A high standard of transparency and accountability

The new prime minister of Malaysia is setting a high standard of transparency and accountability.

He wants the head of major government agencies to be vetted and approved by Parliament.

This is a much better arrangement that that adopted in Singapore. In the past, we do not know how the key appointments were made. Presumably, they were made on the decision of the prime minister or the cabinet.

After the constitution was changed to have an elected President, the key appointments were supposed to have the concurence of the elected President acting on the advice of the Council of Presidential Advisers. What we have in practice is a President that came into office without a contest and an unelected Council of Presidntial Advisers. The deliberations of the President and Council were made in secret.

It seems that most of the appointments made in Singapore over the years came from a close circle of people. I shall not called them "elites" or "cronies".

I wish all the best to Malaysia. I hope that you have a better system that Singapore can emulate.

Tan Kin Lian