Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Assuming Responsibility
I recall that back in 2001, Hong Kong had a Financial Secretary by the name of Antony Leung. He was a very successful commercial banker and had held senior management positions in international banks such as Citicorp and Chase Manhattan. He was reportedly earning over HKD20 million a year in the banking industry when he left to take up the post of Financial Secretary of Hong Kong for a salary of about HKD2.5 million a year.
In 2003, Leung was accused of buying a luxury car just weeks ahead of a government announcement of an increase in taxes for new cars in the budget. The tax that Leung saved for the car purchase was a mere HKD50,000 which is basically spare change for a man of his financial standing. But the result? He resigned due to this controversy and other matters happening under his ministry. Moreover, the public was also looking for an accountable government and Leung’s integrity came into question with the car purchase.
Personally, I couldn't understand what was the big fuss all about over a mere HKD50,000 probably because in the land where I come from, scandals are measured in terms of millions of dollars. Obviously, Hongkies have very different standards than me and from this episode, I learned just how high they set the bar when it comes to having a clean and accountable government.
Contrast this with our government ministers and other senior civil servants. How often do you see our civil servants resigning to take responsibility for their decisions, mistakes or miscalculations?
Take for example our Works Ministry. We have had fungus-ridden hospitals, cracked highways, mudslides and a host of other infrastructure scandals but Malaysians can dream on that their Works Minister is going to assume responsibility for such problems. Even worse are incidents that cost lives. Not too long ago we have a bus accident that resulted in 20 deaths and the driver was found out to be a serial traffic offender. Obviously, there were loopholes in some critical areas but no way can you expect our minister(s) to resign for their failure to ensure a safe public transportation system. It would certainly seem as though our ministers can move from one scandal to another without the need to pay the price for their follies.
In short, I feel that our ministers have no sense of responsibility, honor and even shame compared to their many foreign counterparts. This is partly due to our tame local press which probably makes it their policy not to step on certain people’s toes. When negligence, corruption, abuses or scandals go unreported or played down, it becomes incredibly easy for our senior civil servants to pretend nothing has ever happened and therefore, to remain in their posts. For this reason, what the nation needs is a freer press that can report without fear or favor and not a muzzled press which would only harm the nation in the long run.
From what I see here, Hong Kong have a very unforgiving press and any mistake by the authorities will have them crying for blood. Government policies are criticized and debated in the public arena. As a result, civil servants are on their toes all the time and they are mindful of their integrity and job performance. If our local newspapers could just emulate this positive aspect of a free press back home, we would certainly have more accountable and responsible senior civil servants than the present crop who are currently dominating our political landscape.
In 2003, Leung was accused of buying a luxury car just weeks ahead of a government announcement of an increase in taxes for new cars in the budget. The tax that Leung saved for the car purchase was a mere HKD50,000 which is basically spare change for a man of his financial standing. But the result? He resigned due to this controversy and other matters happening under his ministry. Moreover, the public was also looking for an accountable government and Leung’s integrity came into question with the car purchase.
Personally, I couldn't understand what was the big fuss all about over a mere HKD50,000 probably because in the land where I come from, scandals are measured in terms of millions of dollars. Obviously, Hongkies have very different standards than me and from this episode, I learned just how high they set the bar when it comes to having a clean and accountable government.
Contrast this with our government ministers and other senior civil servants. How often do you see our civil servants resigning to take responsibility for their decisions, mistakes or miscalculations?
Take for example our Works Ministry. We have had fungus-ridden hospitals, cracked highways, mudslides and a host of other infrastructure scandals but Malaysians can dream on that their Works Minister is going to assume responsibility for such problems. Even worse are incidents that cost lives. Not too long ago we have a bus accident that resulted in 20 deaths and the driver was found out to be a serial traffic offender. Obviously, there were loopholes in some critical areas but no way can you expect our minister(s) to resign for their failure to ensure a safe public transportation system. It would certainly seem as though our ministers can move from one scandal to another without the need to pay the price for their follies.
In short, I feel that our ministers have no sense of responsibility, honor and even shame compared to their many foreign counterparts. This is partly due to our tame local press which probably makes it their policy not to step on certain people’s toes. When negligence, corruption, abuses or scandals go unreported or played down, it becomes incredibly easy for our senior civil servants to pretend nothing has ever happened and therefore, to remain in their posts. For this reason, what the nation needs is a freer press that can report without fear or favor and not a muzzled press which would only harm the nation in the long run.
From what I see here, Hong Kong have a very unforgiving press and any mistake by the authorities will have them crying for blood. Government policies are criticized and debated in the public arena. As a result, civil servants are on their toes all the time and they are mindful of their integrity and job performance. If our local newspapers could just emulate this positive aspect of a free press back home, we would certainly have more accountable and responsible senior civil servants than the present crop who are currently dominating our political landscape.
Labels: Government
# posted by Malaysian Abroad @ 9/26/2007 
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