10  theSun | MONDAY NOVEMBER 3 2008

news without borders

Nazri the
him reason to lambast them.
A one-time loyalist of Tun Dr
Mahathir Mohamad, the man who
brought him into the government by
first making him a senator in 1991
and then giving him a seat to contest
in 1995 and 1999, he came to the

Opposition
defence of his present boss when
the former prime minister began
attacking him.
Nazri is also known for his
passionate defence of Datuk Seri
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi whenever
Kit Siang ridiculed the government’s

slayer
IF THERE is anyone from the
government benches who can lay
claim to being a debater numero
uno and a demolisher of Opposition
viewpoints, it is Minister in the
Prime Minister’s Department Datuk
Seri Nazri Aziz.
Not many would acknowledge
this about Nazri, even from among
his Barisan Nasional colleagues and
those who claim to be his friends.
Most of his enemies would openly
endorse the title “parliamentary
jester” some bloggers had given
him.
However, there is no doubt that
he is the envy of many. Blessed with
a good voice, a laser-sharp tongue,
intelligence and wit, he is able to
stand his ground quite easily and
nonchalantly.
An MCKK (Malay College Kuala
Kangsar) debater, he had honed his
skills as a parliamentary haranguer
well during the time when there
were only 20 opposition members
in the Dewan Rakyat. Thus, he does
not feel intimidated nor does it seem
to matter to him now that there
are 81 of them, and some excellent
orators too.
A third-term MP, he seems to
be the only one who can stand toe
to toe, nose to nose and eyeball to
eyeball against veteran oppositionist
Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur)
and both have only the most
endearing terms for each other.
Nazri has also crossed swords
with veteran lawyer Karpal Singh
(DAP-Bukit Gelugor) over matters
related to the constitution and the
judiciary. They fenced on Oct 23
resulting in the former “Lion of
Jelutong” being suspended for two
days.
The Bukit Gelugor MP returned
on Thursday. It was understandable
that as he was wheeled into the
Dewan Rakyat, he looked around for
Nazri but he was absent. But that did
At the Dewan Rakyat
by Zainon Ahmad
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
not stop him from calling for Nazri
to be referred to the committee of
privileges for misleading the House
on the day he was asked to leave
the Dewan over the word buta the
minister had used on Wee Choo
Keong (PKR-Wangsa Maju)
when the latter had asked for the
amount in ex-gratia payments the
government paid to six former
judges of the 1988 judicial crisis.
However, Speaker Tan Sri
Pandikar Amin Mulia ruled the
matter closed as he had already
ruled on it before he ordered Karpal that there were a few culprits. He
to be suspended.
Nazri did not fully answer Choo
Keong’s question then nor did he
It was shallow thinking by the
two MPs for assuming that the
government outlawed Hindraf based
on the cabinet open house incident
only but the incident certainly was
‘the threshold of our patience’.”
do it when he was again questioned
about it when he was winding up
the debate on Budget 2009 on behalf
of the prime minister’s department
on Thursday.
When pressed by Salahuddin
Ayub (PAS-Kubang Kerian),
Yusmadi Yusoff (PKR-Balik
Pulau) and Choo Keong, he
promised he would get the answer
soon as many MPs from both sides
are interested in it.
Not only were the opposition
MPs of the last parliament in awe of of the Eurocopter Cougar EC 725
Nazri because of his arsenal of sharp helicopters.
retorts but even the government
backbenchers are careful not to give motion today.
inability to root out corruption
which Abdullah declared he would
do when he became prime minister.
He was in top form during his
winding up, especially when he was
questioned about the government’s
declaration of Hindraf as an illegal
organisation.
Rounding up the debate on
Budget 2009 on behalf of the Prime
Minister’s Department, Nazri
refuted the suggestion by Khalid
Samad (PAS-Shah Alam) and
Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad (PAS-Kuala
Selangor) that the government had
mishandled the Hindraf issue.
He said it was shallow thinking
by the two MPs for assuming that the
government outlawed Hindraf based
on the cabinet open house incident
only but the incident certainly was
“the threshold of our patience”.
To Opposition Leader Datuk
Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s statement
that Pakatan Rakyat’s MPs were
not questioning the special position
of the Malays but the abuse of it to
enrich a few people, Nazri agreed
acknowledged the few abuses here
and there but quoted an old Malay
proverb: “Don’t burn the mosquito
net just because of one
mosquito.”
No doubt there are those
in the government benches
who envy the cock-sure
confidence of the minister
when he had to respond to
members of the Opposition
in the Dewan Rakyat.
Outside the Dewan,
especially in the Members
Lounge, Nazri is often surrounded
by oppositionists and he seems to
charm them.
On Wednesday, Anwar filed an
emergency motion seeking a royal
commission to probe into three
controversial projects: the RM11.31
billion high speed broadband
project, the RM4.26 billion purchase
of the Bank International Indonesia
by Maybank and the RM1.7
billion procurement of 12 units
The speaker will rule on the

Most M’sian companies

well managed: Survey
by Tim Leonard
Trendy newsdesk@thesundaily.com
& KUALA LUMPUR: Most Malaysian
smart companies are financially well-
pg 26 managed and scored the highest
points for integrity and corporate
governance.
The Malaysian Management
Capability Index (MCI) 2008 results,
launched by International Trade and
Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyid-
din Mohd Yassin last Thursday, saw
Malaysian management performing
at 67.7% of its potential capability.
This year’s survey, the second
since 2006, saw 333 companies
responding to the research survey
compared with 110 companies in
2006.
Integrity and corporate govern-
ance scored 75.2 points out of a
best of 100 while financial manage-
ment scored the second highest at
71.7.
These categories were followed
by performance leadership (70.0),
visionary and strategic leadership
(69.3), application for technology
and knowledge (67.8), external rela-
tionships (67.1), people leadership
(66.2), organisation capability (65.6),
results and comparative perform-
ance (65.0), and innovation (64.9).
Speaking at the official ceremo-
ny to unveil the results, Muhyiddin
said: “Over the years, Malaysia has
transformed from an agricultural-
based economy to a production
economy or P-economy, and we
are now moving up the value chain
to a knowledge economy, or K-
economy.
“In this time of turbulent capital
markets and the looming threat of
recession, sound and responsible
management is the steady hand
that we need on the tiller.”
In the MCI, about 50% of the re-
spondents to the survey were small
and medium enterprises (SMEs).
“Malaysian SMEs maintain the
highest level of potential to lead our
transformation into K-economy,”
Muhyiddin said.
He added that the Institute
for Management Development, in
its World Global Competitiveness
Yearbook 2008, reported that
Malaysia’s global competitiveness
level had improved to 19th position
in overall performance out of the
55 countries researched.