General Surayud Chulanont might want to compare his ageing Cabinet members to time-tested ginger with the stinging effect it has on those who chew it. He believes that members of his Cabinet, like himself, still have a lot of fire in their bellies and are determined to serve the country at this time of pressing need.

After four months in office, not only have we learned to use the word "ginger" - to refer to ageing people who still have much potential - but other terms, such as "neutral gear", or the "N" position in a car's transmission, are now being used to mock those who remain inactive despite their important positions.

"Old Ginger" has become rather disappointing when judged against its serious mission. A sense of urgency can hardly be detected in the way they go about performing their daily duties in office. They mostly seem to be gingerly moving about just to cope with the routine. Fresh initiatives in public policy have been lacking.

This is no surprise. Most, if not all, of the Cabinet members were retired civil servants in their own respective fields - people with a tight frame of mind, or a strong mind-set derived from their long years in bureaucracy and officialdom. That also includes a long period of subservience under regulations and bureaucratic hierarchy.

Play it safe until the last day in office. No need to ruffle feathers. This seems to be the unspoken directive guiding all of the Old Ginger Cabinet. Why should they want to do something, even when it is required of them in the line of duty, to antagonise politicians and jeopardise their retirement years?

Throughout their civil service careers, they were not accustomed to rubbing people the wrong way or going out of their way to challenge colleagues, let alone their superiors. Official regulations and tradition required them to toe the line drawn by their bosses, who could all have held different attitudes and preferences in life. At times, principles and good conscience had to be compromised for the sake of an uninterrupted career path. Why should they worry when people in the bureaucracy do the same thing?

Instinct warned of this when Surayud listed his Old Ginger team and presented them to the people for approval. There was a strong sense of disappointment, together with dark jokes that the combined ages of those in the Cabinet numbered in the thousands of years. Then came the chief's retort about Old Ginger being able to dilute the effects of negative sentiment.

Optimists were prepared to wait for all members of Old Ginger to prove their worth. With a few exceptions at the Justice and the Information and Communications Technology ministries, most members of Old Ginger have lived up to the name, gingerly going about their days in office.

The chief was seen trying to prod team members into living up to public expectations, but without encouraging results. There have been serious errors in judgement on the part of the finance minister, resulting in self-inflicted injury to his credibility.

The chief gave the impression that he could not do the job of making the world understand the sufficiency economy theory and resorted to discrediting himself by appointing Somkid Jatusripitak, a long-time believer in the free-market economy, to do the job. That was a truly bizarre twist, so to speak.

A public uproar forced Somkid to quit the post after a few days, saving Surayud in the process from those who were dismayed by his poor judgement.

As of now, it is still difficult to measure what solid achievements the Old Ginger team has made. After watching the performance, one is left with the unmistakable impression that many members of the team do not have any sense of purpose. Most prefer the role of chair warmers.

There was obviously no common goal or commitment. If the chief is disappointed by the lack of concrete results, he has not shown it. After all, he handpicked most, if not all, of the Old Ginger bunch.

The chief shows us that small talk and superfluous statements are not his strong point. He is a man of few words - a stark contrast with his predecessor, who excelled in the art of emitting hot air to please the naive.

The overall situation is not getting better. Economic figures continue to show a declining trend. By now, there should be no surprise over the lacklustre performance. Members of the Old Ginger crew obviously do not like to be team players. Each would rather pursue personal goals with odd policy issues in a rather untimely manner.

It's time for Old Ginger to shape up and show that they have spines and stop going about their work in such a gingerly manner. The chief should lead, and also be aware that there is a serious risk to the public's perception of his character. His clout and reputation for competence could be replaced by growing doubt over the quality and credibility of his leadership.

Thaksin, now in forced in exile abroad, might have lost hope of coming back and regaining political ground, if not his old position.

His opportunity for success would only be possible through a miserable failure on the part of the Old Ginger team, with the chief being mostly to blame.

Sopon Ongkara