DEAR prime minister,

The honeymoon period is over and Malaysians have to face the stark realities in the country. Many are looking forward to the changes needed to make the chants of “reformasi” a reality.

A few changes have been initiated but we are waiting for many more. You have had 25 years to think about them and it is time you let the people know your plan.

I could not find a clear definition of “reformasi” nor was it articulated with concrete and pragmatic objectives. It was loosely about justice and eradication of cronyism and corruption. 

The closest I could find was the ‘Permatang Pauh Declaration’ dated September 12, 1998. Many things have happened since but that’s all water under the bridge. There needs to be a clear vision moving forward. Piecemeal repairs may not work. There may be budgetary constraints. A think tank is needed to work on a holistic approach.

In your maiden speech to Prime Minister’s Department staff, you said the civil service could no longer take things for granted and that change has to start from the top. Sharing your past experience in government, your first order was to bar family members and close friends from being given preferential treatment for government projects.

You advised the employees to be independent, professional and to honour the pledge to be useful to their families and society.

We have heard the government will uphold the highest ethical standards and that there will be no room for abuse of power. Breaches will be severely dealt with, without fear or favour.

May I suggest a few things that could assist you in achieving your aims?

You have started prime minister’s question time in parliament. This can be imitated by all the ministries. The chief secretataries can take questions from the public, say once a month in a Zoom meeting.

It’s about time you assessed your ministers’ performances. 

On the ruling to prevent cronyism, you may need to review the various political appointments even if they are serving pro bono. They too need to be assessed to ensure their usefulness and that they respect the administrative processes without conflict of interest.

I leave it to you to achieve the highest ethical standards and stop power abuse – and there is room for improvement in those areas.

Next, you may want to reconsider more overseas trips at a time where there are many issues to be tackled at home. On the RM170 billion in investment commitments from China, do have a monitoring system to ensure they are fully realised, for the sake of transparency.

Do avoid repeating the mistakes of the previous Pakatan Harapan regime in which component parties could not reconcile their different agendas. The current scenario is similar with an old adversary in the coalition government. Hopefully, economic progress and stability can be strengthened and carried to the next general election.

The “Ketuanan Melayu” cry is not likely to fade away. You may need to take the bull by the horns and engage in intellectual discourses. It may seem difficult to transform the Malay political culture to reject blind loyalty and clientelism but change came in the 2008 polls.

A few days ago, the Bank Negara governor urged the government to implement key structural reforms to enhance Malaysia’s competitiveness and growth potential. Five key policy priorities are digitalisation; fiscal resilience; a climate resilient economy; growth potential; a future-ready workforce; and social protection. This should be reasonable for you to achieve because you can tap on your experience as the finance minister in the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Last but not least, “reformasi” should not be a manifestation of Umno’s factionalism.

What say you? – April 3, 2023. 

* Saleh Mohammed 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.