Spring is colourful and my garden buzzes with vast activities of its spring friends. One of the most frequent visitors to our garden is the bright and inquisitive little birds-Blue Tits. These incredibly agile birds are rewarding to watch and as they are very adaptable, they are usually the quickest to exploit any new food source, quickly learning to use any new feeder.They are so opportunistic that in some areas Blue Tits even learnt to pierce milk bottle tops for a sneaky sip.
A colourful, noisy, active little bird, bright blue crown, nape collar, wings and tail and yellow underside. The white cheeks are bordered by a dark blue line - the line through the eye is separated from the blue cap by a white band - all producing a distinctive head pattern. Bill is short and stubby, legs bluish-grey. They always amuse me with very acrobatic stunts-hanging upside-down on branches pecking at buds or foraging for insect and my bird feeder. I've also learnt that these song birds use aromatic leaves from lavender, mint and curry plants to disinfect their nests.This reminds me to share my little note about the new Cabinet of the ruling party of Malaysia, Barisan Nasional's under it's second term Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak after a smaller majority win in the country's May 5th general election .
As vibrant as it is the passerine birds that I am watching, I hope Malaysia's newly appointed cabinet line-up is also as amusing as them-bright and inquisitive, agile and adaptable, acrobatic in action not in talks, and set a wonderful sound tune for a stronger nation, economically, socially and politically... but not exploitative and opportunistic for a sneaky sip from the people's milk bottle.
This time around the voters expectation are even higher than before and the prime minister knows it clearly as he stressed to his comrades that public expectation would be high, and his ministers must be prepared to come under intense public scrutiny. Upon appointing his team the day before and chairing the first cabinet meeting on the 16th of May, 2013 the new ministers and their deputies has been reminded to work as a team and give their best to the people and the country. Local dailies has quoted him of saying,
“It means the people have high expectations of us and how we behave, whether it’s us personally or our family members. As such, we must be aware of what we are doing, how we carry ourselves and our way of life so the people will not question anything involving our integrity as a member of the administration,”
True to that, public is very much keeping an eagle eye out and ears open after the 13th General Election. Gone were the days where people in our democracy think of the government as something different, and many times let the government confirms their opinion.
Now is the time where people know they are the government and unlike the many cheerleaders, the most circumspect people are also most prudent in upholding their rights as the public who elected their government. Current mood of the public is the alarm clock with a knock to those who are appointed to stop thinking of the Cabinet posts as a form of reward but rather as assigned tasks of huge responsibility.
Speaking of Team Najib, if you look with a jaded eye, you may say that although Najib included some younger elements from his Barisan Nasional coalition and a non-partisan banker and an anti-corruption activist and a Hindu-rights Group leader in his line-up, most of the key posts were retained by party stalwarts of his United Malays National Organization (UMNO).
From a cynic point of view, it is said of reflecting a prime minister concerned about retaining the premiership and the presidency of UMNO and doesn't portray any move in the direction to talk about reconciliation and transformation and inclusivity in the cabinet.
However if you try to balance the reality of the public's expectations and challenges faced by the premier when selecting his team members, you may want to point out that while getting the best people for the positions is the top priority, Najib has also tried hard to ensure a professionalism line-up that reflects key political realities of the country.
An international news agency regarded the appointment of Transparency International (Malaysia) President, Paul Low, one of the two Chinese ministers, as a minister in Prime Minister's Department as a gesture to concerns over corruption. Meanwhile, the appointment of Wahid Omar, chief executive officer of Malaysia's largest bank Maybank, to the post of economic planning minister is perceived as a nod to corporate expertise.
In a motion to adhere to the Indian minorities' welfare, 2 ministers post were given to the main Indian party, MIC and four deputy posts of which one of it is to the much controvercial newly appointed senator from the Hindu Rights Action Force, Hindraf.
Now is the time where people know they are the government and unlike the many cheerleaders, the most circumspect people are also most prudent in upholding their rights as the public who elected their government. Current mood of the public is the alarm clock with a knock to those who are appointed to stop thinking of the Cabinet posts as a form of reward but rather as assigned tasks of huge responsibility.
Speaking of Team Najib, if you look with a jaded eye, you may say that although Najib included some younger elements from his Barisan Nasional coalition and a non-partisan banker and an anti-corruption activist and a Hindu-rights Group leader in his line-up, most of the key posts were retained by party stalwarts of his United Malays National Organization (UMNO).
From a cynic point of view, it is said of reflecting a prime minister concerned about retaining the premiership and the presidency of UMNO and doesn't portray any move in the direction to talk about reconciliation and transformation and inclusivity in the cabinet.
However if you try to balance the reality of the public's expectations and challenges faced by the premier when selecting his team members, you may want to point out that while getting the best people for the positions is the top priority, Najib has also tried hard to ensure a professionalism line-up that reflects key political realities of the country.
An international news agency regarded the appointment of Transparency International (Malaysia) President, Paul Low, one of the two Chinese ministers, as a minister in Prime Minister's Department as a gesture to concerns over corruption. Meanwhile, the appointment of Wahid Omar, chief executive officer of Malaysia's largest bank Maybank, to the post of economic planning minister is perceived as a nod to corporate expertise.
In a motion to adhere to the Indian minorities' welfare, 2 ministers post were given to the main Indian party, MIC and four deputy posts of which one of it is to the much controvercial newly appointed senator from the Hindu Rights Action Force, Hindraf.
You can't rule out that the 57-member cabinet was, however, strikingly short of representatives from the Chinese minority.
The main Chinese party allied with the ruling coalition declined to take up cabinet posts after a dismal showing in the election, and of the two Chinese in the cabinet, one is non-partisan, while the other, a deputy minister, is from a regional party.
The previous cabinet had six full ministers from the minority group. In the end, Najib resolved to reserve one position which is the traditional MCA's ministry seat, Transport Ministry, for until the party sorted out its problems. Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has been designated the caretaker Transport Minister.
The new line-up also included more representatives from Sabah and Sarawak and applauded so as this reflects Barisan’s strong performance in the east Malaysia.
Meanwhile, in view of UMNO's board game, many members of the cabinet are seen as the former 22 years-long serving premier, Mahathir Mohammed loyalists, while his son, Mukhriz Mahathir has been named the chief minister of Kedah state, a powerful regional post. The state of Johor, also has a chief minister linked to Mahathir.
Nevertheless, in a whispering mode of stepping a little out of Mahathir's shadow is the appointment of UMNO youth leader Khairy Jamaluddin, a reformist son-in-law of the former one-term Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, as Youth and Sports Minister.
So, is it a fair share this time around to turn the table for the next 5 years? Well, it could be with many new faces and youth elements, just as the colourful plumage of the Blue Tit which makes them a cheerful sight on garden feeders. Listen, here's a male tit singing his song to defend his territory...
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