BLACK shoes, flying cars, Jawi/khat. Going through the newspapers over the last few months, it would seem that Malaysia is a nation with so few issues that we nitpick on really small ones and blow them up to become central topics of discussion.

The khat issue, in particular, shouldn’t make sense. A three-year-old policy, which was first tabled in 2012, was brought to the fore in the media, and is now threatening to split the country in two. Didn’t people have seven years to discuss and object to this?

Khat is just the latest issue that didn’t start out as being race/religion-related, but was guided to become so. This trend seems to be on the rise as of late, in cases involving the deaths of civil servants, road rage, the closing down of agencies deemed irrelevant, and even something as trivial as decorative features on a building that were said to be “unsafe”.

Gently and mischievously, hidden hands have nudged these issues to be viewed along the lines of race and religion. These hands belong to the people who later call for rationality and calm with a straight face. The fact that various quarters respond so easily to such incitement shows how alarmingly suspicious our communities have become of each other.

The government, particularly the cabinet, needs to show real leadership. Some decisions can be deferred, or even reversed. A U-turn indicates direction, at least.

At all times, the government is expected to lead. However, the cabinet today is seen to comprise three types of members: experienced but overwhelmed; inexperienced but trying hard; and, inexperienced and underwhelming, but hardly even trying.

The second type needs to level up. These cabinet members must not only share the workload of their senior colleagues, but also help the government be seen as one that shares power. The third type, meanwhile, has got to go.

For too long, Malaysians have had to make excuses for cabinet members yet to come up with serious plans related to their respective areas of responsibility. If more than one year on, the people have yet to hear your name, let alone about a policy or plan to help Malaysians get ahead, why should the public subsidise your life with allowances, drivers and police escorts?

The government’s public relations machinery, too, appears quite useless. It has been more than a year since Pakatan Harapan won power, and the public is still trying to understand what this administration stands for, and its policies and strategies.

The proper handling of sensitive issues appears almost non-existent. The fact that a single article on a three-year-old policy was able to trigger national panic is testament to how badly an overhaul is needed. And, this came about after the similarly poor handling of the case of the late firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, as well as issues related to controversial preacher Zakir Naik, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the M. Indira Gandhi unilateral conversion court battle and so on.

The government’s PR machinery’s role is to gauge public opinion, explain issues and put to rest the people’s anxieties, not play up controversial matters, wantonly display hollow bravado and continuously issue confusing statements that seem to challenge the status quo, without a proper explanation or context given.

If the fear of upsetting the people is at the heart of this problem, well, we’ve crossed that bridge a long time ago. Critics will continue to hound PH whatever the ruling pact chooses to do. So, it is time it fights back to reclaim lost ground and win back public confidence, which is quickly eroding.

Competence and resolve are sorely needed to bridge the widening inter-community relations gap, and deal with the matter of people who have no business being in a government that has declared an interest in doing so. – August 14, 2019.

* Emmanuel Joseph firmly believes that Klang is the best place on Earth, and that motivated people can do far more good than any leader with motive.

* 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.