DEAR Prime Minister,

Congratulations on your appointment as leader of the nation. This is not an open letter because most open letters are ignored.

This is just a note from an ordinary person who understands that you have a mountain of problems ahead of you and a big mess to clear up.

With good advisers and appropriate actions, you can easily solve some of them and take away some happy moments.

There are many things you can do but can you do it? Some will be low-hanging fruits and others “ambil galah tolong jolokkan (go prod with a stick)”.

For quick wins you may be tempted to focus too much on details, reacting negatively to criticism and micromanaging.

Your ministers should be doing their job but those who are inexperienced should practice “ambil galah tolong jolokkan”.

They should go through the mill and not be run-of-the-mill type. They should “turun padang (get on the ground)” to have firsthand knowledge, to understand the community pulse and measuring what matters ie, social inclusion.

The experienced ministers should be aware of their limits because a ship can only have one captain, even if this is a government of different coalitions.

Anthony Loke has shown the way in social inclusion. We know there are many problems in the Transport Ministry ranging from Grab’s new price structure, to LRT and MRT issues and the mega transport projects.

However, Prasarana – which drives the transformation of Malaysia’s public transport systems and services, including LRT and MRT – is governed by the Finance Ministry, not the Transport Ministry.

I wonder how he will remain positive and try to solve transport issues, because this is an administrative conundrum.

I guess there are other ministries facing issues like this, which make an administration ineffective and inefficient.

As much as the civil servants want to get things done, there are internal and external obstacles in between.

There could be existence of a so-called deep state, where nameless bureaucrats exist and are accountable to no one, which is scary.

We have heard the chants of “Reformasi” and “Transformasi” for about 25 years.

Transformational leaders inspire and empower us towards growth, promote loyalty and instill confidence through influence and intellectual stimulation, and, of course, individual consideration.

Additionally, these leaders are assertive, ethical, participative and task orientated.

In this government of different coalitions, active listening and willingness to accept responsibilities are a must.

The people’s perception of Reformasi now is the transactional approach and not transformational, where it places a high value on structure and order with strict adherence to policies and rules.

However, its rigidity tends to stifle creativity and generate more followers than leaders.

You must have a good succession plan too.

Malaysia needs a visionary leader with realistic and achievable targets – cultivating a sense of purpose, commitment and belonging. We missed the boat for Vision 2020.

We need to do things differently to get different results.  

You have a new policy approach to restore economic confidence with Hassan Marican heading an advisory team.

We have to look beyond foreign direct investment, beyond electrical and electronic products and beyond Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

No one key indicator paints a complete picture of the state of the economy.

I do hope you have finalised the appointment of your advisers, and their terms of reference, parameters and priorities.

Prosperity, good governance and a focus on fairness – rather than electoral pandering – elicit greater political support.

Material change matters, but more often perception determines a feeling of deprivation, especially with weak participatory linkage.

In a climate of political disenchantment, this is enough to create an electoral tsunami.

A role model is Prophet Muhammad, who was indeed a transformational, ethical, servant as well as a spiritual leader.

Michael Hart identified Prophet Muhammad as the first among a list of 100 personalities he ranked as the most influential persons in human history.

The essence of leadership is not just command, assertiveness and domination; it is also consideration, sense of service, compassion and concern for the people’s well-being.

Enough said, you have a lot of work to do.

What say you? – February 2, 2023.

* Saleh Mohammed reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.