WHAT a difference a year makes. A win this day last year has turned into a long whine about the pace of reforms and economic prosperity after almost a decade of the Najib profligacy.

Yes, Pakatan Harapan has not turned out to be the ideal government as yet. There are some quick wins, but some promises remain unfulfilled, if not broken, particularly on civil liberties and rights.

But did the 12.3 million Malaysians who went to the ballot box on May 9 last year ever imagine that PH could win against the ruling Barisan Nasional that day? The turnout was slightly lower in terms of percentage, and PAS still held its own influence and was playing spoiler in some seats.

For many, and that totals up to the 5.6 million who voted for PH, it was just to kick out then prime minister Najib Razak and his BN from power. They succeeded, and Dr Mahathir Mohamad returned to his old job.

It took almost a day and a few tense hours at Istana Negara to confirm him for the job on May 10. And that was how this new government started, tense, with obstacles and obstinate people along the way.

Seven by-elections and one more this weekend have kept the Mahathir government on its toes, and the public listening to the same drivel about Najib’s excesses, BN’s incompetence, the loss of Malay and Muslim power, about unfulfilled promises and some PH ministers behaving exactly like BN chaps by pledging projects in some constituencies.

Politicians are the same, no matter their hue or stripe.

Yet, Malaysia has seen some progress. More women are in key positions, there is diversity in the civil service, savings in government projects, and stolen 1Malaysia Development Bhd money being returned to the country.

Some ministers have excelled, others are beginning to be also-rans, while a few are largely absent in the daily life of Malaysians by way of policy, or even going down to the ground to know more about what ails ordinary folk.

What ails Malaysians is simple. Money, or the lack of it.

The Najib years were marked by a cash-is-king mindset, where money was thrown about for various groups and communities in return for votes. That money comes from the future, and is now government debt.

So, whatever savings gained thus far have gone to fill that black hole, and for many years to come. The net result is the same – no money for important infrastructure, and in turn, no money for the people.

Here’s where part of the whine against PH is coming from. Legislative reforms are slow, but even slower is the business environment from even a year ago, when BN was in power.

The Mahathir government, particularly the economics team, must address this as it embarks on its second year in power. Prosperity, apart from education, is key to every Malaysian’s happiness.

People voted for a more honest government a year ago, but they also chose one with hope for a better Malaysia. That hope remains unrealised. – May 9, 2019.

* Jahabar Sadiq runs The Malaysian Insight.