Rightly or wrongly, the core of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak’s efforts to reform Malaysia’s economy and kickstart once again its efforts to gain developed nation status by 2020, is now symbolized by the 100-storey Warisan Merdeka tower that has been proposed in the 2010 budget.

To the analysts who examined his budget proposals, as well as other programmes that have been proposed such as the Economic Transformation Programme and the New Economic Model, mega construction projects seem to be the area that he is putting his (rather, the country’s) money on. Where the structural, policy changes proposed in the NEM have met stiff opposition from his own political party, and TDM, his latest proposals to spend big earned plaudits from them.

However, while the budget that DSN proposed is the largest ever in Malaysia’s history, there is no accompanying blueprint on how to harness the anticipated increase in economic benefits in order to re-shape the structure of Malaysia’s economy to survive and even thrive in the new economic landscape that is taking shape right now. It seems that DSN has just thrown what in American football is termed as a “hail Mary pass”—a huge gamble for a huge payoff but with little basis other than hope and prayer.

Even to an untrained man-on-the-street like me, the idea that all we need to do is to build and they will come, is naive at best. But obviously DSN is not an untrained man-on-the-street and neither are his advisors. I very much doubt that they actually believe that these mega projects are the solution to Malaysia’s long-term economic problems. Rather, I suspect that since real and much needed reform has met with resistance, short-term distractions, while costly, have been proposed to buy the PM some time.

In the meantime, Malaysia’s resources, and options, grow less and less as politicians play political games. Already, apart from property development, Malaysians are less and less inclined to invest in Malaysia. The education system, tinkered to meet vested interests rather than to equip future generations for competition in a global economy, is producing a generation without the skills and mindset to lead the country into the future. The judiciary increasingly looks like a tool of politicians, focused on emasculating political opponents and protecting friendly parties rather than sustaining a reputation for fair and impartial judgements, which is essential for business confidence. And the population seems determined to defend narrow communal interests rather than unite for the greater good of everyone.

How does a 100-storey tower address these critical problems?

When I first heard the phrase “Towering Personalities”, introduced by the previous Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, I thought it was a rather quaint way to describe what I think was simply good leaders. In Malaysia’s case however, there seems to be the mistaken idea that good leaders build towers. What I dread most however, is the example in the Bible, where after the building of a tower the people were irreversibly divided.

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