theSun | THURSDAY JANUARY 22 2009 15

INTERVIEWS VIEWS

No mistaking who’s the boss

A JOURNALIST from India curiosity about how
once likened the civil service the civil service in
there to a camel walking along the affected states
a desert; it keeps on moving, would now operate
slowly but surely, no matter under parties like
if the mahout that rides on it the DAP and PKR,
changes. The camel simply hitherto known
adapts, perhaps changing its only for their op-
pace or direction, as the new position work. This
mahout directs it to do. was particularly so
On March 8 last year, peo- TheNutmeg in Penang. And last
ple could have been forgiven Verses week, the public got
for wondering how on earth by Himanshu Bhatt a pretty good show-
Malaysia ’s own camels would ing of exactly who is
adjust to their new mahouts. now in charge.
For half a century, the civil servants in The big indication came
Peninsular Malaysia, with the exception when Chief Minister Lim Guan
of those in Kelantan and Terengganu, Eng spoke at a special gather-
had known only one master and su- ing of a few hundred govern-
preme mahout – the Barisan Nasional. ment servants under his sway.
It was therefore a subject of immense Right from the start of his
leadership, Guan Eng, who is
also the DAP secretary-general,
had taken great pains to gain
the confidence of the civil
servants. For example, staff
a solution who had served under former
state executive councillors
were retained instead of being
The time taken for a journey to the East replaced. There was generally
Coast of Peninsular Malaysia is another an attempt to placate appre-
thing to be considered. hensions among the officers so
Although research by the Road Safety used to a conservative style of
Department and the Malaysian Institute taking orders from the BN.
of Road Safety might throw more light on The issue of making gov-
the issue, one has to put on the thinking ernment servants quickly ad-
cap and imagine the catastrophic state just, while gaining trust in the
of affairs arising from the banning of new political leadership, had
vehicles from the roads, not for just six become a key priority for Guan
hours but a whole 11 out of 24 hours Eng’s administration.
in a day, before coming up with such a For the civil service had for
proposal. decades become so grafted to
I bet that there will be more accidents the BN, with all its policies and
taking place in the 13 hours allocated, style of administration. The no-
travel time to east coast not included, tion of suddenly serving under
than the six hours between midnight and a different ideology took some
six in the morning. getting used to.
Last week, Guan Eng finally
P. Paranthaman demonstrated how his leader-
Shah Alam ship in the government had
grown. There was no more
soft talk. Speaking firmly, with
a tone that was commanding
yet respectful, he left no stone
unturned in touching upon
sensitive issues that took many
by surprise.
Right from the start of
his leadership, Guan
Eng, who is also the
DAP secretary-general,
had taken great pains
to gain the confidence
of the civil servants.
For example, staff
who had served under
former state executive
councillors were
retained instead of being
replaced. There was
generally an attempt to
placate apprehensions
among the officers so
used to a conservative
style of taking orders
from the BN.
From hitting on racism to
warning against corruption,
Guan Eng spoke with a sharp
style of leadership that Penang
has not seen for a long time. He
sermonised like a headmaster,
even as he cajoled and encour-
aged like a counsellor.
At one point, Guan Eng told
the workers gathered there in
a pointed, no-nonsense man-
ner that he would not tolerate
any racism or corruption in
the state’s administration.
Anyone found breaching these
guidelines would be severely
dealt with. He spoke of a few
elements in the government
who were attempting to “dis-
turb” the administration, even
as far as hinting of sabotage. He
spoke about removing percep-
tions of Chinese and Malay
racial differences.
One could see Guan Eng had
no qualms to publicly delve on
territory that would normally
be considered “sensitive”.
It was a fearsome public
tone – with due respect to the
previous state government
– that his predecessor Tan Sri
Dr Koh Tsu Koon could not
have been imagined to as-
sume.
In fact, as the officers shuf-
fled back to work after Guan
Eng’s address, one senior
civil servant confidentially
remarked that Penang had not
seen this sort of stern authority
since the days of Tun Dr Lim
Chong Eu.
For Chong Eu, who served
as chief minister from the late
sixties till 1990, was a giant
who brooked no inefficiency
and absolutely no nonsense.
There are still tales going
around of how he reduced to
ashes anyone – whether in
the executive council or the
various departments – whose
performance he was dissatis-
fied with.
Perhaps it was Guan Eng’s
way of making a point to indi-
cate to the world that, for now
at least, exactly how much he
is in power.
Himanshu is theSun’s Penang
bureau chief. Comments: let-
ters@thesundaily.com.

for change?
is the most explosive region in the
world and Israel’s savage attack
on the defenceless people of Gaza
has sent tens of thousands of angry
anti-war demonstrators on to the
streets in cities across the world.
Osama and al-Qaeda are not
the causes of the conflicts in the
Middle East. They were born from
the region’s wars and terror. They
are pustules of an inflamed region
stretching from Palestine through
Iraq to Afghanistan.
The US should have listened
when former British prime minister
Tony Blair told Congress in July 2003
– four months after the US-British
invasion of Iraq – that “terrorism will
not be defeated without peace in
the Middle East between Israel and
Palestine. Here it is that the poison
is incubated.”
That poison has been extremely
deadly, and attacked a large area of
the planet. Since the Israeli war of
independence that began in 1947
until the present, more than 63,000
people have been killed in Israeli-
Arab conflicts – 40,000 Arabs and
22,000 Israelis.
The invasion and occupation of
Iraq by US-led forces was largely
aimed at removing the perceived
threat to Israel’s security posed by
Saddam Hussein’s belligerence.
An estimated 1.4 million people
have been killed in the wars launched
by the US in Iraq and Afghanistan so
far, including nearly 5,000 American
and 800 allied troops. ministrations who saw Israel’s role Obama’s message of change and
Besides the cost in human lives, as the American “policeman” in the hope, his youth and his eloquence
American tax payers had wasted Middle East to keep troublesome are resonating with people across
US$3 trillion (RM10.8 trillion) to sup- Arab regimes in line, the pro-Israel the world.
port the wars in the Middle East and advisers with Obama would be more The time is right for a leader of
Afghanistan since 2003. inclined to pursue the ultimate goal change as great events are unfold-
For Israel, in 2007 alone, the US – Arab recognition of Israel’s right of ing across the world, with the crash
gave US$2.5 billion (RM9 billion). The existence within secured borders. of the US financial system roiling
same year, the Palestinians received Obama’s officials, like Emanuel, the global economy; with the wars
US$109 million are Israeli patriots. in the Middle East and Afghanistan
(RM392.9 million) The time is right That is why they destabilising global politics by set-
from the US. retain Israeli citi- ting the Islamic world against the
W h e t h e r for a leader of zenship. Israel’s Christian West. Greatness awaits
Americans like change as great events long-term survival Obama if he succeeds in leading
it or not, each are unfolding across as a viable nation and shaping the events to change
and every one of the world ... Greatness at peace with its the world. That change should begin
them is directly neighbours would with dropping the Bush era’s policy
connected to the
awaits Obama if he be uppermost of unilateralism and embracing
Israeli-Palestinian succeeds in leading on their minds multilateralism in resolving global
conflict. And all and shaping the events rather than using problems.
of them are im- to change the world. the Jewish state The reality of global collaboration
perilled by Israel’s That change should solely to serve has been acknowledged by Obama’s
ruthless aggres- the hegemonic incoming Secretary of State, Hillary
sion. It is time for begin with dropping interests of the US Clinton, who said “America cannot
the US to listen the Bush era’s policy government and solve the most pressing problems
harder to voices of unilateralism to fight America’s on our own but the world cannot
like Blair’s that and embracing wars in the Mid- solve them without America”. If that
the achievement dle East. is the new principle of the Obama
of stability, peace
multilateralism ... In Obama’s administration’s foreign policy, then
and security of presidency, the he must begin the search for peace
the Middle East must begin with US has a golden opportunity to in the Middle East by working with
resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian start anew in the quest for peace in all the stakeholders – which include
conflict. the Middle East and to change the Iran and Syria besides Russia and
Although Obama is surrounded global political map. the European Union. That would
by staunch Israel supporters, Few American presidents have be the change that the Middle East
paradoxically he may be better entered the White House enjoying needs to bring an end to the suffer-
positioned to resolve this protracted as much goodwill and hope from ing its people have endured.
political tragedy once and for all. the international community as But is Obama the change that
Unlike officials in previous ad- Obama has. the world seeks?