“Special envoys, special advisers … what’s next?”

“Special envoys, special advisers … what’s next?”

By Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy



PRIME Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob must be so inept that he needs three special advisers to assist him in administrating the country.

The three special advisers will be paid a total RM150,000, each getting paid RM50,000 per month.

I have no complaints if the funds are coming from the pockets of Ismail Sabri himself, but unfortunately from the funds are Government funds contributed by taxpayers.

Having four special envoys were bad enough, and now we have three special advisers.

The power of patronage is such that creation of special positions seems to be an indelible part and parcel of the present system based on “I scratch your back, you scratch mine”.

The four special envoys created earlier with ministerial salaries and perks will cost a hefty sum for the Government, again drawn from Government funds contributed by taxpayers.

Apparently, the three special advisers advise the prime minister on matters of law, human rights and religion.

An additional special adviser is in the process of being appointed with further imposition of financial burden.

I am not sure why Ismail Sabri – the originator of the “Keluarga Malaysia concept” – would want three advisers.

Why are these appointments so crucial that Ismail Sabri had to give priority to them?

What is so special about these advisers, and what are their special expertise?

Surely, given the bloated cabinet, Ismail Sabri can get the advice and input from his ministers if not from heads of the various departments in the country’s civil service.

Appointing special envoys and advisers don’t seem to go with Ismail Sabri’s idea of Malaysia as one family.

Surely for the Malaysian family to survive and prosper, financial burden must be lessened.

But the appointment of these special advisers without superior credentials will be burden to the taxpayers.

Upon being appointed as the Prime Minister, Ismail wanted to start his tenure with a “big bang”.

Somebody must have advised him to use the family concept which is hardly appropriate to heal the deep-seated divisions created by none other than his own party, UMNO, and its allies.

Certainly, the appointment of special envoys and advisers had nothing to do with the idea of Malaysia as one family – far from it.

Draining the coffers of the hard-earned taxpayers’ money has nothing to do with promoting the family concept.

On the contrary, it drains the family of its hard-earned resources.

Suffice to say, Ismail Sabri is a typical UMNO politician who believes in the patronage game.

Such appointments are not meant to get valuable advice, but reward those who are loyal to him.

What the country needs is a total revamp, not the process of muddling through with the appointment of the special advisers.

Perhaps what Ismail Sabri wants is to elaborate why he is appointing them and in what ways that they will contribute to the nation.

There is no need to arrive at a situation where Ismail Sabri will have to hire another batch of special advisers to advise the already appointed ones.

I am not sure whether Ismail Sabri is the lame duck prime minister or not but he certainly looks like one, seeing as to how he seems incompetent to manage the country’s affairs.

I am not sure how the advisers are going to save his administration from sinking into the quagmire of inefficiency and mismanagement. – Dec 3, 2021



Ramasamy Palanisamy is the state assemblyperson for Perai. He is also deputy chief minister II of Penang.