Congratulations to the new office bearers of the Malaysian Oil & Gas Services Council (MOGSC to friends) session 2010-2012. I look forward to better times for the industry in general and me in particular as the new line up steers us into the economic recovery period. As it was my first time attending the AGM on 22nd April, 2010 (we finally pawned our photocopier to pay for the membership fees), here are my thoughts.
Let’s open with a disturbing one. The nomination list was provided in the AGM package that was sent out. According to MOGSC rules, no further nominations could be accepted as the nomination period was closed.
So far, so good. However, on the day of the AGM, the Election Officer (was he appointed on the spot, or was he pre-selected?) asked THE FLOOR to vote on whether a new nomination for the Presidency candidate, which was received during the AGM itself, was to be accepted. Only one member stood up and questioned the legality of this move. In the end, as the psuedo-candidate wasn’t around (it was his staff who represented him), the Election Officer decided that the new nomination to be null and void.
Too bad, if that nomination was accepted, I would have thrown my own hat into the ring. And if this was a political election, it would have made front page news (“Election Officer ignores Constitution, Crowd Sources a Decision.”)
Okay, new topic. I thought the use of coloured slips to indicate which position the vote is for is unique. I would have put some tracking numbers on the top to ensure individuality, or at least a stamp indicating authenticity. With camera phones, you could have snapped a photo, got someone in KLCC to purchase the same colour slips, and voila, rigged election.
Speaking of rigged, why were there so many people round the counting table? During the counting for Exco members, I counted 9 people round the table. If you allow for 1 election officer and 2 scrutineers, that means 6 people were counting votes from about 80 representatives. Too many, wouldn’t you say?
Oh, and to vote, the election officer required you to write the full name of the candidate on the slip. Most other voting processes require you to make a mark in a box, next to a picture of a box, a pencil, Barney, an 8008, whatever. So, I guess the election officer can decide what constitutes a ‘full name’ and accept or reject the vote?
I disliked the idea that the tally of the votes was written down on a board. This is meant to be a friendly vote. I don’t think the idea was to embarrass a candidate with insufficient support so that they will not be nominated again. Leave that to the political parties please, where crushing your opponent is a goal of the process.
And after all that, I hope that I won’t be banned from next year’s AGM. The food was just too good.
Posted by Wata 
Wata - Malaysian Oil and Gas Engineer 