PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s “family concept” must be first implemented in Malaysia before its extension elsewhere.
In his recent inaugural speech at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, Ismail Sabri said that the necessity of togetherness or family is paramount in resolving world problems.
He added that the concept of one global family has its use in stemming the tide of COVID-19 or the problems which are rooted in the glaring economic differences between the wealthy, the middle-income and poor countries.
In fact, the sheer inability of the middle-income and poor countries in facing the menace of the pandemic, the procurement of the vaccines and others is rooted in social disparity.
But I wish to remind our Prime Minister that he is a leader of the racist Umno, the primary source of Malaysia’s social, cultural and economic problems.
In fact, even Ismail Sabri has his share of racial and bigoted utterances in the past. The much-touted ‘Malaysian Family’ concept might be convenient ploy to hide differences so that he would not be challenged at the Parliament.
The premier is only having a wafer-thin majority, which prompted him to sign a confidence and supply agreement (CSA) with Pakatan Harapan.
Essentially, this agreement says that in return for the reforms from the Government, Pakatan agreed to give breathing space for Ismail Sabri by not asking him to prove his majority at the Dewan Rakyat.
The pandemic and the need for economic stability were the reasons cited for the CSA. Whether the CSA holds or not will depend upon the Government undertaking the crucial reforms.
Although the agreement was signed to give the Government a breathing space, its longevity at least until the next general election cannot be taken for granted.
Bear in mind that the memorandum of understanding (MOU) does not mean the Pakatan ceases its role as the Opposition.
If the Government does not set a time frame for the reforms promised, the Opposition may have to deal with dissent within its ranks.
In fact, the move towards the CSA ending in the signing of the MOU was done with much reluctance, given the trust deficit.
To date, there is no major hitch to the CSA, but problems might crop up if differences are not managed.
Don’t take agreement for granted
The recent one was the crass imposition by the Finance Ministry (MOF) that an equity of 51% must be set aside for Bumiputra companies in the freight forwarding sector.
In other words, non-Bumiputra freight forwarding companies must give up 51% of their equity to Bumiputra companies if they want to get their customs licenses renewed.
Such a blatant and racist directive was a direct challenge to Ismail Sabri’s Malaysian Family concept and the CSA inked recently.
How could the prime minister talk about Malaysians being one great family when Government agencies are hell bent to discriminate Malaysians on racial lines to get business licenses?
Though the new rule was postponed, my question is what is the point of having a CSA with the Government, but when its agencies, particularly the MOF, is surreptitiously undermining the agreement with a blatant racist move to deprive non-Bumiputera the fruits of their hard work and sweat?
I hope the Opposition will bring this to Ismail Sabri’s attention and others in the Government. If there are more racist moves to come, then it would be difficult to sustain the CSA.
The CSA does not mean that the Opposition would close one eye to the misdeeds of the Government.
In general, Malaysians have always looked upon the Government to do right thing and not divide its “family members” using race and religion.
Only time will tell how far that the present Government will go with the Malaysian Family concept despite the deep ethnic and religious divisions.
It is perfectly alright for Ismail Sabri to preach about the family concept to the world but he must look at his own backyard first.
Until then, the prime minister should focus on bringing about reforms that was promised to Pakatan. Do not take the MOU for granted. – Sept 26, 2021
Ramasamy Palanisamy is the state assemblyperson for Perai. He is also Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
