Something WIQD this way comes?
Recent resignations highlight need for clarity and transparency
TRY to keep yourself free on April 27 next year. It’s Save the Frogs Day. Yes, there is such a thing.
Billed as the “world’s largest day of amphibian education and conservation action”, Save the Frogs Day is said to be the brainchild of the scientific community “in an effort to raise awareness of the plight of amphibians”.
First celebrated in 2009, the annual event is slated at the end of April mainly because that’s when frogs in the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere are active.
The point is, every good cause deserves its own day, or better yet, its own week, month, year or even decade.
The United Nations and the organisations under its umbrella have a string of observances every year. Several are familiar to most of us, such as International Women’s Day (March 8), Universal Children’s Day (Nov 20), World Environment Day (June 5) and World AIDS Day (Dec 1).
Among the rest are a few esoteric but no less worthy ones: Day of the Seafarer (“recognising the invaluable contribution seafarers make to international trade and the world economy, often at great personal cost to themselves and their families”), World Post Day (the anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union), and International Mountain Day (which aims to “raise awareness about the relevance of mountain forests and the role they play within a Green Economy as well as in climate change adaptation measures”).
Apparently, some observances need more time to make an impact. Hence, we have World Breastfeeding Week, International Week of Science and Peace, and Disarmament Week.
And did you know that 2012 is both International Year of Cooperatives and International Year of Sustainable Energy for All? And that last year was the start of the Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, UN Decade on Biodiversity and Decade of Action for Road Safety?
Despite this heavy schedule of activities, the UN should consider introducing another international observance in light of events this week. There ought to be a World “I Quit” Day (WIQD, pronounced as wicked).
Between Monday and Wednesday, a series of high-profile resignations have highlighted a few issues that arise when a key figure leaves an organisation, particularly when the reasons provided for the exit are vague or questionable.
On Monday, British-born financier Nat Rothschild didn’t just step down quietly from the board of Bumi plc, a coal mining group he had co-founded and that’s now grappling with allegations of financial and other irregularities.
His letter to the chairman was made available to the press and in it, Rothschild made scathing remarks about Indonesia’s Bakrie family, his partners in Bumi. He directs his displeasure at the family’s proposal to buy back assets they had previously injected into Bumi.
Rothschild accuses the Bumi board of not protecting the interests of minority shareholders, and offers himself as their champion. “I am determined to fight for my fellow investors and can do that better from outside the tent,” he wrote.
However, a Financial Times journalist disputes Rothschild’s attempt to cast himself in the role of activist investor. In the newspaper’s website, Neil Hume points out that when Rothschild was facilitating the reverse takeover that resulted in Bumi today, it was highly unlikely that he had not known about the Bakries’ track record for giving loans to affiliated companies and doing leveraged deals.
Hume labels Rothschild latest statements and actions as “some fairly low-grade PR”.
There were two headline-making resignations on Tuesday. The first was that of Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit, and the other was that of European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy John Dalli.
The press release announcing the changes at Citigroup was typically bland and safe. “Given the progress we have made in the last few years, I have concluded that now is the right time for someone else to take the helm at Citigroup,” it quoted Pandit as saying.
Of course, that didn’t stop the media from reporting that his departure was after he had clashed with the board over performance and strategy.
The announcement of Dalli’s resignation didn’t skirt around the fact the European Union’s anti-fraud office is investigating a complaint that a Maltese entrepreneur had used his contacts with Dalli, who’s also from Malta, to try to gain financial advantages.
The statement from the European Commission says Dalli rejected the findings of the probe and he “decided to resign in order to be able to defend his reputation and that of the Commission”.
On Wednesday, it was Lance Armstrong’s turn to quit amid mounting controversy. Dogged by a doping scandal that threatens to erase his legacy as a great road racing cyclist, he resigned as chairman of Livestrong, a cancer support foundation he founded.
He says he left “to spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career”.
It was also on Wednesday that Corporate Malaysia had a newsworthy board resignation. Actually, it was one guy, Edwards John Richard, quitting as executive director of three interlinked listed companies–Kluang Rubber Co (Malaya) Bhd, Kuchai Development Bhd and Sungei Bagan Rubber Co (Malaya) Bhd.
Richard, a British lawyer, joined the companies last December. Bursa Malaysia’s listing rules demand that a reason be given when a director resigns. His reason in all three cases: “Differences in approach.”
At the same time, Richard also declares that he has no disagreement with the boards of directors and that there are no matters that need to be brought to the attention of the shareholders.
It’s situations like these that cry for WIQD, a day to raise awareness of the importance of clarity and transparency when a key officer resigns from an organisation.
Stakeholders are entitled to know the circumstances behind the departure. There are always push factors when somebody quits, especially if it seems that he hasn’t done so to move to greener pastures.
Also, resignations shouldn’t be used as gambits to draw sympathy, mislead people or gain the upper hand in negotiations.
It’ll be great if the UN or anybody else takes the lead in pushing for WIQD. The top guys are expected to be forthright and professional, even when they’re about to walk away. Or is that too big a leap to make for non-amphibians?
Executive editor Errol Oh is glad that last month, the UN General Assembly proclaimed June 1 the Global Day of Parents. But what will happen to Mother’s Day and Father’s Day?