Just before the war on Iraq when the Bush administration was warning the world of the weapons of mass destruction we saw many theatrics from his assistants like Collin Powell’s convincing speech to the UN.   

There were many who were itching for war with Iraq and proceeded with much spin doctoring,  chief of whom was Prime Minister Tony Blair who had spun a web of questions that eventually led to his ouster and that of many Bush allies who supported the war against Iraq.   

Spin or spin doctoring refers to all the public relations schmooze and dressing up of a story which serves the purpose of those in power.

The art of spin has finally arrived on our Malaysian shores and this does no come cheap. At least not to the Malaysian rakyat. Many forget that our hard earned money is taxed by the government and this money is spent on various projects of which the government must be held accountable.

In the last two years alone it was recorded that the Malaysian government had spent almost 60 million ringgit on PR consultants (ie. people who make you and what you do look good). Their job is to spin a bad story or issue into a good one.  

For example intensive logging in Sarawak or the building of useless dams could be spun in a way that looks good to the people of Malaysia and the world.  Another example could be a governments transformation plan or policy which needs frills and dressing to make it look good or saleable.  

One wonders how previous prime ministers like Tunku Abdul Rahman or Razak or Hussein Onn had put forth their policies for Malaysian without the help of PR consultants. Are these truly necessary if a government is not profit or market driven, but is there to ensure a level playing field and conducive environment for business and investment?  

What is the need of looking good when your KPIa are the figures that come out of Bank Negara or the statistics department with regard to GDP or poverty levels etc?

In a time when governments are going bankrupt in Europe and when the rakyat in Malaysia are struggling to make ends meet due to increases in electricity bills, food bills, rent and transportation, spending 60 million of public relations for the government is simply not acceptable.  

The government of the day has to be held accountable.