Acceptance is a virtue
Written on 2/20/2007 07:18:00 pm by sikapitan
I honestly think that in politics, it is a requirement for you to be a bit of a busybody. When Datuk Seri Radzi Sheikh Ahmad took charge of the Home Affairs Ministry, he went about correcting another ill-thought government initiative - the “lucky draw for Mykad” drive - which was conceived under Datuk Azmi Khalid’s leadership of the said Ministry.
For those ignorant of Malaysian news, the Home Ministry introduced a lucky draw contest to tempt Malaysians to convert to the new MyKad. At that time, I remembered writing something about it here in Undergrounduate, but I don’t have the time to check the archives, nor do I think it’s important to smugly say “I told you so…” Even the public wasn’t too keen on the whole idea and this is evident by the fact that most of the winners did not even bother to collect their prize.
Back to the present. When Datuk Seri Radzi cancelled all prizes under the afore mentioned “lucky draw” drive, he also thought it was necessary to call the idea “silly and rubbish”. Now, when you say an idea as silly and rubbish, you are implying that the person who gave the idea is also a bit “silly and rubbish”. You would have thought that Datuk Azmi Khalid would have gone bonkers and start issuing press statements denying his responsibility or blaming his officers. You would have thought that the person who got the rebuke would be the one responding.
But not in Malaysia. This is the land where everyone else, except for the one that really matters, wants to have a say. Just look at the number of ministers and Menteri Besars who think it is worth our time to hear what their thoughts on comments made by one former PM to one current PM. In this case, Perlis Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim decided to “back” Azmi Khalid and asked Radzi to withdraw his statement.
The only connection Shahidan has with this affair is the fact that both Azmi and Radzi are from Perlis. And what about Azmi Khalid himself, the “victim” of Radzi’s comment? I never paid much attention to him, but I wasn’t his biggest fan. I see him as one of those “passengers”, the type who is in it for the ride, just following the driver, never venturing to offer new routes.
It’s not good to be a leader when you have this “passenger” mentality, but it’s not the worse trait in the world. I can live with “passengers” on the bus known as Malaysian politics. It’s better than being a noisy conductor type who makes ruckus out of nothing but who can “forget” to collect the fare from a pretty young thing.
Back to Azmi. Surprisingly, for a politician, he was humble enough to accept the criticism, didn’t take it personally, and even commended Radzi for withdrawing the whole lucky draw scheme. I guess the newspapers were frustrated when this happen.
I mean, on Tuesday they believed they had another week-long drama ready to unfold, especially when Shahidan thought it was necessary to give his two-cent’s worth. But with Azmi’s surprise acceptance of past mistake, the news just died down. We’re back to news about how wonderful our economy is and how this is not just another tactic to drum up support for a snap general election *snigger*.
Football: Why would Ronaldo (Christiano of course) want to join Real Madrid? I am NOT giving my thoughts as a United fan, but in pure football terms, he would be better off playing for Barcelona. Success has been fleeting for Real these past few years. And honestly, Real haven’t been a model of success in developing young exciting players. Name one “young guns” that came to Real with a big reputation and made it big time.
Robinho had so much promise, yet hasn’t shined for Real ever since his move last season. Real is not the place where people develop their talent, and as scary as this sounds, I do think that Ronaldo is still in the development stage. Yes, he’s playing brilliantly now, but in 2-3 years time, he’ll simply be in a class of his own. And if he sticks with United, which has had success breeding talented youngsters, he’ll more likely to enjoy his football, and develop as a player.
Of course, I hate to admit it but the best team to nurture talented teenagers is Arsenal. But why would anyone want to mix around with the pedophilic-looking Arsene Whiner is beyond me…
...
For those ignorant of Malaysian news, the Home Ministry introduced a lucky draw contest to tempt Malaysians to convert to the new MyKad. At that time, I remembered writing something about it here in Undergrounduate, but I don’t have the time to check the archives, nor do I think it’s important to smugly say “I told you so…” Even the public wasn’t too keen on the whole idea and this is evident by the fact that most of the winners did not even bother to collect their prize.
Back to the present. When Datuk Seri Radzi cancelled all prizes under the afore mentioned “lucky draw” drive, he also thought it was necessary to call the idea “silly and rubbish”. Now, when you say an idea as silly and rubbish, you are implying that the person who gave the idea is also a bit “silly and rubbish”. You would have thought that Datuk Azmi Khalid would have gone bonkers and start issuing press statements denying his responsibility or blaming his officers. You would have thought that the person who got the rebuke would be the one responding.
But not in Malaysia. This is the land where everyone else, except for the one that really matters, wants to have a say. Just look at the number of ministers and Menteri Besars who think it is worth our time to hear what their thoughts on comments made by one former PM to one current PM. In this case, Perlis Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim decided to “back” Azmi Khalid and asked Radzi to withdraw his statement.
The only connection Shahidan has with this affair is the fact that both Azmi and Radzi are from Perlis. And what about Azmi Khalid himself, the “victim” of Radzi’s comment? I never paid much attention to him, but I wasn’t his biggest fan. I see him as one of those “passengers”, the type who is in it for the ride, just following the driver, never venturing to offer new routes.
It’s not good to be a leader when you have this “passenger” mentality, but it’s not the worse trait in the world. I can live with “passengers” on the bus known as Malaysian politics. It’s better than being a noisy conductor type who makes ruckus out of nothing but who can “forget” to collect the fare from a pretty young thing.
Back to Azmi. Surprisingly, for a politician, he was humble enough to accept the criticism, didn’t take it personally, and even commended Radzi for withdrawing the whole lucky draw scheme. I guess the newspapers were frustrated when this happen.
I mean, on Tuesday they believed they had another week-long drama ready to unfold, especially when Shahidan thought it was necessary to give his two-cent’s worth. But with Azmi’s surprise acceptance of past mistake, the news just died down. We’re back to news about how wonderful our economy is and how this is not just another tactic to drum up support for a snap general election *snigger*.
Football: Why would Ronaldo (Christiano of course) want to join Real Madrid? I am NOT giving my thoughts as a United fan, but in pure football terms, he would be better off playing for Barcelona. Success has been fleeting for Real these past few years. And honestly, Real haven’t been a model of success in developing young exciting players. Name one “young guns” that came to Real with a big reputation and made it big time.
Robinho had so much promise, yet hasn’t shined for Real ever since his move last season. Real is not the place where people develop their talent, and as scary as this sounds, I do think that Ronaldo is still in the development stage. Yes, he’s playing brilliantly now, but in 2-3 years time, he’ll simply be in a class of his own. And if he sticks with United, which has had success breeding talented youngsters, he’ll more likely to enjoy his football, and develop as a player.
Of course, I hate to admit it but the best team to nurture talented teenagers is Arsenal. But why would anyone want to mix around with the pedophilic-looking Arsene Whiner is beyond me…
...
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