Would PM be able to do it?

Malaysia is going to celebrate the Malaysian Day tomorrow.

At this juncture, it is perhaps pertinent for us to reflect what the country should do to move forward again.

Even the PM is said to be ready to announce to the nation a whole basket-full of reform on ISA, freedom to assemble, freedom of speech and laws relatng to the media.

I think this is about the last chance for PM to really exert himself to change if he does not want to be a seat warmer.

He has famously said, and I agree with him on this, that the government needs to change or be changed.

Before bersih, the chance of being changed seems remote; after Bersih, anything seems possible.

He has put forward his 1Malaysia idea after taking over. But as it was not well defined, different sectors of the populace has interpreted this in different ways. Likewise, politicians with their own ulterior motives are using their own interpretation of 1Malaysia to play up race and religion — leading to a more and more polarised society.

I hope that he has realised that trying to please all parties just would not do. Announcing something that is pleasing to the ears to the middle ground and then flipfloping on encountering certain resistance from the right wingers just won’t do; in fact , it is harming his own rating.

The perception has been that he is a PM that is trying to please all sides, speaking different things to different audiences, and singing different tunes at different times. But in a society that needs strong leadership to push certain unpleasant policies through, this just would not do.

What the country urgently needs now is a real resolve to tackle corruption.  So far, corruption is perceived to have gone worse,  despite charging a TUN and a former MB.  But to be seen to have a real resolve to tackle corruption, he must lead by example. I have been told that projects are marked up at least 30% because of the leakages and wastage. If these 30% can be reduced to 5% (the levels  said to be prevailing  in the 80s), it would indeed be  big savings, and our budget deficits could have been much reduced or even reversed.

If this can be achieved, then we would have a bigger cushion to fight inflation. Government could postpone the implementation of the GST and could have more options  to introduce economic packages to help the lower income groups.

For the middle ground, the government should do away with the archaic ruling in the Police Act that requires permit for any gathering of 5 persons or above. This was made during the time of Emergency, when we were fighting communism; the world has evolved so much that this restriction on gathering is no longer acceptable.  Peaceful demonstration should be allowed since this is a form of freedom of expression,and the Police force should be more concerned about managing traffics and preventing outside interference in such ‘demos’ rather than trying to break them up and arrest people indiscriminately.  Doing that would not endear the government to the people; it would only have the opposite effect.

Press freedom is of course very important, as this blog has time and again calls on  the government to abolish the Printing Press and Publications Act.  News media have a big role to play in ensuring good governance, as well as provide valuable feedback to the policy makers. In fact, news media should be considered the fourth pillar of democracy, with the same importance as that of Legislative, executive and judicial branches of the government.

To the lay person,  the so-called Joe-6-pack, the most important thing is to ensure that there is economic growth and that this growth can be translated to a higher disposable income. Perhaps some of the taxes should be reviewed, and in this aspect, plugging leakages and wastage would enable the government to have a bigger maneuverability.

To ensure a good economic growth, a more level playing fields and certain degree of meritocracy must be introduced. This must be done over the objections of right wing groups like Perkasa. When there is a good economic progress, all ethnic groups regardless of colour and race would benefits.. However, the restrictive policies as a result of the skewing of the NEP has made the country less competitive. This loss of competitiveness is the main reason why we are still in the middle income trap while others have gone ahead.

These would be the basic few steps that PM should adopt and implement if he wants to jump start his administration and gain the lost ground. But it would do more harm than good to him, if he announces all these but in the end fails to deliver any of his promises. It would be Pak Lah all over again, and in that case, a change in government can no longer be ruled out.

This post is also published in MalaysianInsider under the title “Change or be changed”.