LACK of proper education and knowledge among Malaysian leaders, be they in the ruling government or opposition, is the root cause of incompetent governance, Dr Syed Ali Tawfik Al-Attas, former director-general of the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (Ikim), said.

He told The Malaysian Insight this is why these leaders do not ask the right questions or provide solutions to the country’s myriad problems.

This incompetency has given rise to opportunists who are only concerned about themselves and not in the country’s problems.

“First we have to fix our universities; in doing so, one will be able to positively influence the intellect and character of those being educated,” Syed Ali said.

“Which means, in order to fix the system, one has to have knowledge of many things – of language, history, literature, philosophy, etc.”

Apart from education, political ideology has to change. Race-based politics and policies must be abandoned in order for Malaysia to move forward, he said.

“People want to see new faces, but the more important criteria should be a change in ideology, namely the substance of that ideology.

“We have to get those with a justifiable ideology and a proper plan. One that they can offer and say we have to first educate the population, we have to stop with all this race-based nonsense, we’ve to adopt meritocracy and get rid of spoon feeding and affirmative action policies which are ultimately damaging those one intended to help.”

While all these changes take time, Syed Ali said Malaysia has to start somewhere otherwise the country will keep sliding backwards as it has for the past 40 years.

“We have to change, and if the government and the opposition refuse to change, then we have to rid ourselves of this obstacle. Let’s not forget that both were born from the same cloth, both have the same unjust ideological principles.  

“One is not going to do it overnight, it takes time, everything is gradual.”

Age of ‘who you know’

For a start, Syed Ali said, it is high time that qualified, competent people are elected and appointed to positions of authority in order to bring about real positive change.

“You have to start fixing it by bringing in competent qualified people. The ulama (scholars) are the ones who know and are familiar with justice – about putting things in their proper places, in their right place.

“I don’t see anything from anyone, whether the ruling government or the opposition or any of the political parties for that matter, who have a proper plan for the future of this country.”

While the country has plenty of qualified people to run it, they lack opportunity.

“Unfortunately, this is the age of ‘who you know, not what you know’.”

One possible remedy to this problem, he suggested, would be for people who are qualified to contest in elections as Independent candidates.

“If we have enough individuals with our kind of thinking, and if people appreciate the truth in what we say and do, if they recognise the truth in what we are saying, and that it appeals to reason and not sentiment, then get more of us like that to stand as independents and win.”

Syed Ali said that if such individuals speak truthfully and appeal to reason and the intellect, and if people are able to accept them, they stand a chance of winning.

“If you get enough of those people, then you can make a difference.”

Nonsensical issues

Syed Ali said the government should be paying more attention to four main issues that Malaysians will face come 2030, but instead the politicians are too busy bickering over nonsensical issues.

“By 2030, Malaysia will have to really think seriously about where its source of energy is coming from, where its water is coming from, our food and waste. What’s happening with those issues, and what are we going to do about it?,” he asked.

“To sit down in Parliament and argue about little nonsensical things in my view is really ridiculous and ultimately unjust. There are more important things to emphasise.”

Award-winning Malaysian whiskey label Timah had recently attracted the attention of PAS members, who said the name was the abbreviated form of Fatimah, daughter of the Prophet Muhammad.

This prompted an outcry from Muslim leaders and groups, who called it an attempt to deliberately confuse Muslims. 

There company website clearly that “Timah” means “tin” and is a reference to the tin-mining days of Perak in British Malaya, when Captain Speedy – the whisky mascot – was assistant resident of Larut in the 1800s.

However, some still felt that the image of Captain Speedy, who wears an Ethiopian skullcap and sports a long beard, bears a resemblance to a Muslim man.

Tangga Batu MP Rusnah Aluai had likened drinking the alcohol to “drinking a Malay woman”.

Syed Ali said as long as there is a race-based system of government, the leaders will continue to play up non-issues and ignore the important ones.

“I suspect one is not going to bring about justice, peace, and fairness with the current government or the opposition. They are both antagonistic. One antagonises the other and the other replies in kind. Who is the loser in the end? We are.”

He added that the problem not only lies in the executive, but in the legislative and the judiciary. – November 19, 2021.