By Stephanie Jacob
Tiger understands that families need to look out for one another, and that it is only natural for one to turn to family for help. But to put a son as a special officer to a minister when that son has no special qualifications for the post is over the top. What is acceptable to a politician in charge of a ministry is not always acceptable to the man on the street.
Tiger cubs are rarely left to their own devices. They are taught to hunt and fend for themselves before they venture away from their mother and into the big bad jungle. However Tiger admits that when it is time for its offspring to go, there is no soul-searching and reluctance in the animal kingdom.
Humans seem to be much more emotional. They tend to be more protective of their young and for far longer. Often they forget that there must be limits and thresholds to how far families can help their own, especially when offering something that is not theirs to give in the first place.
Malaysia’s tourism minister Nazri Abdul Aziz is perhaps not so familiar with the words “limits” and “thresholds”, and some might argue that perhaps the reason he has been made tourism minister is so he can learn a bit more about them along with ethics and good governance on his travels.
Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz
Tiger is familiar with Nazri’s work from the scraps of human news that flutter into its domain from the landfills that lie adjacent to its territory. His son Mohammad Nedim Nazri sometimes makes a splash in the papers too, and Tiger hears that he makes the rounds on the online news websites and blogs; more often than not, for the wrong reasons.
In fact, Tiger thinks that maybe Nazri’s reason for hiring his young un’ to be his special officer at the ministry last week might be the same as that which inspired his appointment.
Then again, perhaps not.
Much like one of those dreaded forest fires, the news of Nedim’s appointment spread fast through the Internet and social media, and soon Nazri and his boy found themselves under an unwanted spotlight.
To be fair to Nazri, his explanation that his son had been hired in a personal capacity to help him bridge the generation divide between himself and his young constituents was not as outlandish as some of the things we are used to hearing from him.
The mea culpa was going fairly well. If Nazri had concluded that his son’s name would be removed from the website or that he would be reassigned (as he has now been) as personal officer under his Padang Rengas constituency office (either as an unsalaried worker or one being paid out of Nazri’s pocket), there might have been a possibility that the uproar might have faded away rather quickly.
But Nazri is a bit like Tiger in that he seems averse to being challenged. Unlike Tiger though, who evaluates the overall situation before deciding to pounce or bide its time, Nazri is rather more brash.
Nedim Nazri
So he huffed and he puffed, and said silly things that made him look like an arrogant bully. Here are some of his statements from the highlight reel:
“A minister has the prerogative to draw up his own employee roll and it cannot be questioned…”
and
“I am still elected and I am still the minister… I don’t care what you people think… He is my son and I am happy that I made him my special officer.”
Not very conciliatory, and not very smart. Tiger imagines that life for Nazri’s press secretary must be …well, not easy.
Of course, any Malaysian has the right and perhaps even the duty to question unethical or inappropriate behaviour. Should Nedim be hired at the tourism ministry, then yes he may report to his father. But both senior and junior would do well to remember that they work for the people.
Tiger admits though that the lines when hiring family as staff can be rather blurry and vary quite a bit from the world of business (where it is the norm) and politics (where it is generally frowned upon).
So much so, poor Nazri (poor in a sympathetic way not as in wealth, as he has reminded us so often) actually found allies in unusual places, with opposition figures Teresa Kok and Dr A Xavier Jeyakumar saying that it was a difficult issue to navigate.
Kok suggests it might be Nedim’s past bad behaviour that is stoking this particular fire.
Teresa Kok
It is true that the so-called jungle nature of politics (Tiger hates this term, as animals tend to be way more loyal) call for politicians to surround themselves with people they can trust, and they often turn to family to be their aides, advisors and staff.
So when is it okay to hire family? Is it ever alright?
Mukhriz Mahathir (perhaps surprisingly) got it right earlier this week, when in conjunction with his 100th day in office as menteri besar of Kedah, he declared that his family would not be allowed to apply for government contracts; and made it clear he expected his state exco to follow suit.
And before Lim Guan Eng points out again, a similar rule has been in place in Penang for a while. Family of state exco are not allowed to be hired in an official capacity or benefit from government contracts.
Tiger has a good litmus test for hiring family. Does the position carry an official position in the government and is it being funded from public coffers? If the answer is yes, then it should be considered closed to family.
In fact hiring family should possibly even be avoided even if they are found to be the best candidate possible for a position following a series of qualifying exercises and interviews because ethics must not just be practiced but seen to be practiced.
Anything that might cast doubt on the integrity of a ministry or office should be avoided at all costs.
Tiger admits that it might be a little unfair on politicians, but well… tough luck. After all according to Voltaire (or Spiderman’s uncle), with great power, comes great responsibility.
GRRRRR!
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