Think, then announce decisions

Is it a sign of the times that a decision by one minister is rubbished by another eighteen months later?
It reflects badly on our public administration when an exercise involving the entire adult and adolescent population - getting them to apply for the high security MyKad identification card - is caught in the midst of conflicting decisions by government leaders.

Yet this is exactly what Home Minister Datuk Seri Radzi Sheikh Ahmad has achieved by countermanding the decision of his cabinet colleague Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid who, when he was running the ministry, introduced a lucky draw to encourage Malaysians to apply for their MyKad quickly.

The new home minister, who cancelled the lucky draw, also described it as "silly and rubbish". While the incumbent home minister may have announced the decision after prior consultation with his predecessor, the impression that is given is that he had not done so and the wags are having a field day.

Still it does not explain whether the lucky draw was implemented with sufficient thought put into it or whether it was merely one of those brainwaves that somehow became a programmed involving the public.

It may seem to be an internal matter what the home ministry thinks is a good way to ensure that the public cooperates with the ministry's targets for completing the exercise for identity card holders to convert them to the MyKad. However, as in any situation involving public resources, there is a question about the proper execution of the incentive program ,including whether the prizes were awarded following the usual standards of auditing and good governance.

Strict accountability must be adhered to so that the public can be fully confident that nothing but fair play can be expected at all times.

And what about the decision to cancel it? While the jury is still out on whether it is proper for people to be given incentives to do their civic duty, does it not matter that several thousand people who had come forward to participate in the contest are now angry that it had been called off?