EVERY Malaysian Prime Minister (PM) has had a tagline that they sought to define their administration. During Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s first tenure, it was “Wawasan 2020 (Vision 2020)”. His successor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had “Islam Hadhari”.
Datuk Seri Najib Razak was known for his “1Malaysia” while Dr Mahathir chose “Malaysia Baharu” during his second premiership stint.
The country’s eighth PM Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin chose “Malaysia Prihatin” while his successor Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob who holds the record as Malaysia’s PM with the shortest tenure of 14 months opted for “Keluarga Malaysia”.
Perhaps of all the taglines, it is the current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s “Malaysia Madani” which most Malaysians find most difficult to understand and relate to.
Anwar introduced “Malaysia Madani” on Jan 19 last year – shortly after being sworn in as the country’s 10th Prime Minister (PMX). In a gist, Malaysia Madani focuses on six pillars, namely sustainability, prosperity, innovation, respect, trust and compassion.
There is no doubt that “Madani” is based on cherished ideals that a diverse and resource-rich country like Malaysia should possess. But taglines and slogans are only as good as their abilities to be relatable to the target audience.
In limbo over definition
The worst ones are those that make the audience wonder “What does the tagline mean?”. The truth is that till today, most Malaysians have little inkling about what Madani really is all about. One wonder if J-KOM (the Community Communications Department) – the much-touted propaganda machinery of the unity government – should be faulted in this regard.
In fact, this six-letter word has been lampooned and made fun of extensively online especially by those who do not have the faintest idea about the actual meaning of the tagline which is supposed to be the cornerstone of the Anwar administration.
Perhaps this is why Anwar’s political secretary Datuk Azman Abidin recently called on civil servants to promote the Malaysia Madani concept to ensure that it is better understood and appreciated among the public.
With the definition laced with bombastic Malay which is PMX’s trademark, it is highly doubtful that even the civil service understands what Madani is all about. If they themselves could not understand the significance of Madani, how then could we expect them to sell the idea to the populace?
Worse still, pushing the civil servants to promote ideals they only have a vague idea on may backfire if they get their facts wrong.
In this regard, the so-called Madani government should wake up to the reality that Malaysians are no longer easily taken in by sweet talk or catchy slogans. Most of us realise that these are nothing more than political posturing to ingratiate leaders to the people.
The truth is that Malaysians are not judges in a “creative slogan” contest. We want to see end results rather than which idea is packaged better. We want problems like costs of living, depreciating value of the ringgit, sliding national competitiveness, deteriorating standards of education and rising communal division resolved.
So instead of directing civil servants to pull up their socks in promoting Malaysia Madani, Azman should instead ask them to step up on resolving the peoples’ woes like those listed above.
It is when these public concerns are addressed that Malaysia Madani will live up to its promise and not the other way round. – Jan 23, 2024
