Malaysia's cabinet line-up after the GE13 had several positions left vacant, presumably kept in view for MCA. Since then, not a day passed without the Chinese press reporting on this issue. Looking at the matter from the publicity angle, MCA, the party was getting plenty of exposure. On the flip side, the party had invited upon itself intense analysis, perhaps, never before received.
No reversal
Non-participation in executive positions in the government was voluntary, the party leadership conveyed this wish to the Prime Minister. Like many management issues in an organization, there is no reversal to this action. If a pilot stepped down from flying position to take on another task, the plane would not be holed up in a hanger waiting for the pilot to come back. Alternatively, when the pilot was ready to fly, the management had no obligation to take him back for flying. To the Prime Minister, business of a nation needs to go on.
Who are the qualified candidates?
The constructive approach to this fiasco attracts two views. First, had this new development brought down the performance of the government machinery? If it is not broken, why fix it? Second, if these vacancies are to be filled by MCA, who should these bodies be? This article examines two aspects of the second view, viz. the selection criteria of candidates and why MCA. This is deemed a necessary step as the opposition parties had provided opportunities for comparison.
We need to look at the person qualifications for each position, ranging from Minister, Deputy Ministers, State Executive Councillors, Town Councillors, to Village headmen, not forgetting chief executives of government linked corporations. Had MCA candidates performed satisfactorily in previous appointments? The 10% of Chinese votes accredited to BN in GE13 could mean the Chinese were unhappy with the past performance of these appointees.
Repercussions of president's choice
The age-old tradition of having the party president to recommend candidates to the Prime Minister implied the existence of the perimeter system, i.e. the closer a person was to the president and greater show of support for him, the likelihood of being selected was higher. In a party of a million members, such a practice is bound to attract discontent. What more when the appointed candidate underperformed causing more than mere rippling repercussions. Such was the resentment of academicians where the chairman of the university council was a self-admitted immoral person. What aggravated the situation was that the party was aware of such situation, but no attempt was made to correct it.
Winston Churchill benchmarks
What person qualities should be sought for these candidates? The late Sir Winston Churchill, twice the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was a Member of the British Parliament for 40 years. This acclaimed greatest statesman of the 20th century, was well known for integrity, strategic foresight, capability to inspire people and a non-defeatist attitude. Other commonwealth countries include features such as attentiveness to people and community, analytical skills. But integrity always topped the list.
Integrity - top of list
Where should integrity begin inside a political party? From among the members. Each membership application required the applicant’s declaration attested before the Division Chief as testimony of voluntarily joining a political party, not just any other society. This aspect of member commitment was punctuated by confessions of the "artificially manufactured" phantom members by the thousands in addition to those who were unaware of the joining or joining the party under undue influence.
Flaws punishable under Malaysian laws
Lifting the veil of non-compliance of statutory declarations in the RCI on the influx of illegal immigrants into Sabah should cast long shadows on MCA membership system. Snowballing this number of non-committed members diluted the political intensity of the party. For the last ten years, the author had unconsciously misrepresented herself to be from Selangor when in fact her membership had never been transferred out of Kuala Lumpur. Such lackadaisical control of member mobility enabling the establishment of territorial realms outside the its original branch had caused the branches to hollow.
Like abandoned children
The recent spade of events where party headquarters suspended members, branches were frozen, declared illegal or non-existent, and then directed the blame to the Registrar of Societies, had ruffled the feathers of many members. The Societies Act has a role to play in approving the formation of branches of the party. Section 12 (2) (b) was to ensure the branch to be established was subordinate and "adequately under the control of the society". In other words, once the Registrar of Societies had approved the establishment of a branch, ensuring the continuity and sustainability of that branch is the responsibility of the mother society. In a gist, MCA HQ has the full responsibility of all the 4,300 branches it had submitted to ROS for formation, and was approved for formation.
Maladministration and mismanagement
Examples galore filled the pages of party HQ's record of maladministration and mismanagement. In a government funded project headed by an MCA member who also held very senior position in a Ministry, and where the author was involved, expenditure claims were not settled for over a year. Staff salaries were not paid for more than six months when the law provides for payment of wages not later than the 7the day the following month of work. When expertise left the project, new talent was not recruited to complete the project. Funds not expended were transferred elsewhere when they should be returned to the Government. My article that community projects should be taken out of the hands of politicians refers.
Watershed in wilderness
MCA has thus arrived at a watershed where the members and branches were left in an quandary like abandoned children yet punished by the rules designed by the same parents. Can members who honestly wanted to join this political party depend on party headquarters to take them to their destination? Can branches, the most important infrastructure of this political organization, depend on the headquarters for their survival?
In George Orwell's animal farm, what did the animals do when the farmer mismanaged the farm? The animals had been complaining for a long time, but complaints remained complaints and the conditions worsened. Unlike the political party, these animals did not have central delegates to call on for emergency meetings. They had only themselves to make decisions on what to do in order to continue their survival on Manor Farm.
Organizing for the future from ground up
The animals had to assess the problems faced by each grouping, dispelled false promises of their masters, analyzed the situation and then devise strategies to ensure the groups' and everyone's survival. Taking a page from these animals, the first administrative task for the party branches would be to have a current and up-to-date members register in every branch. Branch chiefs must validate members list, either through re-registration or by asking existing member to re-attest their commitment to the party. This would ensure the branch’s validity in the eyes of ROS.
The availability of branches which are administratively organized is the first step towards party resurrection. Developing branches with this essential qualification may eventually lead towards resurrection and renewal and , albeit through changes in organizational structures, processes and strategies, …etc…etc… This will eventually empower branches to collectively perpetuate the original mission of the party and as well as aspire to deliver what their members had looked upon them to do so.
Churchill was often referred to as the lion who roared when the British Empire needed him most. He could do so because the nation and the people around him had the lion heart. May recurrence of this epic in Malaysia breathe new life into MCA, from ground up. - August 18, 2013.
* Dr Daphne Loke , a life member of MCA, was also the former Director of Graduate School of Business, SEGi University.
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