COMMEN T Having already discussed how Khalid’s integrity and refusal to allow state funds to be abused is the biggest reason politicians want him out , today’s article will posit three hypotheses regarding the patterns and common threads running through Khalid’s approach to governance more generally.

As we go through the controversies of Khalid’s government one by one, I will refer back to these approaches and argue that they provide the most accurate framework for understanding his decisions and strategies.

The first of these hypotheses is this - that Khalid believes in real work, not fireworks.

This is in stark contrast to the styles of career politicians throughout Malaysia, who often measure their effectiveness and popularity not so much by results achieved, but by the amount of airtime and headline space they get.

When this is the benchmark, politicians are trained to say the most dramatic things possible to ensure they get that airtime and headline. The more the hyperbole, the better (incidentally, this also explains the longevity of groups like Isma and Perkasa).

Khalid is the opposite. He invariably avoids seeking glorification via the media, and tends to see trumpeting one’s actions as something that impedes, rather than assists in the achieving of goals.

Khalid not only believes in walking the talk; he also believes that time spent talking equals less time for working, and Khalid is among the worst workaholics there is.

By the book

Khalid has a very firm vision about how to carry out that work as well. The second hypothesis is that this vision involves always doing things by the book, with no shortcuts.

Khalid believes that the constitution and laws of the land are not things to be followed only at our convenience. His view seems to be that any compromise in our respect for such institutions will result in a chaotic free for all.

Leading by example, Khalid makes sure that all his policies and decisions are in accordance with rules and regulations that were designed to ensure institutional sustainability.

Nowhere is Khalid more committed to this principle than in ensuring that state funds are used only for the public good, and never for political purposes - possibly the single biggest reason every politician seems to want him out.

Khalid’s approach differs greatly from the feudalism most of his peers practice, where no one cares about institutions or the long term, only about achieving selfish, short term goals (including popularity) and building one’s power base at any cost.

This is why while many Pakatan Rakyat politicians are suspicious of civil servants and their Umno ties, Khalid chooses to believe in and nurture the professionalism of civil servants, first and foremost by being professional himself.

It is this belief in building institutional capacity which outlasts individuals and petty interests that defines Khalid.

Khalid also believes in doing things by the book because in his heart he believes that the whole reason the book was written was to prevent abuses of power that profit individuals at the expense of society.

It’s all right to amend the book (according to procedure) if needed, but we became a civilisation of laws precisely to help us overcome individualism and build structured foundations for greater mutual advancement.

No shortcuts

Concurrent to this conviction is a firm disavowal of any shortcuts. Many politicians today fall over one another in their rush to say and do what they think people want to hear and see, providing a short term cathartic effect.

Khalid sees no value in this. He understands that shortcuts are like loans - they increase liquidity in the present, but one cannot postpone one’s debts forever; eventually, creditors come knocking.

The only solution worth pursuing is one that will solve the problem in the long run using sustainable approaches, as well as avoid the shortcut culture of governance that invariably opens itself to abuse. This often means foregoing short term popularity in favour of achieving long term goals using methods that set good precedence, and Khalid never thinks twice before making that choice.

This approach reminds us of Hussein Onn’s “ Biar diumpat keji sekarang daripada dikencingkan kubur kemudian ” (Better to be cursed now, than to have people urinate on our graves).

It might be said that ultimately, Khalid does things by the book and without shortcuts because he adheres to Kant’s categorical imperative, in that he is always committed to acting in a way he believes everyone else should act all the time, especially both present and future generations of leaders.

Integrity above all

All the nicest words about good governance, healthy political culture and so on are essentially meaningless if a chief executive has no personal integrity. Hypothesis number three is that Khalid is a leader of the highest personal integrity.

It is a very telling sign that even Khalid’s worst enemies do not bother to do what is (often successfully) done to almost every other politician out there: accuse him of corruption, or try to implicate him in any moral scandal.

This is because everyone knows that it simply won’t stick. The closest anyone seems to have come to implicating Khalid in a sex scandal was putting up a video of him engaged in the extremely salacious activity of working at his desk, for fifteen whole minutes. A considerable difference compared to the video exposes Malaysians have gotten quite accustomed to.  

Khalid has built a solid reputation of eschewing corruption of any sort on any level. Not once has the stain of abusing power or funds come anywhere close to seriously endangering Khalid’s record.

Although undeniably rich, Khalid shuns extravagance. I remember a story about how in his first by-election campaign in Ijok, Khalid - despite the busyness of his campaign schedule and being a multi-millionaire - insisted on stopping by a local pasar malam because he remembered that he could buy reasonably priced watches there. This is undoubtedly a man who carries his obsession over getting value for money into every single aspect of his life.

This is not the same as refusing to spend money on what is important. As we will explore in detail later, Selangor does not only increase its reserves every year, it also increases its spending on welfare programmes yearly as well.

I understand that there is no maid in his house, and guests are served drinks by members of his own family. If I’m not mistaken, while the children of other ministers drive Porsches, Khalid’s children once drove Kancils.

My contention is that just as Khalid’s integrity and principles inform all areas of his personal life, so do they inform his approach to governance. The articles that follow will examine whether this contention holds in light of the controversies now surrounding him.

Part I: Why do we think what we think about Khalid?

NATHANIEL TAN is fully aware that the #KhalidChronicles is nowhere near as sexy as the Khairy Chronicles from days of yore, but hopes that it is true that good is not the same as exciting. His background and motivation for writing this series were detailed in Part 1 and he tweets @NatAsasi .