Questions & Suspicions

In presenting proposals and suggestions, we Councillors are often given evasive or differing answers by the public servants. Wait a minute... if they are the 'servants,' who is the boss? Actually, you and I know that the customer is king. And the residents of our district are our customers. As such, the actual bosses are the residents, rightly so because they pay the bills and taxes that the government and council uses to carry out their responsibilities.

Reality check: many council employees carry out their duties err... faithfully? sincerely? yes, robotically! They come to work, do what is necessary and go home; no more, no less. You can identify them by their plastic smiles (probably superglue). Of course, there are some diligent ones (usually those freshies who have not yet been influenced by the exisiting 'culture'). And some are downright lazy and lackadiasical (since the system is such that nobody gets the sack and everybody gets the bonus and increment, so why exert oneself?). Finally, a small number have risen to the level of little emperors with their kingdom that no one can touch!

This small group is the decision-makers. Councillors must live in fear of them. The Councillor is expected to be nice to them to get things going. 'Tolong' is a common key. And it is not the simple manners of saying 'please.' Must place them on a pedestal, give them high praises, pat their backs, and accept their decisions (spoken and implied).

These highly sensitive people are never questioned about their 'personal' time (especially during office hours) or whereabouts (one was accidentally discovered taking a nap while another was 'found' in his farm). I can imagine one 'entertaining' another government servant on the green or in a club. Ruffle their feathers and you die!

And so questions and suspicions quietly arise at the back of our minds: why only a few contractors get the tenders, why buy only from one supplier, why this, why that? Cronies? Kickbacks?

Even though our Councillors are generally united in our proposals, many fail to realize that as a Council, it is our individual and collective duty to direct the officers and employees to carry out our decisions. It is our right to question decisions and seek the truth. Instead, we are led by our nose on many occasions, simply because no one wants to be the 'bad' guy in putting his/her foot down. Some live in fear, telling me that it is better to have a devil you know than a replacement devil nobody knows.

The first Council meeting was held to brief all Councillors and for us to take our oath of office. The second meeting saw many questions being asked (we had lunch after 3.00pm!), simply because all of us were new and needed to know how things move, and at the third meeting, we had to sit through the briefing again because a new YDP had been appointed and need to be sworn in. There simply wasn't enough time to really sort out the questions and suspicions!

Who holds the Dough (Part 2)?

"Money, money, money, it's a rich man's world." With Mama Mia coming to theatre and stage, Abba's songs are the vogue again. So, for the poor, poor man (with the forthcoming recession, that means almost everyone, you and me inclusive!), many sacrifices will have to be made. But at the Council level, some are simply basic rights that every citizen (tax-payer or not) is entitled to. A clean environment (i.e. no clogged drains and rubbish being cleared on time), a healthy life (i.e. no dengue or chiku mosquitoes around... make that no mosquitoes around!), the opportunity to earn a decent living (with the proper licenses of course), schools to send children to and playgrounds clean enough to play in...

Who cares a hoot about politics??

With state and federal governments being run by different political parties, each blaming the other for the lack of progress, it is the man on the street who suffers. It could also be the man in government service who benefits - the federal government giving a month's bonus and the state (in Perak at least) topping that with a month + 20%!

But when it comes to money for development... "ask the other lah!" One sometimes wonders how the system works. The federal government (where our taxes go) would channel funds through their political parties or loyal departments so that recipients will be duly "appreciative" and vote them again. Not sure how much of it really reaches the bottom level. The state government, having a much, much smaller chest (of funds, that is), would use land and natural resources to create value for the people. Unfortunately, all these are irrelevant to the poor man seeking his next meal (no intention of being sexist, but this applies to the poor woman also). And sometimes, the left arm is unaware of the right arm.

Take the federal initiative to eradicate hardcore poor in towns started a few years back. Channeled through the local government (i.e. councils like mine), this project is a surprise to the Welfare Dept as their officers, who are the ones closest to the needy, are not aware. And not many councils are keen to take this up even though the raising of living standards in its community is a key purpose of any council!

Fight for power, fight for funds, fight for benefits, fight for contracts, fight for datukship, fight for personal gain, but who is fighting for the rights of the common man without money??