SPEAKING of the future of Malaysia, given limited time, in not so many but weighty and powerful words, Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim talked about widespread corruption and the so-called “tummy economy”, the people’s livelihood pressing issues, such as rising cost of living, affordable healthcare, affordable housing, the quality of education and quality employment.
And he has suggested the pathway towards resolving these issues, among others, include eradicating corruption, establishing standards for correct management with proper accountability and integrity and getting rid of identity politics as time has changed.
Note that former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak did not once mention this, likely, because racial/identity politics remain central to Barisan Nasional / UMNO’s narrative to appeal to its political support base. Therefore, the concept of a more “inclusive” Malaysia, or “1Malaysia”, or “Keluarga Malaysia” are mere empty rhetoric.
In striking contrast to Anwar, Najib came with the “relict solutions” that have brought Malaysia down to its knees in the first place and, if anything, contributed more to the problem than solved it.
He spoke a lot about the necessity to continue investing in big infrastructure projects —“making the cake bigger”, which, as Anwar immediately countered, is to be “enjoyed only by a few elites amongst politicians and their cronies”.
Making the “cake bigger” reflects the overused rhetoric of the high-income advanced economy, whereby there are two overarching issues which are
- How the cake is grown, i.e. legally, ethically, etc., and
- How the increased size of the cake is shared/cut to ensure better equitable sharing of wealth?
Also, times have changed rapidly since 2016, together with the advancement of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). With the advancement of 4IR, no one is talking anymore about the economies of scale and big infrastructure projects — those are dinosaur relict terms!
Instead, the focus now is all on micro, lean, small, agile, start-ups — all coming together like pieces of one puzzle into a thriving ecosystem. Najib is unable to grasp this neither during his tenure nor now. Thus, many resources were wasted while missing properly embarking on 4IR and leaving Malaysia clueless with only one well-entrenched and thriving ecosystem —corruption ecosystem in the form of cartels everywhere, anywhere.
Najib claimed in the debate that during the time of his administration, Gini coefficient had been reducing, while two months into Pakatan Harapan (PH) Gini coefficient had increased.
We must understand that the Gini coefficient, calculated based on income and its distribution, is an indicator lagging behind the overall national industry development.
And to evaluate Malaysia’s industry development based on available data, during Najib’s tenure, foreign direct investment (FDI) as a per cent of GDP, value added by industry as a per cent of GDP, and economic growth forecast have all been in a declining trend.
M’sia falling behind for decades
Export as a per cent of GDP fell from 91.42% (in 2009) to 68.56% (in 2018). Youth unemployment and underemployment have been on an increasing trend. Our Global Innovation Index has been in permanent steep decline since 2013. Our technical skills and talents have been stagnant or even deteriorating over the last few years. Not to mention the ballooning Government debt throughout Najib’s administration. The list goes on.
So, not surprisingly, we saw the GINI coefficient increase by the time Pakatan took over. This is not to say, though, that Pakatan has not contributed to the problems faced by Malaysia.
All in all, public debates between political leaders are good. However, there must be a debate motion, and there must be a resolution in the best interest of the rakyat.
Also, why was the public not allowed to express their opinion in real-time, as the debate takes place in our time of advanced technologies? Why do we only hear two choreographed questions from a probably carefully selected audience?
Also, how about real-time fact-checking for all the points stated in the debate, as more developed and democratic economies do?
And yes, 1MDB took a backseat in this debate though it is the single largest kleptocracy and/or corruption case of the world, with many have been convicted including Najib for the grandiose theft of the nation.
Najib’s team was clever enough to put a condition that all ongoing cases in the court be excluded in the debate.
Anwar should have instead spoken about Tim Leissner and Roger Ng’s conviction, not forgetting the Falcon Private Bank that was shut down in Singapore as a result of this grand theft!
Nevertheless, there is also good news, which is people’s reaction to all of this. The rakyat has deciphered all of these events correctly, and their reaction was correct — an avalanche of anger, disgust, resentment, and infuriation that even Najib’s paid cyber-troopers cannot combat.
And the rakyat needs to keep this momentum of being angry enough to close the Overton window of opportunity for kleptocrats, with their relict policies in the forthcoming election and finally set Malaysia on the path of progressiveness and proper economic sense.
Dr Rais Hussin is the CEO of EMIR Research, an independent think tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based on rigorous research.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
