Monday May 13, 2013

Change is needed to move forward

COMMENT BY NELSON BENJAMIN

Impressi ve: The iconic Bangunan Sultan Ibrahim will be where Khaled will be sworned in before the Sultan of Johor. Completed in 1942, it used to house the state legislative and the offices of Mentri Besar and Johor civil servants before the state seat moved to Kota Iskandar, Nusajaya in 2009.

PERMAS assemblyman Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin is set to be sworn in as the state’s 14th Mentri Besar tomorrow.

The 55-year-old is expected to be sworn in before the Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar in a ceremony at the Bangunan Sultan Ibrahim in Bukit Timbalan.

The state’s 10 executive council members are also expected to take their oaths together at the same ceremony.

Khaled has already met and taken an oath in front of Tunku Mahkota of Johor Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim on Friday, in keeping with Johor tradition before being sworn in before the Sultan.

Khaled will replace Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman, who had served as Johor Mentri Besar for 18 years since 1995.

Speculation is rife that the new mentri besar is expected to announce a mix of old and new faces in the state line-up.

Most will be new faces as only four incumbent exco members contested and won in GE13.

They are Datuk Maulizan Bujang (Tiram), Asiah Ariff (Johor Lama), M. Asojan (Gambir) and Md Jais Sarday (Mahkota).

Barisan sources said one of Khaled’s major concerns was the two positions usually reserved for MCA.

MCA only won in two seats out of the 16 state seats it had contested in GE13.

New guy: Khaled replaces Abdul Ghani as MB after the incumbent served the state for 18 years.

The seats won are Pulai Sebatang by MCA national organising secretary Datuk Tee Siew Kiong and Paloh by newcomer Teoh Yap Kun.

“If MCA does not take up the posts, then Pemanis candidate Lau Chin Hoon may be asked to step in even though Gerakan has never been in the state line-up,” said a source.

The source pointed out that there were three scenarios including leaving the MCA position vacant, offer the post to a prominent Chinese from Johor who is a non-politician to help bring up the community’s woes at the Government level or just giving the Chinese one position instead of the two in the past.

Talk is also rife that MIC’s R. Vidyananthan, who is a third-term assemblyman, may also be considered for an exco position following his improved majority in the Kahang state seat in GE13.

“The component list for the state exco is usually given by the respective party presidents,” a source said.

Other Umno leaders that could make it as excos include Md Jais Sarday, Asiah Ariff, Adam Sumiru, Abd Mutalib Abd Rahim, Latiff Bandi, Zulkurnain Kamisan and Dr Adham Baba.

Johor used to be a Barisan Nasional fortress, but with the opposition making huge inroads into the state in GE13, the new MB and his team of exco’s will have to change their game-plan and work hard to dispel and counter the opposition attacks.

Although Barisan with 38 assemblymen still governs the state with its traditional two-thirds majority, they are only one seat away from losing that grip.

The new state leadership will need to be vocal as now there will be 18 opposition state assemblymen in the state assembly (13 DAP, 4 PAS and 1 PKR).

This includes the 27-year-old Liow Cai Tung from DAP who is the youngest assemblywoman from Johor Jaya.

“It is going to be noisy at the assembly and people are going to be watching the way Barisan including the Mentri Besar and his exco debate and govern the state,” the sources said.

The old style of politics by Ghani, who rarely had press conferences and shied away from national and state issues hoping that it would “die down” would have to change.

The state leadership should also be proactive and must be quick to counter the allegations or accusations from the opposition instead of taking it as “lame ducks”.

Excos should also be given the mandate and powers to make announcements involving their portfolios.

Johor Indian Business Association president P. Sivakumar said Khaled should listen to the woes of those living in the cities especially with regard to housing.

“It is so expensive to live in Johor Baru these days.

“There is no point in building public housing for the poor in the outskirts where there is no bus or taxi service,” he added.

Sivakumar cited as an example a disab- led woman who was finally given a flat after fighting for many months in Johor Baru but her unit was on the forth four with no lift service.

“How will a disabled woman on a wheel-chair get to the forth floor of her house with no lift services?,” he questioned.

He added that when he called the state housing unit, he was disappointed that the official was not sympathetic to the woman’s plight.

It is time for the state government to crack the whip on such “little Napoleons” in the state government services who give the government a bad name.

Other pressing issues in major towns include helping to solve the bread and butter issues affecting the people including rising cost of living, building more affordable housing, coming out with more programmes to engage youths, safety and crime issues and better public transportation.

Local councils will also need to buck up to ensure better cleanliness, better amenities and proper infrastructure including roads.

Agencies running and developing Iskandar Malaysia will also be under closer scrutiny from now onwards especially with the opposition making inroads in every parliamentary constituency within the growth corridor in Johor Baru, Kulai, Pontian, Tebrau, Pulai and Gelang Patah.

Khaled, who is regarded as a no-nonsense guy with his own style of leadership, will definitely have to formulate clear policies to benefit all Johoreans to ensure Barisan continues to maintain a grip of the state.

Source:

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Monday May 13, 2013

Change is needed to move forward

COMMENT BY NELSON BENJAMIN

Source:

SEARCH ALLMALAYSIA.INFO TRAVEL PACKAGES