22
speak up!
letter
letters@thesundaily.com
It’s time to
think out
of the box
BANKS should be socially respon-
sible and help their customers ride
out hard times.
Most families are burdened
with housing loans, car loans,
credit card payments, and in some
cases, personal loans. Household-
ers have to take care of their chil-
dren, parents, pay for food bills,
utilities, school fees, tuition, etc.
In good times, a normal family
would be able to meet its commit-
ments but in tough times many
are overwhelmed. In times like
this, many families will have to
decide what is more important:
to feed and clothe their family, or
pay their loans.
No one wants to default on
loan payments, be taken to court,
declared a judgment debtor or a
bankrupt.
Instead of thinking of ways to
help the customer get through
this rough patch, financial institu-
tions stick to the standard dogma:
“You are in arrears of this amount,
we will have to foreclose/repos-
sess your property. If you want
it back then you have to pay us
the arrears plus interest plus
administrative cost plus x months
in advance.” How does this help a
customer who is trying his or her
best to make ends meet, where
are they going to get this money?
Rob a bank? Steal from their
neighbours? Borrow from loan
sharks? This will lead to increased
crime, suicides, etc.
Even if the bank repossesses
or forecloses on the property, the
customer’s nightmare is still not
over, as the bank will still charge
him interest on the arrears. If the
customer cannot pay the arrears,
he will be taken to court, declared
a defaulter and ultimately, a bank-
rupt. As a bankrupt, he will have
difficulty finding a job, or have any
savings or assets.
Have the banks considered
the cost of losing the customer
because of this action versus
the cost of helping the customer
through a rough patch and ce-
menting the customer’s loyalty to
open up more channels for cross
marketing.
Bank CEOs and credit heads
must think out of the box.
R. Lee
Via email
Stop waffling and give us
some answers!
WHEN I was a small
child there was a day
that I missed school,
having overslept due to
staying up late to watch
How The West Was
Won. When my Dad
returned from work, he
asked me how come
I overslept to which I
waffled a bluff, saying
that I had a headache. Down2Earth
Dad was his unusually by Terence Fernandez For instance, a
cool self and said: “If
you want to lie, do so
convincingly.”
Certain characters in public
service would do well to heed
Dad’s advice. Take for instance
the officials at the Tourism
Ministry who are trying to babble
their way out of a corner having
approved 20 staff in the minister’s
office – when government
regulations allow only eight.
Its secretary-general, Datuk
Dr Ong Hong Peng, instead of
addressing the excess baggage
report front-paged in theSun on
Oct 13, chose to deny the story in
the New Straits Times yesterday.
He insisted that there are only
eight staff in the minister’s office
and that the “excess baggage”
were in fact staff “employed”
by a subsidiary company
– Pempena Sdn Bhd – and its
affiliates Malaysian Travel
Business Sdn Bhd and SD Corp
Communications Sdn Bhd.
If Ong is trying to pull wool
over the taxpayers’ eyes, he fails
miserably. The minister’s office
staff list bores holes in Ong’s
argument that there are only
eight staff. Documents in our
possession state that there are 23
positions, three of which are still
vacant. The letter from the deputy
secretary-general (management),
Datuk Ab Ghaffar Tambi, dated
April 23, a copy of which was sent
to Ong, makes a mockery of his
claims. The heading in the letter
reads: “Senarai Pegawai dan
Kakitangan sokongan perjawatan
kontrak di pejabat Menteri”.
Need anything more be said?
Yes, the list has all the names,
designations and
salaries.
He has also
not addressed the
question of how
these individuals
who had applied
for specific jobs
in the minister’s
office ended up as
general managers
and directors.
former journalist
applied for the post
of “pegawai penyelidik” with
an expected salary of RM8,000.
His name even appears in the
list of officers in the minister’s
office as “pegawai penyelidik”.
Instead, he has been appointed
general manager of the Shopping
Malaysia Secretariat (SSM) with a
salary of RM10,700.
Another applied for the
post of “pegawai khas” with
an expected salary of RM6,000
but instead draws RM10,000
as executive director of SD
Corp Communications and a
board member of Malaysia My
Destination.
A third applied for a job
as “pegawai politik” in the
company. He is listed as one
of the five “pegawai politik” in
the minister’s office. Pempena
is not a political party nor does
it have any political affiliations.
Therefore, why does it need
a political officer? Shamsuri’s
official post is “senior executive,
government liaison”, SSM. Do
the salaries commensurate with
their qualifications, skills and
experience or
was it upon
Ong’s discretion?
Ong should
tell us if these
posts were
advertised
and if proper
interviews had
been carried
out. Documents
suggest that
they were given
application
forms to fill for jobs at Pempena
Sdn Bhd. How did they end up
elsewhere? Perhaps, Ong should
also explain why new staff had
to be employed as there were
already officers in Tourism
Malaysia who were assigned for
specific tasks like promoting the
Shopping Carnival?
If this is the case, many would
want to join the long queue of
job applicants hopeful of getting
employed by the Tourism
Ministry – they are the only
employers I know who give you
more than you ask for!
Who knows, if one with just
an SPM applies to do research
– by reading newspapers and
making the relevant cuttings – he
would be offered the position of
general manager in one of the
government-linked companies
(GLCs)!
Jokes aside, Ong cannot
hide behind the fact that these
theSun | FRIDAY OCTOBER 24 2008
individuals are being employed
by companies affiliated to the
ministry – meaning that these
companies are run on taxpayers’
money!
Government subsidiaries must
never be used
as retirement
homes for
loyalists and
get-rich-
quick schemes
for those who
have proven
their devotion to
their bosses and
politicians.
Both the prime
minister and
his deputy have
on more than
one occasion
expressed the
need for GLCs
to practise good
governance. It
appears that
Ong’s sanctioning
of selective
employment and
over-payment
by not observing
the norms is a
defiance of such
advice.
Instead of denying theSun’s
report, Ong has a lot of explaining
to do and as a senior civil servant
it is incumbent on him to do
house cleaning at his ministry – to
ensure that all appointments are
above board and public money is
not being used indiscriminately.
It seems that the minister’s office
is an employment hub for certain
individuals to leap frog to more
lucrative positions in the ministry.
He should also take heed of
his boss, Chief Secretary to the
Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek
Hassan’s advice to civil servants
who lack the backbone to stand
up to politicians when the latter
are in breach of procedures by
saying: “Datuk this is not right,
you should not be doing this.”
Please, enough of the tai chi
and wayang kulit. Let’s get some
real answers and put to shame
those who abuse the public
trust by cleverly disguised
paperwork to throw us off
track.
Like all law-abiding
taxpayers, Terence demands
answers for the cavalier
manner some of those in office
treat public money. He is
deputy editor special reports
& investigations. Feedback:
terence@thesundaily.com.