THE debate at the Dewan Negara on the MySejahtera issue late on Thursday is a heartwarming and inspiring example of how well-functioning Parliament can be if everyone is focused on serving the people, rather than serving party politics.
To begin with, it was the health minister himself, having been inundated by angry questions from the anxious public and their representatives, who requested to speak on the matter in the Senate. And, having judged it to be a definite matter of public importance and urgency, the Senate president consented to the motion being tabled within just days of the request.
When the time came for the debate, the health minister not only did not palm off the responsibility to a deputy (or worse, a cabinet colleague from a completely unrelated ministry), he also turned up before the debate began and sat through all of the speeches until his turn came to respond.
During the debate, a dozen senators stood up in turn, not to bat the contentious issue back and forth among themselves, but rather one way at the health minister.
There was no heckling or barracking and no time wasting. After the senators raised their issues, the minister stood up and answered their questions as best he could. It was all most civilised. The Senate was an august house indeed.
It is ironic that it is people who are appointed to serve, rather than elected, who can do such a mature job of representing the people's interests.
The Senate's proceedings on Thursday highlight that Malaysia's Parliament need not resemble a nursery school — as we have frustratingly and heartbreakingly become accustomed to seeing in the Dewan Rakyat.
Perhaps it helped that the MySejahtera debacle is an issue that concerns all Malaysians equally.
For since everyone (save for a handful of holdouts) is a registered MySejahtera user, everyone has an equal opportunity to be affected by a failure in data security — whether prince or pauper, there are no class protections in this case.
It was also good that the minister was able to clarify that, despite the paucity in legal assurances, data security and its management had been included in the non-disclosure agreement between the government and the originating app developer. So not everything is a disaster after all.
It is uncertain whether the minister was able to assure the senators completely, but after a lengthy answer session, he was permitted to sit down.
Hopefully, all issues will be scrutinised by the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee when it summons the health and finance ministers for its enquiry into the matter.
For the fact still remains that there was no contract, and it wasn't until the change in ministers last year that a need for one was discovered. But such matters of national and fiscal importance should not be left to chance and should never be allowed to happen again.
Malaysia is still seeing out the 100-year Malaysia-Singapore agreement it signed more than 60 years ago guaranteeing water supply for a pittance and without a clause for rate revisions. And let us not forget Malaysia Airlines Bhd's previous 25-year food catering agreement, which locked the national flag carrier to one catering company for a quarter century at exorbitant rates for incommensurate quality.
A well-thought out contract, stitched in time, would ensure that Malaysia does not end up on the losing end. Never again?