Can PM9 reverse the bad omens dogging him?

 

The omens heralding the ascension of Ismail Sabri Yaakob are not good. The worst-ever floods hit Yan, Kedah while a woman was reportedly crushed by an LRT train after she fell on the tracks.

Call me superstitious, but Ismail Sabri was sworn in as our ninth prime minister (PM9) on the worst possible day of the Chinese calendar - the 14th day of the Hungry Ghost month, when offerings are burnt for restless souls roaming on earth, some straying possibly even into Putrajaya.

His majority of MPs was also an unlucky number - 114. In Cantonese, this sounds like “yat yat sei” or “die everyday”. Another “lucky number” accompanied PM9’s installation - 23,564, our highest number of daily Covid-19 cases.

I had noticed earlier that Muhyiddin Yassin lost power on the same day as the fall of Kabul, Afghanistan. All this led me to wonder if the backdoor government (version 1.0 or version 2.0) has been, and will be, dogged by suay or bad luck?

Where did the money go?

Many Malaysians groaned when it was announced Ismail Sabri had been picked for the top job. How could the same old gang, which had led us into this crisis, be given a chance to run things again - into the ground?

Umno may now try to shift all the blame on Muhyiddin, but they cannot deny that their party held many important posts in the former cabinet. Ismail Sabri himself led the crucial National Security Council (NSC) and his original sin was to allow those returning from the Sabah elections to skip quarantine, a decision which haunts us until today.

He was in charge of flip-flopping, confusing MCOs (CMCO, EMCO, RMCO) which were lampooned online, and his inability to be firm when VIPs broke SOPs caused dua darjat outrage which discouraged people from following the rules.

In fact, Ismail Sabri’s most shocking failure was revealed by himself - that a whopping 200,000 people got through police roadblocks to balik kampung for Hari Raya - though I questioned in a previous column if this was just a diversion tactic to change the narrative from #KerajaanGagal to #RakyatGagal?

Did a lack of money cause such failures? RM1 billion has been allocated to the Health Ministry to fight Covid-19 this year. Yet, as columnist R Nadeswaran pointed out, ordinary folks had to raise over RM100,000 to buy desperately needed equipment (including basic stethoscopes!) for the Klang hospital.

Rapper Namewee recorded his phone calls asking various hospitals what was needed, as he collected donations. Why are government hospitals short of crucial tools? Where has all the money gone? Apart from incompetence, is there a problem of “leakages” (the more polite word for corruption)?

But to be fair, the backdoor gang did have some “achievements”. They “discovered” a new cure for Covid-19 - air suam. Segamat was “exported” to New Zealand. And a minister slimmed down after “working” as a Food Panda rider. (Strangely, for these few lines of satire, I was banned from Facebook because of so-called “community standards”. Are these now influenced by certain cyber troopers?)

All of society battle

Although many of us have scant confidence in Ismail Sabri, we now have no choice but to hope he can pull up his socks in managing the crisis. For me, the biggest question is: “Can he rewire his head away from the deep, decades-long programming of a feudal culture?”

This haughty culture goes: “We don’t need to consult others, we know best, just listen to us at our pompous press briefings.” And when people raise white flags in desperation, they are chided for embarrassing the government.

Former Health director-general Dr Mohamed Ismail Merican revealed that leaders refused to admit weaknesses of the system and didn’t ask for help from others. He lamented: “Many local experts have been sidelined. Those who give alternative views are branded as disloyal to the government.” In other words, it’s all about “yes Datuk, whatever you say sir.”

So will PM9 accommodate other opinions? The first signs are not promising, with police harassing protest organisers at their homes even though they had already cancelled the “lawan” black flag gathering for the day of Ismail Sabri’s inauguration. Meanwhile, massive police roadblocks caused traffic chaos in Kuala Lumpur.

This suggests the same stale, iron-fisted, top-down approach, rather than an inclusive bottom-up approach that is needed to empower people and communities. The comfortable civil servants in Putrajaya don’t know everything (or even much) and that is why real thinkers like Liew Chin Tong pointed way back in April 2020 that “all of society” must be mobilised to battle Covid-19 together. And former Minister Rafidah Aziz has repeatedly asked the government to talk to businesses instead of dictating illogical divisions of “essential” and “non-essential” sectors.

Make his own good luck

What will Ismail Sabri do now as PM9? Will he ask government departments to purchase more computer stuff from the struggling Mara Digital Mall (the so-called “Malay version” of Low Yat Plaza), just to prove that his signature racial project is not a failure? Hopefully, he will not misuse his position again to advertise his son-in-law’s shirts resembling colourful kuih.

Please forgive the sarcasm. To be more serious, I really hope that our new PM will do better this time around because the situation is urgent. Apart from the record-high Covid-19 numbers, our economy is entering a “downward spiral” of recession with about 20 percent of the workforce under/un-employed.

For starters, jokers such as the former health minister (from Umno mind you) must be replaced. The guy suspected of allowing factory clusters should be demoted, perhaps to a tourism portfolio overseeing hotels nationwide, including in Sandakan.

Meanwhile, there are many good ideas that can be adopted if Ismail Sabri is willing to listen. Dr Khor Swee Kheng has already proposed a new cabinet that includes competent professionals who will focus on the job instead of politics.

Prof Wong Chin Huat has suggested various ways to work with the opposition, whether through Parliament select committees or a special Federal-State Council. This, he points out, allows PM9 to have the benefit of a unity government without too many political complications.

If Ismail Sabri was smart, he should try his best to collaborate with Pakatan Harapan. For one, they seem to have more brains than the backdoor gang, as can be seen in well-thought proposals from DAP’s Liew and Ong Kian Ming. Former Harapan Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad also has valuable advice.

A stronger reason for cooperation is that if things go wrong, the opposition can also be blamed. But if they go right, Ismail Sabri will get most of the credit.

Tony Pua may be vindicated when a watered-down version of Muhyiddin’s political reforms are offered by Ismail Sabri. This will be in exchange for confidence and supply agreements with Harapan to stabilise the government by preventing blackmail or sabotage from Bersatu. Equal allocations for all MPs may be dangled to entice the cash-strapped opposition, but they should really bargain harder for Undi 18, anti-frogging laws and other reforms.

PM9 has options. He can stick to the tired old, arrogant backdoor formulas which have already failed - thus ensuring that the bad omens that welcomed him during the Hungry Ghost month will ripen into the suay of bad luck.

Or he can choose a smarter, more open-minded approach to create his own ong and lots of good luck - for himself, his political party and the country. - Mkini

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ANDREW SIA is a veteran journalist who likes teh tarik khau kurang manis. You are welcome to give him ideas to brew at tehtarik@gmail.com.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.