Crushed by corruption, injustice & growing extremism, Malaysia faces an unsure & uncertain future

How is it best possible to assess the future of Malaysia?

Especially in the wake of the mind-numbing decision by the country's apex court to maintain a ruling that not only bans the use of the word Allah by non-Muslims but which will directly cut away at the rights of the non-Muslims, putting Malaysia firmly into an irreversible path of Islamic extremism or 'Talibanisation'.

Perhaps, the best possible way to assess the future of a country is to look into certain basic fundamentals. These fundamentals, if accurately gauged and analysed, will give a clear indication of what is in store for a nation despite global uncertainties.

In Malaysia, however, the fundamentals that are often looked into by economists, politicians and others in assessing the economic and political and social climate of the country is considered by experts to be "narrow" and perhaps even "limited."

Nevertheless, the Barisan Nasional (BN) government which has governed Malaysia exclusively since the inception of Merdeka in 1957, has given the rakyat many assurances that the future of the country is bright as the fundamentals are all strong and performing well.

Yet despite dispensing these assurances, and even providing "formidable evidence" that Malaysia is a safe bet to hedge your future, the belief and trust by many Malaysians in the leadership of the country is to be found wanting.

Malaysians desperately want to believe in the BN leadership, on one hand, but in reality, they find that they cannot hope and put their trust in BN, there therefore looms many doubts and insecurity and fears.

Why is this so?

There has been a stream of propaganda that has been steadily flowing from the BN government of the huge successes that have been achieved by the Economic Transformation Program (ETP), and despite providing so many facts and figures, Malaysians are more worried.

The minds of Malaysians are not at ease. Perhaps it was the late John Fitzgerald Kennedy, a former United States president, who best echoes the lurking realities in the minds of most Malaysians.

Kennedy once openly stated to the US Congress that "there are lies, damned lies and then there are statistics."

Perhaps now the troubled mindsets of a growing number of Malaysians are understandable.

Most Malaysians who reflect on the glowing and impressive statistics and achievements of the BN government generally stomach the whole exercise with a pinch of salt.

It is glaringly evident that most of these statistics are doctored or tinkered with before being released to the public and are not in tandem to the real, hard, harsh realities of life in this country.

The more positive and merry the picture painted by the BN government of the improvement in the Quality -of-Life of Malaysians, the more unbelief it evokes from Malaysians.

This is because between what is witnessed as the proof provided by the government and what Malaysians are witness to in their daily lives, there is a wide schism and disparity.

This is perfectly the reason why Malaysians are not buying the bull churned by the BN government.

This is because Malaysians are now better educated and better informed and are able to read between the lines of government propaganda churning scenarios of grandeur and the realities of the future.

The pawns in the political gamble

The painful reality for Malaysians in the know is that the country faces a long, hard struggle.

And this struggle is set now to become a protracted crisis given that the quest for power and the right to rule by both sides of the political divide has become not only acrimonious but hostile.

In view of this, the Malay proverb rings true: "Gajah sama gajah berjuang, pelanduk mati ditengah-tengah." (The elephant fights with the elephant but it is the deer in the midst of them which dies).

In this uncertain and unsure environment, are Malaysians being merely used as pawns in the struggle for power?

While one side of the political divide is struggling to gain power, the other side is struggling not to relinquish power.

There is seemingly this ferocious pull and push and in the process Malaysia has actually not grown but has become stagnant.

This is a situation by the doing of power play on both sides of the political divide causing many Malaysians to suffer needlessly.

While Pakatan Rakyat (PR) hold the popular vote, it is BN that is in power and this is why the country has "a two-headed snake leadership."

Since both sides do not wish to give way, the end result is that of a stalemate, a stagnant leadership.

Why this country's future is unsure and uncertain?

Put the blame of stagnation entirely on the politicians of this country.

Their lack of leadership ability, wisdom, knowledge and understanding of what it entails to rule and govern a nation has led to the stage being set for Malaysia to see their clock of progress that they have achieved over the years being pushed back.

This is what will happen in the future of the nation if Malaysians are not careful.

What is set to take place by the indicators given, and if these indicators are correctly and accurately assessed, is that Malaysia faces the dire prospects of a bleak future.

The possibility of descending into a failed state or rogue nation is very real.

There is available ample evidence that the rot has begun to set in a long time ago and these factors were long festering and came to the forefront of the last two general elections prompting the opposition of PR to make great gains.

More and more Malaysians fear being crushed to death like the proverbial deer and face an uncertain and difficult future whereby corruption and injustice as sanctioned and approved by the BN government have become a way of life.

This is why more and more Malaysians are jumping onto the bandwagon of the opposition.

If this continues, and at the rate the opposition coalition of PR are winning over Malaysians, and if they are able to unify and stand as one voice, ironing out their differences, then PR will form the next government in the 14th GE with consummate ease.

The winning momentum by PR has also gained great impetus over the last two general elections and by Malaysians giving them a clear mandate to govern perhaps the nation can be saved from descending into the death throes.

It is really up to Malaysians to decide on the future of this nation and not to leave it any longer in the hands of BN. - Malaysia Chronicle