We are not happy – Rizal Jaafar

It is hard not to become angry at the current state of our nation, or to be enraged by conflicting news due to impotent conduct by our statesmen. One can easily get agitated after reading our local dailys garnished with scandals and lies. How convenient it is for the rich and the powerful to get away with crime, or how ridiculously a public officer addresses certain issues.

Try to talk about politics with our spouses, friends or relatives, either directly or virtually, and see how easy it is to start a fight due to our own uncompromising attitudes towards a different opinion or belief system.

In the end, we allowed ourselves to turn into this ugly and angry monster by day, and a zombie-like creature by night, only to wake up and repeat the same heinous act over and over again.

This is our world now, the world of perception as famously claimed by our leadership. Last year, while many became seriously agitated, some people could still poke fun at a citizen who constantly ridiculed our constitution. There were others who treated him like a saint and marvelled at his “gallantry”. Such treacherous acts, if committed in other countries, would have cost him his citizenship, if not his life.

And what about the other citizen who became filthy rich after getting unlimited access to public funds and then committing money laundering rackets? He dared to flaunt his extravagance and still had the nerve to blame the very institution that backed him up.

The guy is still at large, by the way.

This week, the government will table the 11th Malaysia Plan (RMK-11) at Parliament, which will subsequently be debated and passed among the 222 elected parliamentarians. Sadly enough, if it were not because of their tailored suits and ridiculously expensive watches, one could never tell the difference between the MPs and our pasar malam vendors. Both are extremely loud and crude for the wrong reasons, both love to throw curses towards others and most importantly, both share the same level of ignorance as our less privileged counterparts.

The debate on issues of trade, taxes and government policies is without real substance, often ending with personal attacks and more profanities. With Parliament sessions getting exhaustingly longer every day, most of our MP choose not to attend, to leave early, to refrain from participating (sleep) and most alarmingly, to agree to anything without proper debate.

Our MPs from the opposite side of the house are not as straightforward either, with their screaming, thumping and stamping their feet like apes. The speaker was not able to do anything other than to warn the troublemakers like schoolteachers. If our highly evolved and super smart MPs can still behave like lunatics, tribal warlords or hooligans, what can we expect from our corporate, community and religious leaders?

Honestly, the feel-good feeling about the 1Malaysia campaign is long gone (even though the tagline was pretty catchy when it was first heard). The National Key Economic Areas report card presented last week typically was nice to look at, but to the more trained eye, everything was a farce – like thick make-up applied to hide ugly pores, wrinkles and scars.

The economic and government transformation and reform agendas were nothing but a very expensive exercise to lead us into believing that change is adamant, ongoing and producing great results at the same time. Sadly, the only transformation was in the presentation of report, by hiding or showing numbers that were favourable to the interest groups. Good reports hopefully will push our rankings upward, which will then appease our lenders and investors. On the other hand, poor rankings are either muted or simply dismissed as another propaganda by the opposition.

It appears that the very sovereign entity running our country called “the government” is now run by minority elites, the business and political tycoons, the foreign advisors and consultants, oppositions who run state governments, lobby groups with a very specific interests and, of course, international financial institutions.

These groups are financially superfluous, speak excellent English and able to produce colourful reports. They have the media on their side who are generously paid to amplify their voices, no matter how wrongful or silly it may sound.

To make matters worse, the elite also ride on the incompetence of our government representatives who are financially more desperate, and who are less savvy with the media. The recent statement that came from our senior politicians who hold the most important portfolios (who appeared to enjoy the media limelight more than tackling issues) was too embarrassing to read let alone comprehend. At the end of the day, those silly comments and responses were easily rebutted and more policies were then drafted or changed in favour of the elite.

The late John F. Kennedy was famous for his “what you can do for your country” call made more than half a century ago. Generally, Malaysians are still very new at taking steps that can produce real change, not just political, but to combat corruption, eradicate relative poverty, manage wealth gaps, create sustainable business ecosystems for local entrepreneurs and guarantee the future of our next generation, among many others.

History has taught us a lot about the collapse of many great nations. Europe, for instance, witnessed much turmoil and destruction as a result of poor governance and failed leadership.

Failure to do anything is the worst sin a citizen can commit upon her beloved country because wars are often waged and lost because of it. Malaysia therefore must not fall into the same trap ever again.

Today, we are in much better shape intellectually and economically.  Despite ideological and theological differences and despite all the political shortcomings facing the next generation of Malays and Bumiputera, we must learn to behave like true Malaysians, who look at everything objectively.

Having to pay multiple taxes is still manageable to a certain extent as long as collections are used properly and responsibly. Moreover, despite having to endure a higher cost of living, Malaysians (being very tolerant and forgiving citizens) can still negotiate a cut in government subsidies or trade off certain birthrights of the Bumiputera, provided the economic cake is spread evenly and matters with regard to faith, history, culture, language, land ownership and the sovereignty of our monarchs are constitutionally protected.

The past decade has seen too many opportunities lost, rights and privileges of the majorities neglected and effective and proven policies revoked only to be replaced with synthetic ideas. Our leaders, no matter how big or small their role, must take stock and respond immediately because time is no longer our asset.

If our present leadership cannot face the realities or the challenges ahead, they must let go and find others who can lead.

Or else, the public will decide.

* Rizal Jaafar is COO of the Malay Economic Action Council (MTEM).