IT is fair for Malaysians who voted in Pakatan Harapan to have expectations, but they should be realistic, former minister Rafidah Aziz said.

She said the people had to accept what could be achieved considering that PH took over a country that was in a bad shape.

Rafidah said there were other things that the government had to attend to now, like the RM1 trillion national debt.

“When we went to the polls, we didn’t know the reality. We only knew the ballpark figure. After digging further… oh, my goodness.

“We have to be content that the government is trying to make sure we are on stable footing, and we are,” she said during a plenary session on leadership at the “Nurture, Engage, eXchange” leadership conference in Penang this afternoon.

Rafidah, who was formerly international trade and industry minister, was asked what message she had for Malaysians post-GE14.

The May 9 polls this year had witnessed the historic defeat of Barisan Nasional and Umno, her former party, after over 60 years in power.

Rafidah told the people that they should not fret over growth numbers because it was good enough as long as the country was still growing.

She said Malaysia recorded negative growth in 1997 during the Asian financial crisis.

Due to effective partnerships involving the government, the private sector, and the people, the country bounced back to record positive growth in less than two years.

“That is what we want to do now. Give the government support. Don’t just criticise left, right, centre… criticise (finance minister) Lim Guan Eng.

“Let’s form partnerships that will lead us to achieve the growth that we aspire to,” she said.

Lim tabled the first PH national budget on November 2, which received criticism over some unpopular policies.

But Rafidah praised the budget as comprehensive and realistic, adding that it would boost foreign investor confidence.

Earlier when speaking to the media before the session, she said Budget 2019 did not offer the people false hope.

“It is a budget that tells you as it is. I would say there will be higher confidence after the budget announcement.

“But don’t forget we still have to market ourselves to attract investors,” she said.

During the session, Rafidah also said she hoped she would be around when Malaysia finally achieved its developed nation status.

“I was next to (Prime Minister) Dr Mahathir Mohamad when he announced Vision 2020. We didn’t know he was going to come back as prime minister again then.

“I would like to be around when we raise the Malaysian flag and declare the country a developed nation. But first, our mindsets must be developed too,” the 75-year-old retired politician said.

To a remark during a question-and-answer session that she should have been Malaysia’s first woman prime minister, Rafidah said she did not need to be anything.

“If what you say carries weight and makes sense to others, that’s leadership. If I had stood here and spoke nonsense for hours, that’s stupidity.

“Quality leadership means doing things that make sense to people and they willingly follow you.

“Don’t just give posts and go ‘my leader, my dear leader’. Positions equal leadership everywhere now, but that is wrong. That’s why everyone wants to be a ‘wakil rakyat’ (elected representative) these days.”

Rafidah also told the audience that they should be good leaders at home to their children.

“That’s the best leadership of all. You don’t need to be a hero outside and nothing at home.” – November 10, 2018.