IS it nepotism and cronyism when the recipient of a contract is capable of delivering? Or must inconvenient blood ties deprive the country of efficient and quality services?

Nepotism and cronyism seem to have taken on a life of their own in Malaysia.

The case of the spouse of Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh getting a government contract is one such example. Yeoh’s husband, Ramachandran Muniandy, is co-founder and chief executive officer of Asia Mobilti, which was awarded a multi-million ringgit contract for a demand responsive transit (DRT) pilot project by Selangor.

DRT is a shared transport service that groups passengers based on locations and dispatches vehicles accordingly. Interestingly, this system adjusts routes on demand, unlike conventional services with fixed routes and schedules.

Asia Mobiliti bagging the DRT project raised both eyebrows and, with one social media user called Aduan Rakyat questioning the merits of the company’s selection and whether an open tender took place.

Also hogging the nepotism limelight was Penang Deputy Chief Minister II Jagdeep Singh Deo, whose father-in-law, Baldev Singh Gurchan Singh, was appointed the Appeals Board chairman for the Freedom of Information Enactment 2012. Baldev, however, turned down the offer to avoid controversy.

Jagdeep said the decision waa endorsed at the state executive councillors’ meeting.

“Everybody knows who Baldev is, as he is one of the most senior lawyers around. He was selected based on his experience and skill, nothing more or less,” Jagdeep had said. The 80-year-old Baldev has amassed six decades of experience in legal practice.

A disgruntled Jagdeep said it was “unfair to penalise a person just because he or she is related to a leader.”

“How would you feel if your father-in-law was denied any position just because of your own standing in society?”

The post offered Baldev no monetary gain and was instead community-service oriented.

No common sense

When a seasoned lawyer like Baldev is denied the opportunity to serve the people all because his daughter is married to the current deputy chief minister of Penang, that is the very opposite of common sense.

Should Asia Mobiliti be the best option to provide the much-needed services, why not give it a chance to prove its worth?

Is Malaysia’s judicial system so impotent that it cannot hold accountable those guilty of cronyism and nepotis?

Does the favouritism, prejudice, and bias stop at Asia Mobiliti and Baldev?

Where were the opposing voices when Malacca Chief Minister Rauf Yusoh, in 2022 as Umno Supreme Council member, threw tantrums and demanded that the New Straits Times (NST) group editor Ahmad Lokman Mansor be removed from his post?

Rauf denied any wrongdoing, but Lokman was certainly shown the way out and replaced by Farrah Naz Karim.

Lokman was allegedly removed from his post due to interference from Umno bigwigs.

Sources said the move to replace Lokman was opposed by the majority of staff as he had played a pivotal role in bringing positive editorial changes to NST, which included more middle-of-the-ground reporting and hard-hitting editorials. The source also pointed out the change in personnel was due to NST’s failure to articulate the “embedded” wishes of Umno delegates during the party’s special assembly in 2022, which included interfering in former Prime Minister Najib Razak’s SRC International Bhd graft case by allowing a retrial or seeking a royal pardon.

Why was he shown the exit then? Whose toes had he inevitably stepped on? Or, for that matter, why was Lokman tasked with helming NST in the firsr place if he lacked integrity?

In 2023, Rauf became Malacca’s 13th chief minister. Barely a year later, Malacca residents are up in arms to the Rauf administration, citing abuse of power and state funds.

There was the Hang Tuah-Netherlands trip controversy, and now there is the Fan Bing Bing mural plastered on a wall in the iconic Jonker Street.

Rauf has appointed the Chinese actress as Visit Malacca Year 2024 ambassador, claiming it “does not involve huge expenses.” The mural depicts Fan in her role as Empress Wu Zetian. The touch-up was done by Ren DaChen, a young Chinese artist from Tianjin, who was specially invited to Malacca for the job.

Why did Rauf compromise Malacca’s Unesco World Heritage Site status by hiring Fan, who has been banned from acting and producing films in China because of tax evasion?

Should the wall not be adorned with murals of Hang Tuah or Princess Hang Li Po? Are these two, according to Malaysia’s history books, not the real heirs to Jonker Street?

Rauf in April appointed Mango Media Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Golden Eagle Broadcasting System in China, to attract tourists from China to Malacca. Mango’s collaboration with Malacca government subsidiary PMH Travel and Event Sdn Bhd is targeting one million Chinese tourists to the state within two years.

Did anyone question the transparency in Mango Media appointment? Is this partnership clear of nepotism and cronyism? – June 26, 2024.