COMMENT | The Malaysian administration, and some of its institutions, appear to have gone to the dogs, for allowing the simple Chinese New Year message to go disastrously wrong.

The glaring mistakes over the CNY greeting, when images of dogs are omitted, cannot be blamed on Islamic fundamentalism. They occurred because of sheer incompetence. We take no pride in our work. We do not value proof-reading. We do not check our facts before making them available for public consumption.

When Malaysians took to social media to ridicule the various CNY mistakes, the respective institutions blamed the faults on "technical issues."

What technical issues? Someone made a bad judgment. Someone has to punch in the numbers in a computer. Someone had to push the button to select a colour, a design, an animal or a theme. Have the managements of these institutions run out of dogsbodies to blame for their mistakes?

One mistake is excusable. Two are a coincidence, and three or more mistakes point to a serious flaw in an organisation, and the running of our fundamental institutions.

First, we should send the Tourism Ministry to the dog house, for appointing the Barcelona striker, Luis Suarez, as the Malaysian tourism ambassador.

This ministry has chalked-up an impressive string of follies, from the "Spouse minister calling card", to the kindergarten school inspired "Visit Malaysia 2020" logo. Now, we have Suarez and his confused CNY message.

Was Suarez not briefed about Malaysia? Does he know the location of Malaysia? He is paid RM775,000 per advertisement to promote Malaysia, but the ministry officials have failed to brief him about Malaysian diversity.

When you ask Malaysians about a former tourism ambassador, Jean Todt, the former executive director of Formula 1 Ferrari, they only know Todt as the husband of actress Michelle Yeoh. They can't recall what he did to promote Malaysian tourism.

Suarez is notorious for biting people on the football pitch, but a few days ago, he bit off more than he could chew, when he delivered a CNY greeting, dressed as an Indian in a collarless white baju.

With his palms clasped together, as Indians would in greeting, a speech bubble showed him saying "Vannakkam" (a Tamil greeting), against a backdrop of the Hindu Batu Caves.

Suarez was several weeks too late for Deepavali, and also Thaipusam, but at least he will be known for merging the non-Malays - the Chinese and the Indians together. Perhaps, this is his interpretation of Najib Abdul Razak's "1Malaysia" message.

I could promote Malaysia for a fraction of his fee, fly around the world in Club Class and still cost less than the expenses claimed by former "Tourist Minister", Ng Yen-Yen, who was lampooned for her penchant for first class travel around the world, with her husband in tow.

Shortcuts are another preserve of the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry. Last week, it printed a full page CNY advertisement in a Chinese newspaper, and featured a rooster which was "barking". Did the ministry think we would not notice?

When the public lampooned the ministry for merging two animals, it apologised and blamed its mistake, on a "technical error".

When Petronas committed the unforgivable act of printing white ang pows, for CNY, the public was outraged. White is normally associated with mourning, and so Petronas reprinted the ang pows in the auspicious red colour. It also blamed the mistake on a technical error.

Someone chose the colour, so where does the "technical" bit come in?

There is an idiom which says, "He that lies with dogs, will rise with fleas."

Umno-Baru's Bukit Gantang chief, Abu Hussin, who is also a special officer to the Perak menteri besar, displayed a CNY banner which read "Selamat Tahun Baru Cina 2018" (Happy Chinese New Year 2018) and included the greeting "Sheng Ri Kuai Le" (Happy Birthday).

The banner showcased Abu Hussin's portrait, the 1Malaysia logo, the BN logo, the Umno-Baru logo and the Perak state emblem, with photos of his community accomplishments.

When Abu Hussin was mocked for his birthday greeting, he blamed his media team. In Umno-Baru circles, it is never the boss' fault. A scapegoat will be found. When none is available, technical issues will be blamed.

Religious sensitivities, like Islam viewing dogs as unclean animals, have nothing to do with the mistakes made in the CNY messages we have seen over the last few weeks. The cock-ups boil down to incompetence and the pervasive mono-culturalism of our public institutions.

In the Malay dominated government workplace, there are no Chinese, or very few of them, who can be called upon, to offer simple advice on cultural norms. We lack racial integration.

The all Malay culture and poor work ethic, combined with sheer incompetence, stupidity, ignorance and irresponsibility, have all contributed to giving a dog a bad name in the government workplace.

Gong Xi Fa Cai.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, Twitter.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.