Hantu Laut
Outgoing Permanent Secretary to the Sabah Finance Ministry Haji Yusof Kassim made a stunning revelation at his farewell dinner given in his honour on his retirement.
It's about the man who has been called by all kind of names, from 'Mr Big and Small' to Mr 'Vacuum Cleaner' by his nemeses and enemies, especially from his own party.Sabah UMNO has many aspiring chief ministers that covertly working behind his back.Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman is always ahead of the curve.
Many of Musa's enemies predicted his political demise at the March 2008 General Elections but in a surprising turn, Musa not only won his seat overwhelmingly but also delivered a landslide victory for the BN, without which the BN would have lost the Federal government.
A regular contributor in the name of 'Deep Throat Sabah' supplys regular mud-slinging and contemptuous articles on Musa to Malaysia Today, rumoured to be, financed by the chief minister wannabies in Sabah UMNO.
Yusof lamented how the rotation system almost bankrupted the state.
Prior to March 2003, before Musa took over the chief ministership, the state finance was in dire straits with only RM60 million in state reserves... less than 2 months salaries for the civil servants.Under Musa stewardship the state reserves has gone up to RM2.4 billion in 2008.He expects the figure for 2009 to be higher but would not announce it yet because the figure is not official yet.
The last time the state finance was in good hands was under Berjaya's Harris Salleh.Unlike, other chief ministers, Musa and Harris came from business background which probably gave them the nose for frugality.
The truth is out.You can smear anything but the truth behold and as the English say "The proof of the pudding is in the eating"
In business, we simply called it 'good track record'
Read the story here.
2 comments:
The Sabah CM rotation agreement always looks like a bad idea when it was first mooted as it does not provide policy continuity to ensure consistency in running a Government.
I would say that CM Musa Aman had done a wonderful and credible job for Sabah and looks like he would be around for quite a while despite his detractors actions in trying very hard to unseat him.
HL,
Being his first Political Secretary when he was appointed as the Chief Minister, I had first hand experience seeing how Datuk Seri Musa managed the state finances.
He was (and still is!) a no-nonsense Finance Minister with a pair of hawk's eyes. No financial detail, however minute, escaped his attention.
He regularly stretched his working hours up to 16 hours a day, sometimes weeks on end, without any time-offs in between. Most times his punishing timetable meant he had to sacrifice his holidays, weekends and precious time with his family.
How he did it was beyond me but I guess his years of observation of a disciplined lifestyle really helped him. In addition, being a strongly practising Muslim also helped to provide the much needed spiritual strength to guide him thru trying times.
He was truly a meticulous person who placed great importance in the accuracy, accountability and effectiveness of every document, memo, speech and policy matter churned out by the Ministry of Finance. And he put premium value on integrity, accountability and professionalism in every personnel of MoF and CM's office.
And interestingly, despite being known as prudent and conservative in public spending, Datuk Seri Musa Aman was ready to try new ideas and engage untested and young individuals to work for him. Most of his senior officers in the Chief Minister's office in the early years were under 40 years ie Private Secretary, Political Secretary, Public Liason Secretary and deputy Press Secretary. His confidence and trust in the younger generation to set and manage his public and political life was a testimony of a far sighted vision.
It was a pleasure and a real honor to have served a man with far sighted vision like Datuk Seri Musa Aman.
Regards,
Rahman Dahlan
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