OUR nation is badly in need of leaders, not mere politicians. A good leader is one who is a visionary, has a clear understanding of what is good for the people as a whole, speaks to mobilise the people, and strives to achieve for the common good. While a national leader has to be a politician, a mere politician plays to the desires of the masses, often with different tunes, to gain popularity.

Getting votes is the ultimate aim, not striving for what is best for the nation.

Having briefly defined the difference between leaders and politicians, let us now look at a few current political developments in our country and see how politics and leadership are played out.

Four months have passed since the 14th general election. While the Pakatan Harapan government has made headway into institutional reforms and some commendable changes after 61 years of uninterrupted rule by Barisan Nasional, it has failed to set a clear narrative for the direction we want to move forward in our so-called New Malaysia. It seems that the political dinosaur of race and religion employed by the old regime to perpetuate power is impossible to slay.

Race and religion has been a distinguishing feature of Malaysia’s politics since its independence. For decades the sloganeering of “demi bangsa, agama, dan negara (race, religion, and nation)” has been a convenient exploit by Umno, the main ruling party in BN.

The economic extension to race and religion politics saw the implementation of the affirmative action policy in 1971. The stated objective for social re-engineering was to close the economic disparity gap the Malays had with other ethnic groups.

The success or failure of the affirmative action policy depends on how one looks at it. From the number of Bumiputera made billionaires, it has been a tremendous success. Seen from the outcome of successive scandals committed due to frauds and corruption from the BMF in the 1980s to the most recent 1MDB, the affirmative action policy has been a systemic failure.

Lessons from history should guide how we move forward, taking into consideration the state of our economic and financial standing. Unfortunately, this is not the case, because the pressure groups and extremists demanding protection of Malay interests seem to dictate the agenda going forward.

Days after GE14, there had been calls by PH leaders of “Bangsa Malaysia” and “Ketuanan Rakyat”. These calls unfortunately now appear to be rhetoric cast aside by more vocal and extremist demands with racial tones. The “Melayu Bangkit” rally on September 1 seemed to have impacted PH politicians, who were without clear narratives to tackle the nation’s problems.

Prior to the rally, it was stated that affirmative action would be implemented to benefit all. Challenged by fiery speeches of the Melayu Bangkit rally, and fearing the loss of popularity, politicians changed the narrative from “affirmative action to benefit all” to “pay more attention to Malay rights”. This is an example of playing politics to gain popularity, without providing good leadership.

The case of the United Examination Certificate (UEC) policy flip-flop is another example of politicians prioritising popularity over leadership. The matter of the UEC is not so much of how much Bahasa Malaysia will lose out, but rather how much the whole education system can gain from it.

Perhaps one of the most difficult decisions facing the PH political leadership is the matter of the 20% petroleum royalty. Under financial stress of a RM1 trillion national debt, 1MDB loans to repay, and fiscal tightening, there is no way the payout of the petroleum royalty to the states concerned can immediately be increased from the current 5% to 20%. Good sense has to prevail from all parties.

A realistic amount and time scale of payment needs to be decided at the table, and followed through once decided. Politicians will then have to explain clearly the decision and not play politics to gain popularity.

There are many other examples in our current Malaysian construct of politicians who should be leaders but are not. Their primary function, once elected as national leaders, is to speak out and lead the people for the common good of our nation.

Any politicking for popularity can perhaps be done during the last year of their five-year term. For the first four years, we need good leaders and leadership from among our politicians. – September 20, 2018.

* Captain Dr Wong Ang Peng is a researcher with an interest in economics, politics, and health issues. He has a burning desire to do anything within his means to promote national harmony. Captain Wong is also a member of the National Patriots Association.

* 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.