If you could fix only one thing about India, what would it be?” I asked, Suraj bhaiya, my driver. “Only one thing?” he responded. After a long pause he answered, “Corruption. I would ensure that all corrupt officials are fired.”
At the time my arrogance dismissed his insightful comment. I couldn’t discern why corruption seemed liked an urgent cause. For that matter why do most Indians care about corruption and not more fundamental issues such as education, employment and infrastructure? The answer was simple….
Ironically, a liberalized economy is helping India grow but the massive flow of money in to the Indian economy is also taking India back to the age of the License Raj. In the past decade and a half, foreign businesses have inundated the Indian market. With the coming of these businesses and growth of local ones, there have been increased opportunities for government officials to make money and corruption has become one of our biggest problems.
A few days ago, I was speaking to a dear friend of mine who decided to return to India after graduating from Harvard Business School. Despite having worked in India prior to business school, he was facing issues in re-adjusting to the work environment. When I asked him, what his biggest hurdle was in the Indian work culture he said “the frustrations of working with the government.”
“In India the strict regulation requires frequent interactions with government officials. When you interact with them, you see how corrupt the institutional setup really is because if you follow the ‘general public route’ even the simplest of procedures take incredibly long time. Unless you make a phone call to a connection nothing gets done,” he commented.
Even senior level management recognizes the importance maintaining connections. When I spoke with a senior officer of an India-based multinational firm, he too agreed that connections were important. “Unlike the United States or Europe, where business functioning is transparent, in India the system is opaque. Within a few months of working in India, I knew that I needed to make connections with the government circle to get work done,” he echoed the general sentiment.
Now that we know the issue, what is the solution?
Harsher penalty.
In the CWG scam, there were a number of people who were caught in addition to Kalmadi. One of the government officials was a personal acquaintance. Even though he was serving public office for the CWG games, he is yet to face any consequences. Like most other people involved in the scandal, he is waiting for the media hype to fizzle out.
We are good at naming and shaming people but rarely do we actually follow through to see how these officials are penalized. In most cases, government officials only lose their position and not much more. Such minimal consequences will not deter officials from corruption. We need harsher penalties.
For example, in the United States, the Rajat Gupta’s recent allegations about insider trading have already caused him to step down from his board position at Johnson & Johnson. If Mr. Gupta is guilty of these charges he could permanently lose his credibility in the business world.
Similarly, if we could ban political office holders and government bureaucrats from serving people in any capacity (i.e. essentially leaving them unemployed for the rest of their lives), we could potentially curb corruption. In Bihar, Nitish Kumar is already doing some exceptional work on this front by harshly penalizing his own party members. We should take a page from his book.
For India to continue growing in the twentieth century, we need to adopt measures that will help us fight the issues faced in the 1970s.
Back to the dinner!!! There I might this mostdelightful fellow who was present at the UMNOconvention that just ended and I must admit darlings that on T.V. it seems like a rather dull convention, with all the hurly burly about "Malay Culture and Malay Supremacy" that makes one wants to shout out and ask, "HELLO!!! There's other races in Malaysia or are we to be gradually assimilated by you guys like how the Borgs assimilate other life forms in the Star Trek series??" OOohh!! Yes I do indulge in the occasional Star Trek series but am not really a Trekkie fan....yet...!!!!
So, back to this charming git that I met last night, well, this fellow was filling me on some of the juicy details that's been going on around the convention floor that made me so tempted to apply for an observer pass for the next convention as it all sounded soo interesting!!
Among the topics we spoke of last night, Najib and our lame duck Prime Minister!!! Of course Khairy'sname definitely crop up as it was linked to our Lame Duck Prime Minister, but we shall talk about Najibtoday as he seems to be a far more interesting topic, what with the Baginda case still on going. Most of the delegates around the convention was basically talking about the Abdul Razak Baginda scandal and of course Najib's friendship with Abdul Razak and it brought back stories of his alleged "caught in the act of adultery" with Zaina Zain in Port Dickson, which is actually a smokescreen!! Najib had indeed been caught with that actress, but not in Port Dickson but in a hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Najib’s special Branch officers had inserted the story of it being in Port Dickson in order to lay the ground for his alibi and it has now been conveniently covered up and the blame place on his underlings in the Army!!
Anyway, so many of us seems to think that he's the best option we have as Prime Minister!! Well, compared to the lame duck we are having, anyone would be far better!! However, we must bear in mind, he could also be a "wolf in sheep clothing" !!
With all the hoo haa of Hishamuddin and his Kris Kissing act in the Assembly, I was enlightened by that wonderful fellow of an act that Najib committed, that many of us here has forgotten, of which our Deputy Prime Minister did when he was then the Head of UMNO youth and that was when he, in 1987, as UMNO Youth Chief, Najib vociferously defended special Malay privileges in a fiery speech featuring the Malay Keris (dagger) and vowed to bathe the Keris with Chinese blood, shortly before the government launched a crackdown on extremist elements termed "Operation Lalang." At the same rally, banners were hoisted carrying phrases such as "revoke the citizenship of those who opposed the Malay rulers", "May 13 has begun" (referring to the May 13 Riots in 1969), and "soak it (the keris) with Chinese blood".
Soooo....this is our next Prime Minister?? I think I need to really speed up my application for my PR status to Luxembourg really soon!!
So darling...plying myself with endless glasses of champagne to boost my nearly failing view of our country after hearing such pathetic details of our Deputy Prime Minister, I woke up with a nasty hangover and a horrid ringing of the alarm clock and thus...my mood is blue!! Not only because its a Monday but we have another extremist as our Deputy Prime Minister!!!
So, back to this charming git that I met last night, well, this fellow was filling me on some of the juicy details that's been going on around the convention floor that made me so tempted to apply for an observer pass for the next convention as it all sounded soo interesting!!
Among the topics we spoke of last night, Najib and our lame duck Prime Minister!!! Of course Khairy'sname definitely crop up as it was linked to our Lame Duck Prime Minister, but we shall talk about Najibtoday as he seems to be a far more interesting topic, what with the Baginda case still on going. Most of the delegates around the convention was basically talking about the Abdul Razak Baginda scandal and of course Najib's friendship with Abdul Razak and it brought back stories of his alleged "caught in the act of adultery" with Zaina Zain in Port Dickson, which is actually a smokescreen!! Najib had indeed been caught with that actress, but not in Port Dickson but in a hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Najib’s special Branch officers had inserted the story of it being in Port Dickson in order to lay the ground for his alibi and it has now been conveniently covered up and the blame place on his underlings in the Army!!
Anyway, so many of us seems to think that he's the best option we have as Prime Minister!! Well, compared to the lame duck we are having, anyone would be far better!! However, we must bear in mind, he could also be a "wolf in sheep clothing" !!
With all the hoo haa of Hishamuddin and his Kris Kissing act in the Assembly, I was enlightened by that wonderful fellow of an act that Najib committed, that many of us here has forgotten, of which our Deputy Prime Minister did when he was then the Head of UMNO youth and that was when he, in 1987, as UMNO Youth Chief, Najib vociferously defended special Malay privileges in a fiery speech featuring the Malay Keris (dagger) and vowed to bathe the Keris with Chinese blood, shortly before the government launched a crackdown on extremist elements termed "Operation Lalang." At the same rally, banners were hoisted carrying phrases such as "revoke the citizenship of those who opposed the Malay rulers", "May 13 has begun" (referring to the May 13 Riots in 1969), and "soak it (the keris) with Chinese blood".
Soooo....this is our next Prime Minister?? I think I need to really speed up my application for my PR status to Luxembourg really soon!!
So darling...plying myself with endless glasses of champagne to boost my nearly failing view of our country after hearing such pathetic details of our Deputy Prime Minister, I woke up with a nasty hangover and a horrid ringing of the alarm clock and thus...my mood is blue!! Not only because its a Monday but we have another extremist as our Deputy Prime Minister!!!
The controversy over the 'Interlok' rose several notches today when the eight-member independent panel to review and amend the novel saw all its ethnic Indian members pull out this afternoon.
Following a meeting held at Parliament building with Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today, all three ethnic Indian panellists declared they were withdrawing from the government-created body.
According to writer Uthaya Shankar SB, the decision was taken after it became apparent that the other members of the panel had changed their minds and rejected one-by-one the 100 modifications that had been recommended to render the book appropriate for consumption by Form 5 students.
“We feel we were betrayed,” said Uthaya Shankar.
He claims that earlier, all eight panellists had reached a consensus over the matter.
Following a meeting held at Parliament building with Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today, all three ethnic Indian panellists declared they were withdrawing from the government-created body.
According to writer Uthaya Shankar SB, the decision was taken after it became apparent that the other members of the panel had changed their minds and rejected one-by-one the 100 modifications that had been recommended to render the book appropriate for consumption by Form 5 students.
“We feel we were betrayed,” said Uthaya Shankar.
He claims that earlier, all eight panellists had reached a consensus over the matter.
ASK ZIANA ZAIN hey, susan. i got a nice song for u la. ziana zain singing “i will ... “caught in the act of adultery” with Zaina Zain in Port Dickson, ...
THE MALAYSIAN CRONICLE: Can ISA swear that NAJIB WAS NOT COUGHT ...
4 Oct 2009... making it best prostition centre politicly and sexualy can ISA swear that NAJIB WAS NOT COUGHT WET with his underwear down! ...
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak described as baseless and irrelevant allegations of jitters in the stock market caused by the appointment of Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad as the chairman of FELDA.
"It has no bearing on the share price movements," he said in a written reply to Lim Lip Eng (DAP-Segambut) in the Dewan Rakyat.
Lim had asked the prime minister to state the rationale for appointing Mohd Isa as chairman of FELDA when his credibility had been allegedly affected after he was found to be involved in money politics by Umno and whether the good name of FELDA would be affected and it would cause jitters in the market.
Najib said the appointment of Mohd Isa as the FELDA chairman was based on his wide experience in administration, management, leadership and good relationship with the people.
"His experience in administration, politics and community development meets the criteria for appointment as the FELDA chairman, a post where he is directly involved in matters pertaining to the development of FELDA and its settlers.
"At the moment, none of the FELDA subsidiaries are listed on the stock market," he said.
Nevertheless, he said, FELDA's business partners in the country and overseas, such as in Pakistan, India, Singapore, Egypt, France, China, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, South Africa and countries of the Middle East, continue to support Felda's business activities.
"The demand for FELDA's primary commodity, i.e. palm oil, is strong and competitive in the international market," he said.
-- BERNAMA
"It has no bearing on the share price movements," he said in a written reply to Lim Lip Eng (DAP-Segambut) in the Dewan Rakyat.
Lim had asked the prime minister to state the rationale for appointing Mohd Isa as chairman of FELDA when his credibility had been allegedly affected after he was found to be involved in money politics by Umno and whether the good name of FELDA would be affected and it would cause jitters in the market.
Najib said the appointment of Mohd Isa as the FELDA chairman was based on his wide experience in administration, management, leadership and good relationship with the people.
"His experience in administration, politics and community development meets the criteria for appointment as the FELDA chairman, a post where he is directly involved in matters pertaining to the development of FELDA and its settlers.
"At the moment, none of the FELDA subsidiaries are listed on the stock market," he said.
Nevertheless, he said, FELDA's business partners in the country and overseas, such as in Pakistan, India, Singapore, Egypt, France, China, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, South Africa and countries of the Middle East, continue to support Felda's business activities.
"The demand for FELDA's primary commodity, i.e. palm oil, is strong and competitive in the international market," he said.
-- BERNAMA
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