Something is rotten in the state of Putrajaya

Something is rotten in the state of Putrajaya

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark, says a palace guard in William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. Pardon me but I have to borrow this phrase uttered by an officer of the palace guard after the ghost of a dead king appears, walking through the palace walls.

Since then, many judges and lawyers have used this phrase to describe corruption or a situation in which something is wrong.

Obviously, recent actions by Putrajaya brought this phrase back to my mind. One of them was the shocking disclosure in Parliament that RM30 million was spent on refurbishing the prime minister’s Seri Perdana Complex.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the renovations started when Muhyiddin Yassin was the prime minister, and were necessary to ensure safety as well as to preserve the country’s image during visits by foreign dignitaries.

Part of the money was also spent on replacing old and dilapidated furniture to “fit the status of the official residence of the Malaysian prime minister”. Ismail further said the renovation is going on as scheduled, and the progress was at 60% as at Aug 30.

The renovations were approved last year, at the height of the Covid-19 crisis, when many ordinary Malaysians were going through a tough time with hundreds of thousands of people having lost their jobs, not forgetting the thousands who lost their homes with no place to stay.

I am not saying the money could have been spent on them, but did not government leaders for one moment consider the sensitivity of spending so much on the comfort of one man and his family while the frontliners and the poor are struggling out there?

Office renovations

In another reply in Parliament last week, MPs were told that more than RM1 million was spent on renovating the offices of two ministers and two deputy ministers, including changing their furniture.

This works out to RM500,000 each and to do this during this difficult time of the Covid-19 pandemic when millions are wondering where their next meal is coming from is totally unacceptable. Never mind it was done within the stipulated regulations, that is not the issue.

Nothing, I repeat, nothing can justify these actions and no Malaysian other than some politicians will, accept this as a norm. Muhyiddin’s poor “Mak Cik Kiah” who is selling kueh on the roadside is not going to understand this. I guess no one is interested in knowing how comfortable a minister’s sofa set is or the chair that he sits on.

Another special adviser

In another strange decision involving government expenditure, foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah announced the appointment of a special adviser on Afghanistan affairs. What? Another special adviser? Social media went berserk asking this question.

This appointment makes little sense really. I am sure we have a team of senior officials handling affairs of selected countries in Wisma Putra who obviously liaise with our missions in those countries.

We already have three special but unnecessary envoys – Abdul Hadi Awang to the Middle East, Tiong King Sing to China, and Richard Riot as special envoy to East Asia, all with the full status and perks as ministers.

The monthly cost of each appointment can easily add up to about RM50,000 including salaries, assistants, cars and claims. Aren’t these appointments an overlap with Malaysia already spending millions on foreign missions? Isn’t this what our high commissions and embassies should be doing?

State-level manoeuvre

With these unnecessary appointments at a time when every cent saved could go towards feeding starving children and senior citizens, National Recovery Council chairman Muhyiddin Yassin came up with a ludicrous suggestion.

Again one which will incur much expenditure and will also overlap the duties of many existing departments in the state and districts.

He has proposed that the government establish state recovery councils to enable a bottom-up approach to the country’s economic recovery, saying these bodies could ensure strategies and initiatives put in place are monitored at the district level.

Doesn’t he realise this will entail additional expenditure running into millions because you have to pay allowances, employ officers and operate an office?

But the point many are making is why do we need such a council at those levels when you have state and district health departments besides many other related agencies that can be synergised to tackle the pandemic. Actually, many are already doing it.

Don’t forget we also have the state executive councillors, among whom is the chairman of the health committee. Many, I am told, are underworked at the moment. They can easily handle the recovery process, it’s their duty too.

One wonders if the suggestion of state recovery councils is tied to a political motive which will allow the national recovery council chief to appoint supporters as a political reward to build their base before the next general election. The way appointments are being made these days, I will not put it past them.