Resigned Due To Failure To Reform

PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Zaid Ibrahim will not change his mind about quitting as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, saying he has failed to reform the legal system.

He said he constantly met “a brick wall” from Cabinet members and Umno to many of his suggestions for reform.

The former de facto Law Minister, who remains a Senator, added he did not want problems arising from his proposals to plague Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at a time when the latter was grappling with party conflicts and other challenges.

Zaid thanked Abdullah for suggesting he go on leave but said: “I am not tired. I’m just disappointed.” More

Pak Lah's response:

If he is adamant, let him resign. In performing the duties of a minister, there are bound to be problems and difficulties and you have to be patient.

”It is not easy to do something or make changes.

The Government will continue, it does not depend on any one particular person to the extent that it will fall or be weak

The situation here is very similar to what has transpired as of late to myself as well. Since taking position as the Chairperson early 2008, I've being trying to push for reforms in the way our church do things. Some of the things I have pushed for includes but not limited to; A thinner layer of top level management in the church, more ministry focus subgroups for each services, more transparency in decision makings, more ministries directed at reaching out to the community, more systematic approach to cater new friends or members into our church, more systematic small group ministries to handle growth both in terms of quantity & quality, better financial control for the church and more accountability to the members of church.

Some of the things have so far "succeeded", some has of course met with "brick walls". Not so much externally but mainly internally. I guess human instinct is a no-no for change.

One of the reasons for my resignation is also because of my failure to bring reform to our church. In fact, seeing things getting worse by the day just widen the gaps between myself & the "walls". At last, I've decided to resign to make life a lot easier for those who don't wish to see any reforms.

Surely, reforms is a very long & tiring process. However, without co-workers, it's impossible. Co-workers means those who have the same vision, same ideas and going on the same direction. The methods can varies (more creativity) but the principle must remain the same. If co-workers are defined as those who "work with you" or "sitting on the same table", then those are just ships on their own. Still not on the same ship together.

Sometimes people misunderstood me as I'm trying to reform the Christians way of life. For example, love one another, caring to the community, etc. They think that I don't agree to these things. In their mind, I'm a person who is willing to sacrifice the good things to do the right things (by any means necessary). However, poor communication or prejudice has caused troubles among us. What I'm trying to do is not so much on an individual basis, but rather on a organizational level. I'm saying this could be a better way to run the church to be more effective. At the same time, I didn't mean Christians shouldn't be doing what they should be doing. Understand? I fully agree to Christians loving each other, caring the needs, the power of prayers, etc. In fact, those who have worked together with me knows that I prioritize all these above all. However, as the groups get bigger, we need to do things in a more systematic & managed ways.

Sometimes, one have to wonder, why the bad guys always seems to be united than the good guys? Just look at some example, the war against terrorism; The terrorists, regardless of which groups or clans they are from are able to put their differences aside and do what they think is the noble thing to do. The different denominations of Christian churches; they are not able to co-exists together! Keep arguing about their denomination as greater or superior than others. sad but true. Has the ego of being right taken over the importance of unity? Has unity compromised the right thing to do? It's always not easy to find the balance.....Patience is the key.

However, patience without taking steps forward is a meaningless wait. Patience without listening to wise counsel is idling.

How much longer will people need to realize reform is inevitable?