Returning officers trained to bail out BN?
related artical Nurul Izzah: Returning officer said I'll not win again
Returning officers trained to bail out BN? the EC stinks worst than skunks. This is how low Umno-BN can stoop to stay in power.Some cheek the returning officer (RO) has. It's an absolute disgrace. Does that not convey the clear message about the Election Commission (EC)?Has Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar reported him to the EC and the police? Not that it will make any difference, just for the record., this was the same RO who attempted to help bring in 13 boxes of 'new ballot papers' that suddenly appeared after the counting and several vote recounts had finished, in an apparent desperate attempt to tamper with the vote and help National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) queen Shahrizat Abdul Jalil win the election illegally.SHARE THIS STORY The rude response by this RO is just an example to show how ROs are being "trained" to be prepared to do anything to save BN in GE13. the RO has influenced the rakyat more to vote for YB Nurul. We want you to be the PM. First Malaysian woman PM.This is the problem when civil servants forget about their primary role in the administration of the country.The first and the final rule for an RO should be to remain like a rock and stay completely neutral, whatever the circumstances or the outcome. It looks like that paramount rule has been demolished by the EC.
Our political leaders evidently have a not-so-smart-ass response for everything under the hazy Malaysian sun.Some – the few who can read – probably would have read that story about the French queen, Marie Antoinette, apparently saying `Let them eat cake’ upon learning that the French peasants had no bread.
Yes, perhaps that is why our Home Minister, upon hearing that the ISA detainees were on a hunger strike, twittered that it was the choice of the ISA detainees to hold the hunger strike, just as it was his choice to have lamb chops.Not very sensitive of him, it could be argued. But then, neither was the French Queen who, history tells us, was later executed by guillotine. Yes, she had her head chopped off.Many of our politicians, I think, share this misconception that they are so darn smart and can deliver flippant comments, inane lines and get away with it.In the pre-Internet days, this probably would have been true. Then newspapers, radio and television were virtually the only sources of news. Hence, they could lie through their teeth, say nasty things about every being under, yes, the Malaysian sun, and get away with it all.Media self-censorship now an art formWhy? Because the print and broadcast media then – as now – were owned and controlled by them or their parties and would not dream of publishing or broadcasting their stupid, insensitive comments. It would have been bad PR – and certainly bad karma for any suicidal editor who dared publish the comments.
Then – but more so now – media self-censorship has been raised to an art form.However, the introduction of the Internet into this country, and its rapid expansion over the past five years or so, have changed that a teeny-weeny bit.So, much as the mainstream media may ignore important issues such as the NFC scandal, the PFKZ disaster, the orchestrated violence on BERSIH 3.0 and, of course, the financially-huge Scorpene debacle, these events and issues will no longer just go away.Instead, they continue to be investigated, headlined and exposed by theInternet media that, over the relatively short period of 10 to 15 years, have consolidated – nay, firmly entrenched – themselves as serious players in this game of providing images, meanings and explanations.So, although quite a number of these jaguh kampung politicians – and their bit part supporting actors in the civil (dis)service – still are clueless about how the Internet at times can strip them naked, there are a few who, I believe, feel they need to spend tonnes (perhaps of our money) on giving their image a positive makeover.
‘You need to be cool with the kids’They learn to use the social media. Unfortunately, an idiot remains an idiot, whatever the communication technology at hand. Hence, garbage in, garbage out.They hire image and public relations consultants who, for a princely sum, tell them that, despite the protruding belly and the fast-receding hairline, they need to be cool with the kids.So, not having much in between their ears, they take Fredric Wertham’s book title as their aim in life, little realising that Seduction of the Innocent was essentially an attack on comic books and not a manual for paedophiles.They learn to change names and titles, thinking that we are all as idiotic as them for us to believe that a National Harmony Act would be so much more palatable than the Sedition Act that it is meant to replace.They learn one-liners and even one-word retorts. Like the currently overused word `perception’. When what’s actually on their mind is deception. So, when even their darling mainstream rags report that crimes may be on the increase, they throw out problematic and evidently inconsistent `statistics’ that are supposed to prove otherwise. But do no such thing.Then, they roll out this by-now tired cliché that `These fears are all based on perception and that all is actually well’.But they forget two things at least.First that there’s still the more skeptical Internet media to contend with. This despite their threats to muzzle even this media via amendments to the Evidence Act and the setting of a `social media council’ to enable (state?) regulation of the Internet.Second, they forget that the more they attempt to deceive us by putting everything down to ‘our’ perceptions, ‘our’ illogical, irrational and unfounded fears, the more they begin to sound like the boy who cried wolf.Indeed, they forget that `perception’ can work the other way as well; that we might – indeed, we will – perceive them as a bunch of liars, a group of deceivers, a cabinet of con artists.And, really, truly, that’s not a perception they can afford going into the next general election.
The spate of statements by senior government officers backing the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) is piling as Datuk Seri Najib Razak seeks a big win in a general election he must call within a year despite his coalition inching to gain public approval.
The newly appointed Chief Secretary to the Government (Ketua Setiausaha Negara), Ali Hamsa has told civil servants to be loyal to the incumbent (UMNO-BN) , saying they should not be fooled by the OPPOSITION's (Pakatan Rakyat) “empty promises.”
Both Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) have been wooing the 1.4-million strong public service, a traditional vote bank for the ruling coalition whose support appears to have wavered over the recent wage hike debacle.
“They should know better. Don’t be taken in by empty promises,” former Public Private Partnership Unit (UKAS) director-general Datuk Seri Dr Ali Hamsa said in reply to a question by the Umno-controlled New Straits Times on promises by the federal opposition.
“As civil servants, we must be loyal to the King and serve the government of the day. It is important that we know our role as civil servants and carry out our responsibilities well,” said the top civil servant, who was promoted this week, in an interview published by the English daily.
The newly appointed Chief Secretary to the Government called on his new charges on Sunday to be loyal to the government and ignore the Opposition’s “empty promises”.The 1.4-million-strong public sector has been a traditional vote bank for BN but controversy over a new pay scheme and attacks on the ruling parties from Pakatan Rakyat over bread-and-butter issues have given the Opposition hope of swinging the civil service over.Although the Prime Minister’s popularity rating in Peninsular Malaysia dropped by four percentage points after violent clashes between the Police and protestors at the April 28 BERSIH rally it still remains at 65 per cent, while his government has been unable to breach the 50 per cent mark.
Analysts told The Malaysian Insider that with the political contest stiffer than ever, the public sector’s confidence in the political leadership has been shaken. They said issues such as the alleged abuse of a RM250 million federal loan by a then Cabinet minister’s family, a higher education loan scheme said to saddle students with debt and claims of kickbacks in the RM7 billion purchase of Scorpene submarines linked to Najib weighed heavily among voters.“Despite obvious advantages to BN, Najib has delayed polls to a point where he has a very narrow window left. The net effect of these issues and an ‘uneven’ handling from his administration has resulted in a lot of new tactics coming to play.“So (civil servants) are seeing subtle and not-so-subtle reminders from their senior colleagues to ‘vote the right way’,” said Ibrahim Suffian who heads opinion researchers Merdeka Center.Independent political analyst Khoo Kay Peng sees a “cohesive strategy to win over the middle ground” by talking up the “certainty that comes with a BN government.”Making references to Najib’s “Janji Ditepati (Promises Fulfilled)” campaign,which is now also the theme for upcoming National Day celebrations, he said that “with hard times coming, there are many who will want to take care of their rice bowl and not make their bosses look bad.”Chief Secretary Datuk Seri Ali Hamsa (Tan Sri in 2013) had said civil servants “should know better” than to believe “empty promises” from the Opposition, calling them to “serve the government of the day” in an interview published by the New Sunday Times.
Foreign Ministry Under Secretary Ahmad Rozian Abdul Ghani then attacked a Canadian newspaper yesterday for describing Najib as a “false democrat,” insisting the Prime Minister had “an impressive track record by anyone’s standards.”“While the Prime Minister takes nothing for granted, he hopes he will be given a mandate to continue Malaysia’s transformation,” the diplomat added.
A director at Putrajaya’s efficiency unit PEMANDU also made a public attack on Pakatan Rakyat yesterday for not improving the states it governs and focusing on sniping and criticising the Federal Government’s efforts.“All oppos do is snipe & critic wot is being done but not focused on improving their states! Wot hv they done??” communications director Alex Iskandar Liew said on his public account on micro-blogging site Twitter, copying @barisannasional and @NRC11, a fan club dedicated to the Prime Minister.Political science lecturer James Chin refused to single out any act of impartiality by government officials but said that “by convention and in the government’s General Orders, civil servants cannot make any political statement.”“Politics must be handled by political appointees such as political or press secretaries who are on contract and not governed by the Public Service Department,” he said.The Chief Secretary is the country’s top government servant while undersecretaries are the top level of civil service officers. Most PEMANDU employees, however, are hired on a contract basis.
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