democratic country ,right but why this religious discrimination ? What is the fear for muslim friends sharing the christian faith with their christian friends ?.Religion is a choice,it’s up to all individuals to seek, ask,understand and if like it,then embrace it. No fear, no force,no compel and yet why there’s a great fuss ?.
#4 by ekompute on Tuesday, 21 April 2009 - 7:41 pm
Frankyapp, are you Malaysian? Don’t you know the UMNO-way? I have read a fair bit about Islam and it doesn’t seem like this is what the Prophet taught. And now they are talking about banning non-Muslims from quoting from the Qur’an. Is that what the Prophet taught too?
#5 by LG on Tuesday, 21 April 2009 - 8:04 pm
Performance Now means Action Now and not Talk Only. I hope the ministers don’t just talk, talk and talk. Giving crap of reasons, finger-pointing to others, etc except to show they can perform now to meet the people needs.
#6 by Godfather on Tuesday, 21 April 2009 - 8:13 pm
Performance now ? How high do you want them to jump? Look at Ong Ta Kut and the recent spate of express bus disasters. How many more drivers have multiple unpaid summonses ? Instead of tackling the companies who hire drivers of dubious qualities, Ong Ta Kut goes after the buses ! Performance now ? Port Klang fiasco swept under the carpet is indeed a performance worthy of BN.
#7 by Taxidriver on Tuesday, 21 April 2009 - 8:40 pm
LKS,
“Performance Now”? I have heard of it mamy,mamy times and I understood its meaning. This slogan is created by the Mongolian Prime Minister, right?
#8 by Onlooker Politics on Tuesday, 21 April 2009 - 9:30 pm
Below is a verse from Al-Quran, as shown in Chapter: 109 , Verse: 6:
“To you your religion, and to me my Religion. ”
If the Minister of Prime Minister’s Department (Islamic Affairs), Maj-Gen (R) Datuk Jamil Khir Baharom, really wants to convince people that he is a competent Cabinet Minister who is capable of taking charge of the Islamic Affairs, then he must learn to understand the true meaning of the above quaranic verse before he can accurately preach Allah’s sermon to the Public.
Allah will surely be displeased if someone attempts to interpret Al-Quaran misleadingly with malicious intent of compelling the non-believers to give up their own religion and be converted to muslim by coercion but not by the convert’s self-initiative and voluntary willingness.
#9 by chengho on Tuesday, 21 April 2009 - 9:42 pm
What about Penang state government C.A.T performance , tiger cave and Korean golf club investment ,etc rakyat in Penang understand?
#10 by Taxidriver on Tuesday, 21 April 2009 - 9:58 pm
They say it’s going to take awhile before a solution is can be found because it involves many agencies. This reminds us of ABB who said:” some projects will take awhile to implement while some others can be implemented immediately” But ABB resigned after six years in office without implementing his “awhile” projects nor his “immediately” projects.
Najib and all his ministers and deputy ministers must understand “Performance Now” means doing the things expected of them and doing them right. It means instantly, immediately, without further delay and not waiting for another SIX YEARS.Not even over 72 HOURS! It means, in NIKE definition: Just Do It!
#11 by voice on Tuesday, 21 April 2009 - 10:13 pm
Yeah lor, cheng ho, finally you posted something here, so happy to see it!
They (subra/tsu koon) already performing, the bn way, not the pakatan’s way, that is to bark when needed.
#12 by assamlaksa on Tuesday, 21 April 2009 - 10:24 pm
from the wikipedia the word Performance refer to:
“A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which one group of people (the performer or performers) behave in a particular way for another group of people (the audience). Sometimes the dividing line between performer and the audience may become blurred, as in the example of “participatory theatre” where audience members might get involved in the production. Singing choral music, and performing in a ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience members often clap, indicating appreciation. However, sometimes this rule is reversed. In Japan, the greatest compliment is complete silence.
Performances, for example in theatre, can take place daily, or at some other regular interval. Performances can take place at someone’s house, in a subway, or even at a dollar store. Talent, on the other hand, is subjective.”
Don’t you think that the three ministers are performing now! Also the reverse rule on clapping hand is also true in Malaysia. If your performance is very good, all the audience will be very quiet.
#13 by cemerlang on Tuesday, 21 April 2009 - 10:44 pm
Now means this very second. Not a fraction of a Planck time longer. Planck time is the time for light to travel, which I just read. Not tunggu ya. Not sebentar ya. Not I do something first before I attend to you. Now as in someone about to die and need instant treatment. Performance means you get up, you walk, you run, your hands are doing something, your brain actively involved. Not sitting and sitting and sitting away, doing everything else except your core business of work. Fast and furious. Not slow and time can wait. If you can beat the Planck time, your KPI should be 5 stars and above. If you crawl like a snail, your KPI should be less than 1 star. But if you are a snail and given KPI 5 stars, then you should be questioned.
#14 by sheriff singh on Wednesday, 22 April 2009 - 12:31 am
As I said before, “Performance Now!” means “Besok, Lusa, Mungkin”.
#15 by Taxidriver on Wednesday, 22 April 2009 - 1:43 am
Malaysian ministers and deputy ministers are a special lot. Like the golfers who hit the balls away and then go look for those balls ( no offence meant to golfers, just an anology ), they create endless problems for themselves to solve. The bigger problem is that once they have solved a problem, they unknowingly created two new ones. Maybe this is their way of showing the rakyat that they are very busy people, always working to solve problems for them. Maybe it is also to justify themselves why they should have free excess to the people’s money. Masalah tak habis-habis! Oh, negara ku ………..
#16 by yhsiew on Wednesday, 22 April 2009 - 1:53 am
Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s overarching philosophy encapsulated in the slogan “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” sounds rhetorical. In real life, it should really be interpreted as “Malaysia. People Last. Performance Later”!
#17 by Taxidriver on Wednesday, 22 April 2009 - 4:17 am
correction: ……why they should have free access to the people’s money.
#18 by Jeffrey on Wednesday, 22 April 2009 - 8:09 am
‘1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now’ is a political slogan. “1” is pun on “One” which could double up to mean Malaysians of different races, culture and religion can be united as “one” people or Malaysians/the country can excel and be number 1 (in Malaysia Boleh spirit’) if we put importance to “performance” measured against KPIs by Ministerial Prefect, Tan Sri Koh Tsu koon (‘KTK’)!
Of course no one is holding breath to see outcome of such political slogan. It is but well….only a political slogan intended to articulate unified national goal and aspiration; a benchmark to demarcate the new from preceding (non performing) administration and to provide a benchmark of measurement of the performance of the new administration.
Slogans are supposed to be pithy, encapsulating in a few words the distilled wisdom of the country’s direction, easily digestible to the common masses and vote bank (not given to complicated intellectual analysis). The formulation of political slogans is underpinned by the principles of modern advertising adopted by politicians to communicate, change attitude, motivate support of their vote bank.
Whether slogans work for the politicians and administration that craft them depends on (1) how realistic the slogan message is in context of existing realities on the ground and (2) how capable and sincere the leader or administration who coins and rides on it could evince political will and garner political support to push for and implement it.
On point (1) (how realistic the Slogan), Mao Zedong’s famous slogan “let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend” simply did not work in a totalitarian communist system : those who spoke up were eventually arrested and put away. Just like Pak Lah’s tagline “Work with me, not for me” in reforms and fight against Corruption: it won the heart of a nation at the beginning but disappointed all as time went on because the system is just too enmeshed in this social/political malaise for the message in slogan to sound credible or work. Minister Zaid Ibrahim had to throw his hands up and resign in capitulation to the overwhelming force of reactionary elements, soon followed by his boss, the ex premier. In contrast, Deng Xiao Ping’s “to get rich is glorious” (or words to that effect) is more realistic. It appealed to the inherent greed of human nature and business drive of many Chinese nationals especially in Southern swathes covering commercial cities/ports like Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou Guang Chou, Shenzhen etc. Maybe “get rich is glorious” may be more realistic for Malaysia. Dr Mahathir’s “Buy British last and Look East” might be easier to implement. 1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now’ does not boast of taking corruption by the horns and putting it down; it merely mentions KPIs and performance in oblique argument that the pursuit of excellence would indirectly diminish pursuit of easy money and corruption (whether or not that’s true).
However the nation’s political fulcrum for last 50 years has been the NEP and subsidies: How does ‘1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now’ stand in relation to this? Does it reconcile or contradict this national mantra, NEP? Only thing going for slogan is its ambiguity (like Obama’s “Change”) but it does provide ample fodder to the opposition especially veteran like YB LKS to shoot and take pot shots at the administration leveraging on the disjunct from realities of this slogan!
On point 2 (whether there’s political will & capability to implement slogan), yes a lot of upheavals and changes, whether good or bad, could be done by and do hinge on but one man – Nelson Mendela, Ghandhi, Mao & Deng Xiao Ping, Lee Kuan Yew, Hitler etc.
Is the PM Najib likely such a man? For a start, making KTK head prefect to monitor KPIs over characters who had in previous administration been telling him what to do is, in a way, indicative of how serious – or comic – the political endeavour is in these respects.
#19 by taiking on Wednesday, 22 April 2009 - 8:48 am
So who was dat idiot who claimed dat najib will be like lee kuan yew, dat he will be tough and not give in to anyone, etc etc.? So who was dat idiot?
Jib. You gave in to anak kutty in sidelining the hairy monkey and in appointing cucu kutty. How about dat for toughness? Or are we looking at the spiky durian huh? Tough, spiky and mean looking but really a softee inside. Huh? Is dat wot you are? A Softee inside. A softee with artificial smile and stiff cheeks. And trengganu. Yeah and trengganu is in trouble too and is close to bursting point. And dat is all umno’s doing. Wot is going on tough guy? Aww cant you somethin? Dont be soft. And and all dat rumour about the mongolian woman and her unborn child. Shot and disintegrated. Yeah tough guy are you going to let the rumour run wild? It aint good for your tough image man. No. Not nationally. Not internationally. Face it like a tough guy man. Get an enquiry going man. Clear your name man. Dont hide man. Dat aint tough at all. Nah not at all. Tough guy dont hide!
And one more thing. LKY’s policies are clear. No one has any doubt as to wot they are. And your 1malaysia thingy? WTF is that? Yeah wtf is dat? Can someone tell me? Look umno boys in perak are selling camrys man. Dont you know dat? Already they are unpopular. Coz you know why? The illegal power grab. Dats why. Dont do anything unpopular. Its simple maths man. Adding unpopularity to unpopularity equals to 2 unpopularity. Cant you stop dem tough guy? Cant you? Huh?
#20 by tong.kin.yoong on Wednesday, 22 April 2009 - 8:54 am
What is performance now?
This is Performance Now: –
http://www.mmail.com.my/content/cop-asked-me-get-footage-says-businessman
A victim of a thief was asked by the police to get the video footage from the hotel.
http://www.mmail.com.my/content/chulan-pondan-spree-ends
Police had earlier told Malay Mail that under the section, a person “cannot be arrested without an order to investigate”. – So no order, no arrest.
and what about the case where the rampant snatch thief incident in TARC and UTAR area? It’s been years already since somebody got killed. The incidents of snatch thief is still rampant as highlighted by a student. So where is the Performance ?
What about Loan Sharks? Since Barisan Nasional ruled, the Loan Shark problems are becoming worse. Even on highways, they have loan shark posters. Performance Now ? what performance? I think the Loan Sharks and all the thugs perform better than BN.
#21 by Godfather on Wednesday, 22 April 2009 - 10:16 am
““1” is pun on “One” ”
Heck, why didn’t I think of that ? The eunuch chengho probably thinks that “1” is not the same as “One”.
#22 by Godfather on Wednesday, 22 April 2009 - 10:28 am
For Rosie, “1” means “The One”.
For Limkamput, “1” means he is the only smart One.
For UMNO, “1” means only 1 den of thieves.
#23 by Jeffrey on Wednesday, 22 April 2009 - 12:11 pm
Patmanathan married M. Indira Ghandi. They have children, aged 1 to 12. Husband converted (now Muhammad Ridzuan Abdullah), and converted the children without wife’s consent. Should this be permitted?
The main point is before Patmanathan converted, he entered into legal/matrimonial arrangements with another – wifr, M. Indira Ghandi – on basis of secular and civil law. Under this secular/civil law (Article 12 of the Constitution and Section 5 of the Guardianship of Infants Act) each parent has an equal parental right to decide the religion of a minor child. What is meaning of “equality” in parental right? It means that no parent has greater right over the other whether based on sex or religion. On premises of equality, it also means no parent can change the religion of children without the other consent.
So can unilateral conversion by husband to another system of law vest him greater right to decide on his children religious upbringing over the other parent whose “equal” parental right under secular/civil law ise vitiated, diminished and abrogated by the other’s unilateral conversion?
I would think the answer is “no”. The rationale is based on following considerations : fairness, sanctity of promises and solemn legal arrangements and contracts all coming under the umbrella coverage of Lord Denning’s Doctrine of “Estoppel” in the Amalgamated Investment case. Estoppel was first introduced by ex Judge N H Chan to Malaysian Blogosphere in his article “When Justice is not administered according to law” published earlier in this blog on April 15th, 2009.
Estoppel is (I Quote) : “When the parties to a transaction proceed on the basis of an underlying assumption – either of fact or of law – whether due to misrepresentation or mistake makes no difference – on which they have conducted the dealings between them – neither of them will be allowed to go back on that assumption when it would be unfair or unjust to allow him to do so. If one of them does seek to go back on it, the courts will give the other such remedy as the equity of the case demands.”
Patmanathan had entered into solemn matrimonial arrangements with M. Indira Ghandi who married him in reliance on the equality of parental power premises of secular and civil law – whether law Reform Act, Constitution and the Guardianship of Infants Act and equal.She structured a lives and those of her children around such premises. Patmanathan agreed to all thse premises and assumptions. These assumptions and premises would include the doctrine of Estoppel as above enunciated. He should not unilaterally go back on these by expedience of conversion. To allow him to do so is not only unfair and unjust to the wife who has not converted – and their children – but it also strikes at the very heart of the sanctity of promises we make each other. No Court should decide in a way that gives us a licence to be dishonourable by reneging on our solemn promises that the significant other have relied upon as basis in his/her dealings with us upon or to take away pre-existing rights of the other! How could Patmanathan be allowed to take the benefit and at same time evade obligations/responsibilities of civil and secular law system by simple expedience of opting for benefit of the other syariah system? It is like having one’s cake and eat it.
The three Cabinet Ministers should understand that Article 121(1)A of the Constitution merely says that the streams of Syariah laws and Civil/Secular law flow in separate channels and don’t mix.
When Pathmananthan converted, which is his right, a new Syariah stream is created separately next but not in substitution of the existing Civil/secular one. However when he goes further and seek to convert his children without his non-muslim wife’s consent, it would represent a unwarranted spillage from the Syariah laws stream over to the existing Civil/Secular law stream (and not the other way around), and should not be allowed.
The Ministers may well understand but have to manage the political sensitivities of certain lobby groups applying pressure to argue (fallaciously) that it is “the other way around” of an unwarranted spillage from Civil/Secular law stream to Syariah law. stream.
#24 by frankyapp on Wednesday, 22 April 2009 - 1:20 pm
I met several people,a mixture of good old pals and new ones.Some are very successful business man,some are top civil servants and some are link to GLC. The success of these guys,the secret formulas are conversion to islam .How I asked most of them ? . (I) conversion to islam through the convenience of marriage (2) conversion to islam through acceptance of bribery offer of promotion and material and financial gains and (3) conversion to islam,seek,find and ask for privilleages and advantages and favours . The above answers were quite shocking to me,maybe not to others but I leave it to the intelligence of you guys to ponder whether it’s a worthwhile sacrifice of your original beloved faith.
#25 by mauriyaII on Wednesday, 22 April 2009 - 3:47 pm
These spate of conversions, body snatching and the arbitrary convrersion of underaged children by a parent without the consent of the other has been condoned by the UMNO/BN government.
These conversions and the arbitrary ruling by the civil courts denying the civil rights of the victims in favour of the syariah courts is contrary to the constitution of the land which gives its citizens freedom to choose its religion.
These conversions and body snatching has contributed to the REJECTION of the UMNO/BN in the last 12 GE and the subsequent bye elections in Peninsular Malaysia.
If UMNO/BN persists on turning a blind eye to the suffering of the victims, then it would lose the support of all non-Muslims forever. Non-Muslims as well as true Muslims who preach as well as practise the teachings of Islam would not support the Hadhari version of Islam being practised by UMNO/BN.
The only way forward for UMNO/BN is to find a quick and amicable solution to the long suffering non-Muslim victims. Failure to CHANGE is no more an option. Future election results would show the complete failure of UMNO/BN and its racist and religious policies.
Change and repent before it is too late.
#26 by rubini on Wednesday, 22 April 2009 - 5:20 pm
Cakap sahaja. All faiths preach justice to all. It’s unlikely there will be any solution from UMNO BN government.
#27 by Justitia on Wednesday, 22 April 2009 - 8:27 pm
With all due respect Uncle Kit, you are confusing Performance with RESULTS. They sure are putting on a darn good performance with all the show of concern, media, etc. After all, it’s results that counts.
#28 by lopez on Wednesday, 22 April 2009 - 9:12 pm
luckily this doctor is not a medical doctor….but he is sure is deserves his doctorate…
a ball carrier and shoe shiner
he may be smart in his academic years….but he sure is stupid man to down grade himself and assume himself like a jaga lembu boy of the sunset club minister.
renounce your doctorate, you disgrace your alumni….how come a doctorate lectures a bunch of clowns where almost all in the class did not complete form 3.,,,and then have to warn them hardship come upon them if they do not perform…if they know what it means at all.