“I do not subscribe to the doctrine that the people are the slaves and property of their government. I believe that government is for the use of the people, and not the people for the use of the government.” - Gerrit Smith
As a Malaysian, I've learnt to have very low expectations of our present administration and leaders, except that they should have intelligence above that of a parakeet and moral values above that of a snake. But even at this level, I may have set the bar far too high already. The current administration seems to be drunk with contempt for the intelligence of the rakyat and the rest of the world. The daily deluge of shameless and mindless communiqué emerging from Putrajaya is enough to propel this country into a perpetual global laughing stock.
As a catalyst to push the reputation of the country into further disrepute, we've a national news agency that is ever so eager to pander to the preposterous and the ridiculous. I suppose those who are accustomed to demanding respect from others as a right and a privilege will never put any effort into earning it, nor are they capable of according the same to others. The stillborn 1Malaysia programme has degenerated into nothing more than a cacophony of empty slogans and rhetoric. While the present leadership tries to masquerade itself as a multi-racial and tolerant administration capable of governing a diverse nation like Malaysia, with openness and fairness, in truth, it has openly allowed itself to succumb to its serpentine instinct to divide and rule the country via its proxies, Perkasa and Utusan Malaysia.
Both seem to be a local hangover from the Third Reich. Nevertheless, this blasé administration is unashamed to be caught committing political adultery with the fascists of its own making. Moreover, what we have here is an administration bent on means most foul in discounting the contributions of the other races in the development of this country, by engaging in intellectual dishonesty, through revisionist history. This is the same administration that has been preaching about justice for the Palestinians in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, yet has shown itself to lack the honesty in enforcing social justice and truthfulness at home.
Let the truth be told; without the contributions of the non-bumiputeras and its past colonial masters, this country would have only achieved a fraction of its present economic growth. In reality, 1Malaysia is nothing more than just a charade on parade. In trying to project itself as a unifying and democratic administration, that's exactly where it has failed miserably. While Malaysians are constantly treated to a fare of world class statesmanship by world leaders such as Barack Obama, Lee Myung-bak, Angela Merkel, Hu Jintao and many others, thanks to the Internet and television. Here, we've an antagonistic and dismissive Third-World administration, coupled with weak minded leadership that displays an utmost unwillingness to bridge the political divide. Instead, this administration is persistently engaging in wanton and shameless acts in seeking to undermine the Opposition state governments, with total disregard for the welfare and the will of the rakyat who voted them in.
Just as those who spoke up against slavery were accused of treason and sedition before slavery was finally abolished in 1833 throughout the British Empire, this administration is manufacturing charges of sedition against Opposition members when all they did was loosening the shackles of the rakyat and speaking up for the will of the rakyat. The constant trumpeting that Malaysia will be a high-income country by year 2020, that is, a country with a Gross National Income per capita of US$12,196 is akin to the peddling of snake oil by charlatans in the wild, wild West. The only marked difference is that this time around, the salesmen are adorned in tailored suits and expensive neckties. According to a study conducted by the Human Resources Ministry in 2009 on the National Employment Return, 33.8 percent of the 1.3 million workers covered in the study earned less than RM700 per month.
This places them below the poverty line of RM720 per month. Furthermore, a study by the World Bank revealed that the wage trend in Malaysia has gown only 2.6 percent annually over the last 10 years. Hallucinating from its own perceived grandeur, this administration is also trying to explain away, oblivious to the obvious truth, the 81 percent drastic decline in FDI, from US$7.32 billion (2008) to US$1.38 billion (2009). During the same period, about a quarter million of Malaysians have left its shores en masse, triggering an exodus of human capital of colossal proportion. With no concrete economic reforms in place to date, it ill behooves this administration to censure John Malott, the former US ambassador to Malaysia, for stating the inconvenient truth that this administration is guilty of thriving on fomenting ethnic conflicts, above much needed economic reforms. An independent judiciary and credible law enforcement agencies are crucial in attracting FDIs or any form of investments. Can we expect the same in Malaysia? The answer is a resounding negative.
Once an institution has tainted itself in exchange for political favours and other personal rewards, it is beyond redemption. As Gandhi aptly said, “There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other courts.” To have an array of foreign diplomats sitting in at the present Sodomy II trial is already an indictment by the international community that the Malaysian judiciary cannot be trusted to carry out natural justice. The elegant silence of the authorities over US$291 billion (2000 to 2008) in illicit capital flight bears testimony to the erosion of integrity within our Malaysian law enforcement agencies. One shudders to contemplate what the future holds for this country when the judiciary and the law enforcement agencies are the weakest links in our legal system, and yet are the most protected. A government can only lead effectively by example. If a government becomes the lawbreaker, it invites anarchy and breeds contempt for the law.
While Indonesia may rank lower than Malaysia in the Transparency International Corruption Index, recent efforts to eradicate corruption by the Indonesian government has won the country accolades and recognition internationally. Recently, the Norwegian government provided Indonesia with a grant of US$1 billion to fight global warming. Although the Malaysian prime minister had offered to cut greenhouse gases drastically at the climate change summit in Copenhagen in December 2009, till today no grant has been forthcoming from any donor country. It speaks volume when the leaderships of developed countries don't trust you with their money. With this administration, tax-payers should ask themselves seriously whether they are getting their value for money.
The real challenges confronting Malaysia is not just the middle-income trap or high commodity prices, but a government that has lost credibility at home and abroad. As with the likes of Mubarak and Gaddafi, this administration continues to be deluded by its own perceived invincibility while driving this country further into oblivion and possible bankruptcy. The only cure for a government with an acute narcissistic personality disorder is rejection though the ballot box. And so it shall.
