IN recalling the moment he received a special broom “award” from the Selangor government in 2007, emotions got the better of newly appointed Kuala Lumpur Mayor Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan.

He said the award was given during his tenure in the Hulu Selangor District Council for being unable to meet its 40% tax collection target for 2006.

“When I was called to receive the broom from the then Selangor menteri besar (Mohamad Khir Toyo), I had just been promoted from the Federal Territories Ministry to the district as the Hulu Selangor M52 district officer in September 2007.

“The award was given in December 2007 for unsatisfactory tax collection of less than 40% in 2006. Receiving the broom was council president at that time, Tukiman Nail.

“Even though the award was for tax collection in 2006, before my time, I still felt responsible, and it remains a mark of shame for Barisan Nasional in Selangor,” Nor Hisham said after the handover ceremony for the Kuala Lumpur mayor post today.

Nor Hisham said after the episode, he tried to improve the tax collection and within two years, the hard work paid off and they received an award of excellence and RM100,000 gift from former Selangor menteri besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim in 2009.

“We (at the council) achieved more than 92% tax collection within two years, which was why we received the recognition from the state government,” he said.

Meanwhile, Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad said the incident encouraged Nor Hisham to do well.

“Even though he accepted the broom on behalf of others, it was a bitter experience and encouraged the local authorities to prove their ability and ‘prove them wrong’ in a short period of time,” he said.

Khir reportedly said that the broom award was not given out to humiliate local authorities but as motivation for them to “clean up” poor attitudes and negative practices and improve themselves.

Following the incident, Khir was criticised by various quarters, including the Congress of Union of Employees in the Public and Civil Services Malaysia (Cuepacs) as the move was seen as humiliating to civil servants. – Bernama, October 2, 2018