THE long Hari Raya weekend gave Malaysians much needed respite, in many ways. 

Muslims who celebrated it got their first taste of “freedom”, celebrating a major festival in two years, or their first in four Hari Raya (including Aidiladha).

To make it even sweeter, it is the first time in more than two years that masks in open spaces became optional, while standard operating procedures (SOP) were loosened and restrictions all but completely removed, allowing revellers to move between states and localities openly and congregate freely without fear of compounds.

The drop in the number of reported Covid infections also somewhat reduced the social anxiety associated with prevalent infection rates, allowing Malaysians to literally breathe easier. 

The Raya spirit extended to politics, too, as the four major Malay parties, formerly trading barbs on a near daily basis, stopped for a while. 

The bone of contention between the major political blocs is whether to call for elections now, or let the current parliamentary term run its course until June 2023, and then call an election.

The fact that the general election will happen in a little more than one year is inevitable.

Present political deadlocks can only be solved by a general election. We are way beyond the point of wheeling and dealing, which have resulted in instability, fears of administrative collapse, dozens of by-elections and three state elections.

The MoU signed by the majority of parties was criticised heavily early on, but is still intact. 

We should be focused on making hay while the sun shines, instead of moving in circles. 

Our economy has taken a beating and it is only now starting to recover. This is not just due to Covid, but from dwindling global demand for our products: palm oil, microchips, electronics and so on. 

We do not seem to be reacting quickly enough to take advantage of global trends: rising fuel prices, embargoed supply of Russian oil, increase in price of food, backlogs in China and a weakening ringgit. 

The quick win for this would be to woo investors to make up for the outflow of industrial and manufacturing investments to our more industrious neighbours – Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand – perhaps in the BPO sector or tourism, where we were relatively quick in easing restrictions. 

Failing to take stock would not only be an opportunity cost to us, but potentially worsen our global competitiveness, and increase our already high brain drain as qualified talents seek greener pastures abroad.  

We are not lacking in either corporate or business talent to drive these.  

Our companies abroad do continue – even in competitive markets like Singapore, where Malaysian owned companies generate 30% of the national power, own digital banks and large start-ups, hotels, property development and so on.

Many top positions in these and other companies are held by Malaysian talents, who outgrew the Malaysian ecosystem. 

We should go back to basics, tapping these talents and companies, as the PH government attempted to do with its Council of Eminent Persons.

Similar efforts have been made and bore splendid results in India, China and closer to home, in Indonesia.  

Not only do these companies have the actual experience to deliver, they also have connections in these countries to try and direct spill over or peripheral businesses back home. 

Rebuilding a strong economy and creating opportunities for the public, rather than politicians, should be at the core of what the government does, along with building an ecosystem to sustain continual growth and a circular economy. 

The next important thing to do would be to ensure continuity in those efforts, achievable by democratising the political process, introducing more transparency and locking in election results for full five-year terms, bringing with it stability to execute for the incoming government, without having to reinvent the wheel every five years for political legacy purposes. 

We need to move forward, desperately, and we cannot afford to be bogged down by politics and the insistence of its participants to remain in the centre stage. – May 6, 2022.

* 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.