Thursday, April 16, 2009

Shabery's simple yet significant approach

A simple and humble man...

...holding court at the Mandarin Oriental business centre...

...and jotting down notes

I was told he was ready to pack his bags and return as a mere backbencher following Pak Lah's handing over the country's leadership to Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak but Istana Pahang apparently intervened, believing that Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek had done a darn good job at the Information Ministry.

Still I must confess I was not excited or enthusiastic at all over Shabery's appointment as the country's 17th Sports Minister. After all it was seen as a demotion for the Kemaman MP from his debating days at the Information Ministry. But he made quite an impression on me with his knowledge, openness, ideas and above all sincerity in his meet-the-sports editors session-cum-dinner at Mandarin Oriental.

The fact Shabery chose to meet the sports editors and the print media first before the other stakeholders spoke volumes of his wilingness to engage the media on a positive note.

On his appointment:

"Now I have to start reading the papers from the back pages, it needs some adjusting for someone who has been reading the papers from Pg 1 onwards all this while."

On the meeting:

"I chose not to use the governmental platform to dispense with the formalities, and please do not be offended if from time to time I wish to meet the media in smaller groups. I know journalists love scoops."

His background:

"I used to write for Karangkraf and later Watan, and from there someone thought I would make a good politician.

Between youth and sports:

"Youth will be my priority and through sports we can develop the youth. It is the perfect tool."

Touching base:

"By going to the gym rakyat at Kampung Pandan on Saturday. I think we still lack the culture of going to the gym to maintain our fitness and build our muscles. But I have to find ways of hiding this spare tyre (referring to his waistline).

Reforms in sports:

"I would want your support if we were to impose radical and drastic changes to the system.

Sports a way of life:

"Sports teaches us the meaning of life and integrity, the need to be disciplined and determined. It helps shape our psyche and physique. I would divide sports into three main categories.
1. Creating a sporting society - in US its normal for an individual to be working in the gym even at odd hours but in Malaysia our national sport is makan, during lunch hour the race is on to go to the mamaks.
2. Producing medal winners - China is not exactly a sporting nation but sports is used as a symbol of nationalism, national pride and a tool to create the feel good factor. We have to study the development process.

3. Sports as an industry - in 1997 Britain decided to include sports as part of its creative industry to create wealth. Doctors, lawyers and accountants were no longer the icons who earned big money as the they shifted towards broadening the base for sportsman and entertainers. That's why we have David Beckham being exported to the US for a princely sum of US$200 million.

Infrastructure or content-driven?

"We have to decide, if facilities be provided to all kampungs and schools, then it will create business opportunities for a select group. Or we focus our energy on content-wise or developing the software which will broaden the base of talent at grassroots.

Schools?

"It's too exam-oriented, illustrated by the fact we are perhaps the only country in the world where results of major examinations are announced by the Minister. We may have to consider making sports as a subject in the primary school and sports colleges, In the US, one earns credit points for playing golf.

The highly critical media:

"Please continue to be critical because it stirs the rakyat's interests.

Issues and controversies:

It's a question of finding a solution or pushing for reforms.

Politicians in sports:

"Can you guarantee better results at all levels if there is no politician involved at various levels?

I only raised two points to Shabery.

1. The National Sports Policy was launched by Najib in 1988 and it touches on sports for the masses and high-performance sports. Some of the issues raised during the dialogue are already acknowledged on paper. Study this first.

2. The role of the Cabinet Committee on Sports Development, whether the delivery system ought to be improved and why 15 Ministries cannot be on the same page.
"Thank you for reminding me of the 1988 policy."

Somehow I was surprised notorious duo Citizen Nades/Terence Fernandez, who contributed largely to Azalina's downfall, were not there...

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

pilih bulu la...sports editor rtm tak dijemput pun! padahal dia dari rtm gak dulu....ke org dia tak kenal sports editor rtm? blah la shabery........buih!

Anonymous said...

Semoga mat saberi ni tak bakar jambatan sudah le....

Anonymous said...

DON'T BE TOO SURE BRUDDER, DONT GET TOO EXCITED TOO ERLY, YOU CANNT JUDGE A PERSON FROM ONE MEETING

Jabatan Telekom Malaysia said...

u were equally excited when Azzudin came in...and look what he has done now? And if Shabery is indeed smart, he wouldnt have appointed Azalina's kuncu2 to start off with.

Anonymous said...

Sdra Rizal,

Pertemuan pertama saudara dengan Abang Menteri ni nampaknya terus jatuh cinta n jatuh hati.

PR Shabery mungkin bagus tapi tunggulah dulu tata kerjanya mengendalikan sukan. KPInya bukankah enam bulan...

Usah biarkan perasaan sdra menguaasi fikiran sekarang ni.

Tak tahulah jika sdra berhajat duduk satu kapal membantu Abang Menteri ni?

Wan Kembong

Anonymous said...

This meeting consider common to the public. No need to meet up at luxurios hotel la if he's talking 'bout his vision & mission in sports..anyway re enter Zulhisyam Ayob/Mirza the dynamic duo to the sports (politic) arena..Lepas ni kalau Mad Shabery sakit mata just ensure nobody sponsor for it..just go to normal klinik mata & not the specialist. Otherwise..you know what happen next

KJRules said...

Sampai berbuih la menteri ni nak memujuk atlit2 maysia to perform to a higher level.

Lu pun awal2 dah jilat sana sini ni? Wallawee....

Bagi dia dia kerja then u comment. Ini kerusi belum panas dah cakap Menteri humble la...apa bala la... apa ni bro? Cam gelojoh je ni... Nak cari makan pun jgn macam ni... terlalu menusuk mata la brudder...

btw lu ghostwrite untuk pASSqu(bau)ale or dia yg jadi inspirasi lu?

xcess bagasi said...

Taken from Malaysia-Today.net

The DG of Tourism Dato Mirza Taiyyab who was charged in Court yesterday, is a patient of Dr Kamsiah, a lady dentist who is the ex-wife of one Zulhisham Ayob. Zulhisham jointly owns the well known company Pakar Media Consultants with Mirza Tariq, who happens to be the brother of Dato Mirza Taiyab.

The couple's marriage was breaking up. To score credit with his screaming wife, Zulhisham paid some outstanding dentist bills including the DG's implant bills totalling RM13,000. This payment by Zulhisham was never made known to the DG.

Then the divorce feud between Dr Kamsiah and Zulhisham became more bitter. The children left the ex wife to be with Zulhisham, his new wife and children. It is this time the ex wife went thru her records looking for evidence to inflict harm on Zul. The DG is therefore victim of a continuing divorce feud between Zulhisham and his ex wife Dr Kamsiah.

As a result also Zul and his partner Mirza (the brother of the DG) also suffered fallout. At risk is an old established business with a RM60.0 million turnover.

If there is any fault by the DG he did not chase for the payment of his dental bills. But who wants to chase a Dentist for payment? Also the treatment was continuing. The DG was still visiting the Dentist for follow up treatment.

The charge says that the DG committed the offence over a period of time from Jan 17, 2005, and July 26, 2005. This is a strange charge for a corruption case. The DPP Mohd Asnawi said that the DG did not face a bribery charge as “it is not in the form of monetary gain or favour but for allegedly obtaining a valuable thing without consideration". In other words the charge is a waste of time.

More relevant is the fact that the investigation started in April 2008, after Azalina Othman had become the new Minister of Tourism. The matter is not subsantial at all. Charging the DG in Court over RM13,000 dental bills is actually a waste of taxpayer's money and a waste of the Court's time. A more efficient method would have been to conduct an internal inquiry - which has been proposed before by the Prime Minister for even more serious cases of misconduct.

The DG is known as a stickler for procedure and not wasting taxpayer's money unnecesarily. He is disliked by many connected people for constantly refusing to entertain money wasting projects. The matter against the DG is obviously political because some people want him out of the way.

Among other things the DG put a stop to some strange 'Bollywood Awards Nite' proposals where connected people came with endorsements from powerful people to host 'Bollywood Award Nites'. A crony company would ask for money from the Ministry of Tourism (usually ten million Ringgit or more) to fly in the Bollywood artistes, host the show, pay hotel bills, give out awards etc. These awards were not beneficial to Malaysia and could not be considered as promoting touism in Malaysia.

Now the DG has been suspended for two months. Sources say that two months is more than enough time for the Ministry of Tourism to start emptying its coffers. The UMNO elecions are also due in December. So it is the season to start bailing out the goodies too.

Anonymous said...

kawe setuju dengan apa yang dikomen oleh rakan kawe, sports editor rtm... pilih bulu... si shabery ni dekat rtm dulu pun pilih bulu jugak... antaranya... faham2 sendirilah ye...

Anonymous said...

Bro,

gua respek u... tp teng si shebery ni... u lebeh-lebeh la...

pengalaman gua di rtm... gua nak cite sket...

dia ni mula2 masuk rtm dulu... first speechnya, woo... meleleh air liur dibuatnya... nak buat itu la... nak buat ini le...

mula2 ari jumaat... lepas sembahyang... belanja semua yang makan kat kantin... satu dua jumaat bole le... lepas tu... muka kat masjid dah tak nampak..

so bro. janganlah lu arap sangat degan mamat ni...

lu tengok le sendiri... lu pun pernah jadi tetamu rancangan sukan kat rtm kan?

jadi... "Lu pikir lah sendiri"

anak mami said...

Saberi Chek ni jgn buat silap besar mcm dia di RTM. Berita jam 8 dia pi tukar jam 9. Semua orang lari ke stesyen lain....

KakiBola said...

pendekatan seumpama ini di peringkat awal adalah satu perkara yang biasa bagi mana mana individu yang memulakan tugas. tentu nak tonjolkan imej yang positif dulu. kita tunggu permulaan dan hasil kerja nanti untuk dinilai kualiti tulin beliau. wallahualam

bola-kempis.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

brudder,

haj affendi fuad stephens yang meninggl itu naip presiden persatuan kriket malaysia dan presiden kriket sabah. kenapa tak da obit?

Anonymous said...

Bagi puak-puak yang menentang shabery ni mesti dari rtm punyer, yang tak puas hati pasal dia bagi kuasa kat kmarudiddn siaraf tuh...eh kauorang semuo dengo, shabery ni orangnya bagus...kalau dulu dia buat retreat dengan pegawai atasan rtm, dia tak pentingkan kot dan tali leher, pakai kain pelikat dan baju melayu cukup...dia bagi ksu kuasa penuh sebagai pegawai kerajaan kerana dia tak nak campo adok politik dengan kerajaan, macam nihlah bagus...

KJRules said...

SO unlike u la bro. Beleum2 dah menampilkan kegelojohan menanu si Menteri baru yg obviously akan menjual diri dgn segala macam mcm ide2 yg kita tak pasti akan dapat dicapai atau tidak. So unlike u. Mana sifat fritis u? adil u?

r u into catering biz ke?

or maybe trying ur fingers on sports facilities biz?

mcm tak sempat2. Mulut siapa yg berbuih ni Tuan? Yours or the famed foaming Minister?

Agak2 la bro.....jadi la Blogger yg dihormati bukan GOBlog. Know what I mean?

BTW mana KJ Part 2? Or no time? Sibuk nak ngipas this foaming dude?

Anonymous said...

tu laa..
lain kali kalau nak jumpa ker aper ker..
kena jemput semua..
tengok..
yg dijemput suka ler..

yg x dijemput..
kan dah merajuk...
kan dah ada yg x suka..

Anonymous said...

Rizal, I read your blog and I thought I saw a picture of Zulhisham and Mirza in your apple-polishing piece on the new youth and sports minister. Did you delete it and if yes, why if i may ask? If yes have you sold your soul to the devil? I'm beginning to doubt your credibility...you and all bloggers all same lah...

Anonymous said...

bro,
i propose u jadi sports minister. kok chi can be your deputy

Anonymous said...

bang,
kami terkejut dapat tahu bhw kok chi inform majlis bhw perlembagaan 2008 sudah dlulus, pada hal yang 2006 pun belum dilulus. tapi kami tak hairan, dia dengan nik mahmud menang gandingan mantap. mereka yang habcurkan mpga dulu.

Anonymous said...

Aiks, apasal gambar perunding pakar media kena delete?

hcfoo said...

Dahsyatnya komen-komen anon yang bebanyak tu. LOL but biasalah kan. Memang susah blogger nak puaskan hati semua orang. Apatah lagi sports minister baru yang mengambil alih pentadbiran sukan negara yang parah.

Anonymous said...

Salam Bro,

X der ceriter panas ker...
Pasal AGM MOM 30hb Mei ni...

Semalam Bro Khawari dah start dah...
Hari ni Bro Lukman, BERNAMA and KOSMO dah continue...

Beng Cho!! vs Kok Chi!!

lagi... saper berani..

continue...

Anonymous said...

to all d anonymous yang comment pasai tak di jemput tu....saya kerani yang tukang menjemput ni bagi pihak tuan menteri amatlah mintak sori yer....sbb 'saya budak baru belajar...kl salah sori lah..' kami cari di directory...ada yg dapat no hp pun mcm2 punya soalan...sumaaaaa kami cuba ajak....SUMPAH! bila kami call hp dok tak mau angkat and jawab sms tu salah kami ka? bila kami mintak nombor hp x mo bg...telepon opis x dak sapa yg jawab....abih mcm mana? mintak ampun mintak mahap....saya budak baru belajar kalau salah tolong tunjukkan sbb saya hanya menurut perintah....jgn salah kan Tuan Menteri tau....salah saya kerani baru....

Anonymous said...

Salam Rizal
Mengamati komen Shabery di akhbar ahad berkenaan tidak mahu campur tangan dalam isu persatuan sukan membuat saya bertindak melahirkan komen berikut:

a. Apa guna kuasa di tangan menteri jika isu persatuan sukan di biarkan berlarutan hingga bole jejaskan prestasi athlit yang boleh bawa pencapaian negara yg lebih cemerlang. Shabery kena beri deadline pada persatuan selesai isu kerana persatuan ada kecenderungan melengahkan penyelesaian. Proses lengah ini akan makan diri Shabery kerana Shabery ada KPI nya. Jika Shabery bijak, Shabery akan jadi proaktif bukan ambil sikap tunggu dan lihat. Tunggu dan lihat nti akan ada benda yang berbuih.

2. Shabery kena bijak, kenapalah tak buka minda untuk memilih penasihat menteri di kalangan org org sukan yang arif, kenapalah pilih bekas oportunist di kementerian lain sebagai penasihat. Hanya org sukan, ya org yang bergelumang dalam sukan memahami sukan dan pentadbiran sukan. Jika dia silap pilih penasihat, Shabery akan padam di Kementerian itu.

3. Sukan menyatukan rakyat. Itu HAKIKAT. Oleh itu Shabery perlu berjia besar, penuh idea bernas, proaktif, rapat dengan komuniti sukan, sedia mendengar isu athlit. Isu persatuan selesaikan segera kerana persatuan tempat atlit bernaung.

Tiga aspek mudah dan perlu menteri yang berpijak di bumi nyata dan peka melihat dan bukan buta sukan dan sikap mencari publisti murah di samping penuhi kehendak politik sendiri.

Saya dah muak dengan pentadbir sukan yang tidak menghayati aspirasi sukan akyat malaysia ini. Saya akan menyokong atlit melalui keutamaan kerana athlit akan memulakan pengorbanan diri dalam mengabdikan dirinya kearah kecemerlangan sukan negara.

Syabas Nicol David, Azizul, Rizal Tsin, Titus James, Chong Wei, Fairuz Fauzy. Jauhi politik sukan. Tumpukan kepada kecemerlangan sukan.

Ikhlas

RIO Johannians