A look at the new cabinet...

after restoration works done.

If reducing the number of ministers from 32 to 29, and the number of ministries from 27 to 25, is considered ‘lean and mean’, I wonder how other countries cope with only 13 or 15 ministries for a much larger population.

Without a doubt, it has to do with a big coalition of 14 parties, which averages only 2 per party but of course, the lion share goes to the one, which calls the shots. Political expediency saw four ministers from Sabah. For MCA, the writings are on the wall.

Deputy PM Muhyiddin never dreamt of achieving such a high position in life. But he was vocal in expressing his impatience with Pak Lah hanging on to his job!

I think I can safely say that to some of the general public, there is no love lost between them and those dropped, like Syed Hamid, Zulhasnan, Azalina, Muhammad2 Taib, and Ong Ka Chuan.

Syed Hamid had been the ‘rule by law’ Home Minister (just wondering if it was pre-planned to make Najib look nice); Zulhasnan (nicknamed ‘Sultan of KL’ by Raja Petra) under whose ministry saw a rampage by DBKL enforcers on shop owners and operators, widely perceived as punishment for voting opposition (10 out of 11 MPs); Azalina for sidelining Pakatan-controlled states in her Tourism Ministry; Muhammad2 Taib for suddenly able to speak good English after claiming he couldn’t understand notices in English; and Ong Ka Chuan, for pre-planning his succession in MCA, as though it was a family party.

Mohd Zin lost his Works Ministry post probably because he opened up too much of the sacred tolls agreements and even promised to look into buying up Plus, the concessionaire for North-South Expressway.

Amirsham should have stayed on as boss of Maybank, if at all possible, instead of facing up to public scrutiny and criticisms as a Minister. Shahrir, as usual, did the unusual and honourable thing, by firing the boss before being fired.

In the case of new ministers, someone asked in one of the blogs, ‘who the hell is Raja Nong Chik?’ If not mistaken, he could be the one whose initials are RNC, a listed company.

Gerakan President, Koh Tsu Koon is “humbled and honoured” to be included in Prime Minister Najib’s team. A number of the appointees were ‘humbled and honoured’ to be appointed too. He was appointed as a Senator yesterday to enable him to become a minister. He would oversee the government’s important objective to introduce Key Performance Indicators. (Must have had excellent experience in his party, I guess)

According to Khoo Kay Peng:
'The inclusion of Gerakan President Koh Tsu Koon as a minister in the PM's department taking charge of unity is interesting. By accepting the appointment, Koh has gone back on his words not to accept a senatorship and a ministerial position if he was defeated at the Batu Kawan parliamentary contest.' (But then again, these days, forgetfulness is quite common.)

‘Umno Youth is a full time job’, says Khairy, who is not appointed. Just wonder what Hishamuddin had been doing before. But this was what he said, “Being a new movement chief is not easy and we have said we want to transform Umno; that’s a full time job.”

Hishamuddin: “Even if I wasn’t Najib’s cousin, I am still the son of a former prime minister and the grandson of the founder of Umno.” He added, “Everybody knows I am my own man…” (ie. make no mistake, despite the connections, you see)

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said, “I was Najib’s deputy for 3 ½ years. So, I knew every nook and cranny of the ministry" (Defence). (What's up? I thought it was good practice to transfer people out in case they got too cosy with the arrangements, and not the other way)
Link