A national disservice in the offing

 

The trust deficit between the general public and politicians in power has been a huge issue in Malaysia for decades. Despite the two changes of government in the last two years, nothing has changed. In fact, things have become worse.

The behaviour of our politicians have sunk so low that even the noblest of plans they announce are looked upon with suspicion and disdain.

You can’t blame Malaysians for this. Blame instead the politicians for their broken promises, doublespeak, blatant corruption, daylight treachery and other atrocious actions.

Much of this distrust had its beginnings in the early 80s, after Dr Mahathir Mohamad took over as the fourth prime minister. His iron-fisted rule, which led to the absolute control of the media and key institutions like the judiciary and government-linked companies, soon widened the trust gap.

Then came his second premiership. His controversial decisions, coupled with Pakatan Harapan’s excuses for not keeping many of its GE14 promises, were so glaringly questionable that even the coalition’s supporters stopped trusting it.

As a result of this and several high profile corruption cases involving politicians, most Malaysians found it extremely difficult to trust politicians, even if they were your friends. In other words, Mahathir’s second watch widened the trust gap further.

Then came the infamous Sheraton move. Malaysians witnessed another episode of lying politicians backstabbing one another, misleading the public and stealing the voters’ mandate. This left the rakyat in utter disgust and probably sealed the distrust issue.

So when Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced plans to bring back the abandoned National Service programme and justified the revival by saying it had a positive effect in developing patriotism among teenagers, many Malaysians balked.

The scheme started in 2004 but was put on hold 11 years later after the government faced a financial crunch. It reportedly cost the government a total of RM6 billion with an estimated one million teenagers having attended the three-month stints.

There were loud rumblings then that many of the major contracts, such as maintenance of the training centres and supply of uniforms and food, were awarded to those closely linked to top Barisan Nasional politicians and their spouses.

The annual budget was about RM600 million and this was indeed big money. But the government then failed to address the complaints, leaving many to believe the unverified claims.

It was Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan who first brought the matter up in Parliament in July and then again in Monday’s sitting. Strangely, Ismail politely thanked him for his suggestion and announced the revival plan.

Could this be a move to appease one of Umno’s backdoor demands in return for its support for the 2021 budget? It could well be as Ahmad is seen as belonging to former prime minister Najib Razak’s dissenting faction in the party at the moment.

Many Malaysians reacted to the announcement by the Perikatan Nasional government with shock, with some saying it was foolhardy of any government to invest such huge amounts of money on something which had no urgency and was the last thing that the nation needed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Common sense tells us all that it will be foolhardy to start a programme that involves hundreds of participants coming into close contact with each other whether it be in the dormitories or dining halls in the camps at a time when Covid-19 is hitting us in waves. It is Sabri himself who issues safety guidelines daily asking us to practice safe distancing and limit gatherings as much as possible.

If the government decides to go ahead, PLKN campsites will become hotbeds for the coronavirus which will spread easily, putting our children at high risk. Of course this will also create cluster after cluster and put a heavy strain on our healthcare resources in terms of finance and manpower.

This huge spending could be put to better use at a time when we saw several cuts in crucial areas in the 2021 Budget. Let rational minds rule here and avoid making a political decision.

Former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman hit the nail on the head when he said it was wrong to spend money on expensive programmes, especially during a pandemic.

He also alleged that many camp owners received exorbitant rental payments because they had ties with the then ruling party.

Besides this, don’t forget the heartache of the families of 23 trainees who died during the 11-year period. You may say 23 out of a million is small, but try telling this to the parents who lost their children. There were also cases of rape and assault and other forms of abuse.

One wonders whether we are living in a fool’s paradise, with our leaders deciding on matters that should be non-starters in the first place.

Ismail said the 11 years of having the programme had brought about much patriotism and unity among the various races. Really? This is an absolutely unscientific deduction. Many have asked how effective can such programmes be in terms of unity when Malays made up about 80% of the trainees.

Indeed, racial unity is seeing one of its worst moments with this group of “trained” youngsters, now aged between 24 and 35, playing key roles in many areas.

The annual number of participants raises a big question too. Only about 20% of the teenagers who turn 18 are selected at random for the programme each year, leaving the others without a taste of this experience.

If you to quantify it, an estimated one million Malaysians have attended the programme while more than five million were forced to sit out. Such programmes should actually be for all or none if your aim is for national unity or to inculcate patriotism in youths.

In any case, unity and patriotism need a better recipe for success than mere three-month organised stints. How about trying to make sure citizens are not deprived of their rights because of their creed or colour and treating everyone as a Malaysian first?

In any case, the priority of any government now should be to draw up plans to revitalise the economy and the education sector and ensure employment when the Covid-19 madness ends. As far as we can see, there appears to be nothing in sight for Malaysians except uncertainties.

Like Syed Sadiq said, unemployment and retrenchment among young people are frightening indeed, made worse by 266 people resorting to suicide during the movement control order.

Our government leaders have to wake up to realities such as these before disaster strikes and the trust deficit reaches a point of no return. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.