It was reported in The Star that Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak marvelled at the pace China is reforming and how 'focused' the Chinese are.

He is also reported to have quoted the late Deng Xiaoping: 'Whether a cat is black or white makes no difference. As long as it catches mice, it is a good cat."

I can only hope he can convince his Umno brethren the essence of this simple principle. Brown cat, yellow cat or black cat, as long as it catches mice, it is a good cat.

This should be the guiding principle in the search of a new CEO for MAS. And so it should be in tackling the many failures of our government-linked companies GLCs.