Malaysia finally facing the right direction


SECOND of two parts: Anwar’s confident first 100 days

Anwar Ibrahim’s cabinet selection is an achievement, made more so when compared to the bloated one previously.

His ministers are in a class of their own, except for a noticeable few.

Pop psychology would have me highlight those positive appointments in the hope of encouraging more similar ones.

However, I take the opposite tack seeing that the two I am singling out are in charge of critical related ministries.

One is Higher Education Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin. He has not learnt anything despite his previous decade-long tenure in that position under three different prime ministers.

In a recent televised interview, he tried to be hip by labelling his second reincarnation as “Versi 2”, to contrast with his earlier “Versi 1”.

He did not tell us (and the interviewer too dumb to ask) what limitations were with his earlier version or what enhancements he had brought with his second.

I appreciate Anwar’s constraints, but surely there must be someone else in Umno more capable than this old worn-out retread.

Equally underwhelming is Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek. Her inept responses to the ugly race segregation episode at a Johor school and the headmaster losing cash during his lunch break were but two embarrassing examples.

Instead of demanding explanations from them and their immediate superiors, she rationalised their unacceptable behaviours.

Her educational background is parochial. It did not prepare her to deal with the complexity of Malaysian education.

Her appointment was probably more an expression of that old “terhutang budi” (repaying a debt of gratitude) sentiment.

Her late father Sidek Fadzil was a long-time Anwar confidant and an early forceful defender of Anwar when that was not a career-enhancing posture.

“Terhutang budi” is venerated in Malay culture. Less appreciated is the potential damage not only to the direct parties but also much more significant, the collateral ones.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s “terhutang budi” to the late Tun Razak Hussein, who rehabilitated Dr Mahathir back in the 1970s when he was in the political wilderness after being expelled from Umno, is one such hideous example.

When Dr Mahathir greased Najib Razak’s upward trajectory in a similar repayment of gratitude gesture, Malaysia suffered the huge collateral damage. With Anwar and Sidek, it would be the nation’s young.

I am even less enamoured with Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. However, in realpolitik as in life, you play the cards you are dealt.

Zahid led Umno to support Pakatan Harapan, sparing Malaysia Muhyiddin Yassin’s or Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s corrupt incompetent leadership.

The opposition’s recently released shadow cabinet was a harsh and much-needed reminder of the horror that could have been for Malaysia.

The fulminations over Anwar appointing his daughter Nurul Izzah as an unpaid adviser (since retracted) are farcical, more so when levelled by the likes of Muhyiddin.

Nurul Izzah is that rare young woman (more so for a Malay) who had opted for engineering instead of the usual mushy staple of Hang Tuah or prophetic traditions.

She then went on to an elite university, an enviable achievement.

Anwar appointing her was more filial imposition. He would be failing as a leader in not nurturing this rare gem.

Anwar’s first few foreign visits were to neighbouring capitals instead of faraway London or Washington, D.C., as was Dr Mahathir’s penchant. Nor did Anwar avail himself to celebrity interviewers or addressing august foreign forums, again another Dr Mahathir favourite.

That reflects Anwar’s confidence as well as priorities. He also has little need to impress the world.

If Anwar could cripple corruption, that would be a national contribution on a par with Tunku Abdul Rahman securing the nation’s independence.

Anwar, too, would have liberated Malaysia, this time from the clutches of corruption instead of colonisation.

For Malays, Anwar’s success would be worth much more than the mega billions spent on special privileges.

The corrosive impact of corruption falls disproportionately on Malays. Among others, corruption inhibits the creation of genuine Malay entrepreneurs. Instead it breeds the current glut of ephemeral, destructive rent seekers and ersatz capitalists.

What an achievement and sense of pride for Malays to succeed sans such special privileges crutches!

As Anwar has repeatedly emphasised, Malays are threatened not by “pendatang” (immigrants) but by our own greedy, corrupt leaders.

This core message needs to be hammered to those champions of “ketuanan Melayu”.

Malays cannot be competitive and contribute our share towards the betterment of Malaysia if we continue to have corrupt inept leaders who force feed us “khayalan” (fantasies) of yore or endlessly delude us of a future in heaven (or on earth) without making the necessary efforts.

Malaysia now has a competent skipper in Anwar Ibrahim and is facing the right direction.

The seas ahead may not be so forgiving and the winds less favourable, but she must stay the course and be ready to trim her sails and batten down the hatches.

While Allah is the ultimate Determiner, as Anwar acknowledged in quoting Surah Hud (11:88) during his Budget speech, he (Anwar) also needs not only our prayers and best wishes but most of all our support.

As for his reciting Surah Yusof (12:55) in that same speech, “Put me in charge of the nation’s storehouses; I’ll manage them prudently and carefully” (Abdul Haleem’s translation). Ameen to that! – March 8, 2023.

* M. Bakri Musa reads The Malaysian Insight.

* 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.


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Comments


  • ".....If Anwar could cripple corruption....."

    We know that leadership in all layers of society are infested with crooks and idiots.

    Anwar may be hard on corruption but many citizens think he is taking a "tidak apa" attitude towards the incompetents. You just named two in the cabinet and plenty more in the civil service, GLCs, GLICs, etc.

    These fools can cause as much damage to the country as the crooks.

    In the previous PH government, taxpayers bailed out Tabung Haji. Now we have the LCS scandal at Boustead and Pharmaniaga turning into PN17 after losing more than 1/2 billion ringgit. Many subsidiaries are lost making too and so are in other GLCs and GLICs. Are tax payers going to bail them out again?

    Look. Norway created their Sovereign Wealth Fund (to invest their petroleum income) two years AFTER Khazanah and as of now has USD 1.3+ trillion in assets whereas Malaysia is RM 1.5+ trillion in debt (please calculate the interest paid yearly).

    Norway's citizens have an assured future, but many Malaysians (with more the 50% of EPF contributors aged 55 and below having less than RM 10,000) will be poverty stricken for the rest of their lives.

    Unless and until Anwar (and future PMs) combat corruption AND REPLACE the imbeciles with the best and brightest (like in other countries), Malaysia will slide into bankruptcy.

    Posted 1 year ago by Malaysian First · Reply

  • My take on the new leadership is come clean on all previous government undoings. Clean up GLCs and most Civil services entities who're being headed via recommendations and not competency. Come clean on compliance and conflicts of interest engagements. These will eradicate most of the issues and open up a can of worms for real competent Malaysian to fill in these roles. This must be done irrespective of race and religion. There are other issues but let's start and cleanup these leadership roles, first

    Posted 1 year ago by Crishan Veera · Reply