leadership through crisis

Leadership is a trait coveted by many yet not many has the reputation or clout to be in that position. There is always this general conception that a leader is born rather than made. No doubt, a natural born leader is always the best bet as this can be construed as a gift from the divine. It cannot be denied that some leaders can be trained into the role as well. But how do we gauge whether the leadership undertaken is of quality and excellence? There is only one avenue possible to gauge this; through a crisis.

In good times, not much leadership is required as the condition is peaceful and conducive for any undertakings. There are no conflicts or obstacles available to impede progress or well-being of an organization or even a country. Only when a crisis is at hand, then we will see what our leaders are made of and capable of doing. Leadership through crisis is when all the critical elements are meticulously scrutinized and analyzed to ensure the best decision are being made to address the issue. The next course of actions should be effective and efficient to mitigate the crisis and not causing more harm and prolonging the event.

In times of crisis, the military concept of chain of command must be adopted immediately. Democratic means are not effective in crisis handling whereby everyone has their own views and a vote must be put forward. This will delay the response time. The leader must lead the people under his command and not allow them to run around like headless chickens. Those people that are not kept in the loop of information and are not authorized to manage the crisis should be kept out indefinitely. All information must be carefully vetted and statements released must be consistent and without any shred of ambiguities. Decisions taken must be executed promptly without any doubts. This is to create an atmosphere of confidence and credibility in managing the crisis.

Sad to say, our country’s leaders failed miserably in this sense based on their handling of the missing flight MH370 to the extent of being vilified by the international community. It is clearly seen that our leaders are definitely not natural born leaders and substantial training is clearly needed in this area. Hopefully there are not many crisis of this proportion down the road. God bless Malaysia.

why MCA will never be accepted by the malaysian chinese

MCA is trying to regain the trust of the Chinese community in Malaysia. Valiant effort for a party that was nearly decimated in the just concluded General Elections. Chinese votes swung conclusively towards the opposition to the extent our Prime Minister was left dumfounded on what the Chinese actually wants. MCA, once a gigantic party with the prime objective of championing the Chinese rights is left licking its wound in a far corner of Malaysia’s political arena. MCA politicians tried to court the Chinese community with everything possible but still to no avail. What do the Chinese really want?

Malaysian Chinese is no different than all the other Chinese around the world. It is a race that has deep cultural roots within the family spreading across generations. The Chinese emphasizes on its generations to always bring honor and fame to the family name. Thus education and subsequently having a good career is the main ingredient for that objective. Enriching and providing the best possible avenue for growth to their children is always paramount to the Chinese. MCA politicians are themselves Chinese. Their sons and daughters are given the best possible opportunities to grow and this is clearly seen by the achievements of those bravely appearing in the public eye. They are being vilified in the alternative media of being “cronies” and to the extent that their riches are given to them on a silver platter rather than working hard like the rest of the general Chinese people in Malaysia. Does this perception alone riled up the general Chinese? It certainly does not.

The Chinese believe that the parents should always provide the best for their children. Therefore the MCA politicians are not entirely wrong in their actions. No doubt, some of the opportunities are dubious in the sense of corruptive practices. It is still for the benefit of their children. The general Chinese can still accept that to a certain extent. However, when these MCA politicians began to collaborate with the central government in reducing the quality of education and even to the extent of plunging the entire country into a debt-ridden abyss, that’s where the buck stops.

By these actions alone, the MCA politicians are restricting the general Malaysian Chinese from being able to provide the best for their children. Education is the tool to a better life and the country’s financial well-being is essential for career and personal growth. MCA politicians are sending their children abroad for better quality education and doing foreign investments while the general Chinese community is left fumbling in the dark. As the Chinese saying goes, “You don’t break other people’s bowl of rice.”

MCA, the ball is clearly in your court. Change or be changed.

 

what you pay is what you get

The current hot topic lately is regarding the pay hike of the Selangor state government’s representatives. From conventional media to online forums, many people from all walks of life including political leaders have been giving their two cents on this issue. Most of the comments are the pay hike is too steep and comes at a bad time whereby the country is facing financial constraints.

No doubt at a glance, the pay hike of reaching more than double for some is indeed excessive. However, let’s dissect further and imagine the state government is actually a multinational corporation. For a multinational corporation, hiring the best people for the job is crucial. This is to ensure the operation of the corporation runs smoothly and efficiently and at the same time generate good revenue and profits. These personnel are being paid based on market value and sometimes even higher based on their competencies. Look at huge corporations like Apple, Microsoft and most of the international banks. Their executives are paid handsomely. These corporations are generating good profits even with the pay package they are dishing out for their personnel. Why is this so? Just a simple check with the Human Resource executives will paint a clearer picture. In order to find the right people for the job and also talented ones, the pay package is the main tool to attract them. They are being paid for their worth and the benefit they bring to the corporation. The pay factor also increases morale and spur the personnel to work harder besides being useful in retaining talent. The shareholders would not have any problem with this either.

Let’s come back to the Selangor state government representatives. For the almost five years in control of the state government, Selangor now has a surplus of funds exceeding the previous state government immensely. If in a corporation point of view this is similar to having generated a huge profit. So is it wrong to reward the “personnel” with higher pay based on their competency? By increasing their pay, they are entrusted with the responsibility to work harder to generate more income for the state and to serve the people better. Is not this a good thing? If they fail, we can always revert to the corporation way of demoting them or even “firing” them during the next General Election by us rakyat as the “shareholders”.

Let’s us now apply this concept to the Barisan Nasional representatives and their allies which are the loudest voice of criticism. They are right to certain extent when they say that if the similar pay hike is implemented in a BN-controlled state all hell will break loose. Why is this so? Let’s move back to the corporation point of view. Since BN is in control for decades of the federal government, the country’s debts have being rising rapidly, costs of living is increasing, public security level is decreasing, misuse of public funds is horrifying and many more. A corporation that is losing money, losing reputation and embezzlement, of course all hell will break loose from the “shareholders” if the “personnel” are given higher pay.

We should look into the bigger picture rather than restricting our view within a box. The current Selangor Menteri Besar is a corporate-trained person. Thus we should respect his executive decision so long everything remains well in the state of Selangor. As the common saying goes, what you pay is what you get. If you pay peanuts you will only get a monkey. God bless Selangor.