WELL-PAID 'YES-MEN'? No wonder Najib seems clueless on the reality in the nation!

Just in case some readers have been wondering why some politicians cling on to their party positions at whatever cost, the following parliamentary reply by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, may provide a clue.

The Malaysian Insider quoted him as telling the Dewan Rakyat that 16 serving and ex-MPs hold positions in agencies under the Prime Minister’s Department, with some of them drawing allowances above RM20,000 a month.

“The total members of Parliament or former members of Parliament that are in government agencies, government-linked companies (GLCs), commissions, bodies and boards in various capacities under the Prime Minister’s Department is 16,” Nazri said in a written reply to the DAP’s Batu Gajah MP Fong Po Kuan.

Long list receiving above RM20k per month

According to the news portal, Nazri provided a table detailing the MPs and ex-MPs, and their appointments.

The MPs receiving RM20,000 or more under the heading of fixed allowance or allowance for attending monthly meetings (elaun tetap/elaun kehadiran mesyuarat bulanan) include special envoys and advisers to the prime minister, and the chairman of the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD).

The Rompin MP Jamaluddin Mohd Jarjis and the defeated BN Sungai Siput MP S. Samy Vellu were paid RM27,227.20 for respectively serving as Special Envoy to the US and as Special Envoy of Infrastructure to India and Southern Asia.

Former MCA president Ong Ka Ting, who serves as the prime minister’s Special Envoy to China, was listed as receiving RM20,000.

The Special Adviser to the prime minister for the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), Shahidan Kassim, receives RM24,022 and Dr Abdullah Md Zin receives RM25,106 in his capacity as the prime minister’s Religious Adviser.

The list also showed Syed Hamid Albar receiving RM20,000 as SPAD chairman.

Clueless about the reality in the nation

As I had noted in my Other Thots column in the September 16 issue of Malaysian Business magazine: “The talk of town (and the village too) is that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Abdul Razak, is too reliant on his inner circle that he might not have his fingers on the pulse of the nation.”

I dare not say that these MPs and ex-MPs do not have their fingers on the pulse of the nation, but they are certainly well paid and well rewarded over and above the generous MP allowances and pensions (in the case of ex-MPs) that they are already receiving.

We can only hope and pray that taxpayers’ money is well spent on these and many more special envoys and advisers to the prime minister and the rakyat are well served in the true spirit of 1 Malaysia “Rakyat didahulukan. Pencapaian diutamakan”. Wallahualam.

— kadirjasin.blogspot.com