I like what Datuk Zaid Ibrahim said in a speech at a function in Batu Pahat yesterday. In a report by The Malaysian Insider, Zaid was quoted to have called upon PR to stand together with BN on issues that needed to be resolved.
“A show of unity would send the right signal that elected representatives are the ones who decide on policies for the rakyat and not some theologian or bureaucrat.
“I believe the opposition must support the government when it is good for the people,” he said.
It makes sense to support initiatives that are good for Malaysia, regardless of the source of those initiatives. It tells everyone that you really care about Malaysia and Malaysians, to the extent of giving credit to your opponents for good policies. Politics that is all about winning is bad politics.
BN’s tacit tolerance, at best, and blatant fanning, at worst, of racial sentiments for political mileage is politics at its worst. Sometimes I think they would rather destroy the essence of Malaysia (a unique blend of diverse cultures practiced in peace and harmony) just to keep on winning. What good would it be to rule a country decimated by racial strife? Somehow they have given up on the idea that if they do what is good for the country and allow each community the freedom and opportunity to thrive, they have no reason to fear the opposition.
The PM’s 1Malaysia however, deserves support, even if, as I think, it is mere sloganeering. His efforts to move away from the NEP deserves support, even though I think that ultimately he will not have the political courage to resist the fierce opposition from TDM. Much of the complaints about the PM’s efforts, including the most recent Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), is the perceived lack of political will. I don’t pretend to understand the ETP. From what the Opposition have said about it, the assumptions that arise from it are not consistent with reality and the expenditure that it requires will hobble national purse strings even more. But the biggest question asked of it is whether the political will exists, and will be sustained, to see through this ambitious agenda which will require the effort and cooperation of all communities.
As Don Amache wrote in an article in The Malaysian Mirror,
Talk is cheap but the walk needs plenty of doing and more undoing. It is the
implementation that the nation needs.
Will there be obstacles under the guise of ‘regulating the industry’ to
protect individual interests?
Will there be open and transparent tenders and can dissent be dealt with
without being threatened by imprisonment?
Will areas like the corruption index, the judiciary, public security be
addressed in this prophetic vision for the next decade?
To be effective, one has to have in place outstanding individuals who have
the integrity, tenacity, knowledge and skills to run the programmes
professionally.
Discrimination in the civil service, wrong selection of people, nepotism and
corruption need to be first addressed before the seeds of the visionary ETP
can begin to germinate.
If these pebbles in the shoe are not resolved, no amount of planning,
proposing or defining can work.
My response is simple: do we want the ETP to succeed in its aim to kickstart the economy by making the private sector the main engine of future growth? Or do we prefer Najib to fail. Right now he is the PM. And this is his plan. And for the next few years it is this or nothing. Perhaps it is a bad plan, and we should reject it because doing nothing is better than implementing a bad plan. But let us not reject initiatives merely because we doubt the credentials, or motives, or will, of those who initiate. Instead we can embrace these plans, participate in their implementation and do our best to ensure that Malaysia will emerge the better.
This, I believe, is far better than the example set by the likes of our Deputy Prime Minister and Ibrahim Ali who proudly announce their agenda by stating that they are guided first by their allegiance to their race (DPM), the Agung (IA), and then only to their country. Their inability to articulate the fact that the malays can only benefit when the whole country advances in unity, and that the Agung counts as his subjects both malays and non-malays, muslims and non-muslims, and has a responsibility to safeguard the welfare of all, establishes their failure as leaders and true politicians. Ultimately everyone should unite because we are all in the same boat. No one benefits when the boat sinks. This is a truth that BN has continually failed to articulate in their divide and rule madness to cling on to power.
A report on the launch of the ETP had this to say:
Keeping up public confidence in a country wracked by divisive racial and political debates appeared to be the main concern of Pemandu chief executive officer Datuk Seri Idris Jala who today implored Malaysians to maintain their faith in the country.
He said it was important to have “positive energy” and believe in the country in order to give confidence to investors.
“If there is no hope for the future, there is no power in the present,” said Idris.
Malaysia will fail if we treat everything as I-win-you-lose situations. Perhaps we can make a slogan into a reality, even if it is not our slogan. Perhaps we can give the PM the political base to make decisions that are unpopular within his own party. And perhaps we can take the ambitious ETP and make the best of its plans work. But if we reject everything, if we play the same game as BN, we set ourselves up for failure.
The Micah Mandate is a Christian-based public interest advocacy ministry that seeks a transformation of our nation through justice, mercy and humility.
