Ah, what a safe Cabinet

DECEMBER 13 — I had been jokingly telling people I would have to take to the streets should the Cabinet reshuffle drop our current transport minister, who is sadly one of the few deserving of a passing grade.

As a public transport user it's been gratifying to not only have trains running frequently, but almost always being able to find a seat even during rush hour.

Meanwhile the push for electric vehicles by other quarters is something I find irksome though on the bright side, it might mean their owners will think a lot harder before driving somewhere just 300 metres away.

What does not make sense to me if you were to calculate how much this Cabinet costs, is the confirmation that ministers will get a 20 per cent pay cut.

Yet we now have more ministries, ministers and deputy ministers so I don't see any kind of savings here.

While we do see the return of two ministers with a proven track record, the other appointments strike me as political expediency as it's not exactly a secret that one of the few things that never rests in Malaysia is power struggles.

There's no use pretending that the current government isn't a testy marriage of convenience, and I am certain there are people already setting in motion lofty plans and machinations, if you can't tell from the Opposition's constant declarations that a change in government is imminent.

I think this neverending politicking is one big reason Malaysia hasn't improved its lot in comparison with our neighbours, too many of our politicians are only really invested in one thing: themselves.

What's important is for the meantime the whispers of partyhoppers and coups will quiet down for a while, at least until the Opposition finds some new source of funding.

Politics in Malaysia isn't deep. It has never really been about ideologies but wealth and power.

Finding a politician that cannot be bought by either money or cushy ranks is harder than finding char kuey teow in KL that doesn't make a Penang person sneer.

I am not optimistic about the future of the Health Ministry because it is one long-steeped in bureaucracy and an obsession with keeping up appearances with freshly painted wards and VIP visits, while in the background doctors quit for better work-life balance and patients wait in hallways because there are no more beds.

The new health minister is, by all accounts, admired for being particularly upstanding, but will that be a strength or a liability in this government? We can only wait and see.

I look forward to the new digital minister putting the fear of God into our local telcos because I am really tired of making reports to MCMC.

Unlike our transport minister, he doesn't need to wander around to see just how our telcos are doing because the aggravation of spotty mobile coverage and unreliable broadband speeds is truly a shared Malaysian experience.

I am rather unimpressed with the overly male-dominated Cabinet demographics. Women form half the population but apparently don't deserve at least a 30 per cent representation in the Cabinet.

When will women be respected and treated as more than political window dressing or cheerleaders in our political scene? From what I have observed, it's not going to happen during this administration.

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah at the swearing-in ceremony at Istana Negara, December 12, 2023. Also present were Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as well as Cabinet Ministers. — Bernama pic

With a new Cabinet and soon a new Yang di-Pertuan Agong, I foresee 2024 to be quite an eventful year, most likely with my doctor issuing me a new prescription for my blood pressure.

Hope may spring eternal, but Malaysia? At least Malaysia will never be boring.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.