Special envoys, special advisers, what special next?

 

ADUN SPEAKS | Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaacob must be so inept that he needs three special advisers to assist him to administer the country.

The three special advisers will be paid a total of RM150,000, each getting RM50,000 per month.

I have no complaints if the funds are coming from the pockets of Ismail Sabri, but unfortunately, the money is from government funds contributed by taxpayers.

Having four special envoys was bad enough, now we have three special advisers.

What special appointments are in the offing are not known for the time being.

The power of patronage is such that the creation of special positions seems to be an indelible part and parcel of the present system based on “I scratch your back, you scratch mine”.

Hefty sum

The four special envoys created earlier with ministerial salaries and perks will cost a hefty sum for the government, again drawn from government funds contributed by taxpayers.

Apparently, the three special advisers are to advise the prime minister on matters of law, human rights, and religion.

An additional special adviser is in the process of being appointed with a further imposition of financial burden.

I am not sure why Ismail Sabri, the originator of the "family concept", would want three advisers.

Why are these appointments so crucial that Ismail Sabri has to give priority to them?

What is so special about these advisers and what is their special expertise?

Burden to taxpayers

Surely, given the bloated cabinet, Ismail Sabri can get advice and input from his ministers, if not from heads of the various departments in the civil service.

Appointing special envoys and advisers doesn’t seem to go well with Ismail Sabri’s idea of Malaysia as one family.

Surely, for the Malaysian family to survive and prosper, the financial burden must be lessened.

But the appointment of these special advisors without superior credentials will be a burden to the taxpayers.

Upon being appointed as prime minister, Ismail Sabri wanted to start his tenure with a “big bang”.

Somebody must have advised him to use the family concept - hardly appropriate to heal the deep-seated divisions created by none other than his own party, Umno, and its allies.

Typical Umno politician

Definitely, the appointment of special envoys and advisers has nothing to do with the idea of Malaysia as one family.

Far from it.

Draining the coffers of the hard-earned taxpayers' money has nothing to do with promoting the family concept.

On the contrary, it drains the family of the hard-earned resources

Ismail Sabri is a typical Umno politician who believes in the patronage game.

Such appointments are not meant to get valuable advice, but to reward those who are loyal to him.

What the country needs is a total revamp, not the process of muddling through with the appointment of special advisers.

Maybe, Ismail Sabri wants to elaborate on why he is appointing them and in what ways that they will contribute to the nation.

There is no need to arrive at a situation where Ismail Sabri will have to hire another batch of special advisers to advise the already appointed ones.

I am not sure whether Ismail Sabri is the lame-duck prime minister or not.

He certainly looks like one. He seems to be not competent to manage the affairs of the country.

I am not sure how the advisers are going to save his administration from sinking into the quagmire of inefficiency and mismanagement. - Mkini

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P RAMASAMY is Perai assemblyperson and Penang deputy chief minister II.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.