O Mama! Obama! How does your garden grow?

With Silver Bells, And Cockle Shells, 
Sing cuckolds all in a row.

It is just our cynical expression to the overzealous attitude of some slavedriver high above to push the whole civil service to receive US President Barrack Obama's visit to Malaysia but was announced cancelled due to their budgetary restriction.

To understand the nursery rhyme, read Wikipedia here. 

Some psychoptic dude drove the whole civil service to forget about the Transformation Plan, annual budget preparation for 2014 (Realise hardly much discussion and dialouges heard?), and KIV everything else to receive Obama.   

He is leading a government that can't afford to pay their bills without borrowing more money and we want to and giving him a platform to talk?

To be inspired by his calmness on the verge of bankruptcy?

The government seems to be in a hysteria that no cost is spared to please Obama and listen to him dream selling of pot of gold at the end of the rainbow but is living on triple deficit for half a century! 

The government actually organise a so-called seminar for entrepreneur to have an event for Obama to speak. The cost itself is heard to reach as much as RM25 million. Participants are brought in from abroad but not sure how many Malaysian will get to particpate.

This is not talking about the cost of other compulsory for official state visits and other side events.

That is no. 60 for our government wastage list (read here) that save rakyat the suffering of price increase arising from subsidy rationalisation.

The event is called 4th Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2013 (GES 2013). Maybe it is relevant to send TERAJU CEO to learn a bit of two about entrepreneurship since he feels that having an audited account is of textbook importance of good entrepreneurship.

According the event website fact sheet here, GES 2013 is "a platform to facilitate the exchange of views and ideas between global business leaders and entrepreneurs and strengthen alliances among entrepreneurs around the world.

The GES is a follow - through on President Barack Obama's emphasis on entrepreneurship as a pillar of U.S. global engagement, underscoring the importance of entrepreneurship as one of the most powerful ways for individuals to improve their own economic circumstances, and in turn, their lives.

The first GES was held in Washington D.C. in 2010 and has since been held in Istanbul, Turkey in 2011 and Dubai, United Arab Emirates in 2012. The Summit is now in its 4th Year and will be held in Kuala Lumpur, the first time it is being held in East Asia."

There is no issue there. Anything to promote entrepreneurship and benefit the nation is good but is it really beneficial?

The organiser claim there will be 100 speakers talking to give insights and view of entrepreneurship. Read here.

However the notable ones are Prof Chan Kim, author of Blue Ocean Strategy, Richard Barton, founder of Expedia, Don Tapscott, author of Wikinomics, and Joel Barker, author of Future Edge and Five Regions of the Future.

Why are the Malaysian talking only government official? Why only Job Street talking? This is the time to showcase Malaysian entrepreneur to Obama ma...
  

Heard Larry Farrell  of The Farrellwww.TheSpiritOfEnterprise.com is supposed to come and he is willing to come without fee but the event organiser botch it up with their inflexibility. The manner they treated him is shocking and rude.

With 30 years in researching and teaching entrepreneurship, Farrell is much more prominent that any of the other speakers in the field and have taught more than 5 million students worldwide!

It shows the event manager do not know the field of entrepreneurship. We happen to subscribe to several American entrepreneurship foundation portal.  

Wait the minute, did we say it is the event manager that decided to cancell Farrell?
  
The organiser is Ministry of Finance, the Prime Minister's Ministry. It means the Prime Minister's officers and staff are not the one making decision on the event.

This is a national official event but government officials are being dictated by the event manager who require that the Ministry had to do submission for their approvals.

It is the event manager that make decision on speakers, venue, logistics, involvement of students, etc. Otherwise no payment is assured for any if arrangement made by the government officials. Yet these decisions need to adhere to government circulars and bureaucrasy.

Everything done by the event manger is tentative without any confirmation, minutes of meeting, and any verbal and phone discussion was not followed up by written e-mails or letters. So unprofessional... we've done event management but never like this! What more for a major internation event like this?

MOF had agreed to showing the via satellite many months ago but government official is had to be subjected to event manager's scrutiny and approval. It turned out there is an instruction not to allow the broadcasting of Tun Dr Mahathir's speech via satellites.

Are we back to the days of Kalimullah Hasan again?

Government organised hundreds of events with universities and world agencies and bodies, including  international events every year but never have they come across such confusion and unprofessional as happening in this GES. 

Something is really funny here. It seems MOF had paid some advanced to the event manager but budgeted money to be spent for the event have not reached the government officials involved. The profit making entity gets the money first. 

Does it mean the PM as paymaster cannot decide but need prior approval from the event manager before committuing to any statement or position?

It can't be someone psychotic and overly smitten by Obama doing this railroading of government officer and empowering the paid event manager.

Hmmm ... or could it be Ethos Consulting or related subsidiaries have interest in the event manager? Only Omar Ong can be so insidiously intrusive and rude.

There are inefficiencies, leakages and sabotages in and on the government but it is the government officials that is responsible to ensure and protect the good image of the Government and the country. 

Furthermore, government have established set procedures for organising of events so the event manager should adhere and not be so arrogant.


This is ridiculous ... no wonder the government servants are dissatisfied and big complainer this days. One can expect much dissatisfaction by government representatives, be it the Ministries and government agencies with such treatment and unprofessional. 

In the course to welcome Obama, it is heard that US officials are inside many of the organising meetings and in typical orang putihbureaucrat fashion throwing the names of White House officials and they are "pleased", "agreeable" and blah blah padded words.   

The opportunistic ones gets fed-up in just want to feather their nest to take bribe and kickbacks.

Upon digging up, we were told that the Director of Event is someone by the name of Aldia Lai. The event manager is AOS Conventions and Events (AOSCE).

Wonder if the smitten ones made her equally cocky and inflexible.Syed Akbar and Husin Lempoyang wrote that he almost cried when Obama cancelled. His career must have depended on it.

In the process of trying hard to please the US, ever thought the country we are trying so hard to please is on the verge of bankruptcy and can't even pay the salary of their state park workers.

And we want to hear and be inspired by him? 

Chinese President Xi Jinping came without much fanfare but he has more value to our economy than that bankrupt country of Obama. Read here. China is not in the TPPA roundtable and US do not want them.

Aren't we looking foolish?

Thank gawd we did not seriously wanted to sign the TPPA for Obama's visit. Maybe that is why he did not come. Kesian O! Smitten ones.

-Another Brick in the Wall