Weed out ‘little Napoleons’ and deadwood from govt

 

From Roslan Sharif

For the past couple of weeks, the ministry of human resources has been in the limelight, for all the wrong reasons.

First, there were questions raised about the award of a contract for the Skills Passport Programme of the Human Resource Development Corporation. How were the services procured and was an open tender conducted, as directed by the prime minister and mandated by finance ministry directives?

Second, what actions were taken by board members representing employers, such as the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM), the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) etc, who are there to protect and safeguard the interests and funds of Malaysian employers.

The FMM and MEF constantly object vehemently when there are suggestions to increase the retirement age, to enhance employer EPF contributions, and to introduce a more sustainable living wage rather than the current minimum wage.

It bewilders me that the FMM and MEF are very loud when they are outside and when they seek publicity but are very quiet about statutory board meetings that make decisions with grave financial implications on the employers.

Then we have the case of foreign worker quota approvals being granted through the Labour Department.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of foreign workers who apparently paid exorbitant amounts of money to agents in their home country (some of which must have been diverted to certain powerful parties in Malaysia) are now left in the lurch without any jobs and salaries as promised.

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What can be more shameful and embarrassing, for a nation that is ever hungry and scrambling for foreign workers? Can we not do anything professionally without questionable practices taking place?

We need officials with dignity, integrity and honesty in government and statutory bodies, in the government and statutory authorities, people beyond reproach who can transform the nation to achieve the Malaysia Madani status as espoused by the prime minister.

Weed out all the corrupt “little Napoleons” and dig deep into our conscience if we aspire to inspire, and to move ahead of other nations, including our neighbours.

I fervently hope and pray for a total clean up and purge of all the corrupt and the deadwood who are doing a disservice to the nation. - FMT

Roslan Shariff is an FMT reader

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The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.