As a Selangor resident, I am perplexed by the situation at Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Berhad (KDEB), the investment arm of the Selangor state government, or more precisely, by the status of its president, Datuk Abdul Karim Munisar (DAKM).
As reported by the Sun on November 24th, DAKM is supposed to have ended his tenure in September this year, in accordance with his contract. However, till now, more than two months after his contract has expired, he continues to perform his duties as KDEB president, apparently against the wishes of his employer, the Selangor state government.
It really pains me to see the government of the most industrialised state in the federation having a tremendously difficult time managing a matter which other less developed states and even private corporations can handle with the greatest of ease and as a matter of course. An employee has finished his contracted tenure with you. What on earth can be so difficult about telling him that his services are no longer needed and that he need not show up at the office any more?
The explanation offered by the Selangor Menteri Besar’s (MB) political secretary was an insult to everyone involved and the public.
She said the termination letter written by the MB to DAKM may have been ambiguous to the latter. Is she saying the MB, despite so many years of corporate experience under his belt, is such a poor letter writer that DAKM couldn’t understand the point of his letter? Is she saying that DAKM, the president of KDEB, is such a poor reader that he couldn’t grasp it was a termination letter? Is she saying that DAKM is such a poor manager that having read the letter and not understanding it, he didn’t make an effort to get clarification from his ultimate boss, the MB?
Her attributing to Malay and Eastern culture the ‘difficulty’ in telling DAKM that his services is no longer needed is indeed astonishing and insulting to Malays and all those of Eastern culture. For heaven’s sake, woman! Thousands of private and public sector employees, from the lowliest to the most senior, up and down the country, year in and year out, have had their contracts not renewed for whatever reason. It is not rocket science the method to tell an employee politely yet clearly that his or her services are no longer needed.
All these I find particularly worrying as the state government laudably aspires to uphold ‘Ketuanan Rakyat’ and yet it finds it so troublesome to be a ‘Tuan’ to one of its own employees, notwithstanding that the employee in question is very senior. How can it hope to translate ‘Ketuanan Rakyat’ to reality if even the most basic tasks of government it cannot perform?
Moreover, the state has potentially bruising battles ahead with regard to the consolidation of the water concessionaires and other issues related to those concessionaires. How can the rakyat have the confidence that the state can handle those issues competently and with public interests well protected if a straightforward issue such as the termination of service of a contract employee can present immense difficulties to the state government?
The longer this DAKM issue persists, the greater and more prominent will be the embarrassment to the state government. I urge the MB to resolve the matter with the greatest urgency lest the question mark over his competence gets bigger and bigger.
PANDAK TUKAN
