Where Does The Buck Stop?

The news :

• KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak hopes telcos can reconsider the decision to impose a 6% charge on prepaid mobile users. . . He said he received a lot of reactions from the public and the decision was an unpopular one. . . He said the decision to impose the tax was not made by the Finance Ministry.

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The decision to impose the 6% tax charge was not made by the Finance Ministry. Ok. But the Telcos are a highly regulated industry. Somewhere along the line, the decision was still made by the Government of Malaysia. Which Ministry is in charge of the Telcos? Isnt it the Ministry of Information, Communications and Culture? Why didnt the Ministry of Information and Communications handle this matter in a more efficient manner? Please stop passing the buck. Asyik main tai chi saja.

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Lately, the Government keeps making (in this case allowing) unpopular or ill thought decisions. Then when the stuff hits the fan, the Government back pedals aka flip flop. This is really not good for the Government's image. What happened to Pemudah, Pemandu or whoever? Hisap candu ke? This lack of proper Government process makes hundreds of thousands of people angry. Maybe this is really the desired outcome. Make the people angry so that the Government becomes unpopular. Musuh sudah masuk dalam selimut. Kita masih tidur lagi.

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Now if this 6% charge is postponed or cancelled, the Telcos are going to be upset as well. (I hope the Government does not have to quietly "reimburse" the Telcos for the loss of revenue from this 6% surcharge - using our taxpayers money. That will become another scandal.)

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Last week there was another serious flip flop by the Government. Here is the news :

• School bus operators call off planned strike
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• GEORGE TOWN: The Federation of Malaysian School Bus Drivers Association has called off its nationwide strike which was set for this week after the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) allowed them to use buses aged 30 years or more.
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• “SPAD has extended the period. The policy to have these vehicles taken off the roads will only take effect in 2013,” he said yesterday.

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So come 2013 we are going to have 32 year old school buses on the roads? I agree we cannot have 32 year old schoolbuses on the roads. But isnt there a more practical and workable method to solve this problem? First you threaten the bus owners. Then they threaten back. Their threats are more real (they have more muscle) because if they cannot afford to get new buses within the set time frame, it means they wont get new buses. Its as simple as that. So they would rather go on strike because they do not have anything to lose anyway. (Old bus tak boleh pakai, new bus cannot afford. So to go on strike is a 'no loss' option for them).

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So the Government says 'Ok we will postpone this for another two years'. Another flip flop. And in the process youhave made thousands of school bus operators angry. You make hundreds of thousands of parents anxious and angry too. Then you flip flop - ok lah, kita postpone lagi dua tahun.

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Why didnt the Government really sit down and talk to the bus drivers? Surely they would have voiced an opinion and the Government could have explained things better and also implemented this decision much better. Dont talk down to people lah. If you ada otak, then to an extent, you can talk down to people - they wont mind so much. But when you yourself are so blur, dont know what to do, then please dont talk down to people. Talk to them. Ask the people 'This is a real problem. So what do you think?' What do you suggest?'

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Unfortunately, by the time the Government flip flopped, they already made thousands of school bus drivers angry. Its too late. Do you think they are going to vote for you as well?

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Prior to that the Government messed up the Hire Purchase Act. For two months the sales of cars fell through the floor. Used car dealers shut down - some permanently - because the Government imposed the new amended Hire Purchase Act. Sales of used cars also affect sales of new cars. When people cannot sell their old cars, they wont buy new ones. Proton suffered huge losses too.

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So after creating chaos for two months, the Government backpedalled again. They had to postpone the implementation of the amended Hire Purchase Act. Here is old news:

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HP Act implementation to be reviewed

SHAH ALAM: Certain aspects of the implementation of the Hire Purchase Act (Amendment 2010), which came into effect last month, will be looked at again.

Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob said Thursday among the issues which could be reviewed was the requirement for the selling party of a used vehicle to pay RM90 for the vehicle inspection imposed by Puspakom Sdn Bhd, before the vehicle could be sold

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The 6% charge by the Telcos will make a few million mobile phone users upset. The school bus fiasco made thousands of bus operators and hundreds of thousands of parents upset. The Hire Purchase Act fiasco made hundreds of thousands upset.

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Not to be left out the Government (in this case the same Ministry of Information) also made the journalists and Bloggers upset by trying to muscle through a Media Council. This most unpopular Media Council idea was designed to 'control' the Alternative Media. Thats us the Bloggers.

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When there was a fuss, it was changed to the "Media Consultative Council". Finally after a heated meeting, this idea too has been shelved. Another flip flop by the Government - but not after making journalists and Bloggers suspicious and upset with the Government.

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Saya nak tanya sikit : which part of Charles Bronson's "Death Wish" dont you folks understand? Pasal apa Kerajaan kita suka sangat nak bunuh diri?

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Here is a picture of President Harry Truman of the United States. Truman was famous for saying'The Buck Stops Here'. He had a sign sitting on his table (you can see it in the picture) which said exactly that 'The Buck Stops Here'.

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In the old American Wild West, people used to cheat at playing poker. To cut down on the cheating, all the poker players in a game would take turns to deal out the cards (and not just one person). They would place a knife whose handle was made of 'buck bone" (deer antlers) as a 'marker' in front of the player whose turn was next to deal the cards. (If he cheated maybe they stabbed him with the knife?). This was called 'passing the buck'. Later, this "buck handled" knife was replaced by the American silver dollar. Hence the American dollar became known as 'the buck'. Today even in Malaysia we say 'ten bucks' or 'twenty bucks'.

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Later 'passing the buck' came to mean something else - refusing to take responsibility over something. In local Malay-Chinese "tai chi". Or to blame someone else for one's own shortcomings. When someone is 'passing the buck' it means he does not want to take the responsibility.

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This is where Harry Truman made a difference. As the President and CEO of a nation, he said'The Buck Stops Here'. Meaning - the entire nation is his responsibility. He wont be "passing the buck". We can debate if Truman really delivered on this promise or not. But for certain he made a strong statement, which put his entire Government machinery on its toes. The buck stops with the Government.

In our country, where does the buck stop? Or does it keep galloping away?