Works Minister in Kuching

Datuk Seri Samy in the City


Monday morning has never been that hectic - and it was a real surprise for me when my colleague Ms. Sapiah told me that another development briefing was to be held at Datuk Patinggi Tand Sri Datuk Amar (Dr.) Alfred Jabu's office. The honorable guest this time was the Yang Berhormat Minister of Works, Datuk Seri Samy Vellu. Though, I was looking forward to a recovery phase after the busy weekends - since the Sarawak Gemilang campaign started last week and the recent Barisan Nasional Parliament Backbenchers Retreat, it seems that there has been no breathing space. So if any one thinks that those in the Public Service are lucky as they have the Saturdays and Sundays as off day, they are gonna get a drilling from me.


It was fortunate that we had this 'Presentation To Go' slides all prepared for the briefing to the Minister. Normally we would have one set prepared every week just in case things like this come up. All the information are always updated to the latest week or month by the various Sectors in our Unit and for the presentation slides, all my colleague had to do was put them in order.

While we were at the meeting room, one would have expected that the Minister would arrive late - well, that was what we thought as it was a rainy Monday and the traffic jams was bad in the City. Surprisingly Datuk Seri Samy Vellu arrived quite early, as if he pop in from nowhere - he was first in the door! - earlier than all of us expected and the guys preparing the presentation (including myself) had to double speed up our loading of the files into the presentation computer. No last minute alterations can be made.

It was my first instance of meeting Datuk Seri Samy - and it was another pleasant surprise. Unlike his normal 'sharp shooter' remarks that we get to see in television, Datuk Seri turned out to be a really nice guy, and he was very jovial and friendly to everyone in the room. I hope its the same with Datuk rafidah Aziz next time should she visit Sarawak. datuk Seri was smiling all the while wishing ecveryone well, not like the Samy painted by the newspapers and television. Together with his entourage of top guns from the Ministry of Works and the Jabatan Kerja Raya Kuala Lumpur top guns, they paid a courtesy call to Datuk Patinggi's office as we were not ready then. When we were all set to go, he came in and calmly asked us to proceed with the briefing. The senior Minister from Sarawak attending the briefing also was Datuk Awang Tengah.

The Director of the State Planning Unit and the Director of Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR) Sarawak gave their briefings to the YB Minister. He certainly made a no nonsense approach in dealing with projects that are identified by the presentors as problems. At one instant he would pause the brieifing, get his Ministry on the phone and enquire about the problematic projects identified. One has to salute YB Datuk Seri Samy Vellu for this, and he calls the shots, especially if the projects involves his Ministry. So a lot of 'stalled' projects got cleared instantly this morning. Only those that were linked to the other agencies - and not related to his Ministry - were the problematic ones. Well done YB Datuk Seri - and I do hope that YB Datuk Seri can solve a few of the stalled major projects in Sibu when he makes a site visit to Sibu tomorrow :) the Durin Bridge can recieve a dose of Datuk Seri's magic.



Overall it was a fruitful meeting - a lot of things were solved in the three hours meeting. It would be good to have meetings like these and they had to make quick decisions - I do not blame those in the particular Ministry as they have a long list of projects to handle (roads, bridges etc) compared to other Ministries. During the press conference YB Datuk Seri announced that his Ministry has considered some of our proposed projects in our State List for the Ninth Malaysia Plan and it would see that Sarawak be given due consideration as we need to catch up in development - good news for all of us in the State. Of course during the press conference, when he was questioned by the newsmen & news ladies, his 'sharpness' came back up, especially the question involving MIC, which was to everyone's delight. Its as if they want to bring out the combative Samy out on the screen. One thing i will remember about YB Datuk Seri during this briefing - while handing him the relevant documents of the State's Ninth Malaysia Plan priority project list as requested by my boss, he looked at me for a while and said loudly 'Thank You, Sir'. Gosh, whoever likes to criticize the Minister for being a sharp shooter, I will say this, he is quite a nice chap :) believe me.

Comments

So what did you think of his hair piece? Looks real or looks as bad as it does on tv?! :-)
The Ninth Malaysia Plan is on the line so I will say it looks excellent :)
Francis Ho said…
Thks for d report. I come here for your thorough news report.

I always find him comical; like a carricature in a way ... :)
Uchu Keling said…
Excellent.. except you didn't reveal what was being CONFIRMED during the meeting :D

When will we see our first flyover in MCC?
fh20: If there was any kayaking association that can push for a higher allocation for encouraging Kayaking activities - this would be the time :)

UK: Only the Ministers & those in power have that previlege to 'reveal' as these things are official secrets and for us in the public service we are duty bound to observe the secrecy - lest i shall end up finding another job....I still have to serve the State for the tenth, eleventh and twelveth Malaysia Plans... hehehe. Your Miri YB Lee Kim Shin was there so I would say Miri is taken care of :)