AHMAD A.TALIB:
Punctuality should be part of KPI

2009/11/08

TRAFFIC jams suck. We all know that.

On Friday, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed got stuck in the middle of a traffic jam in the city.

Mind you, Mustapa, is very particular about being punctual for his appointments, but the notorious Friday evening jam in Kuala Lumpur spares no one

Mustapa simply got out from his official car and walked to his destination, the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Jalan Sultan Ismail.

It can be embarrassing when the VIP or guest of honour arrives late for a function he has agreed to grace.

I remember one such occasion where the VIP made guests wait for more than an hour. He offered some lame excuse and proceeded as if he had done nothing wrong.

Then, there was this VIP who arrived so late for a golf game at the Saujana Golf Resort. The other golfers, chairmen and chief executive officers of top companies, waited, suffering in silence.

The tee-off had to be delayed and when the VIP finally arrived, he could only join the game at the back nine, which meant he played only nine holes.

He attended the lunch and gave away the prizes.

Mind you, golfers are particular about tee-off times and other etiquette of the game. But I guess this does not apply to powerful VIPs. Sad, actually.

Back to Mustapa, who had agreed to officiate the Malaysian Business-CIMA enterprise governance award-presentation ceremony on Friday.

As he was inching along Jalan Sultan Ismail, the minister, as a matter of courtesy, informed the organisers that he would be "a little late".

This enabled the organisers to proceed with serving refreshments and carrying on with the other less serious part of the proceedings.

The guests became restless. A few had already left, but a good majority stayed back.

Mustapa, with coat in hand and sweating, walked briskly into the hotel lobby. He wasted no time and took to the rostrum and apologised.

The guests were not aware that he had actually taken to the road to keep his appointment until the emcee told them.

Mustapa was duly applauded. He was seen grinning from ear to ear, his reputation intact.

A former member of parliament from Kedah, Datuk Rosnah Majid, commented that she had seen VIPs paying scant attention to punctuality, much to her embarrassment because it involved foreign guests and businessmen.

One exception, she said, was the Sultan of Kedah. When an event stipulates that he should arrive at a particular time, the sultan arrives right on the dot or even earlier.

Wasn't there a similar occasion a few years ago when the sultan also got out from his car and walked to the Alor Star Stadium for a Malaysia Cup football final?

Such is the sultan's discipline.

Of course, everyone still talks about former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's discipline.

Many a host turned Michael Schumacher when told that Dr Mahathir had arrived at the venue on time.

Datuk Seri Najib Razak is also good at keeping time.

When the No. 1 is on time, the rest had better be. It should be part of the key performance index.

The writer is also a blogger at ahmadatalib.blogspot.com and can be reached at ahmadt51@gmail.com

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