How many Tsu Koons does it take to make a Najib's cabinet? ... ( 3 )

By Jeff Ooi

UPDATED VERSION. So, how many Tsu Koons, or my definition for political rejects, made it to Najib's Cabinet? You count.

Meanwhile, here's some feedback. From Malaysia Insider, titled: Najib chose BN over country in Cabinet choices:

The Najib Cabinet is the best that BN can offer.

Sad but true. Don't think Ahmad Shabery Cheek is up to scratch? Who else does Umno Terengganu have to offer?

Think Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop should have been dropped? But he is the only Penang MP (besides Abdullah) still in the House.

Why is Anifah Aman the foreign minister? Because Sabah had to be rewarded and he is one of a clutch of MPs who is comfortable conversing in English.

But what about Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon? Did Najib have to pick someone who was booted out of Penang for underperforming to monitor the performance of ministers?

Short answer: Yes.

The appointment of Koh was a lifeline to Gerakan which has been toying with irrelevance since Election 2008.

Could Najib have put the needs of Malaysia first before that of his party and the BN?

Definitely.

But was he willing to ride roughshod over Umno warlords and BN party leaders?

No. No one who occupies the top office in the country will dare alienate these powerful power brokers and risk the possibility of them leaving the coalition.

And talk about BN component party leaving the coalition, Malaysiakini points to rumbling within MIC, which says it was "brushed aside" Najib. Quote:

"We have been brushed aside in the new line-up and this has further eroded the support of the Indian community to the BN government," he said.

The party insider said Najib did not take notice of the return of the Indian voters to BN in the two by-elections although the ruling coalition lost in the two constituencies.

"Many Indians and MIC had expected the party to be allocated a senior ministerial position in the new cabinet but their expectations are lost.

The Star trailed Malaysiakini by carrying a similar source story on its portal, titled: MIC may withdraw its lone minister, deputies from Govt.

UPDATES: 10.00pm April 11: K. Baradan wrote in Malaysian Insider that:

Embattled MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, whose wish to return to the Cabinet was rejected by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, is playing his final gambit by threatening to withdraw the sole MIC minister.

The Malaysian Insider understands Samy Vellu has little support except from party vice-president S. Sothinathan in this gambit which was sparked after Najib rejected all hints last week to make Samy Vellu a senator and put him back into the Cabinet as works minister.

Samy Vellu complained to his supporters that if Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon could be made a senator and minister, he should have been accorded the same privilege.

Samy Vellu is also unhappy that Selangor Gerakan chief A. Kohilan Pillay has been made a deputy foreign minister, a high-profile post for an Indian.

He feels it should have been given to one of his nominees.

If you remember, Screenshots gave the first warning of a possible crack of unhappiness in MIC as early as April 2.

'Back door' listing

Meanwhile, Dr Koh Tsu Koon kept arguing that he ain't no political reject resurrected via a 'back door listing'.

To this, Chun Wai observes in his blog:

The appointment of Koh Tsu Koon and Shahrizat Jalil have led to some criticism. Again, the considerations were the representation of women in the Cabinet and the position of Koh as the president of Gerakan.

The two would now need to prove that they deserve their appointments as they would be closely watched.

Koh, for example, cannot to possibility be handling just KPI (key performances indicators) and unity. His roles need to be better defined.

Today, Kwong Wah Yit Poh unearths news archives to prove that Tsu Koon had decided not to become a minister via a Senatorship appointment, not once but 4 times on March 10, 11, 23 and June 12 last year.

That Tsu Koon had to eat his own words testifies the longevity of a Chinese sage's wisdom: 时穷节乃见.

As the Minister for Performance Management, let's see how Tsu Koon measures his own performance and that of his peers in The Cabinet -- a key factor that saw him trounced and Gerakan annihilated in Penang -- without stepping on the toes of his Umno masters.