Progress and the road to a downfall — Ahmad Mustapha Hassan

OCT 2 — Malaya just celebrated its 53rd year of independence and Malaysia for the first time took cognizance of its formation 46 years ago.

Much water, as they say, has flowed under the bridge, although now, the water is becoming murkier and polluted. I suppose this is the side effect of progress and not the main effect of uncharted programmes.

During the British colonial era, everything seemed to be calm and peaceful, although there occurred several hiccups to irritate the British colonial government.

One of the more note worthy ones was when one of its Residents, the name given to its official representative in the Malay states, was assassinated. And those involved were severely punished and the so-called leader banished to a remote island in the Indian Ocean.

There occurred several other well known incidents organized by Malay traditional warriors challenging the authority of the British colonial administration. Some of these noted warriors were Datuk Bahaman and Mat Kilau who have now gone into Malay folklore and the nation’s history. But they did not pose as being serious threats to the British.

Only after the ending of the Pacific War did the British encounter an embarrassing situation. Their authority had now been challenged nationwide and the British being experienced and diplomatic from ruling its vast empire, managed to diffuse the situation without compromising its vast economic interest in the country.

It created as a national bogey the communist movement that had fought the Japanese occupation of the country and eliminated all those seeking genuine freedom. It imprisoned all the leaders of this movement and banned all progressive political entities.

With the elimination of this threat to its political and economic hold of the country, the British encouraged the national movement that was friendly and conducive to its economic stranglehold of the country.

Thus there emerged the coalition of three raced-based political parties representing the Malays, Chinese and Indians.

This colonial heritage has been maintained till today and thus the mutual distrust of one race against another was perpetuated.

It was under this umbrella of ‘ mutual suspicion’ that Malaya and later Malaysia embarked on its development agenda.

People thought that independence would act as the panacea to the economic problems faced by the inhabitants. But this was not to be so.

Following race riots in 1969 a well intentioned affirmative action manifesto was implemented to leapfrog the Malays economically to be at par with the other races. Corruption however was the barrier to achieving the objectives of this affirmative action agenda.

Politicians then set aside their promises to the people and implemented this action agenda to benefit themselves and their cronies.

Thus instead of moving forward, the country is embroiled in maintaining this failed action plan. A lot of emotions were worked up in order to maintain this failed agenda.

When Malaya first achieved independence in 1957, the administration followed strictly what the British colonial government had left behind. The British believed in a good and efficient administration and had put in rules and regulations to buttress such an administration.

Civil servants were given assistance to improve their performance. They were given loans to purchase cars and the prices of vehicles then were manageable. Most young cadet civil servants opted for cars that would give them satisfaction in the performance of their duties.

A Volkswagen only cost RM5,500 and the loan extended was in the region of RM4,500. It was affordable without being too much of a burden to the officer. But now a Volkswagen would cost more than RM100.000.

Malaysia in its ad hoc development agenda wanted to catch up as quickly as possible with the developed world. It had to embrace the technology era without considering the pros and cons of it. It wanted to produce its own cars to be known as the national car. But the enterprise had to have massive government financial backing.

Government financing means people’s money, paid through various taxes.

Even then the car would not be competitive enough against foreign cars. Foreign cars therefore had to face various taxes imposed by the government and thus making their prices balloon several times more than what they should be. People are therefore punished for this unnecessary development to happen.

But that was the agenda for progress as envisaged by the administration. It was not meant to benefit the people but it was merely as a show to satisfy the whims of those in power in that the country has now achieved a partial development status.

I still remember when I was at school in the 50’s where sports activities were part of school life and when thirsty, it was natural for us to just hop over to a stand pipe and quench our thirst. The pipe water then was potable. But with progress, the tap water has become not even fit to cook food. It is murky and full of harmful bacteria.

Thus, this has given rise to the bottled water industry. Numerous firms have sprouted selling safe to drink water. This is considered as being progress. Bottled water has become part of modern Malaysian culture. This is nothing but just an uncalled for burden to the people.

Those involved in the water business however enjoy brisk business and have amassed huge wealth at the expense of the ordinary people.

Privatization of essential services has caused more burdens on the people. They were provided with inefficient services or services at exorbitant charges. The Government did not seem to care on how the operators of these privatized services discharge their obligations and whether they meet the standards and benefits as required by the privatization objectives. The government on the other hand favoured the operators by assuring them of compensations in the event they incurred losses.

The burden again is placed squarely on the shoulders of the people. Progress indeed.

Efficiency in government services has been a matter of constant complaints. There is a kind of lackadaisical atmosphere surrounding the whole system. This I believe is due to the shift in the style of administration in the country.

Before there was a very clear demarcation between the roles and duties of politicians and the administrators, but now the whole situation is very blurred. Politicians nowadays also act as administrators and control development funds. The administrators had become simply

implementers at the behest of the politicians. The projects are all politicized and therefore it is impossible to determine whether these projects benefited the people or not.

Projects were used to garner support politically. Thus arose the warlord politicians. Administrators are not to question why in anything but “just do or die”, as the saying goes.

Recently Singapore held its F1 race and the route is around the city and held at night. It only proves that the roads in Singapore are in first class condition and that the lighting is so good that a race of that magnitude could be held at night.

Malaya after independence inherited one the best constructed roads in Asia. It was the pride of the country. With fast and unchecked development and with the need to implement the affirmative action policy, the roads are built to very poor standards. In no time these roads are dotted with potholes.

The capital city, Kuala Lumpur has numerous roads that are not maintained to a very high standard and this has created safety problems. Potholes have become a norm and drivers have to be extra careful and pay close attention while driving.

This happens because the roads are badly constructed, and financial benefits have become the core objective in the construction.

All non-federated Malay states before independence had their own police force. Only when independence was achieved did the forces come under federal management. In Kedah, all those in the police force excelled in sports and the Kedah police force football team was one of the top teams in the state. Team members had also represented the state in interstate matches.

It was very efficient and people friendly.

When the force became a federal entity, the efficiency and the confidence of the people in the force was intact. Then politics crept in and the force eventually became a tool of the government in maintaining power and no longer was it people friendly.

Security had become a great concern to the people and to safeguard this essential element in society, gated communities sprouted.

Security companies mushroomed. For once Malaysia experienced security being in the hands of private forces.

The police had been turned into the government’s guard dog, to ensure that their status is never challenged. Even a peaceful candlelight demonstration is being stopped with force. But it is to be noted that these actions are only targeted on those who oppose the government.

It is therefore a pity that an institution formed by the British colonial government to maintain security and the safety of the people has turned to be an element used by the government to maintain power.

That has been the fate that the people face in the name of progress.

Greed is manifested in almost all the thinking of politicians who are elected to govern the country. They see that they can become rich in manipulating policies while implementing them. Corruption is nigh high and the race to enrich themselves at the expense of the people has become only too evident and noticeable and may eventually be the downfall of a government that has been in power since independence.

* Ahmad Mustapha Hassan is the author of The Unmaking of Malaysia and a former general manager of state news agency Bernama. He was also the press secretary to Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein and the then Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad
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