YOURSAY ‘Great leaders are not born. The honourable and wise ones learn from mistakes and pitfalls in the course of duty.'

Guan Eng apologises for no Q and A session

your say Giudice: The mark of a gentleman and one who listens. If the criticisms are valid, then, address them and ensure that the mistake is not repeated. However, BN operates on a totally different model.

It matters not to BN whether criticisms are justified. Like the indelible ink issue, they are just not welcome. That is one reason why so many have rejected BN.

So PM Najib Abdul Razak, forget about this lab or that lab. Save the money. Just ask the ordinary right thinking person (not your typical BN bootlicker) on the street and you will have your answer.

Overlord: Mistake(s) are somehow inevitable, but having the courage to admit and came out with immediate correction(s) and prevention action(s) is respectable provided such mistake(s) do not repeat again and again.

Compare this with Umno-BN, especially the Election Commission (EC) - plain denials, twisting and turning, flip-flops, giving all kinds of senseless reasons and pushing the responsibility to others. Surely the sensible and thinking rakyat will prefer the former.

Good job to the Penang government on this.

Quigonbond: Marvellous show of democracy - very civilised on both sides. Something that is not possible to be replicated under Parliament.

But the "grave consequence" remark is probably overkill. BN in opposition should learn that those people and rules were put in place by them, and some appointments are still made at the federal level.

There is no such independence as such. Just need to think how federal-appointed bureaucrats helped BN usurp state power in Perak.

Reason: He has 80 percent of the assembly. What is there to worry? I am sure that the people of Penang are happy that their ‘tokong' has absolute power and absolute power corrupts.

More importantly, he will decide what the Penang people can do, what they can enjoy and what they cannot do in their lives. Just like PAP in Singapore.

Saddened: Great leaders are not born. The honourable and wise ones learn from mistakes and pitfalls in the course of duty. A salute to Lim Guan Eng (LGE) for the spirit of good governance and transparency.

Mr KJ John: Apologising for genuine mistakes is an honourable thing. Well done, chief minister, and I hope it is infectious!

Fair&Just: Apologise and make sure the mistake will not be repeated - that is an honest and good government with the people's welfare at heart.

Very, very unlike the dastardly and corrupt regime of BN by just comparing the simple cases in the Audit Report on the purchase of highly overpriced merchandise by the BN government are repeated year after year, with no remedy and punishment taken against the offenders while the excuse is ignorance of the high pricing.

Any management study will teach you how to source and purchase efficiently and effectively.

Anonymous #69337042: No need to look far. The Malacca CM made a blunder on the Jonker Street closure, but has he admitted it was a mistake?

He and his ilk are still trying to twist and turn out of this fiasco. Anyway the whole lot of them are arrogant and stubborn to the core.

To them, admitting a mistake or failure and making an apology to the people is like scaling Mt Everest.

Pahatian: Who says that LGE is a braggart and an autocrat? When have you seen or heard an Umno-BN leader apologise openly as LGE has done?

They will try to cover up and in the end make it worse and still no apology is forthcoming. Way to go, Pakatan. You should have been the government of the day for the whole of Malaysia.

Lover Boy: This is true statesmanship by LGE and I strongly feel Jahara Hamid makes an excellent opposition leader.

With their experience in running the government, they can easily pick out any mistake by the ruling government. This also should happen in our House of Representatives. I say BN will make a great opposition and it will be soon.

Beranikrnbenar: The Penang CM has great humility towards everybody. This personality that money cannot buy is hard to find in a political world that is filled with arrogance and selfishness. Minority government, please learn from him, then you can talk about national reconciliation!

Kuchikoo: This is what democracy should be. Admit a mistake, apologise and make sure it is not repeated. I admire both the Penang state government and the Penang opposition. Both have shown maturity and sincerity. Federal government, don't be arrogant, look and learn from Penang.

HuarTag: All the while, where has democracy gone under the current government? Has Malaysia met real democracy? LGE admitted this is a mistake and next said action will be taken not to repeat it. Nothing is blurry here. A mistake, an apology. And this won't make a cloudy day, sir.

Vijay47: Lim Guan Eng did the right and expected thing by apologising for the question-and-answer issue and he did it unreservedly, without trying to make excuses. In fact, LGE acknowledged that ultimately, he as chief minister was responsible for the error.

By the same token, the opposition leader Jahara is equally to be admired and appreciated. She immediately accepted the apology and moved on with the business of the assembly rather than making the usual song and dance about a simple mistake, offering also certain suggestions which would certainly make assembly sessions more effective and meaningful.

Can we hope that both responses will be emulated in Parliament and other assemblies? That may be wishful thinking, since Umno is not known to saying sorry for even its most grievous of faults.

How sad that the Penang situation is merely the swallow that does not herald the arrival of summer. In the rest of the country, we are still in the grip of a bitter winter.

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