Chinese visit heralds new beginning?

China has massive economic might and Malaysia can leverage on this, but it will all come to nought if we are bogged down by wastage, corruption and mismanagement

COMMENT

Two significant events that occurred in Malaysia last week were the issuance of the Auditor-General’s Report on Tuesday, Oct 1, and the three-day visit of Chinese premier Xi Jinping which began two days later on Oct 3.

But first a little digression. An article written by a local training editor on page 17 of a local English daily dated Friday, Oct 4, 2013, had stated that Pakatan Rakyat has 84 parliamentary seats while BN has 138. This is a major factual error. The correct figures are 89 for Pakatan and 133 for BN.

It is certainly not a typographical error as there is a corresponding decrease and increase of five seats for Pakatan and BN respectively. Does this not mark an all-time low in the standard of journalism in this particular daily when such a great mistake can be made?

DAP’s Segambut MP, Lim Lip Eng, said: “As usual the mainstream papers are putting out false facts to put down Pakatan.”

This antagonistic attitude towards Pakatan cannot go on if we are to move forward as a progressive democratic nation. There must be good management, sound principles and noble ethics all round.

And speaking of good management, pertaining to the Auditor-General’s Report, one begins to wonder if perhaps wasting paper is the motive of the whole exercise.

Year-in, year-out the wastages and leakages are reported only for the citizens to get angry and appalled at such wanton wastage and then the whole exercise is repeated again come each October. We the citizens can work up a storm and grumble and groan but nothing comes out of it and this ritual is repeated annually that it should be labelled as ‘The October Rite’.

Does anyone know when things will start to improve? When will there be more transparency and accountability in procurement? Now that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has obtained the mandate from the rakyat after the 13th general election, he must see to it that things can only get better for the people.

Cost-cutting measures imposed on the citizens should also work both ways and therefore the government too, should be thrifty and cautious in spending. An austerity drive should be imposed for the leaders too and not just for the citizens alone. Does the slogan ‘Kepimpinan Melalui Teladan’ or ‘Leadership By Example’ ring a bell?

Put a stop to bad management

Although Malaysia’s economy is said to be robust and resilient, we are not out of the woods yet due to the negative rating that the Fitch Rating Agency has given us. This issue was dealt with at length by this columnist in a previous FMT article, ‘Fitch sends us into the ditch?’

Therefore if Malaysia is not prepared to withstand contingencies due to sudden shocks in the world economic climate, we will be in trouble.

Be that as it may, although with oil money still rolling in, Malaysia can ill-afford to fritter away millions and billions in careless spending. The RM12.5 billion spent on Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) is a case in point.

With abundant resources of good quality and a talented population, Malaysia can be one of the world’s top nations if we practice good governance. It all boils down to good management.

With the recent visit of Chinese premier Xi Jinping to Malaysia last week, Malaysia can look forward to more trade and investments from China who is already being proclaimed as the new superpower.

Xi’s visit is a timely boost for bilateral ties and his visit will definitely encourage more of his people to invest here. Joint ventures in the setting up of industrial parks and a Chinese university here are among the highlights of Xi’s visit.

China has massive economic might and Malaysia can leverage on this. But it all comes to nothing if we are bogged down by mismanagement. Therefore the BN government has to ensure that clean and efficient governance is the key to success.

Otherwise what is the use of making progress in bilateral trade and investments only for it to be squandered away through wastage and bad management?

It is high time for PM Najib to put a stop to bad management. He and the whole government machinery which includes the BN-controlled media must work together with Pakatan to move the nation forward. The mainstream media must stop attacking the opposition and play a proper role in nation-building by accurate reporting.

Najib has to take serious steps to stamp out corruption and eradicate crime and cronyism. He must listen to the concerns of the people and take their views into consideration when formulating policies for the nation. PM Najib must take Xi’s visit as the beginning of a new era for the nation.

A new broom must sweep clean and the era of corruption, cronyism, wastage and leakage must come to an end starting this very minute by making the wastage and leakage reports in the Auditor-General’s Report a thing of the past. Otherwise there is no hope left for the nation if this malaise were to continue on and on. Isn’t it time for a new beginning?

Selena Tay is a DAP member and a FMT columnist.