I had written complaints against ministers who attend functions and expected to be treated like sultans which they are not.

They insist on being accompanied by a traditional Malay dance group with music and bunga manggar from the moment they get to the venue all the way to their seat in the hall, where everybody is supposed to stand up until they sit.

This practice costs a lot of money since the welcoming group had to be paid, or if they are members of a group from the ministry concerned, then they are still considered to be working even though the function is at night.

The Indians and the MIC, meanwhile, like to put large garlands around the necks of their dignitaries which cost too much. The money could be used for other purposes.

Worse, from what we can see, ministers seem to spend or waste a lot of time reading speeches written by their staff, speeches of which - most of the time - they do not know the contents. Yet, the media often quotes them.

If indeed they wanted to release anything to the media, why can't they just release the statement directly to them without having to take up so much time reading it out in public and not getting the right response?

Worse, many ministers and their deputy give speeches on national and even international issues before people deep in the rural areas who hardly know what they are talking about.

It is good that the Pakatan Rakyat state executive council members are not repeating what their Barisan Nasional counterparts have become good at - making speeches everywhere.

The functions of the ministers and their deputies have not been defined. So it is time that they are defined so they know what is expected of them.

First, I wish to suggest that they are given the tasks being the heads of think-tanks that the ministries are, so it is their duty to find the best qualified persons in the respective industries to give their views. These views the ministers and the deputies will take to the cabinet.

In the film industry, the minister and his deputy have all not been known to be industry-friendly - they do not mix with the best qualified persons in the industry to get interesting and intelligent views from them.

And it is also more interesting how we find ministers and deputy ministers sent from one ministry to another and who immediately think they are experts in their new ministry whereas they have not had proper training or experience.

Sometimes, I don't blame the ministers and their deputies; they are encouraged by the media to talk on specific subjects. The media takes the easy way out by choosing not to find better views from the real experts who are not in government.

In this regard, the media must play a new role in nation-building and not think too highly of these elected officers whose duty is purely to manage their ministries as administrators and not perform as experts.

And why are the wives of ministers and their deputies being 'given' official functions to perform? Some of them like to take their wives to their official functions where they do not belong.

Worse, male ministers and their deputies take their wives along on foreign trips but female ministers and their deputies do not take along their husbands on foreign government-sponsored trips.

This practice, therefore, has to stop, so that the wives are not seen to be messing around in their husband's official duties.