Despite pressure, Khalid says it’s time to walk the talk

“To translate development and welfare straight to the people, giving all citizens a better quality of life,” is his goal but he warns that there will be “no free lunch, people have to work for and earn it.”

By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider

Just shy of a year into his tenure as mentri besar of Selangor, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim is promising that his administration will soon begin to “walk the talk” despite facing fierce political adversity.

In an exclusive interview with The Malaysian Insider this week, Khalid said he was confident that the best efforts of his political opponents would serve only to sweeten the final victory.

The latest scandal to afflict the state executive council – the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) allegations of abuse of state funds in the purchase of cows and maintenance of his private vehicle, has followed hot on the heels of semi-naked pictures of Elizabeth Wong surfacing.

These are just the most recent in a series of political blows that include last year’s Internal Security Act (ISA) arrest of Teresa Kok and accusations of abuse of power and khalwat against Ronnie Liu and Dr Halimah Ali respectively.

“There is always a concern but we must have the strength and confidence to go through this,” he said of attempts to destabilise his government.

For Khalid, it is a challenge to manage the state in the most effective and efficient manner.

“Success is now a challenge and comes as sweet victory despite the best efforts of your enemies,” he said.

His replies reveal his previous experience in the corporate world but Khalid says the past year has been an exercise in adapting to being a political chief executive.

“The job is alright, but the politics is fierce,” he admits.

The former chief executive officer of Permodalan Nasional explained that in the corporate world, a strategy could be implemented as directed but in politics, the acceptance of both your customer and those in your party was crucial.

“When you say this is my bottomline, it is self-explanatory to corporates. But if you say that to party members, they will say, ‘What bottom?’” he quipped.

“I have seen millions and managed billions. But now, for RM500, discussions can run two hours,” he said but insisted that the satisfaction now was far superior to that of his time as a corporate chief.

“When you have commercial concerns, nobody questions your greed – ‘greed is your skin and profit your motivator.’

“But as mentri besar, when you shake the hands of the public, they feel very proud to meet you. In the corporate world, you shake hundreds of hands but nobody is proud of each other,” he added.

The Bandar Tun Razak MP believes that while his first year in office since the 12th general elections allowed him to sample the opportunities, it is now time to harness resources and translate them into real targets.

“Now that you know your strength and limitations, the challenge is to walk the talk.

“To translate development and welfare straight to the people, giving all citizens a better quality of life,” is his goal but he warns that there will be “no free lunch, people have to work for and earn it.”

It was a thinly-veiled reference to the pressure by grassroot leaders over appointments to positions in the state and state-linked bodies.

He described how a mob of over 50 people had stormed into his residence and shouted at him for not giving them the advantages that “Umno goons received before.”

But he insists that it is necessary if “you want to change 50 years of one style of political activity and cronyism.”

“Sometimes, it is painful to implement. You want to stop smoking, you understand it is bad but it is very tough but you can smile after you are successful.

“The mentri besar is the mentri besatr to the rakyat, not of PKR. It was worse before because Umno was of a higher caste and PKR were pariahs. Now you have moved up to an equal status, so it is better,” he said.

But his corporate background has been useful as well. The Ijok assemblyman cites the ongoing water restructuring saga as an example.

For him, it is an important benchmark in deprivatisation, claiming that it was a case study for how other concession agreements such as those regarding tolls and independent power producers could be unwound.

“This discussion is very new and unprecedented. And if you do not have economic fundamentals, you become an accountant,” he quipped.

Outside of the demands by the concessionaires to be compensated for future profits, he maintained that the state had no issues in completing the statutory transfer of water assets to the federal government.

He insisted that the state had a proposal to complete the transfer in two weeks after all parties had agreed to terms.

“Tomorrow you can see a row of bankers and accountants outside, and it is done. We have done it in three hours before. Nothing magical about that,” he added, referring to the famous “dawn raid” of the London Stock Exchange he led in 1981 where PNB gained a controlling stake in British plantation concern Guthrie in less than two hours.

Given the doom and gloom surrounding the economy, Khalid understands that as a prominent manufacturing state, his task for this year is to “enhance income opportunities via skills and networking.”

According to the MB, no major factories in the state have closed yet but one or two are expected in coming months. So far, manufacturers have chosen to cut working hours instead of shutting down plants.

But he insists that a safety net must be created to allow those who have been hit a chance to “recover and compete again, giving the community a first chance, a second and even third chance.”

Khalid claims that a task force has already been set up to monitor the situation and to work closely with trade unions, the federal government and private sector.

“The challenge will be greater this year as it will take more than a year before we see an upturn so we had better brace for it. We are getting the support of the private sector, like Jobstreet,” he said, referring to the online job-matching provider.

“But it will need a lot of guiding. The technology is there but we will have to bring people to it,” he said.

Away from his responsibilities, life for the 62-year-old has changed for sure, even if he says that the number of hours he spends at work is the same.

He has stopped playing golf, he says, because it is too time-consuming. But when quizzed as to how some of his counterparts still manage to find time, he slyly responds, “they have different skills from me.”

Conversation at home, however, has surprisingly become better, he says.

“In the corporate world, I cannot discuss business with my wife because it is considered insider information.

“But now I must listen to my wife’s understanding of politics on why women are also important. As a politician, I have to listen to her.”