Thesun 2009-10-16 Page12 Heed The Messages Of Change

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| FRIDAY OCTOBER 16 2009

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Heed the messages of change UMNO Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin’s maiden speech at the party’s general assembly on Wednesday is a far cry from his rhetoric at last year’s assembly which seemed to pander to the gallery and alienate Malaysians who have had enough of shallow politicians who thrive on the race card. Right-thinking Malaysians should embrace the Youth chief’s call for the aspirations of 1Malaysia to be recognised where one’s ethnicity, religion and background must not be a factor in an individual’s success. Khairy uttered the words which were on the tip of the tongue of many Malaysians for a long time when he said that the national agenda should not be based on the narrow concept of Malay dominance but instead on Malay leadership. However, judging by the muted response of the wing’s delegates, the Youth chief seems to be alone in his call for Pemuda to reform and be all-encompassing of the nation’s multi-ethnicity. This does not augur well for the party which is trying to gain lost ground following the shock election results of last year. In perspective, what is discussed at the Youth stage could be even more important than the presidential speech as it is a peek into what the future holds for the ruling party and Malaysians in general. As Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Abdul Razak stressed in his own

maiden presidential speech yesterday, Umno embraces Malaysians irrespective of colour or creed. That the general assembly is ending a day before Deepavali can be perceived as holding out the olive branch to the Hindu community who were slighted that last year’s assembly was held on the Festival of Lights. Khairy was spot-on when he said Umno cannot rely on hollow rhetoric and methods that only capture momentary media attention and pander to the emotions of party members. His developing maturity and acceptance that Umno must change or die hopefully stirred something in the hearts of the next generation of leaders which is duty-bound to continue with the sound policies of the present leadership. But while Malaysians applaud and take comfort from the softening stance emanating from the rostrums of Dewan Tun Hussein Onn, there is a restrained discomfort that many delegates are finding it hard to come to terms with Umno’s perceived new direction. Whether they like it or not, they should take heed of the advice of their party president that Umno must be seen as an inclusive party which put the people’s interests at the forefront. Otherwise, with the new political climate and new breed of voters, fears that Umno is on its last lap may ring true.

Rightthinking Malaysians should embrace the Youth chief’s call for the aspirations of 1Malaysia to be recognised where one’s ethnicity, religion and background must not be a factor in an individual’s success.

Reduce discretionary powers I AGREE with “Discretion is the creator of problems” (CitizenNades, Oct 7). When discretionary powers are given to civil servants there is always the risk of abuse. The way forward is for processes to be simplified and made transparent and the procedures and time-lines to be clearly established. Incomprehensibly, the approving authorities in Malaysia are neither accountable nor responsible for their approvals. If that is the case, I advocate that such approvals should be changed to prescriptive procedures. All conditions that need to be complied with should be established and published. The applicants and the relevant professionals where necessary should be made to declare that the submissions complied with all the prescribed conditions. A period of say 14 days should be given to the authorities accepting the application to respond; if there is no response the application is deemed approved. If the application and declarations are wrong, a re-submission fee should be imposed to ensure that the second declaration is true. To complement this system, there must be

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mechanisms to handle discretionary considerations. This should be deliberated at a senior level and ideally be considered by a committee. Furthermore, the authorities have enforcement powers and the right to withdraw any licence and approval if the conditions are flouted. This leads to renewals. Licences should be renewed upon payment of renewal fees. The authorities can withdraw the licence later if the licensee flouts the conditions of the licence and refuses to remedy such transgressions. There are also situations where a business licence has expired but the renewal is pending and the operators live in fear of being harassed and threatened with closure. A perfect recipe for corruption. Zhang CG Via email

PKFZ probe must go on “CONTINUITY in PKFZ probe crucial” (Down2Earth, Oct 13) refers. PKFZ is not an MCA issue for Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat to own and seek justice for all but is a Malaysian issue where the people’s money has been siphoned off by corrupt politicians and businessmen; yet, why have the rest of our political leaders chosen to remain silent over the scandal and distance themselves from it? The cheerleaders who celebrated MCA EGM’s vote of no-confidence on Ong were probably behind the third force that ultimately decided the

outcome of the EGM. After this lesson dished out to Ong for trying to be gung-ho in trying to expose the truth behind the scandal, do you think the next transport minister or for that matter anybody else in the cabinet would want to deal with PKFZ? Will your paper carry on this battle on behalf of all Malaysians who want to see justice served and bring the people behind the scandal to book? Kalai Via email